title: How is the jurisdictional challenge for protesters reflected in their practice? As evidenced through photojournalism on land vs in international water demonstrations.
Creators: name: Lockitch, Glenn
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: participatory action
subject: photojournalist
subject: Photography
subject: jurisdictional protest

description: As a participatory action researcher, revealing from behind the scenes what is usually hidden, this project aims to research the performative aspects of protest, the use of security forces by governments to control demonstrators and the role of media in two differing jurisdictional environments, on land and in international waters. As a photojournalist (see Chapter 2.3) I also bear witness by documenting and disseminating the unfolding news and historic events. Ultimately this project also aims to broaden the knowledge base and understanding of protest theory, of which there is minimal (if any) research of this kind. Photographing protests since 1991 on land and since 2009, previous to this project, having photographed protests twice in the Southern Ocean in international waters, I noticed observable differences in these differing jurisdictional protests’ preparation, contestation and outcome. This project therefore seeks to investigate the differences in these two protest scenarios. In doing so, this project aims to explore ways in which these contrasting jurisdictional sites may alter the performative nature of the protests themselves and the challenges for the protesters within national boundaries at the 2014 G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, and those experienced outside national boundaries in international waters in the Southern Ocean, Antarctica, on a Sea Shepherd ship during their 2016/17 Operation Nemesis Antarctic anti-whaling campaign. Security forces are utilised by governments to manage and control protests and protesters as a result interact directly with these agencies, which this project also seeks to document on land and in international waters. The media is an effective tool that governments and protesters use to propagate their individual messages about imminent and unfolding protests. The role and influence that the media itself plays in reporting on protest can have the effect of either supporting or undermining a protest scenario. This research aims to investigate the role of media in these two contrasting protest jurisdictions. To research these two jurisdictional protest situations, in the tradition of a participatory action researcher, I camped with protesters at Musgrave Park in Brisbane during the 2014 G20 Summit and documented their protests and then in 2016/17 I sailed for three months into Antarctic waters on the Sea Shepherd ship the M/V Steve Irwin as a ship photographer. The intimate daily contact of both of these events gave me rare intimate photojournalism access. For both of these differing jurisdictional protests I was able to disseminate my photos through the traditional mainstream media as well as social media. My research investigation also unexpectedly found that the current dominant definition of ‘public space’ as being physically staked out is limiting and that the constantly fluid political and legal environment makes it difficult to pinpoint a clear definition for ‘public space’. Finally, my findings also pose the possibility of further research to be explored in this area due to the lack of past investigation and the complexity of the issues at hand.