ABSTRACT
Digital technology and social media distribution turns citizen photographers into willing and unwilling witnesses. Text and captions can bolster responsibility and accountability. Text supports the act of witnessing, because without captions or text, the photograph is stuck in approximation, as Walter Benjamin posits. The witness as outsider is changing today as documentary photography is becoming more diverse. Photography that focuses on the environment is an important subject not always included in texts about documentary photography. Robert Glenn Ketchum’s testimony before Congress and images of the Tongass National Forest influenced the passage of the Tongass Timber Reform Act of 1990. Historically, documentary photographers were outside witnesses recording events happening both domestically and internationally. Brent Stirton is a documentary photographer from South Africa who spends most of his time working on long form investigative projects. He has worked for every major media outlet, foundation, NGO, and human rights organization.
