Confronting ‘Inescapable Truths’ of journalism amid conflict

A layered perspective

A majority of the exhibition’s works are oil paintings with silk overlays that capture layered frames of Foley’s footage, lending the still images a sense of movement and multiple perspectives. The paintings range from under 2 feet by 3 feet to large-scale canvases that stretch more than 8 feet in length and almost seem to invite the viewer to step inside the scene.

Some depict scenes from the conflict, like “Exposed,” a 7-foot-tall diptych that shows rebels firing rounds with high-caliber machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Others capture the human toll of conflict, as in “Mother’s Lament,” which pictures a Syrian woman mourning her son.

A few works have sections of Foley’s handwritten notes superimposed over the images, like “Ruins,” which shows the decimated downtown area of Sirte, Libya, after the capture and killing of Muammar al-Qaddafi. On top of the cityscape is writing from a page of Foley’s journal that chronicles his first kidnapping and the 44 days he spent as a hostage in Libya in 2011.

Though some of McCallum’s work showed briefly in New York City prior to the pandemic, this is the first time the complete exhibition makes its debut with the incorporation of augmented reality (AR) videos.

The AR element allows viewers to use their smartphone to see short sections of Foley’s raw footage from the same day captured by the painting. With a tap, the work becomes a virtual screen, with the clips playing within the boundaries of the work’s frame.

For example, when a viewer trains their phone camera on “Ruins,” the image of the city fades to show video clips of rubble, bullet hole-ridden walls and bodies covered in white sheets.

McCallum hopes that engaging with the AR will create a “searing stamp” on a viewer’s memory that will inform how they see the painting and the moments it depicts.

“The viewer will be in Jim's shoes,” McCallum said. “You'll hear his voice, you'll see the movement of the camera, you'll see the dynamics that surround that day.”

Student collaboration

The exhibition has also been a hands-on learning opportunity for Northwestern students. Last fall, one section of the Knight News Innovation Laboratory’s studio class was devoted to curating the exhibition. The half-dozen students were tasked with crafting its narratives and finding the best way for audiences to engage with the physical art and AR.

For Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications second-year students Nora Rosenfeld and Arthi Venkatesh, the class and the exhibition encouraged them to think more deeply about what it means to be a journalist, as well as how new storytelling styles can engage audiences differently.

They hope that Foley’s story can be a reminder to viewers about the crucial role of conflict journalism and the importance of supporting and protecting those who do it.

“You wouldn't be seeing any of the footage that you've ever seen of a war if there wasn't a conflict journalist there,” Venkatesh said.

After the class ended, Rosenfeld and Venkatesh stayed on the project during the winter quarter, continuing to do curation and manage exhibition logistics.

The students used the decentralized space of the fourth-floor library corridors to tell Foley’s story, including background on the conflicts he covered, as well as reflections from his mother and the aim of the Foley Foundation.

“It's up to the viewer to engage more deeply with whatever they are most interested in,” Venkatesh said.

They also made sure to make spaces for viewers to decompress from the sometimes-challenging subjects and think about the themes they present.

“You're able to step back and reflect on the sacrifice that it took to be able to go and collect those stories and interview those people,” Rosenfeld said. “As someone who’s studying journalism, it makes me feel really proud to be going into that industry.”