People in Trouble Laughing Pushed to the Ground

This book by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin explores the impact of the Troubles in Northern Ireland from an oblique perspective. Its contents are drawn from the Belfast Exposed Archive, a repository of images taken by photojournalists and civilian photographers during the Troubles, and which document both the dramatic and the everyday aspects of life during that turbulent period.

Working with the Archive’s 14,000 contact sheets, Broomberg and Chanarin selected images which had been partially obscured by small round stickers – an indication that the photo in question had been selected for media use in the past. Each spread in the book reveals the circular area beneath one of these stickers, drawing attention to a previously hidden moment or encounter and placing the anonymous hand of the archivists and photo-editors suddenly centre stage. Titles throughout the book are set in the typeface Vanquish, reminiscent of the wall writings prevalent in the photographs; all other text is set in Berthold Baskerville.