The image of the man standing holding plastic bags in front of a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square is tattooed in my mind. So watching Shoot the People looks at Misan Harriman, whose career was catapulted by social media, and what happens when documenting protest turns the person behind the lens into a public figure.
I loved how this documentary explored photography, and the role of the photographer, as activism. Pete Magubane’s words from the 1970s, when he had to reassure students in apartheid South Africa who were nervous about having their photograph taken that: “a struggle without documentation is no struggle at all.”
Yet, while Misan Harriman’s photographs reveal so much about the people he captures, the documentary never quite reveals him. It raises questions about privilege, protest and use of a public platform but manages to keep its subject at arms length from the audience. I am also conscious that as a Black man navigating the British class system he can never truly relax. Maybe for the latter reason Shoot the People didn’t feel as vulnerable as I suspect it believes.
Just as black and white photographs can sometimes create a sense of distance, so too did this documentary. Colour can be just as serious, and I found the most arresting images were of Misan in colour and not the exclusive use of black and white that define his work. However, by the end, I found myself wondering why he agreed to make this documentary. What did he want us to understand about him that his photographs couldn’t already tell us?
Shoot the People is released in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on Friday 10 July.
