Tate Modern, Transformed Visions Review

Tate Modern, Transformed Visions, Room 14

On display in Room 14 of Tate Modern is a piece entitled "Waiting for Tear Gas" (1999-2000) by photographer, theorist and critic, Allan Sekula. The work itself  incorporates themes of politics, society and violence among others. Curated by Stuart Comer and Valentina Ravaglia, "Waiting for Tear Gas" is an 81-slide photojournal, documenting the World Trade Organisation Ministerial Conference protests which began in Seattle on November 30th 1999. Sekula's documentation lasted from dawn until 3AM.

As described on the tate.org website and indeed on a large white placard outside the exhibition, "This series is presented as a 16 minute times slide-sequence and challenges the standard procedures of photojournalism" (Comer, 2013, www.tate.org.uk)

This exhibition provokes an immediate feeling of tension and uncertainty, the images range from those portraying heavy-handed police brutality to those which display the "waiting" which took place during the protests (hence the name, "Waiting for Tear Gas").

I particularly enjoyed this piece, despite its hard-hitting themes because for me the way in which the photographs are presented, in a slide-show, make the documentation of events seem more engaging because the viewer anticipates how the next slide could differ from the last and adds to the tension created.