Rage Receptacle

Photos by, Dirk Alvermann, Enrique Bostelmann, Anna Candiani, Paolo Gasparini, Kitai Kazou, and Paola Mattioli Looking back, it may seem like 2011 was unilaterally defined by protests, riots, uprisings, and general discontent the world over. It is important to note, however, that this perception is greatly informed by the internet and social networking, and that there was a time not long ago when shit-starters didn’t have the ability to organize 5,000 angry students and publicize their grievances via Twitter. Back then, whoever showed up to the petrol-throwing party had to possess balls (or ovaries) of steel, forged in the lava of a giant volcano that spewed molten disgust and outrage. And that’s mostly because if the hammer came down and the marginalized were arrested—or worse—they had no digital safety net to drag them back up from the tombs. Martin Parr, astute photographic historian that he is, knows the lessons of the past all too well, and earlier this year decided it was high time to reprint five photo books that depict various protest movements from throughout the 60s and 70s. The resulting compendium is The Protest Box (Steidl), and until its release this fall the books were only available to collectors. The five books cover uprisings throughout Latin America, Japan, Algeria, and Italy, and they slide effortlessly into a utilitarian slipcase that looks like it could’ve fallen off the back of an army truck. The box is limited to 1,500 copies and will set you back about $500 (proving once again that discontent ain’t cheap), so we thought it apt to run a few photos from each book contained within—hors d’oeuvres of dissent, if you will. These photos are taken from Paolo Gasparini’s masterpiece Para Verte Mejor, América Latina, a harrowing documentation of social injustices in Latin America, such as indigenous peoples forced into menial labor and factory jobs. It was first released in 1972 by the Mexican publisher Siglo XXI Editores. These photos are from the 1970 book América: Un Viaje a Través de la Injustica, by Mexican photographer Enrique Bostelmann. Like Gasparini, Bostelmann traveled the continent looking for injustice and highlighted the contrast between capitalism and communism. These images from Kitai Kazou’s Sanrizuka capture the anger that developed in postwar Japan, which spilled over into various popular protest movements. Published in 1971, Kazou’s masterpiece documents the protests against the government’s building of Narita Airport. These were shot by Paola Mattioli and Anna Candiani, who in 1974 photographed the protest against Italy’s repeal of the legalization of divorce for their book Immagini del No, the 11th in a series of photo books entitled Occhio Magico (Magic Eye). In 1960 German photographer Dirk Alvermann published Algerien, from which these photos are taken. The book was ahead of its time—carrying the hallmarks of classic 1970s protest photography and covering both sides of the Algerian insurgence during the country’s struggle for independence.