Please join us in the Bookshop and meet photographer George Selley who is presenting his publication A Study of Assassination published by The Eyes Publishing.
A Study of Assassination revisits a document produced by the CIA in 1953 and declassified in 1997. The book tells the story of a strange case that involved a secret CIA assassination manual, an exiled military dictator and an illegal foreign military intervention, all linked through bananas. Between colorful montages and black and white photographs, George Selley takes us on a journey into an absurd event of American history.
In 1997, following a law on the right to information, the CIA released to the public a document called "A Study of Assassination", written in 1953 during a campaign to destabilize Guatemala, which aimed to overthrow the newly elected president, Arbenz. In June 1954, an offensive composed of mercenaries trained by the CIA following this study eliminates Arbenz, leading to a political disarray that lasted up until 1990.
In this series, George Selley offers a reinterpretation of these events in two parts, based on this study of assassination. The first part is dedicated to the reconstitution of the study with photomontages, playing on the juxtaposition of bright and lively pictures on sinister stories about oppression, capitalist imperialism and assassination. The second part is fictional, and plays with facts and fictions while refering to the disinformation campaign led by the CIA at the time. George Selley combines extracts from the study and guatemalian police reports with pictures the photographer took when he followed the instructions of this study of assassination. On the archives of this document, Selley explores the inconsistencies of a powerful nation, between a vivid economy and dark political motives, and through the stark constrasts between bright yellow bananas and lessons on murder.
George Selley is a photographer, film-maker and researcher based in London. He recently graduated in "Photojournalism and documentary photography" from the London College of Communication, and now teaches photography at the Fine Arts College in Camden. In 2017, he was awarded the Carte Blanche Etudiants award in Paris Photo. The same year, he was a finalist for the Felix Schoeller award, which rewards the best breakthrough photographer. His work was exhibited in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Ukrain, the Netherlands, the US and the UK. George Selley co-founded the Carte Blanche collective and is a member of Inpro.
Thu 5 Sep, 18.00 - 20.00, Bookshop
Free event, no Booking.
