How does a solutions focus change the frame of documentary photography

Documentary storytelling regularly focuses on the problems around us. While such investigations are both necessary and vital for a democratic culture, they do not, by themselves, offer a comprehensive picture of the world, and need to be supplemented with different perspectives.

Solutions journalism is a new perspective in visual journalism that changes the frame of the story to address “the negativity bias” in the media. Rather than focusing on problems, solutions journalism looks for where people are already taking action to deal with difficult issues. As such, a solutions story is the product of rigorous reporting on efforts currently underway to respond to a problem.

In this event we explore what a solutions focus in documentary photography and photojournalism involves, why it is important, and show some recent work that embraced this alternative frame.

Indonesian photographer Michael Eko and American photographer Celia Talbot Tobin present work they produced for the Solutions Visual Journalism Initiative. They are joined by Kyser Lough from the University of Georgia, who discusses his research on visual communication and solutions journalism, with an emphasis on photojournalism.