Photography as Knowledge Production and Decolonial Visual Literacy by Alfredo Brand

‘Seeing Otherwise: Photography, Visual Literacy, and Decolonial Knowledge’, the twelfth episode of the Transform4Europe Podcast, explores photography as a powerful form of knowledge production and visual literacy as a decolonial tool that allows us to produce, interpret and communicate images with greater autonomy, awareness and social responsibility.

In this episode, Sara Magno, Outreach Officer for T4EU at Universidade Católica Portuguesa, talks to Alfredo Brand — photographer, artist and researcher at the Católica — ‘analysing how art and photography can promote digital awareness, inclusion and sustainability, contributing to Transform4Europe's vision of a more connected and creative Europe,’ emphasises the presenter.

Based on visual cultural studies and his own international artistic practice, Alfredo Brand presents visual literacy as a decolonial tool that allows individuals to produce, interpret and communicate images with greater autonomy, awareness and social responsibility.

The conversation explores how photography can contribute to more inclusive, sustainable and reflective forms of education and civic participation, particularly in relation to cultural heritage, urban transformation and digital image cultures.

In this episode, Alfredo Brand also emphasises the importance of visual literacy as a space for articulation between subjective experience and the social dimension of reality. For the researcher, it is precisely in this articulation that its greatest transformative potential lies. ‘When combined, they can have really powerful results, they can produce really powerful results, because it's about you and the world you live in.’

The photographer also highlights the importance of a more practical and conscious relationship with images, beyond digital and artificial intelligence, arguing for the need to think critically about how we use images, especially at a time when they can be easily manipulated. ‘I think that being autonomous in the way we articulate the image is also important in order to fight against manipulation.’

Reflecting on issues such as gentrification, overtourism and the affective power of images, the artist and researcher highlights the importance of sensory and practice-based approaches to learning that connect subjective experience with collective challenges — values that are fundamental to the T4EU Alliance.

Listen to the full episode: