The late 1970s saw a sea-change in the photojournalistic coverage of world events that is still reverberating today. Photographers shifted from the concept of 'objective', balanced and supposedly 'truthful' documentation of the news to a more personal, partisan, subjective and authored approach that reflected the paradigms of the New Journalism of the 1970s. Two bodies of work, published as books during the early 1980s, stand out as seminal in this process, Nicaragua by Susan Meiselas and Telex Iran by Gilles Peress. Both set a new precedent for how the aesthetic and formal qualities of the image could be harnessed to depict political and social events, and for how the vision and commitment of the individual could become the story itself. To coincide with the exhibition 'Recording the Truth in Iran', this talk will compare two distinctive and vital depictions of societies caught up in the turbulence of revolution.

Paul Lowe is a senior lecturer in Photography at the University of the Arts London, and an award-winning photographer living and working between Sarajevo and London. His work is represented by Panos Pictures, and has appeared in Time, Newsweek, Life, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Observer and The Independent amongst others. He has covered breaking news the world over, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, Nelson Mandela's release, the conflict in the former Yugoslavia and the destruction of Grozny. Since 2004, Paul has been the Course leader of the Masters programme in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication. His book, Bosnians, documenting 10 years of the war and post war situation in Bosnia, was published in April 2005.

This event will take place on Thursday 4th December, from 6.30 - 8 at the Shaw Library, Old Building, London School of Economics.

This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For more information, email arts@lse.ac.uk