About
Research Topic
Lewis’s research looks at the way photojournalism professionals and organisations navigate an increasingly precarious landscape in which audience trust which was once assumed is now increasingly in doubt. His research examines both how audience trust and the threats to it are understood by these professionals, but also what measures organisations do, or do not implement in order to restore, protect or increase that trust. At the root of his work is a concern with the ‘world making’ power of photography, and the role it plays not solely as an illustration of the news, but as something which fundamentally shapes our understanding of news events.
Biography
Lewis studied history at the University of Warwick, worked for the World Health Organisation, and in the media, and then studied documentary photography at the University of the Arts London, where he is now Senior Lecturer in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography.
His documentary practice examines different forms of power in contemporary society, from workings of opaque technological systems, to the archival power to reshape history and memory. Lewis’s projects have received numerous accolades and commendations, and his books and prints are held in private and institutional collections including the Tate group, The Museum of London, The Victoria & Albert Museum, the Bodleian Library, and the Library of Congress. He also has written extensively on the practice and ethics of photojournalism and documentary photography for a range of specialist and non-specialist publications, including Frieze, Wired, Dezeen, Vice, World Press Photo Witness, The Art Newspaper, The British Journal of Photography, and Hyperallergic.
Supervisors: Dr Dylan Mulvin & Professor Lilie Chouliaraki
Expertise
Artificial intelligence, Automation, Photography, Journalism