"This article examines the diverse factors shaping the involvement of non-governmental organisation (NGO) with humanitarian photography, paying particular attention to cooperative relationships with photojournalists intended to facilitate the generation of visual coverage of crises otherwise margina
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lised, or ignored altogether, in mainstream news media. The analysis is primarily based on a case study drawing upon 26 semi-structured interviews with NGO personnel (International Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, Oxfam and Save the Children) and photojournalists conducted over 2014-2016, securing original insights into the epistemic terms upon which NGOs have sought to produce, frame and distribute imagery from recurrently disregarded crisis zones. In this way, the article pinpoints how the uses of digital imagery being negotiated by NGOs elucidate the changing, stratified geopolitics of visibility demarcating the visual boundaries of newsworthiness." (Abstract)
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"This Guidance Note is provided by Liberty Asia to NGOs across the Asia region as a suggested statement of best practice and guidance in relation to obtaining and using images of victims of human trafficking, slavery and forced labour. In addition to the Guidance Note, Liberty Asia has also provided
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a suggested form of Consent Letter (Annex 1), and a Checklist of Key Issues (Annex 2) for use by NGOs to supplement and enhance the Guidance Note. This Guidance Note should be consulted by NGOs whenever they are obtaining images of people for use in their publications or other media. This Guidance Note should be used by NGOs whenever obtaining or using images of victims of human tra!cking or forced labour. Consent should always be obtained prior to the use of any image of a person in accordance with the guidance set out in this document." (Introduction, page 7)
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"This edited collection provides a comprehensive overview of ethical issues associated with visual research methods. Considering the work of researchers across a range of disciplines using visual methods in research, it offers practical and thoughtful discussions of emerging methodological and ethic
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al dilemmas in innovative projects using visual methods, either in combination with other methods or as a stand-alone method to answer new kinds of research questions. Both synthesizing central themes and addressing ethical issues particularly relevant to specific research topics, in various settings and from various disciplinary perspectives, it considers how researchers navigate and conceptualise ethical issues. With contributions discussing research conducted in Australia, Argentina, Canada, India, Korea, Norway and the United Kingdom, the book's international scope, disciplinary breadth and the range of methods and research contexts addressed will notably appeal to those seeking to understand the value, and potential ethical risks, of visual methodologies for social research." (Publisher description)
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"Every photography subject deserves to be treated as an autonomous human being, capable of making independent decisions. In case of children, we also need to ensure their parents’ consent. We need to be constantly aware of our position in the power hierarchy — in the development world, in many c
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ases, we control the subject’s access to money, schooling, opportunities, and even fun. So they may defer to us by default, and it is our responsibility to not take advantage of this. It is our duty to protect the subjects from harm, and to ensure they enjoy every possible benefit of participating in our activity." (Page 8)
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"This article is a historical examination of the use of photography in the informational and fundraising strategies of humanitarian organizations. Drawing on archival research and recent scholarship, it shows that the figure of the dead or suffering child has been a centrepiece of humanitarian campa
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igns for over a century and suggests that in earlier eras too, such photos, under certain conditions, could “go viral” and achieve iconic status. Opening with last year’s photo campaign involving the case of 3-year-old Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi, whose body washed up on a Turkish beach near Bodrum in early September 2015, the article draws on select historical examples to explore continuities and ruptures in the narrative framing and emotional address of photos depicting dead or suffering children, and in the ethically and politically charged decisions by NGO actors and the media to publish and distribute such images. We propose that today, as in the past, the relationship between media and humanitarian NGOs remains symbiotic despite contemporary claims about the revolutionary role of new visual technologies and social media." (Abstract)
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"Natürlich ist Grundlage unserer Arbeit auch der Pressekodex. Darüber hinaus haben wir überlegt, was ist das Besondere von uns als katholisches Lateinamerika-Hilfswerk, als „Adveniat“. Wie spielt das mit rein in unsere Bildethik, unsere Ethik in der Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, die Ethik unserer B
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erichterstattung. Die Grundlage für uns ist der Mensch als Ebenbild Gottes mit seiner unveräußerlichen Würde. Notleidende Menschen und Menschen in Krisensituation wollen wir daher immer auch als Subjekte ihres Handelns darstellen und nicht als Opfer. Ganz wichtig ist außerdem: Wir akzeptieren das Recht auf das eigene Bild. Es gibt bei uns auch keine gestellten Bilder, selbst wenn das möglicherweise auf Kosten der Bildauswahl geht, die hinterher zur Verfügung steht. Wenn zum Beispiel ein Journalistenteam in einem Armenviertel für uns ein Projekt, das von „Adveniat“ unterstützt wird, recherchiert und dazu Familien in diesem Viertel besucht, dann werden nur mit Einwilligung dieser Menschen Fotos gemacht. Wenn eine Familie sich also schämt für ihre ärmliche Hütte und nicht möchte, dass man drinnen Bilder macht, dann gibt es eben nur ein Bild vor der Hütte – und damit müssen wir auskommen. Es kommt durchaus vor, dass wir Bilder, die wir gerne gesehen hätten, nicht bekommen. Möglicherweise gibt es dann am Ende sogar mal kein Motiv, bei dem wir sagen, das ist richtig plakattauglich oder es muss lange darum gerungen werden, weil kein entsprechendes Bild verfügbar ist." (S439-440)
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"The research is based on a survey of 45 industry professionals from 15 countries [...] The principal finding is that there is a de facto global consensus on how media organizations understand the manipulation ofimages. Manipulation is seen as involving material changes to an image through the addit
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ion or subtraction of content, and is always deemed unacceptable for news and documentary pictures. Manipulation is therefore a specific form of processing, where the material change to the image through the addition or subtraction of element(s) is designed to deceive or mislead the reader/viewer. Adjustments (such as limited cropping, dodging and burning, toning, color adjustment, conversion to grayscale) to photographs are accepted. These are usually described in terms of“minor“changes being permitted while “excessive“ changes are prohibited." (Executive summary)
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"Im Kontext einer nord-süd-politisch relevanten Information interessiert besonders die Frage der Repräsentation, der Klischeebildung, der Ermächtigung. Ein Foto kann empathisch aufmerksam machen oder zur Schau stellen, aber auch Nähe erzeugen, berühren. Nicht immer folgt auf eine gute Absicht e
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ine gute Praxis. Entwürdigende Fotografie ist, wenn Menschen stilisiert oder als Platzhalter eingesetzt werden. Das kommt in der Fair-Trade-Werbung vor (S.25). Oder wenn sie – wie häufig in der Spendenwerbefotografie von Hilfswerken – viktimisiert werden. Das Foto einer Person kann etwas sehr Privates weltweit und öffentlich kundtun. So zum Beispiel das Foto eines Mädchens ohne Kleider, das – mit Entsetzen im Gesicht – vor dem Napalmangriff südvietnamesischer Flieger weg- und einem Pressefotografen entgegenläuft. Und damit den Augen von Millionen BetrachterInnen in der westlichen Welt, nachdem das Bild mit der Vergabe des World Press Photo Awards 1972 schließlich zum Symbol für die Grausamkeit des Vietnamkrieges wurde. Ein Foto kann Gewalt sichtbar machen. So vermag ein Bild von Gefangenen die Willkür ihrer Peiniger ausdrücken. Der Blick in eine Fabrikhalle mit einem Nähmaschinenpark kann den vernichtenden Charakter eines Systems darstellen. Ein Foto kann vom unmenschlichen Grauen erzählen. Oder es kann Verstoßene rehabilitieren; etwa wenn Personen ihre Versehrungen zeigen (S.17) und dabei Momente des Vertrauens und des Glücks zum Ausdruck bringen. Ein Foto kann Zuversicht schaffen. Der abgelichtete Moment eines Handschlages – wie zwischen Nelson Mandela und F.W. De Klerk – hat ein Zeitalter der Hoffnung auf das Ende der Apartheid eingeläutet. Ein Foto kann ermächtigen. Die Porträts von Trans-Personen der Aktivistin Zanele Muholi sind wie eine Ausstellung der Existenz des Schönen, der Liebe und des Menschseins gegen eine homophobe Stimmung (S.30). Die Kraft eines Fotos im emanzipatorischen Sinn – liegt oft in der Irritation. Ein kleiner Zweifel, ein kurzer Knacks im herrschenden Diskurs. Fotografie kann – das klingt schlicht – Sichtbarkeit schaffen. Die Fotos der Gruppe Lampedusa in Hamburg Professions (S.31), erinnern daran, dass hierzulande viele Menschen eine Vorliebe dafür hegen, sich über ihren Beruf in Wert zu setzten, anderen diese Repräsentation aber gerne aberkennen." (Editorial)
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"Discussion of the visual politics of solidarity, in relation specifically to the representation of suffering and development, has been grounded in analysis of images. This paper seeks to expand this debate by exploring the organizational politics that shape and are shaped by these images. The paper
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is inspired by production studies in the cultural industries and draws on interviews with 17 professionals from 10 UK-based international development and humanitarian organizations, who are engaged in planning and producing imagery of international development and humanitarian issues. It discusses how power relations, tensions, and position-taking shape the arguments and choices made by NGOs producing images of suffering and development. I focus on two arenas of struggle about how to visualize solidarity: (a) intra-organizational politics - specifically tensions within NGOs between fundraising and/or marketing departments, and communications, campaign and/or advocacy departments, and (2) inter-organizational politics: the competing tendencies towards convergence, cohesiveness, and collective identity of the humanitarian sector, and competition, distinction, and divergence between organizations on the other. I show that NGOs' visual production is an area of conflict, negotiation and compromise, and argue for the crucial need for attention to organizational politics in the production of visual representations of distant suffering in order to uncover diverse and competing motivations, and the forces driving current humanitarian and development communications." (Abstract)
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"This article critically examines Unicef’s campaign in Slovenia, aimed at helping children in Ruanda, which caused huge public support in terms of the raised finances and visibility, but it also provoked a serious opposition from African people living in Slovenia and some academics. The article in
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vestigates the role of negative stereotypical consequences of such African images. The method of our research was a detailed visual analysis of the campaign including profound interviews with different parties that gave us their point of view. The campaign was financially very successful, especially because of the big media coverage. The marketing company had no ethical hesitations in designing this campaign, although they received some hindrances from the Slovenian African Centre. The main goal was to raise as much money as possible to help these children, but helping in this way has never enabled Africa to develop into an independent continent. One article, which may present a true image of a certain area, is not problematic, but a continuous representation of only one image can lead to stereotypes that trigger discrimination. The Slovenian public received a confused, muddled and incomplete picture of Africa, because the images were taken out of context and portray the whole continent as helpless and in need of the ‘West’ to prosper. The used images consolidate the status quo of the European superiority. Overall, that kind of analysis can provide useful insights into some of the strategies for a more positive image of Africa in the future." (Abstract)
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"From the massacre of the Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee to the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, from famine in China to apartheid in South Africa, Picturing Atrocity examines a broad spectrum of photographs. Each of the essays focuses specifically on an iconic image, offering a distinct approach
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and context, in order to enable us to look again; and this time more closely at the picture. In addition, four photo-essays showcase the work of photographers involved in the making of photographs of brutality as well as the artists' own reflections on these images. Together these essays cover the historical and geographical range of atrocity photographs and respond to current concerns about such disturbing images; they probe why we as viewers feel compelled to look even when our instinct might be to look away." (Publisher description)
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"This article examines the many factors influencing NGO advertisements and their visual representations of the Third World. Focusing on two specific advertisements, this work explores the influence of practical constraints and specific marketing techniques. Applying the work of Edward Said and Homi
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Bhabha in its analysis, this article will consider the relationship of the NGO advertisements to colonial discourse. Visual representations of the Third World that circulated into Europe during colonialism naturalized the division between white and black racial categories. This distinction, as utilized in the advertisements, is explored through Paulette Goudge's The Whiteness of Power. Following, an examination of imagery as grounded in a specific understanding of development is undertaken with reference to Arturo Escobar's work. Both advertisements' imagery is argued to be an essential part of justifying the development practices. It is concluded that as producers of visual representations, NGOs are in a position to disseminate alternative depictions of the Third World1 and, consequently, contribute to the production of new discourses within the field of development." (Abstract)
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"The second edition of this already-classic text has been completely revised to reflect the metamorphosis of communication in the last 15 years and the ubiquity of visual communication in our modern mediated lifestyle. 13 major theories of communication are defined by the top experts in their fields
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: perception, cognition, aesthetics, visual rhetoric, semiotics, cultural studies, ethnography, narrative, media aesthetics, digital media, intertextuality, ethics, and visual literacy. Each of these theory chapters is followed by an exemplar study or two in the area, demonstrating the various methods used in visual communication research as well as the research approaches applicable for specific media types. The Handbook of Visual Communication is a theoretical and methodological handbook for visual communication researchers and a compilation for much of the theoretical background necessary to understand visual communication. It is required reading for scholars, researchers, and advanced students in visual communication, and it will be influential in other disciplines such as advertising, persuasion, and media studies. The volume will also be essential to media practitioners seeking to understand the visual aspects of how audiences use media to contribute to more effective use of each specific medium." (Publisher description)
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"Journalism was imported into Africa from the West. However, this does not mean that the ethical principles on which African journalism is based should be similarly imported. In this collection, numerous mass communication specialists outline the ethical problems and solutions in the arena of Africa
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n journalism. Opinions differ: on who should be blamed for the lack of morals among African journalists - the journalist, the employer, the politicians or the general public; on which form of ethics is most suitable for Africa - deontological, utilitarian, situational, or a combination of some or all of these; on the best ways to build ethical principles within the profession - through education, through legislation, or through reliance on journalistic good will." (DÜI-Hff)
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