Season Two: Reading List

The 2026 season of By/For: Photography & Democracy brings together voices that challenge and expand our understanding of photography’s role in democratic discourse. The following readings, recommended by our season two speakers, offer critical perspectives and invite deeper reflection on the medium’s political and civic dimensions. We extend our thanks to Anne Cross & Matthew Fox-Amato, Vindhya Buthpitiya, Leigh Raiford, Jeehey Kim, Zahid R. Chaudhary, and Tiffany Fairey.

Vindhya Buthpitiya, ‘The Truth Is in the Soil: The Political Work of Photography in Northern Sri Lanka’ in Citizens of Photography: The Camera and the Political Imagination (Duke University Press, 2023)

Toni Morrison, Home (Vintage, 2013)

Leigh Raiford, Introduction, When Home is a Photograph: Blackness and Belonging in the World (Duke, 2026)

David Silkenat (2014) “A Typical Negro”: Gordon, Peter, Vincent Colyer, and the Story behind Slavery's Most Famous Photograph, American Nineteenth Century History, 15:2, 169-186