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Photography in movement: the right to photograph, ethics in imaging, and the art of making social change

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Photography in movement: the right to photograph, ethics in imaging, and the art of making social change

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Photography in Movement:
The Right to Photograph, Ethics in Imaging, and the Art of Making Social Change
by
Michelle Angela Martinez
_______________________________________________
A dissertation submitted to
The Faculty of The Graduate School of
The University of Southern California
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science,
Program in Politics and International Relations

Defense Date: 19 February 2015
Degree Conferral Date: May 2015

May 2015

Copyright 2015 Michelle (Míchel) Angela Martinez
ABSTRACT
It is almost a cliché to say we live in a visual culture. Photographs are all around
us, used by corporations, governments, legal institutions, and social movement groups.
While there is much research on photography and on politics, there is relatively little at
their intersection, and still less literature to guide activists interested in harnessing the
power of the image. What are some of the problems that arise in using photographs to
communicate about social justice issues? How does law—constitutional rights;
government and police actions; the values of free speech; the right to know, create, and
disseminate information; publicity and privacy, public life and private life; image
ownerships; and more—interact with photography, particularly given ever-expanding
image-recording technologies? How do we reconcile these tensions? If we can reconcile
the myriad legal issues, are there strategic ways to effectively deploy images for social
justice campaigns? If so, what are they, how can we test these strategies and measure
their impact, and how can we compare and learn from successes/failures in this regard?
These critical issues are addressed using examples from historical and contemporary
movements and social justice campaign efforts. The ongoing epidemic of police
brutality—both in the United States and internationally—is taken as a case study of
image deployment in the context of the movements to hold police accountable for their
actions. The author argues for the right to photograph and demonstrates images are key
for organizers working for social change.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter One Introduction p. 4

Chapter Two Exception and Objection: Photography and
Resisting the Post-9/11 Security State
p. 30

Chapter Three Interpreting the Scope of the Right to
Photograph: Ethical Considerations
p. 108

Chapter Four An Approach to Image Impact Analysis:
Accountability for Police Brutality
p. 206

Chapter Five Conclusion p. 235

Appendix
Appendix A: How major disciplines discuss
human rights, photography, and activism

Appendix B: Protecting The Right to
Photograph: A Brief Guide
p. 240
p. 241

p. 242

Bibliography p. 248
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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
Photography is inextricably linked to politics. Political actions are seamlessly and
unwittingly tied to our visually-saturated, image-driven society. In this study I consider
some of the problems that arise when social movements aim to utilize photographic
images. Important for my analysis are a number of legal questions tied to constitutional
rights. I investigate governmental and police actions that implicate the values of free
speech and the right to know, create, and disseminate information. I also consider
publicity and privacy, and image ownerships insofar as they relate to the control of
photography. With the ever-expanding image-recording technologies, we must consider
how to reconcile these tensions which I do in chapters two and three. After addressing
the various legal issues, I then take up questions regarding how to strategically marshal
images for purposes of social justice: what are the most effective modes of deployment,
how can we test these strategies and measure their impact? I ask how can we compare
and learn from successes and failures of activists whose organizations and movements
have deployed images. In the final analysis, I suggest criteria by which we might judge
success in order to facilitate social justice campaigns in the future.
This dissertation has two main goals: one, to evaluate the range of difficulties
related to photography for social justice efforts, and two, to guide activists as they seek to
make audio-visuals key components of their campaigns. While there is a vast literature
in fields such as aesthetics, photography, law, journalism, social movements, psychology,
business, and communications about images, these literatures rarely intersect or engage
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one another. I will draw on these multiple disciplines in this work in order to create an
interdisciplinary study that better reflects the actual usage of photographs, that is, the
reality of organizers’ experiences and socio-political life.
In this introduction I briefly introduce some of the literature that serves as a
springboard for the central issues, discuss the range of “problematics” found in
commentary about what I refer to as “photography for social justice,” and then provide an
overview of what subsequent chapters hold. But first: what is photography for social
justice?

PHOTOGRAPHY FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
Simply put, “photography for social justice” is the practice of taking photographs
and using the still images as a strategic part of social justice work. These can be actual
images of real things, for example, people in prison or an earthquake-damaged landscape,
to show what these things really look like; or they can be symbolic representations, such
as images of activists dressed in orange jumpsuits and hoods to represent the prisoners of
Guantánamo Bay. That is, the images can be intended as literal representations, of
“reality,” of “things as they are” (Panzer & Caujolle, 2007), they can be metaphorical, or
fall somewhere in between.
The literal images are typically shared by activists in order to say to the world,
“look: this happens and is unacceptable.” The metaphorical renderings, the more artistic
or performative images, can do the same if representing real situations that cannot be
captured on film. They may also be selected to make the presentation more palatable,
stylized, accessible, eye-catching, or to avoid exploitation and privacy concerns for those
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who have survived abuse. The images are used to inform, to build familiarity with
complex or distant suffering, stir emotions, and convey ideas about issues that are
difficult to grasp without being seen firsthand. The idea is to move people to act—to
boycott, sit-in, donate, join a group, send letters, vote, take to the streets en masse, and so
on. Sometimes images work and sometimes they do not, but it is unclear whether there is
some formula or set of predictors regarding success that we can use to design future
campaigns that we can be assured are likely to work. Although it seems improbable that
we can ever devise such a formula or reveal a foolproof set of success-indicators, we
may, nevertheless, be able to agree on a set of principles to guide photography for social
justice efforts, from the camera to editorial rooms to a citizen journalist’s personal blog.
Guiding principles may make the photographs tend toward ethical representations
as opposed to exploitative ones, successful for the long-term versus sensational and eye-
catching in the short-term. These issues are a major theme of this work, and I will
continue to comment on them throughout the text.
Regarding the scope of this project, while I will occasionally reference or discuss
cinema, documentary film, and videography, the primary focus of this dissertation is the
still image.
1
This is a practically and methodologically motivated choice—I must limit
the work somehow, as including all photography and video would be overwhelming. But
there are other reasons for this choice, as well. Restricting the analysis to photographs
extends my reach into history and historical photography for social justice; I can stretch
back to retrieve images and moments that photography captured but video, as a newer
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1
Also, I will necessarily discuss photography as a practice—not only photography for social justice—
because there are legal and technical aspects that apply, generally, while affecting photography for social
justice, specifically.
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technology, could not. Furthermore, still photos continue to dominate the news,
billboards, posters, websites, pamphlets, books, and other print and digital media.
Photographs are more accessible and easier to create, share, and take with us. This is true
across the board and across borders. That is, still images transcend class, culture, and
media market in a way films and video do not. It can also be said that, even when
watching a movie or news reel. It is stills, frozen in our mind’s eye, that stay with us.
We reduce live footage of Tiananmen to the still of “tank man” (CNN, 2013); video of
Iranian protester Neda fleeing police only to be caught and beaten by them, is replaced by
a single image of her frozen face, surrounded by a pool of blood (NEDAyeeIRAN,
2009);
2
Bloody Sunday is reduced to frozen images of a police riot, gas masked men,
enveloped in tear gas, connecting night sticks with black skin (PBS, 1965/2007).
Frozen frames from video of Tiananmen Square (1989); Neda’s murder in Tehran (2009);
and the police attack on marchers on Edmund Pettus Bridge (1965).

WHY DO WE NEED PHOTOGRAPHY FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE?
Visuals—as I mentioned earlier—have become an increasingly integral part of
everything we do. From photos exchanged among friends, to photographs of
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2
Nedā Āġā Soltān ($%ِ' $() '$*+ُ-) was 26 years old when she was chased and shot dead by the Basij in
the street during the 2009 Iranian election protests that eventually became the Green Movement. The video
of her death was broadcast on YouTube, leading Krista Mahr, an international correspondent, wrote that it
was likely "the most widely witnessed death in human history." These and other circulating images
eventually led to Neda Soltan being confused with very-much alive academic, Neda Soltani. Within 12
days of Soltan’s murder, Soltani was forced to flee for her life and take up residence in Munich. Her book,
My Stolen Face (2012), details her experience of photographs causing a potentially deadly case of mistaken
identity.
8!
dignitaries—in dignified and not so dignified positions—photographs carry great
meaning. They can be used as evidence, to stoke emotions, and to provoke social,
political, and cultural change, as well as bureaucratic response and reform at micro and
macro levels. These things happen already, both as intentional pieces of campaign efforts
for change and as accidental, serendipitous, or tragic incidents.
We will be unable to prevent the capture and dissemination of every
compromising image: for example, the exploitatively graphic, tawdry, or deceptive
photo—nor should we, as freedom of expression is too important for society to begin
barring certain images from public view and debate. However, if we can encourage
individual activists, their organizations, and their staff photographers and freelancers to
modify their style, to approach their work and “subjects” with a greater respect and
compassionate eye, we may begin to see progress on the issues. This would mean
photography and design would be focused on achieving social justice and eradicating
abuse long-term, as opposed to snapping the picture that will sell the most papers, draw
the most new members, or drive the largest donations. We must see broad and deep
social change in the future as the true goal, not the meeting of short-term, organization-
centric metrics.
Audio-visual efforts are already parts of campaigns and organizations; indeed,
whole NGO departments are dedicated to this expertise. But the standard model has staff
and photographers and designers looking for the most aggressive, depressing images,
looking for an image that is either eye-catchingly beautiful or disturbingly gruesome, as
opposed to informative and illuminating.
3
This creates campaign literature, flyers, and
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3
These need not be mutually exclusive—images can be upsetting or beautiful while being
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web pages that may attract viewers—nay, voyeurs—but rarely, if ever, translates these
individuals into more. That is, activists, crusaders, change-makers. The images do not
encourage people to reach beyond the flat representation before them: it shows them
something pretty, or pretty awful, and that is all. Little if any background or context is
provided, and no potentially useful course of action or discussion of how conditions
might be improved, is presented. Glossy calendars, notecards, and posters, slick annual
reports, websites, and Facebook pages, may be maximizing the number of eyes exposed
to certain issues, but they are not engaging the brain behind those eyes in critical thinking
about the underlying problems attested to by the photograph. Tattered clothes and
starving bodies are much more than just these things. They are evidence of broken social
systems, political oppression, corruption, and discrimination. These are issues that
cannot—have not, and will not—be solved with donations to non-profits or by swelling
the ranks of their membership lists. They are symptoms of complicated, systemic issues
that require far deeper thought and action than, “this is sad. I should buy this calendar so
the organization has some money to send to these people so they have shoes.” After all,
the message of the calendar is, “buying me is a good deed. Proceeds go to the
organization whose logo is prominently featured, and this group can be trusted to do
something likewise good with that money” (Lahusen, 1996; Makhijani, 1992; Stupart,
2012; Watkins, 2013; Žižek, 2009). Conversely, the message of photography for social
justice is “contemplate the suffering before you. How can we work to eradicate it? What
would it really take? What is to be done?” As it stands, organizations transform images
of suffering into capitalist tools for capitalist problem-solving: they assume if one throws
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informative—but the desire to inform the public through the image must predominate, it should be the
primary goal in taking the photograph.
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money at the problem, it will improve. This model has dominated for decades, and yet
little has changed (Anderson, 1999; Banerjee & Duflo, 2011; Easterly, 2006; Haan, 2009;
Moyo, 2009; Polman, 2010). Knowing full well by now this model is not enough, we
must assume the responsibility of trying something radically different and more
holistically progressive when it comes to imaging and social justice advocacy.
Photographs must be taken and used in a manner meant to reach people on a level
so deep, they are driven to strive for systemic change. As images are now deployed, we
cannot say they are components of a social justice campaign, but rather that they are
devices that promote organizational branding, expand non-profit market share, and
frequently exploit, in one way or another, suffering to increase financial solvency. All
too often, organizations are focused on bringing in dollars to pay operational costs,
overhead, staff, to print reports, fly to meetings, and so on. Communications literature
tends to suggest the more eye-catching and sensational media attracts the most attention
and therefore the most dollars (Brader, 2006; K. Collins, 2011; Freedman & Goldstein,
1999; Geer, 2006; J. M. Miller & Krosnick, 2004; Moeller, 1999; Neuman, Marcus,
MacKuen, & Crigler, 2007; Valentino, Hutchings, Banks, & Davis, 2008), but this tactic
does not necessarily translate to social change.
4
Furthermore, these organizations tend to
prescribe a specific, narrow set of opportunities for action—vote, write a letter, click and
sign their online petition, join as a dues-paying member, donate to their group, purchase
their brand of fair trade coffee, or perhaps received a “free” package in exchange for a
donation.
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4
On the other hand, if we did know it reliably translates to social change, we could then turn to the
ethical question of whether the end justified the means—that is, whether achieving social change was worth
being exploitive and sensational in the process.
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But we should all doubt that this “conscious consumerism” has any positive
impact on those it is meant to. Some research suggests the impact is greatest on the well-
being of the “giver”—they receive a moral-psychological boost, feeling like a good
person for having done a good deed. Literature goes so far as to suggest people treat their
donations as credits, or passes, excuses they can behave badly in the future or other
settings (Begley, 2010; Mazar & Zhong, 2010; Sachdeva, Iliev, & Medin, 2009; Zhong,
Ku, Lount, & Murnighan, 2010; Žižek, 2009). While it would be unrealistic to suggest
pure altruism and nothing less is the only way, one must question a system where
individuals help themselves by pretending to help others, even if they mean well.
Organizations use images to manipulate consumers into buying their brand of rights
activism and social justice. They narrowly define the field of possible actions,
proscribing all but the most traditional, consumerist options—for example, as mentioned
above, sending donations, buying a membership or purchasing knick-knacks, calendars,
coffee, and the like. If exploitative, uninformative images further these activities, and
little to nothing more, they cannot be considered part of doing social justice.
For images to constitute a legitimate part of rights work, those who take and use
them must have social justice as their goal, and this sense of purpose needs to radiate
throughout the image, not take advantage of the subject for organizational gain. They
must inform the casual observer and committed activist, alike, and make suggestions
about the problems at the core of the image. The structural, social, cultural, political, and
individual problems both implied and on display. Singular images generally cannot be
expected to do all of this on their own, so photo-essays, collage work, exhibits,
collaborations across artists and mediums, and both online and physical spaces should be
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developed to help provide the fullest picture of what the issues are. Part and parcel of
expanding the pictorial frame in this way is positing a thoughtful range of possibilities for
meaningful action on the part of viewers, and even a space from which relationships can
be built and action can be organized. Research has long shown that people are more
likely to act if one, they are asked, and two, if they are explicitly offered concrete
possibilities for action, if a clear idea or two is put forth (Edwards & McCarthy, 2007;
McAdam, 1986; J. M. Miller & Krosnick, 2004; Oegema & Klandermans, 1994; Snow &
Rochford, Jr., 1983). To mobilize individuals, images have to inform viewers, empower
them as global citizens, encouraging people to make change based on knowledge, rather
than limiting their actions to the organization’s conservatively tailored needs and designs.
As I will show, photographers for social justice invite criticism and debate, maintain
transparency, build trust, and commit to long-term engagement with the ultimate goal of
eradicating the social ills their images reveal.
Ultimately, I contend that we need photography for social justice because we
simply do not have it. To date there exists a model that organizations and activists have
settled into—have settled for—because it meets bottom lines and attracts eyes: hits, page
views, donors, members. We need photography for social justice because we need social
change, not the expedient markers enumerated above, which are the only things that the
current image-regime garners. Perpetuating this manner of photography and repeating
these failures should not continue to be an option in social justice work; we cannot keep
doing the same thing expecting a different result. What we have now are advertisements
disguised as advocacy, but making social change will require the reverse.

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THE STATUS OF RESEARCH
Embarking on this project, it appeared that most research on photography was in
disciplines other than political science. The largest body of scholarship is located in the
arts, but it also exists in anthropology, communications, marketing, critical theory, and
sociology. However, while these disciplines may discuss political events, issues, and
individuals, the works I have encountered do not squarely and holistically engage images
as political objects or activist tools (See Table 1 in the Appendix). I aim to do that here.
And while sometimes images are anecdotally associated with changes in public opinion,
policy, and history—think Viet Nam, civil rights, or child labor—other times, despite an
image’s apparent resonance or renown, no justice or social change is achieved. Little
work exists to guide those of us who make and use photographs with a social agenda, or
to help us think about which, why, and how certain images may inspire activism.
Because I felt this critical issue was unexplored, and the advocacy prism under-utilized, I
decided to pursue this project.
Three successes, one failure?: Lewis Hine & child labor (1908); Charles Moore & Civil Rights (1963);
Nick Út & Vietnam (1972); Raghu Rai & Bhopal’s Union Carbide disaster (1984).

LITERATURE REVIEW
Much scholarship delves into issues I confront here, but in different ways, with
different focal points, and most significantly, to different ends. While I aim to
specifically address photography as an activist practice and as it is used in social causes,
14!
current work in politics and photography concentrates on most everything but these
issues. For example, it covers historical events, aesthetics, technology and technique, but
generally avoids activist practice. Authors also tend to either confine their analyses to the
four corners of a photograph or set of photographs, or to give a broad treatment to the
images, for example, discussing them as illustrative of a larger historical moment or style.
I aim to use specific examples and case studies to discern a few patterns in social
movement photography, including the use of damaging tropes or questionable tactics for
acquiring images. I also plan to assess the impact of specific images in activist contexts
in order to provide strategic insights to social movements interested in harnessing the
power of the photography.
Art historians
5
are the researchers who most commonly address photography and
its place in society. However, they overwhelmingly investigate the photographs’
aesthetics and technical merits—or demerits. Technological change, and the eras in
which the images were produced are other popular focal points, as are the growth of
photography as its own artistic medium; the use of photography as an aid in drawing,
painting, illustration, planning, and archiving; the rise of particular photographic styles,
lighting, and staging trends; progressions in chemical development processes and
manipulation (Baron, 2008; Brugioni, 1999; Fineman, 2012; Marien, 2011; E. Morris,
2011; Newhall, 2009); photographs as evidence (M. Berger, 2010; Burke, 2008; Didi-
Huberman, 2012; Tagg, 1988); and the overwhelming contemporary adoption of the
digital medium and frequency of manipulation (Brugioni, 1999; Lister, 2013; Marien,
2011; Panzer & Caujolle, 2007). There are also frequent discussions of the
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5
Scholars in the separate fields of art and of history also take up these issues in manners often similar to
art historians.
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photographers themselves, their monographs, biographical details, and individual works
associated with particular communities, events, or periods of time (J. Ellis, 1998; Frei,
2003; Friend, 2011; Logan, 2002; Neumaier, 1995; Pardo, 1998). These explorations are
valuable for those of us interested in learning about whether there are types or styles of
images that are more likely to have a positive impact, or if it may be the renown of a
certain photographer that causes an image to “go viral,” or to be widely adopted by and
long associated with a social cause. However, while there may be passing reference to
image impact, political significance, popularity, or self-conscious adoption of particular
images by social movements, most scholars do not directly pursue such matters, or what
they may mean for broader politics. For example, some suggest Malcolm X was strategic
in his photo-ops—as did one of his admirers, photographer Eve Arnold (Rawlings, 2013),
but what effect might these efforts have had is not considered. How was X strategic and
how did this affect the photographs, their use, and public reception? These questions
have political implications and their answers might guide contemporary movements.
Nevertheless, style, trends, themes, and technical and biographical notes are the dominant
topics for researchers in the arts.
Related to the arts, but rooted in philosophy and critical theory, is aesthetics.
Pertaining to the meaning and nature of beauty, of “taste” and “the sublime,” aesthetics
directly addresses visual culture, but rarely engages with activists and social movement
groups. Further, much of the writing in aesthetics occurs at a high level of abstraction,
referencing niche art theory and esoteric corners of philosophy (see for example Bloch,
1980; Cahn & Meskin, 2008; Meltzer & Williams, 2008; Mitchell, 2005). These
explorations and thought exercises can be useful, but they rarely return from on high to
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offer specific applications and guidance to activists and their realties on the ground. One
newer publication, the Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, a low-profile, sporadically
produced publication founded by LA-based artists and brothers, Robbie and Marc Herbst,
has attempted to make inroads here, but being so local and niche, itself, it has yet to
receive much attention or reach its larger target audiences. Unfortunately, in 2013, after
only eight issues, the founders considered folding. The combination of politics,
photography, and studies in aesthetics is ripe for exploration for scholars and activists,
although few journals are devoted to this type of research.
The field of international relations is another discipline that should be analyzing
imagery, but for the most part fails to do so. Indirect references occur in the literature, or
works may suggest the importance of images, but in depth analyses are rare. On the
occasions international relations scholars do include photographs in their scholarly texts,
these tend to serve merely as documentation. For example, they show us that an
archduke was shot (Saunders, 2006; Yapp, Johns, & Brinkley, 2007), a war fought (Boot,
2004; Frei, 2003; Haviv, 2000; Haviv, Knight, Kratochvil, Nachtwey, & Ladefoged,
2005; L. Miller, 2005; J. G. Morris, 2002; Nachtwey, Moorehead, & ICRC, 2009), or a
treaty signed (Brezina, 2005; Gilbert, 2004; Yapp et al., 2007); they are proof that
innocent human beings had been attacked, imprisoned, interned, murdered, starved, and
tortured (J. Allen, 2000; Apel & Smith, 2007; M. Berger, 2010; Cox, 2008; Danchev,
2008; Didi-Huberman, 2012; Goldberg, 1993, 1994; Moore & Durham, 2007; Till
Bradley, 1955; Zelizer, 1998), and that others were burned by napalm dropped from safe
distance (Chapnick, 1994; Owen & Purdey, 2009; Út, 1972). Photographs in
international relations work may also serve as evidence in real time, for example, as proof
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that a genocide is raging (David, 2011; DigitalGlobe satellite, UNITAR/UNOSAT, &
Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, 2011; Gourevitch, 1998; Haviv, 1992; Linfield, 2012;
Wegner & Armenian National Institute, Inc, 1915), an ongoing concern for humanity and

Photographic revelations of genocide: Armenia (1915);
Cambodia (1975); Bosnia (1992); Sudan (2011).

international law proponents despite choruses of “never again” (S. Power, 2007). While
international relations scholarship may obliquely refer to the importance of images,
representations of state power, photo-ops, global activist networks, messaging tactics, and
contemporary tools for sharing images and details about current events (C. Carpenter,
2011; C. Carpenter & Jose, 2012; Finnemore & Sikkink, 1998; Keck & Sikkink, 1998), it
tends not to focus on the pursuit of images themselves, nor their symbols and meaning.
This gap persists in surprising instances, for example, in analyses of organizations that
have made intentional and well-publicized efforts in arts and imagery, such as Amnesty
International (Clark, 2001; J. Power, 2001; Wong, 2008). Perhaps more glaring, still, is
that even when the word “image” is in the title, as it is with Helen Kinsella’s book, The
Image Before the Weapon (2011), actual images and image-based campaigns are almost
never discussed.
By contrast, activists around the world, whether addressing domestic or
transnational issues, are using images to communicate with one another and their broader
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audiences—including foreign nationals with whom they may not share a language.
Images are prime communicators. One need only think briefly of the Iranian Green
Movement, Tunisia’s latest Jasmine Revolution, the Arab Spring, Occupy, uprisings in
Burma, unrest in Brazil, or many other movements, before a host of visceral images
rushes to mind. These images have seared themselves in our brains and become
inextricably linked to our thoughts and feelings about those movements. These images
are central to our understandings of international relations. Examining the importance of
photography in these contexts is critical, but as of yet mostly unexplored, territory.
The field of communications also often addresses photography, primarily in its
discussions of journalism and the technologies involved in capturing and disseminating
images of current events. The source of the image is another frequent topic for this
discipline. That is, they consider whether images are coming from a professional corps
press employees and freelancers, or from today’s everyday citizens and citizen
journalists; whether they are plucked from social media or collected and licensed by
photo-houses; whether images were staged or organic, and so on. Questions of media
ethics, consistently interrogated by scholars like Larry Gross, are perhaps less “exciting,”
but are of prime importance (Borer, 2012; L. Gross, 1988; L. Gross, Katz, & Ruby, 1988;
L. P. Gross, Ruby, & Katz, 2003; Rabinowitz, 1994; Schaffer & Smith, 2004). Should
the “if it bleeds” philosophy continue to reign? This question is important because the
trend may be leading to greater sensationalism and “compassion fatigue,” as was
hypothesized by groundbreaking media studies professor, Susan Moeller. It is likewise
useful to determine which issues receive media attention—and consequently, our
attention—and why, so that activists might plan their outreach efforts accordingly
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(Cohen, 2001; Moeller, 1999). There are also normative questions: how should
journalists be approaching and re-telling current events and people’s lives? If there is a
desire to rethink journalistic approaches, then it is worth asking how space can be created
so people can relate their own stories to international audiences, direct and unfiltered.
This study is concerned with the practice of visual politics and persuasion, namely the
role media plays in cultural production, in normalizing or stigmatizing, in mobilizing or
demobilizing the public, or in making and shaping our memories (Andén-Papadopoulos,
2008; Andrews & Caren, 2010; Edkins, 2003; Graber, 1990). Images are central to
modern day storytelling and information-seeking, and with technology being what it is
today, literally the whole world is watching. Because there can be far-reaching socio-
political consequences attached to images—for better or worse—it is critical to reflect on
our image making and framing practices.
Another branch of communications investigates the role of images in branding,
marketing, public relations, and professional consulting. Here, research in psychology
intersects questions of technology and media, but typically in the service of celebrities,
corporations, and politicians, helping them hone their public images and appeal to certain
audiences by making informed style and language choices. Messaging is of critical
interest to activist groups, and the research in this area would be put to use by them if it
was specifically tailored to social causes as opposed to capital gains. Research dating
back decades confirms that images make greater, longer-lasting impressions than do facts
and figures, that our eyes gravitate towards images, and that we are quick visual
processors (Ball & Smith, 1992; Barry, 1997; Blair, 2004; Graber, 1990, 1996). Costly,
highly technical, scientifically rigorous studies in eye-tracking, emotional response, and
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media consumption habits have already been completed (Brader, 2006; Fox, 2012; Geer,
2006; Hyökki, 2012; Jackall & Hirota, 2000; Kessler, 2011; Marcus, Neuman, &
MacKuen, 2000; Marshall, 2013; Messaris, 1997; Neuman et al., 2007; Nielsen, 2000;
O’Shaughnessy & O’Shaughnessy, 2004; Page & Duffy, 2009; People Intell Institute,
Pazian, & Palestina, 2013; Sticky Inc., 2013). This information should be reviewed anew
to be rendered relevant to social movement organizers. As with many of the disciplines
discussed above, this is another example of the silo-mentality that is common in research
settings—experts in a particular field generally read and cite work in their own
wheelhouse as opposed to pursuing potentially useful research produced in other
disciplines.
Neverthless, psychology is a field that is often looked to for insight by researchers
in other fields. Psychology has helped us to better understand our potential for empathy,
emotional connection, compassion, and under what conditions we may be willing to take
risks on behalf of others (Baum, 2008; Chong, 1991; Corning & Myers, 2002; Doris &
Murphy, 2007; McAdam, 1986). Assuming risk for others, or for causes larger than our
own self-interest—narrowly defined—is what activism and social movements are all
about, and images can play a central role in moving us to take those risks. Scholarly
work on action tendencies (Lazarus, 1991; Lazarus & Lazarus, 1994), group psychology
(Goodwin, Jasper, & Polletta, 2001; Jasper, 1998, 2008; Jasper & Poulsen, 1995; M.
Lewis, Barrett, & Haviland-Jones, 2010), and motivation (J. M. Miller & Krosnick, 2004;
Valentino et al., 2008), coupled with aforementioned research in response to visuals, aids
our understanding of individual behaviors within and responses to social movement
efforts. There is a great deal of literature on these topics, but it primarily addresses
21!
internal debates among psychologists. It will be my responsibility to combine these
discussions with work in the arts, translate them to activist contexts, and repurpose them
for use by organizers in the streets.
Finally, the social sciences deserve consideration. Work in law, politics,
anthropology,
6
and sociology all engage the topics of social movements, rights, policy,
norms, culture, but it is far from common for these disciplines to consider the images and
iconography connected to these issues. They address institutional and systemic causes of
human rights violations, explain what human rights are, engage narratives of social
justice, explore conflict and conflict resolution, political participation, government and
governance, and of course, power (Andreopoulos, Kabasakal Arat, & Juviler, 2006;
Chenoweth & Stephan, 2011; Chong, 1991; Claude & Weston, 2006; Epp, 1998;
Gaventa, 1982; Graeber, 2011; Lukes, 1974; McAdam, Tarrow, & Tilly, 2001; P. J.
Nelson & Dorsey, 2008; M. Olson, 1971; Scott, 1985; Tilly & Tarrow, 2007). Early
twenty-first century work has been particularly interested in the international struggles
for economic justice and democratic reform, such as Occupy and the movements
comprising the Arab Spring, but not much has investigated the role of images.
7
Some
took notice (Lithwick, 2011) when, for the first time in the history of the U.S. Supreme
Court, a published decision contained images (Brown v. Plata, 131 S. Ct. 1910 (2011)),
but discussion of this rapidly dissipated.
8
With few exceptions, social science work
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6
Especially media anthropology, a distinct subset explicitly bearing on this study’s core issues.
(Rothenbuhler & Coman, 2005).
7
Evidence of this growth in interest is the founding of the Journal for Occupied Studies and the flood of
special journal issues and academic conferences established to address these movements in a scholarly
fashion. In 2010, the Berkeley Journal of Sociology began to archive a useful list of dedicated journal
issues, individual scholarly articles, and symposia here, http://bjsonline.org/2011/12/understanding-the-
occupy-movement-perspectives-from-the-social-sciences/ (2011).
8
For an exceptional exception, see Jonathan Simon's, Mass Incarceration on Trial: A Remarkable Court
22!
relevant to my interests delves into activist culture, political dynamics, collective action,
collective identity, and how these topics relate to social movements, domestically and
internationally.
By contrast, medical anthropologists Arthur and Joan Kleinman and Paul Farmer,
along with sociologist Stanley Cohen, discuss how we privately and collectively cope
with and address injuries to individuals and groups (Cohen, 1996, 2001; Dawes, 2007;
Kleinman, Das, & Lock, 1997; Kleinman & Kleinman, 1996). Some believe we push
away evidence of abuse—that is, we reject these images of suffering, or deny or
downplay what is on view. The suffering seen is too much to bear, so rather than engage
in prosocial behavior and do what we can to intervene, we disengage. We are not trying
to be cruel; rather, these are acts of self-preservation. Susan Sontag’s take on images of
suffering changed very little, if at all, between the publication of her essays, On
Photography in 1977, and Regarding the Pain of Others in 2004 (1977, 2003, 2004). As
far as she is concerned, photographs of human rights violations make us voyeurs—not
activists. Social action is not spurred by viewing others in pain, rather, these images
engender feelings of guilt, disgust, angst, and anger. She notes that despite the millions
of photographs of suffering, crimes of war, torture, abuse, genocide, and others continue
unabated in our modern world; these images have done nothing to stem the tide, and
indeed, our capacity for intentionally causing injury to others has only increased as time
marched on. In this way, she is similar to Moeller (1999) and her hypothesis that we
have become desensitized to the suffering of others and the images that tell us crimes are
occurring.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Decision and the Future of Prisons in America (2014).
23!
Still others insist the opposite must be true. Of note, Ariella Azoulay (2008,
2012), Susie Linfield (2004, 2012), and Sharon Sliwinski (2004, 2006, 2011) all contend,
consistently, that photographs can have a positive social impact. Azoulay argues that
photography creates a space unmediated by the government—the institution with the
single greatest capacity to do harm to us and our environment. The photographs can also
serve as direct proof of government wrongdoing—and violations committed by others—
and being visual, they can transcend borders, nationality, and citizenship, encouraging
notions of global community and collective well-being to take precedence. This all
makes photography incredibly valuable in political contexts. Linfield and Sliwinski
make similar claims using examples from the beginnings of photography to
contemporary genocides—photographs make these violations real, they argue.
Moreover, once we are confronted with these images, there is a moral responsibility to
act.

THE GAPS IN THE LITERATURE
These two poles—the view that photography is at best impotent and at worst
exploitative, versus the view that photography compels us to act and can help end
abuse—dominate the social science narrative regarding images and social movements. I
appreciate these two arguments, but contend the truth is likely somewhere in between. In
this dissertation, I situate myself in this space, use these literatures and those mentioned
above, as well as a few independent case studies, to come away with a better
understanding of the role of photographs in activist contexts and of how organizers and
photographers can better serve their respective causes to further social justice. This will
24!
involve looking directly for signs of image impact, identifying iconic photographs and
looking for signs, in real time, that the images made a difference. It will also mean
considering whether said difference can be categorized as positive or negative by the
movement, what moral and socio-political effects the images had, be they intended or
unintended. It is also critical to understand whether the activist pursuit and use of images
is self-conscious or haphazard, under what conditions activist organizations have
concrete policies regarding visuals in their work, and what principles are guiding those
policies. It may be that they purchase images from stock agencies, rip from the internet,
employ famous war photographers, or produce all of their own with the help of their
communities and networks. These strategies are likely to differ in presentation, so one
wonders whether there are techniques or tendencies that may predict greater image
impact. This is important to know as social movement organizations do not have
resources to waste on ineffective tactics; having this visual messaging research will help
them to make informed decisions.
Also on the matter of informed decision-making, another aspect of photography
and activism remains under-explored: the very right to photograph. Activists
increasingly rely on photography to help them communicate about social justice issues.
Consequently, governments—again, those institutions with the greatest capacity to
violate rights and cause irreparable harm—have begun to crack down on photographers.
Whether a credentialed photojournalist or a blogger with a phone, no one is safe from a
state agent determined to prevent certain images from circulating; targeted assassinations
and one-off beatings are far from unheard of. All of this despite international treaties and
domestic constitutions touting protection for journalists and wide-ranging media and
25!
information rights for press and citizens, alike. There are also murky and complex
privacy, copyright, and ownership issues that arise with contemporary technology, and
understanding them will help social movement groups to understand their legal and
ethical responsibilities when making photographs. This dissertation will attempt to fill
these gaps by providing activists with guidance regarding the state of the photography
law and with a set of best practices for safely capturing the images they need for their
social justice campaigns. Activists who are informed of their rights and understand their
responsibilities regarding photography, can then use the research on impact to enhance
their advocacy efforts. I aim for this dissertation to begin providing this kind of guidance
and contribute to the fight for social justice.

METHODOLOGY
In this work, I use a range of primary and secondary sources in the arts,
communication, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology, and more, to
explore photography in activist contexts. I attempt to fill some of the gaps in the
scholarship on the use of photography among activists and in advocacy efforts, as well as
illuminate some of the rights, restrictions, and responsibilities that come with those
efforts. Court opinions, survey findings, organizational reports, and academic research
will necessarily find themselves alongside artistic and activist ephemera. I will use
contemporary photographic examples and a few in-depth case studies to discuss the
matter of image impact. Because images deployed in social movements come from a
variety of sources—freelancers, journalists, stock photo repositories, artists, activists,
personal files of human rights workers, survivors of human rights abuse, and others—I
26!
draw on professional and social networks in addition to disciplinary databases, digital and
physical archives, library catalogs, internal organizational documents to find images now
being used in campaigns. Having built trust with activists and movement organizations
over the past decade, I have access to a vast array of materials they are willing to provide
for evaluation and open discussion, in addition to my own collections of such materials.

CHAPTER OUTLINE
In chapter two I explore the criminalization of photography—right of access,
regulation of public, private, and secret space, policing, freedom of the press, and related
post-9/11 jurisprudence. While my primary research interest is the intersection of visual
culture and social justice, the front-end of this equation, the production of the image, is
critical, and what happens when the state interferes with the process of documenting
abuse, strife, and struggle? It is now common for law enforcement to pursue and attack
activists recording their misconduct, sometimes causing the activists physical and
psychological trauma, breaking their equipment, and imprisoning them on bogus charges.
In addition to police seeking to limit our ability to photographically document
misconduct, are government officials engaged in cover-ups, corrupt activities, or looking
to protect its image. For example, the U.S. military introduced “no cameras” policies
after leaked images revealed the horrific abuses soldiers committed at Abu Ghraib (Staff
reporter, 2004),
9
and photographs of flag-draped coffins of U.S. soldiers infuriated the
military and executive (Calvert, 2005). Apparel factory owners prohibit cameras, often
arguing protection of “trade secrets,” but workers suspect it is because managers fear
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9
Of course the problem for the government, here, is not the torture captured on film, but the fact that
photos of it were taken and could reveal its behavior.
27!
being exposed for the host of unjust and illegal conditions they create—conditions they
are sure they can get away with because their workers may be desperate, undocumented,
have families, or all of the above (Bonacich & Appelbaum, 2000; McCauley, 2005).
Workers must be able to document that their health and safety are knowingly being put at
risk, likely in the name of profit. Images from previous years also revealed hazardous
conditions for agricultural workers, particularly at slaughterhouses where losing a limb to
a machine is not unheard of (Anonymous, 2006b; Everist, 2005; Schlosser, 2001). After
several successful undercover investigation featuring damning photographs, factory farm
owners began to collaborate with local lawmakers, the agricultural lobby, and state and
federal legislators, to draft laws prohibiting and criminalizing all filming at, or near, their
facilities; vivisection laboratories maintain similar policies (Barnard, 2012; S. Ellis, 2013;
Z. Mohammed, 2013; Potter, 2011). Chapter two will review these issues, the right to
record, current case law as well as trends outside of the courtroom, to see how social
movements are coming up against law enforcement and how film, moving and still, can
be successfully wielded as a defensive and offensive tool.
Chapter three will be the core of the dissertation: if we can establish the legal
right to photograph, free from state intervention, and that activist groups are taking
advantage of this freedom, what are the contours of the rights, restrictions, and
responsibilities, regarding image ownership, copyright, appropriation, manipulation,
privacy, publicity, surveillance, right to know, and other ethical questions. These issues
are explored through a variety of examples, including stockphoto abuse, photo forensics,
contracts, informed consent, paparazzi, child models, the abused, the accused, and
government secrecy. These examples are meant to inform how we can and should use
28!
images as mobilization tools in campaigns and social movements. This is both an
empirical question of impact and a normative question of ethics. Simply because
production and circulation of an image is by all means legal, and evidence suggests an
image will operate to the benefit of a social movement, does not automatically ensure that
using this image would be ethical or “right.” The image may play on tropes and
stereotypes, or be otherwise exploitative of a community that has little say in how it is
represented, in the end doing harm to the goal of social progress.
In chapter four I present the issue of police misconduct in South Africa, England,
and the United States in order to more concretely investigate images and impact, from
their procurement, to their deployment, to their effects. Rather than select more classic
examples for systematic study—for example, the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the
1960s—selecting police misconduct across continents allows me to contribute a more
novel analysis to the literature. The fight for police accountability is a movement to
which I have been directly exposed, increasing my access to cases, materials, and
participants. It is also a movement where images of varying sorts—from family
photographs to bystander photographs to video stills—have been central to much of the
work. It is helpful to examine this movement and its use of images because it implicates
the range of social, ethical, and legal concerns reviewed in the preceding chapters.
Which leads me to the finale of chapter four: a discussion about image impact and
suggestions for future research. There are many challenges in proving impact, and this
chapter will attempt to frame a larger discussion about those challenges and how we
might meet them.
29!
In the conclusion I consolidate the points found to be useful for activists and
NGOs as they approach their visual campaign efforts, review the legal and ethical
concerns to bear in mind, and suggest some areas for future research. Again, too little
research is available to activists who want use photography in service of social progress,
and what does exist is often inaccessible to everyday advocates, those untrained in
scholarly research or excluded from scholarly communities. I intend this study to serve
all organizers working for social change, and to help us better understand how we can use
images to inspire others to join us.

30!
CHAPTER TWO

Exception and Objection:
Photography and Resisting the Post-9/11 Security State

“Freedom is a hard thing to preserve. In order
to have enough you must have too much.”
—Clarence Darrow (1928, p. 3)

“You can beat the wrap, but you can't beat the ride.”
—Activist proverb

To most people, the thought that one might be arrested for taking a photograph in
a public place seems rather absurd. Yet the “right to photograph,” while technically
established as a matter of law, is far from accepted in practice. Law enforcement and
other authority figures frequently prevent everyday citizens, journalists, and activists
from photographing—particularly if it is believed the images produced could be a threat
to those authorities. For example, if someone is documenting an act of police brutality,
unsafe working conditions, or something seemingly banal, such as a tourist site or
transportation infrastructure, it may be perceived as threatening by the government or a
corporation. Some of these unofficial prohibitions have become more common since the
terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001, but others have long been
standard operating procedure for those in power to prevent revealing government or
corporate abuses. The right to photograph, the right to document abuse,
10
is guaranteed
by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and also enshrined in internationally
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10
The right to photograph is not confined to documenting abuse, but that is the primary concern here.
The right to create images—to produce documents, art works, or images that are otherwise categorized—is
both a constitutional right and international human right.
31!
ratified human rights treaties.
11
This right must be protected. Maintaining this right
preserves the possibility that wrongdoing can be exposed, and then remedied.
Photographs can often provide the proof needed to spur social change.
This notion, that photographs of wrongdoing will lead to social action, is
considered by some—perhaps many—to be quite naïve. When I tell people that I am a
photographer and an activist, they tend to assume that I assume “pictures can change the
world.” I do not. I think they can help, but my views on photography and its potential to
drive activism or be an integral part of social change are much more nuanced. I am not
wholly convinced by the compassion fatigue thesis of Susan Moeller (1999); the “it-is-
always-unacceptable” exploito-voyeurism notions of Susan Sontag (1977, 2004); nor the
hand-wringing of countless others about ruthless photojournalists out to make it rich and
famous as opposed to working to expose atrocities in order to prompt some response. I
believe photography has the potential to reach millions, and therefore influence and grow
social movements, but the relationship is complicated—as is the process. For a
photograph to have an impact, one must first be able to take it—a difficult task in the
“age of terrorism.” In both public and private spaces, photographers and activists are
facing unprecedented levels of repression and state interference, making it especially
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11
On this right, the most frequently cited provision from international law is Article 19 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1966), particularly paragraph two:
1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek,
receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in
writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.
3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special duties
and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such
as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
(b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public
health or morals.
32!
difficult to expose abuses. Of course, this state interference with routine and legitimate
First Amendment activity is an abuse in itself.
Repression of activists and journalists is nothing new, but, following the example
set by the United States,
12
police around the world claim that “since September 11th”
photographers pose a greater threat than ever (See for example, Los Angeles Police
Department, 2012; NYCLU, 2010; Parliament of Great Britain, 2009; Préfecture de
Police Seine-Saint-Denis, 2005).
13
In fact, so many assaults, detentions, and arrests were
occurring in England under the guise of terrorism that citizens organizing to fight the
trend decided to name their group, “STOP! I’m a Photographer, not a Terrorist.”
14
Not
only are government buildings, infrastructure, and transit systems allegedly off-limits, but
take a photograph at a demonstration, over a fence to document illegal dumping, in a
factory of unsafe working conditions, or of misconduct in progress, and you could wind
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
12
The U.S. is often referred to as a leader and it is no different in the realms of anti-terror legislation,
the framing crises, and the coining of terms. While progress on human rights violations was made in many
previously autocratic countries throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, some of that has reversed and some
suggest it is because of the tactics the United States uses to violate human rights. Inspired by U.S. trends
and roll-backs in human rights, other countries are emboldened to harm their own citizens (Henehan, 2007;
Madison, 2011; Morgan, 2011). For example, note that other countries quickly adopted the language of the
U.S. “war on terror” using the phrase “enemy combatants” to hold people—dissenters, reporters, political
opponents, among others—indefinitely and incommunicado. In July 2002 when the United States worked
to free a journalist from indefinite detention in Liberia, Liberian President Charles Taylor defended his
decision to label the journalist an unlawful combatant and reminded the U.S., “[i]t was you guys [the U.S.
government] who coined the phrase. We are using the phrase you coined” (BBC World Service Trust,
2009; Bovard, 2003, p. 215). The same thing soon happened in Malaysia, when its government was using
the same line to indefinitely detain political threats. When Law Minister, Rais Yatim, was pressed
regarding the unlawful detentions, he claimed it was “just like the process in Guantánamo. What happened
to the cases that are still there, and there was no due process? Similarly we have got the same treatment”
(Margulies, 2007, p. 143). There are many more examples of other countries adopting the United States’
“war on terror” laws, language, approach, and ideology (Boucher, 2002; Fleischer, 2012; Maass, 2002;
McClintock, 2002; Naharnet Newsdesk, 2012; State Council Information Office, PRC, 2012). The
crackdown on photographers has become a trendy U.S. export.
13
Some public entities, such as the mass transit systems in New York and Chicago, have revised their
policies, even if this does not always prevent officials from harassing photographers (Chicago Transit
Board, Chicago Transit Authority, 2006; New York Metropolitan Transit Authority, Transit Adjudication
Bureau, 2011).
14
Founded in 2009, this nonprofit organization has a webpage, phnat.org, and a heavy social media
presence (STOP! I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist, 2013).
33!
up with a broken camera—and a broken face (Ashbrook, 2011; Winslow, 2011). Police
are increasingly enforcing off-the-books “no photography” policies as evidenced by a
spike in police vs. photographer altercations and prosecutions for “improper”
15
or “illegal
photography,” “slandering the state,” “interference,” “failure to obey,” “disorderly
conduct,” “hostile reconnaissance,” “obstruction of government administration,” “felony
riot,” and of course, “terrorism” (Brauer, 2008; Doctorow, 2008; Ex parte Nyabwa
(2011); Texas Penal Code ANN. § 21.15; Glionna, 2012; Kreimer, 2011; Miller, 2008;
NPPA, 2008; NYCLU, 2010; Parliament of Great Britain, 2009). The reason those in
power insist on trying to curtail photography is because images threaten to be their
undoing. Photographs can expose their misdeeds and have repeatedly proven to be
critical tools for social change. The so-called “power of the image” drives the state to try
to prevent us from photographing abuse, regardless of whether these efforts are legal.
One might consider these efforts and the current situation that enables state fiat as
a perfect example of the “state of exception.” This is a theory most often associated with
Carl Schmitt (1922) and Giorgio Agamben (2005), addressing states of emergency and
government overreach.
16
When considering the situation as it relates to photographers,
activists, and social change, though, one might also consider, the more hopeful,
contemporary work of theorist Ariella Azoulay, and to some extent, Sharon Sliwinski.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
15
It is illegal under the Texas Penal Code to take photographs of someone “without the person’s
consent” and “with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person” (Section 21.15(b)(1)). The
appellate court opinion in Ex parte Nyabwa (Tex. Ct. App. Dec. 13, 2011) concluded that the statute did not
infringe on photographers’ rights, despite it being “normally protected by the First Amendment.” The court
agreed with the government and said the law is was not about the photography, but “a regulation of the
photographer’s or videographer’s intent.” In its essence, the opinion states that because the law was made
by the presumptuous morality police and not the First Amendment blockers, the law should stand.
16
The somewhat ambiguous phrasing in some ways helps reinforce the ambiguity of the concept itself.
Is it a nation-state or state of being? Temporally, is it a moment; slightly longer; much longer; much, much
longer; simply indefinite; possibly infinite? It is often considered synonymous to state of necessity,
emergency powers, state of siege, and martial law.
34!
These philosophers and critics view photography as a way to escape and subvert the
massive security state, a rabbit hole to a parallel realm where citizens are equal, engaging
with one another, documenting abuses and pushing for change, out of reach of state
apparatuses and government interference.
As I mentioned earlier, I have a nuanced view of the potential of photography to
generate social change; I also have a more complicated view of photography and the
post-9/11 security state. I do not believe that we all live in a permanent and unyielding
state of exception; nor do I believe that photography can save the world. We occupy the
space between these poles. Yes, there is violent oppression of everyday people and
everyday life, but the fact remains that we occasionally slip the handcuffs and get the best
of the government. Yes, photography has produced many iconic images and become an
integral part of how we conceive of social movements, but there are millions, billions,
probably trillions, of photographs of abuse and the abuse just keeps coming.
In this section I will examine the state of exception concept (Agamben, 2005;
Schmitt, 1922) as it relates to contemporary issues regarding photography and public
space, as well as Azoulay’s notion of a “civil contract of photography” (2008). I aim to
show that neither theory fully and accurately describes the current state of affairs, but
taken together we can better understand the security situation in which we live and the
potential for photography to improve social conditions. To support my interpretation and
the claims I make about the political climate and the right to photograph, primarily as
construed by U.S. courts, I present examples of artists, activists, and everyday people
who have both successfully and unsuccessfully challenged the authorities. I close by
discussing Sliwinski’s work, Human Rights In Camera (2011), which invokes theorists
35!
from Kant to Arendt to Sontag, and suggests that feeling repulsion, anger, guilt, and other
emotions in response to viewing images of suffering is a sign of moral progress in
humanity, and that these are feelings and moral developments of which we should be
proud (2011, p. 21). Perhaps they are, but feeling upset at the sight of human rights
violations is far from enough. It appears that for Sliwinski, such images are simply
meant to help us recognize and “understand”— à la Arendt’s formulation (2011, p. 14)—
rights violations, but they do not demand more of us (whether we are activists,
politicians, or the general public). I disagree. We must be more than “spectator[s] of
human rights” (2011, p. 56). I view photographs of abuse as calls to action, and we must
do more than look at—or away from—images of pain. Once the state is subverted and its
omissions and commissions are captured on film, once such an image is made, it imparts
a duty.
However, in the early twenty-first century, creating such an image is a
complicated, often dangerous affair. Even if one is not working as a war correspondent
or in a similarly unsafe setting, attempting to photograph illegal working conditions,
document police brutality, political demonstrations, or capture other instances of
corruption and abuse can be life-threatening. Legal rights are no match for brute force or
loss of employment. Such rights may be ensured on paper—the First Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution, international legal instruments, state and local codes—but they can
only be appealed to in the abstract, or after the fact. For this reason, it is not always
considered “worth it” to assume the attendant risks of documenting human rights
violations and other illegal state acts.
36!
But some individuals and organizations have taken on these risks, leading to legal
developments and policy changes.
17
In the next section I review a theoretical debate
concerning “the state of exception” because it may help us to conceptualize and better
understand the complex relationship between state power and photography. I then
discuss doctrinal developments, or court cases, regarding the right to photograph. I show
here that the outcomes of these are also between the poles of absolute state power and
unfettered social action.

ON THEORY: THE STATE OF EXCEPTION
Carl Schmitt is typically credited with introducing “the Exception” as a formal
concept of political science. In his canonical work, Political Theology, he writes, “[t]he
sovereign is he whom decides
18
the exception” (1922, p. 5). He meant, the sovereign is
he who reigns supreme, to whom no rules always apply, the person who can decide
whenever, wherever, for any reason or no reason at all, that he is exempt from law. This
person is the sovereign, and as head authority figure, he has the power to decide to be
bound by nothing and accountable to no one. That said, Schmitt bound the sovereign’s
actions to particular circumstances, “associated [them] with a borderline case and not
with routine,” and argued that this mode of governance was located within the juridical
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
17
However, bear in mind that policy changes, or repeals of laws that limit the right to photograph, free
speech, and other rights in the activist’s toolbox, may not have the full desired effect. Recall that police
and other authorities have a range of statutes at their disposal to use against activists, particularly those with
built-in discretion or that lend themselves to selective enforcement, such as no-sit/no-lie rules, or
regulations about public gatherings.
18
While it is probably only coincidence, recall George W. Bush, while being questioned by reporters
about defense department matters, fired back, “I’m the decider.” Many giggled and scoffed at the
comment, called the outburst childish, examined his grammar, and dismissed him as a buffoon (S.
Blumenthal, 2006; Stolberg, 2006). However, as his presidency clearly demonstrates, he was, indeed, “the
decider.”
37!
order, not outside of it (1922, pp. 5, 7, 12). He claimed the sovereign’s power to suspend
the rule of law was a power found in law, based on the state’s interest in self-
preservation, and that “unlimited authority” (1922, p. 12) was a legitimate, necessary, and
legal level of power to afford sovereigns in times of existential threat. He writes that the
sovereign avails himself of the exception in “a case of extreme peril, a danger to the
existence of the state, or the like” (1922, p. 6). In other words, there are rules to the
exception, and paramount among them that it is only in the worst of times that a
sovereign may exert ultimate power and be exempted from law. Still, even if considered
part of a juridical order in extreme circumstances, the idea that someone—whether
president or prole—is above the law has long seemed foreign to and incompatible with
the U.S. context because our value system and Constitution are alleged to require and
guarantee equality.
Of course, experience tells us this is more an ideal committed to parchment than a
reality practiced daily. In U.S. society—in the twenty-first century as it was in the
nineteenth century when the country was first formed—inequality is rampant, and justice
and fairness in law are not the norm; they are aspired to. The wealthy, powerful, and
popular escape prosecution, while the poor and dispossessed multitudes are policed and
incarcerated at alarmingly uneven levels (Defending Justice, 2005; Wheelock & Uggen,
2008).
19

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
19
To further illustrate the extent to which inequality is the norm in the U.S., take the example of the
“equal right” to representation. In legal proceedings, all parties have an "equal" right to be represented by
legal professionals. In practice, we know that means that the wealthy, the government, and major
corporations have the "right" to a large team with support staff and virtually infinite financial resources.
The poor and disenfranchised also have this right, but the fact that they cannot afford it is irrelevant and is
not considered, by our legal system, to violate equality or due process. Law is said to be "neutral," but this
simply means that it recognizes a rigid and formal equality while ignoring and reinforcing another, far more
profound form of inequality.
38!
Still, despite common practice, the idea that one is above the law is unsavory and
disfavored. “Rule of law”
20
seems almost universally preferred as a feature of democratic
governments. It is the type of political system on which Western democracies are based
and that they encourage struggling nations to adopt, as well. Moreover, international
organizations, such as the U.N. and Transparency International, issue reports featuring
rankings and indexes where top scores are correlated with the existence of functioning
rule of law systems. According to this perspective, a state of exception is objectionable
because it violates basic rule of law principles. It means there is officially recognized and
sanctioned inequality,
21
and there are leaders with impunity. It is the undoing of the
brand of democracy most preferred by the “free world.” Schmitt, though, saw the state of
exception as a primarily emergency circumstance—for example, one resorted to in times
of revolution or great crisis that threatens the state’s existence—it is a democracy-saving
measure, not a democracy-obliterating one. It is a maneuver of expediency that, in its
execution, identifies who truly calls the shots and will direct the state through its moment
of chaos. It was not meant to connote there is constant fiat at leadership’s disposal, but
rather, to acknowledge the person with ultimate decision-making power in times of
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For raw U.S. data and reports regarding race, poverty, and disproportionate policing and incarceration,
visit the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) hosted by the University of Michigan’s Inter-
university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR),
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/NACJD/
20
In the most basic sense, the phrase “rule of law” is meant to suggest that there are rules and no one is
above them. Many trace the basic formulation back to Aristotle and The Politics (c. 350 BCE), when he
writes in books three and four about how “the law must rule.” In general, he notes that “…the rule of law,
it is argued, is preferable to that of any individual,” and in the case of democracy, “[t]he sharers in the
government being a numerous body, it follows that the law must govern, and not individuals”
(350BCE/1996, pp. 88, 101).
21
Even if this official recognition and sanctioning is quiet or tacit, it is still acceptance of often-blatant
inequality and injustice.
39!
catastrophic danger, the one charged with bringing the state from the brink back to its
safe and democratic norm.
This was nearly a century ago, but the notion of the exception is important for
analyses of the right to photograph because authority figures are known to infringe on
this right without legal basis, deciding in the moment of their own accord to deprive
individuals of constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. Since the formal introduction of the
state of exception concept, executive and police powers have markedly expanded, and the
post-9/11 security state takes these powers to new heights (G. Atkinson & Grace, 2013;
Banisar, 2009; Bovard, 2003; D. Cole & Dempsey, 2002; R. Johnson, 2002).
Agamben dramatically resurrects the concept in his 2005 work simply called, The
State of Exception. He first reminds us of Schmitt’s ideal, where the exception is
explicitly tied to “civil war, insurrection, and resistance… the opposite of normal
conditions … [It is] state power’s immediate response to the most extreme internal
conflicts” (2005, p. 2). He then posits the state of exception is now a paradigm of
government, intentional and unending, built on fear, uncertainty, and obfuscation. Our
rulers, using claims of terrorism, national security concerns, and existential threat, now
govern by fiat. No law or right can be taken for granted, as the sovereign and his
agents—the police, security bureaus, secret service organizations—may exercise all
authority they deem fit to ensure the safety and supremacy of the state. Indefinite
detention, profiling, abridgment of the rights to free speech, assembly, association, and
even life—once only exceptional practices—are now the norm. Agamben notes that this
is an international phenomenon, and there are indeed many international examples. It is
not only in the United States that these rights violations—from street encounters with
40!
police, to warrantless wiretaps, to forced disappearances—take place “entirely removed
from the law and from judicial oversight” (2005, p. 4). This is where Agamben departs
most sharply from Schmitt: for Schmitt, the exception could be defined and fit within a
juridical order, a legal scheme that legitimates the sovereign’s actions. Agamben
disagrees whole-heartedly. The exception is outside of the law, not within it. Gone is the
notion of a temporary crisis with boundaries regarding the suspension of the rule of law
as he calls attention to contemporary circumstances suggesting the exception is no longer
a departure from the norm,
22
but now the rule. This means it is “exceptional”—
extraordinary, phenomenal, unprecedented—not only in its repugnance, but also in how
the authorities flout the law with abandon. Rogue police act with impunity; presidents
trample rights without consequence; armies violate their own codes in addition to local,
national, and international law.
These violations occur both in the shadows and very publicly, before our very
eyes, and are sometimes even published by the media.
23
Agamben argues that we live in
a total state of exception, where the sovereign—the executives make the rules as they go,
and exempt themselves from law as they wish. He argues this state is complete,
thorough, all-encompassing; it has penetrated all levels of society and become the norm.
24

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
22
Writing several decades before Agamben, indeed, before even Schmitt had published Political
Theology, Walter Benjamin hinted at similar observations of the state and its overreach in his piece,
“Theses on the Philosophy of History.” He believed back then, “[t]he tradition of the oppressed teaches us
that the 'state of emergency' in which we live is not the exception but the rule” (F. Barker, 1994, p. 190).
There are echoes of Benjamin when Agamben states, we live in a time governed by “the voluntary creation
of a permanent state of emergency…even in the so-called democratic [countries]” (my emphasis) (2005, p.
2).
23
In some cases, policies are created after the fact, legalizing these acts, but they were illegal when
committed, regardless, and generally speaking, these new policies tend to violate democratic rule of law
principles. For example, allowing assassinations or surveillance and searches without warrants.
24
If we were to apply Michel Foucault, we might say that the people have come to unwittingly embrace
this unfreedom.
41!
We are subject to the whims of the executive, and we, despite formal rules suggesting
their power is derived from “the people,” are incapable of holding them to account or
preventing their abuse of power. “The people” are overpowered, while the executive
roams free and unfettered. The state controls what we do, what we see, say, learn, share,
and to the topic of this work, it dictates if and what we may photograph. Restrictions on
photography have become part of the state of exception, part of the total control of social
and political life that everyday citizens previously enjoyed.
25
As has been mentioned,
photographs are important because they can serve as a check on authority. Just as the
state uses photography and omnipresent surveillance as a control function, so, too, might
we use these technologies as a regulatory function on them.
Enter Ariella Azoulay. Unlike Agamben and others who argue that we exist in a
permanent state of exception in which rights are fully abridged, Azoulay suggests that
rights have not all disappeared, and interestingly, can be located and vindicated through
photography. Azoulay writes from very real, personal and professional experience with
the state of exception vis–à–vis her life as an Israeli citizen with Palestinian sympathies.
From the beginning of the treatise, she states “the relations between the three parties
involved in the photographic act—the photographed person,
26
the photographer, and the
spectator—are not mediated through a sovereign power... [and all involved] are equally
not governed within this space of photography where no sovereign power exists” (2008,
pp. 24–25). Later in the text she suggests, “without regulation…everything is mediated
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
25
Note that these are not the time, place, manner (TPM) restrictions (Sadler, 2005, pp. 31–34) many
consider reasonable. These, whether based in real law or fiat, are blanket restrictions that authorities will
resort to violence to enforce, and often assert with the pretense of terrorism or other illegal activities to
encourage society to accept.
26
Of course, not all photographs are of people, but Azoulay’s work deals specifically with images of
human rights violations that are evident on people’s bodies via photographic evidence.
42!
by photography” (2008, p. 110), as “there are virtually no restrictions on the use of
photography in public space” (my emphasis) (2008, p. 146). She wants her readers to
consider photography a way to escape the “exceptional” government control of our
bodies and minds, a space in which people relate to one another and “the common
interest” takes center stage. She writes: “…photography is one remaining site, a place of
refuge, from which the discourse on the res publica may be revived” (2008, p. 131). Her
theory suggests photography, “organizes political relations in the form of an open and
dynamic framework among individuals, without regulation and mediation by a
sovereign” (2008, p. 110)—the photographic gaze is “a secret” between individuals
(2008, p. 382), and images made are circulated among us, with the potential to indict the
state and unite us, further, against a common overlord. Contrary to the naysayers of
contemporary visual culture, Azoulay thinks photography has vast potential to improve
human rights conditions. In speaking about the advent of the medium, she refers to it as
“a gift of universal value,” “a new tribunal, a universal and impartial judge that could do
justice to the past, present, and future” (2008, p. 121). This is a far cry from the theories
of compassion fatigue, tendencies toward misrepresentation, the CNN-effect, and the
like. “The photograph,” she claims, “is a result of the encounter between [the
photographer and the photographed], with the camera in between” (2008, p. 384)—the
state is not only absent in photography, but has no power to restrict it. This makes the
state vulnerable and the people powerful. In our acts of photography, photographers and
photographed presume there is “a hypothetical spectator who would take an interest in
the image and be aroused by it to show responsibility...toward the ongoing injustice
evidenced...” (p. 22). We make photographs with the express purpose of undermining
43!
oppressive state actors, and we share them to build solidarity and inspire revolt. For
Azoulay, photography creates an environment where a state of exception is an
impossibility. The state does not have ultimate power, the people do, at minimum
because the people are able to evade the state using tools like photography.
So where Agamben, building on Schmitt, argues that we live in a state of
exception where all rights and aspects of life are highly restricted—and I would argue,
given the potential of photography to indict the state for wrongdoing, photography is a
special target—Azoulay argues photography is the one refuge, where, again, “virtually no
restrictions exist.” While I agree with her that most moments and relationships may
come to be mediated by photography—the medium is ubiquitous, affordable, can be
simple, and its products may be disseminated with lightning speed via the internet and
various channels—I regrettably must consider this sentiment to be an exaggeration.
Since the 2001 terrorists attacks, hundreds of codes have been adopted nationwide that
limit if not outright ban photography in a variety of spaces—even tourist banal
destinations.
27
Furthermore, police, private security guards, transit workers, shop owners
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
27
While I mention that untold numbers of codes have been adopted Stateside, this is not a phenomenon
unique to the U.S.A.: countries as varied as Ecuador, England, Ghana, Iraq, Maldives, Mexico, Pakistan,
South Africa, Spain, Uzbekistan, and more, have jumped on the bandwagon (Amnesty International, 2010;
Anonymous, 2005, 2006a, 2008, 2009; Booth, 2009; Denison, 2009; Dolley, 2008; Endley, 2013; IFEX,
2007; IFEX & Article 19, 2012; IFEX & Fundamedios, 2011; IFEX & Media Foundation for West Africa,
2011; IFEX & RSF, 2012; Layton, 2006; Staff reporter, 2010). Without a trace of irony, the Bureau of
Consular Affairs within the U.S. State Department warns traveling U.S. citizens that other countries, such
as Israel, Switzerland, Kuwait, Laos, and Albania, are suspicious of and restrict photography. When
discussing Azerbaijan, the Bureau notes the “security apparatus is sensitive to photography, so both
professional and tourist photographers have been stopped for taking photographs of facilities that may not
appear to be sensitive, including oil fields, buildings, and public squares” (2013).
France chooses to bar much street photography under what it calls “a droit au respect de sa vie privée,”
or the right to privacy. This is enshrined in Article 9 of the civil code and is subject to individual and
judicial interpretation. In emergencies—“a urgence”—or a state of exception, as the post-9/11 world is
argued to be, other extreme measures may be taken with complete discretion under the guise of protecting
privacy—for example, the barring of photography (France, Code Civil: Article 9 (Act n. 70-643 of 17 July
1970)). Privacy rights govern photos of people in public in Japan (Kitamura & JPS Copyright Committee,
44!
and employees, and other actors, routinely interrupt and occasionally injure
photographers as they go about taking pictures. The typical rationale continues to be
suspicion of terrorism or interfering with government interests. A legitimate, legal,
protected activity—the taking of photographs in public space—has been criminalized
without process,
28
and photographers regularly have their rights violated, and their bodies
and equipment damaged without recourse. The criminalization of photography could be
considered but one aspect of our contemporary state of exception, or it could be
considered a sign that the state fears our liberation through the medium, and is attempting
to strip us of our rights before they lose everything.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1998; Kyoto Fugakuren Incident, Supreme Court of Japan Grand Bench, 1969), Switzerland (Art. 28 of the
Swiss Civil Code), and Brazil (Article 5, sections V and X, of the Brazilian Constitution).
Article 20 of Spain’s constitution is somewhat similar to other Western democracies in its guarantees
of expression and the right to information, but is also more explicit about limits the state may impose,
whereas in the U.S.A. for example, limits are surprisingly imposed and can sometimes be contested at a
later date. Issues concerning state safety, secrecy, public conscience, morals, and “truth,” are limit the right
to photograph. As in France and elsewhere, rights to privacy and human dignity may also be used to
regulate photography (Kirtley, 2013; Spain, Constitution of 1978: Article 20 [Specific Freedoms,
Restrictions], 1978). Article 55 addresses emergency suspensions of these and other rights, and as is au
currant, rights may be even more restricted by the government in times considered to be “crises.”
Unfortunately for Spanish citizens and activists, 2013 may be one of those times. The country is
considering a major change in law—the Public Safety or Citizen Security Act—that would limit
expression; demonstrations; the right to collect, possess, and disseminate information; and, with clear
connections to rights regarding photography, publishing images of policemen. It will also make it a serious
offense (an “infraccione muy grave” versus simply “grave”), to insult or threaten police (Consejo de
Ministros, 2013).The bill is unclear regarding the person with the privilege to decide what is insulting or
threatening, but it is unlikely to be the demonstrator or photographer. It has many social justice advocates
worried (Dunham, 2013; Europa Press, 2013; HP, Gtres, & EFE, 2013; Noticias Cuatro, 2013; Section
Editor, 2013).
28
See for example, the Virginia Terrorism Threat Assessment produced by the Commonwealth’s Fusion
Center. This document regards photography as part of the “Terrorist Attack Cycle,” specifically falling
under “Initial Planning,” “Target Acquisition,” and of course, “Pre-Operational Surveillance” (2009, p.
111). Referring to terrorist attacks, the report states that “[m]ost incidents involve photography and
videotaping incidents from vehicles in publicly accessible areas,” claiming that people will be “disguising”
their activities as “tourist-related,” but then goes on to admit that “many of these instances are ultimately
determined to be innocuous” (2009, p. 114). In a long list of supposedly “suspicious activities” recorded, it
is disturbing how often individuals are reported because they simply have camera with them or took
pictures near a power plant; the authors repeatedly list photography as a “suspicious activity” absent any
evidence of wrongdoing or malintent (2009, pp. 17, 52, 96, 114–115, 122, 139, 144–145, 147, 156, 162–
165, 168, 176, 185–187, 189, 191, 196). Pouring through over 200 pages on "suspicious activities,"
searching for instances of people committing photography in public, is actually a daunting task—the
“TIPS” are seemingly endless, though no evidence of terrorism or even other types of wrongdoing are
reported to be connected to these reported acts.
45!
The remainder of this chapter interrogates these two poles—total restriction and
total liberation. First, review the state of the law. Then I provide an array of examples to
illustrate the current situation evades these tidy theoretical positions. There are times
when the government prevails, and times when the people prevail, showing the contest
for rights and for preserving democratic principles is still very much alive. It is my
position that we should not feel assured in any victories, but neither should we despair
that all is lost to the all-powerful sovereign.

SECTION 2. IT’S THE LAW: THE RIGHT TO PHOTOGRAPH
As has been noted, a sharp increase in arrests and detentions of private citizens in
the act of taking photographs or recording audio and video (Banisar, 2009; Krages, 2012;
S. Simon, 2012) leaves many wondering whether there, in fact, is a constitutionally
protected right to record or if these police actions are correct and legal. Here I begin by
reviewing relevant constitutional rules and U.S. case law, both controlling and
persuasive.
29
I then argue for maintaining, and in some ways expanding, the right to
photograph. I close with some mention of cases and developments in other countries, as
well as rights regarding photography and information in terms of international human
rights standards.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
29
I have written a more detailed legal memorandum is meant to provide the background necessary for
community groups and legal professionals to work together on know your rights trainings, notifying
workers and whistleblowers of their rights to record, developing CopWatch collectives, informing acts of
protest and civil disobedience, preventing additional police harassment and arrests, and preparing audio-
visual recorders for the possibility of abuse and court battles. This document is available upon request.
46!
DOCTRINE: Establishing the Legal Right to Photograph
As was previously discussed, there have been doctrinal developments in the U.S.
regarding the protection of photography, particularly as regards public space and public
officials. Indeed, the right to photograph has long been linked to the First Amendment,
but a series of cases, largely beginning with the 1990s, has more firmly and broadly
entrenched the right in the United States. Some of these cases are controlling case law,
while others are seen as “persuasive” authorities. The trend in both categories favors the
right to photograph.
In-court battles questioning the right to observe, let alone record, the activities of
public officials date back to the 1970s (Colten v. Kentucky, 407 U.S. 104 (1972)). A
bystander stopped to witness some police activity and refused to move along from the
public place when asked by the authorities; he was promptly arrested for allegedly
“interfering” with police duties. So began the now-ubiquitous police practice of using
claims of interference, obstruction, distraction, wiretap violations, and more, against
people on public streets who are doing nothing but observing, usually from safe
distances, and obeying all laws.
30
Mr. Colten lost his particular case against the police,
but challenges to similar police actions—all of them involving the right to record, not
simply observe—have held the reverse.
31
The most recent and notable case regarding the
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
30
Many classify such arrests as retaliation, or First Amendment retaliation, a civil rights violation for
which police and their departments could be held liable (Vaughn, 1996).
31
The list of cases regarding the right to photograph, specifically, and the right to record, generally, is
quite long—dozens in each state. The Supreme Court has taken only a few of them, and except for in the
one instance from 1972, has always affirmed the constitutional right to record (ACLU v. Alvarez, 679 F.3d
583 (7th Cir., May 8, 2012), Fordyce v. City of Seattle, 55 F.3d 436 (9th Cir., May 16, 1995), Glik v.
Cunniffe, 655 F.3d 78 (No. 10-1764) (1st Cir., Aug. 26, 2001), cert. denied, 133 S. Ct. 651 (U.S. 2012),
Iacobucci v. Boulter, 193 F.3d 14 (1st Cir., Oct. 4, 1999), Kelly v. Borough of Carlisle, 622 F. 3d 248,
2010, Smith v. City of Cumming, 212 F.3d 1332 (11th Cir., May 31, 2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 978 (Nov.
6, 2000)).
47!
right to photograph in public, and to observe and document the activities of police and
other public officials, is ACLU v. Alvarez (2012). In case after case, people using their
mobile phones to film police are, themselves, arrested for this filming. The ACLU
wanted to challenge this practice in Illinois, and the case made its way through the courts,
rising to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals where the judge wrote,
The act of making an audio or audiovisual recording is necessarily included
within the First Amendment's guarantee of speech and press rights as a corollary
of the right to disseminate the resulting recording (2012, p. 595).
Attorneys disputing the right to record appealed to the Supreme Court. Their petition for
certiorari was denied, suggesting the Court agrees with the ruling of the lower court
(Brenner & Whitmeyer, 2009, pp. 45–46), the Justices want the ruling to stand, and the
issues of the case, having been properly reviewed and decided, required no further
hearing or action. In a case preceding Alvarez (2012), Glik v. Cunniffe (2011), the judges
noted that the right to photograph was so clearly established, that police violating this
right could not claim qualified immunity
32
when sued by victims. This was important
because police are rarely denied qualified immunity, giving greater credence to the notion
that the right to photograph has long been an inviolable right of the people.

The Legal Fundamentals of the Right to Photograph
Groups and individuals interested in the right to photograph, particularly for
social justice purposes, tend to pose four basic questions. One, does the right exist?
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
32
More on qualified immunity in a later section, but at its most basic, QI shields police and other public
officials from liability unless they violate “clearly established” rules that any other similarly situated
official would have known was a rule—the purpose being to empower officials to fulfill their duties in
good faith, to the best of their ability, without fear of lawsuits.
48!
Two, if so, are there spaces and individuals around which this right is legally narrowed or
outright proscribed? Three, are certain jurisdictions more protective of this right, or are
there federal standards governing all jurisdictions? And finally: what is the prevailing
case law? Which cases control and which are persuasive authorities? I discuss these
questions in what follows, offer some suggestions for addressing and subverting illegal
actions, and briefly call attention to some questions that remain.
The simple answer to whether there is a constitutionally protected right to record
both still and moving images, with and without audio, is yes.
33
The right exists, and
making recordings is constitutional. There are some privacy exceptions that fit under, for
example, child or witness protection, as well wiretap statutes, but as facts and
circumstances are revealed in court, whistleblower protections and notion of “the public’s
right to know” are likely to trump in the case of average citizen activity. The right to
photograph is generally derived from the First Amendment; however, the Fourth, Fifth,
and Fourteenth Amendments may also be invoked in many instances. That the right is
constitutionally protected makes it a national rule, although some local jurisdictions,
police departments, and businesses may be less than compliant. Private properties may
impose their own rules,
34
but photographs taken in public, of public spaces or persons in
public space, is constitutionally protected.
35
Anything one can photograph from public
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
33
For a few model examples of codes regarding photography in public and on federal lands, see 41 CFR
§ 102-74.420 (“The Photography Rule”), the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Transit
Adjudication Bureau, MTA Section 1050.9, “Restricted areas and activities,” New York City Transit Rules
of Conduct (21 NYCRR, Chapter XXI, Part 1050, revised and updated 2011), and Chicago Transit Board’s
“Policies and Practices” for the Chicago Transit Authority (revised and updated 2006). That said, the
existence of these very codes did nothing to prevent police from invoking these laws to stop photographers
on countless occasions, to this day, assuming the individual is unaware of the rights afforded by these codes
and the constitution.
34
Photography restrictions and prosecutions regarding private properties are generally handled under the
rubric of trespassing. Difficulties that arise when people record private security guards may also be
49!

Arne Svenson (2012). “The Neighbors #5 (L), and The Neighbors #11 (R) [Photographs].

streets, that is visible from public space, may be legally photographed—even private
interiors.
36
One problem with the current state of the law may be that the only Supreme
Court ruling on the topic of public photography—specifically, on recording the police—
seems to run against a right to record. Fortunately, three factors undermine the notion
that this case is bad for the right to record: the ruling is not actually about recording, it is
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
resolved under trespass, but only if the person filming is on private property. Filming in or from public
space—for example, the sidewalk—cannot legally be prohibited by private security. Public photography in
public space does not fall under the purview of private security, even if they feel threatened or irritated by
the person with the camera. Again, the right is primarily derived from the First Amendment, and public
information gathering activities in public space may not be restricted by private entities, and only rarely by
government ones.
35
Amplifying the absurdity of government attempts to restrict photography in and of public space are
two significant and omnipresent technological advancements: the existence of programs like Google Street
View and 24-hour surveillance and satellite video (Bird et al., 2011, pp. 392–397; Boring v. Google, Inc.,
598 F.Supp.2d 695 (W.D. Pa., 2009). Government and corporate surveillance apparatuses are operating
everywhere and at all times. There is almost nothing that a citizen might photograph that a CCTV camera
is not already monitoring, 24/7, no monument or piece of “critical infrastructure” of which images are not
readily available online (or even in books). This last point about ubiquitous image availability especially
undermines authorities’ spurious accusations that a photographer is doing reconnaissance on behalf of
terrorist organizations.
36
New York-based photographer, Arne Svenson, raised eyebrows and drew ire when it became known
that his latest project, “The Neighbors,” involved him surreptitiously taking pictures of people in their own
homes using a telephoto lens (Svenson, 2012). The subjects had their windows, doors, and/or blinds open,
so they were visible from the outside, but as many of us can probably understand, they still felt violated.
The collection of intimate images went on display at Julie Saul Gallery in Chelsea, NYC, causing an
international stir, and leading many to label Svenson nothing more than a peeping Tom. A judge with New
York’s Supreme Court heard claims from some of those photographed, but backed the artist on the grounds
of the First Amendment and the notions inherent to freedom of expression (Halperin, 2013). If this
photography is legal on First Amendment grounds, taking photographs of public officials most certainly
qualifies, as well.
50!
about observing; the ruling is quite old—from 1972; and lastly, the current trend suggests
this decision may soon be overturned.
37
Older rulings explicitly prohibiting the right to
photograph, particularly the right to record police, have been limited to specific
circumstances, if not gradually modified or altogether dismantled.
The majority of cases already touched on should be encouraging to activists,
ordinary citizens, journalists, and others concerned with free speech and free press, as
well as police and government accountability. The few cases that would favor restricting
the right to photograph are few and generally dated, and in 2012, representatives from the
U.S. Civil Rights Division issued a letter to the parties of a right to record case, stating
that the official position of the United States Government is that the right is protected (J.
M. Smith & U.S. Department of Justice, 2012).
38
The letter references the Rodney King
beating
39
and other acts of misconduct, noting that recording such incidents has led to
greater recording protection by law as well as greater civil rights protection and police
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
37
That is, if one does not consider the 1972 ruling already overturned by the Supreme Court in its denial
of cert in the aforementioned case of ACLU v. Alvarez (2012).
38
It is rare for the Department of Justice or other government agencies to express support for plaintiffs
in suits against police and other officials, but as this letter reveals, it occasionally does happen. Another
recent “right to record” case in which the DOJ did not support the police was also in Maryland, a year after
Sharp (2012). In that Statement of Interest, the government reaffirmed its position that the right to
photograph is fundamental, adding that it was for all citizens and not just the press, as some have tried to
argue:
“[T]he First Amendment right to record police officers performing public duties extends to both
the public and members of the media, and the Court should not make a distinction between the
public’s and the media’s rights to record here. The derogation of these rights erodes public
confidence in our police departments, decreases the accountability of our governmental officers,
and conflicts with the liberties that the Constitution was designed to uphold” (Austin, Jr. et al.,
2013, p. 2).
39
Similar to the King beating and video, are the two separate California police shooting cases of Elio
Carrion, an U.S. Air Force sergeant, and Oscar Grant, a working father. Both men were on the ground and
subdued by officers before being shot in the back multiple times as a camera rolled. While the shooters
were put on trial, they escaped the guilty verdicts and sanctions that many believe the graphic videos
demanded (C. Banks, 2011; Bright, 2007; Celizic, 2007; Richardson, 2010). In the case of Grant, Bay Area
Transit Police (BART) attempted to confiscate all visual evidence collected by bystanders that night. They
failed in that attempt and the video became one of the first police shooting videos to “go viral” (Kiss, 2009;
Vargas & Monet, 2009).
51!
reform. Having reviewed the extant case law, one finds the following answers to the
queries posed at the outset. First, there most certainly is a constitutionally protected right
to photograph and record both still and moving images and/or audio, in public, of public
officials. Second, there are not specific spaces or individuals who might be free from
being recorded. Persons in public, law enforcement, politicians, and everyday citizens,
have no expectation of privacy. Police may ask citizens to take a few steps back from a
crime scene, but they may not take their equipment or force them to leave the area.
While there are no federal statutes aside from the U.S. Constitution, all people in all
jurisdictions are meant to exercise these rights to record. Lastly, the prevailing case
law—both controlling and persuasive—underscores the existence of a fundamental right
to photograph.
Given that the constitutional right to photograph is all but nationally recognized
by the U.S. Supreme Court,
40
I now address a few key, unresolved matters: why we need
the right to photograph; the arguments in favor of restricting the right to photograph; how
sectors of the public are responding to restrictions on the right photograph; and ways we
might safeguard and advance the right to photograph.

Why we need the right to photograph
The right to photograph must be preserved for at least five reasons. First, it is
guaranteed in the First Amendment. Second, it also finds support in the Fourth, Fifth and
Fourteenth Amendments, among the due process provisions. Third, the right to
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
40
We have reason to believe the Court has endorsed this right and would rule this way if it took a case
on this issue. See ACLU v. Alvarez (2012) and this chapter for discussion of Alvarez and the fact that the
Court denied to review the decision.
52!
photograph is guaranteed and to be promoted by international law. Fourth, it allows the
creation of an independent record of incidents. Fifth and finally, the right to photograph
is in the interest of public safety—from the dealings of our public officials to the conduct
of law enforcement and corporations concerning our food, schools, working conditions,
and more.

The First Amendment
As illustrated presented above, First Amendment arguments are the most common
made in the fight to be allowed to make videos and photographs. It is typically
considered the basis of the right to create and distribute audiovisual recordings. Just as
we have the right to observe and tell others about what we have seen, the extension of
that right—given today’s technology—is the right to record and publicly disseminate, via
television, the web, text message, or other means, that which we might observe during the
course of our daily lives. “Matters of public concern” is a common phrase used when
discussing the right to photograph, but we also have the right to gather, preserve, and
share information about things which the general public may take no interest: flora,
fauna, signage, trash, crowds, businesses, buildings, traffic, friends, performers,
passersby, and more. The noteworthy quality of the object being photographed is not the
appropriate test for whether or what another person may visually capture. The right to
photograph what we observe is independent of public concern, aesthetics, or
interestingness; it is an individual right to be exercised by individuals as individuals
choose.

53!
Due Process: The Fourth, Fifth, & Fourteenth Amendments
The First Amendment right to photograph also exists independent of the fact that
there have been some arrests and criminal prosecutions. That these incidents have
occurred does not undermine the right to photograph—they point to mistakes made by
the legal regime, not the lack of a right. Nonetheless, there are right to photograph
implications for criminal cases, particularly in regards to evidence. This reality
introduces the matter of due process rights—namely the Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth
Amendments—to the right to photograph equation Everyone is entitled to a broad range
of due process rights—these pertain to matters as disparate as profiling and suspicion to
the creation, seizure, and preservation of what may become evidence in each case.
Preventing evidence from being procured and entered into the record is a due process
violation, meaning preventing a recording, or seizing and deleting a record, or destroying
the device used to create that record, is a due process violation. Even telling someone to
move or step back, interfering with his or her ability to view and create an accurate
record of the event, could be construed as obstruction on the part of the police. They are
interfering with the collection of evidence and preventing eyewitness accounts from
being available, as well as the creation of an independent record of the incident in
question.
Furthermore, recall that law enforcement are under no duty to preserve all
evidence in every case—even evidence that may fully exonerate someone. They are only
required not to destroy evidence in “bad faith.” But the accuser must prove this bad faith
beyond a doubt, which is always excruciatingly difficult: it is nearly impossible to know
what one was thinking when they violated someone rights, and this level of proof comes
54!
with high legal standards.
41
This being the case, the ability to take and preserve a copy of
a document of events via photograph or video means valuable evidence is maintained and
can be made available if the incident makes its way through the justice system.
Recordings made by other non-arrestees—or the preventing of others from making a
record of events—also raises due process questions. The images captured by others in
the vicinity of an arrest may be subject to subpoena if they are known to exist. Arrestees
have a right to that evidence, but would be unable to exercise it if the police stripped
bystanders of their photographic devices or prevented them from filming. The right to
photograph serves classic truth-seeking and truth-telling functions irrespective of whether
an arrest occurs, but carries important and distinct implications in such instances. Recall
the police beating of Rodney King, caught on tape; the revelatory photograph made by a
factory worker of “pink slime” sprayed with ammonia and turned into “meat” patties for
fast food restaurants and school lunch programs (Hill, 2012; Lifsher & Hsu, 2012); the
photographs made of questionable politicians such as Mayor Rob Ford of Toronto who
lied about drug use (Associated Press, 2013), or Senator John Edwards and
Congressman-turned-Governor-turned-Congressman, Mark Sanford—both from the
Carolinas, both forced to stop lying about their extra-marital affairs when photo-evidence
surfaced (Harnden, 2009; N. A. Lewis, 2009). Think back to the attempts to censor
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
41
See Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (2012), and Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51 (1988).
Youngblood points out that due process does not require, “imposing on the police an undifferentiated and
absolute duty to retain and preserve all material that might be of conceivable evidentiary significance in a
particular prosecution” (p. 58). This line conjures images of row after row of huge warehouses being
forced to hold every single last hair collected from every single last crime scene, but this is rather extreme
given that so much is now digitized—particularly video and photographs. Another case that made its way
to the Texas Court of Appeals in 2011 denies defendants the right to dashcam video that may exonerate
them and states that due process rights are not violated if that video/evidence is destroyed or otherwise
“unavailable.” See Mark Lee Martin v. The State of Texas, Case No. 03-10-00420-CR (TX Ct. App. 3,
2011).
55!
images of flag draped coffins returning from Iraq (Gast, 2004; National Security Archive,
2005) and the photographs leaked from Abu Ghraib (Andén-Papadopoulos, 2008;
Laustsen, 2008); think back further to some of the iconic images mentioned earlier from
civil rights struggles and wars. These were images that revealed truths that the
authorities wanted to keep hidden from the public.
42
If those photographs were prevented
from being taken and circulated, would there have been social progress and political
change? Citizens have the right to know what their representatives and public officials
are doing, and doing in their name under color of law.
Finally, with regard to due process and the right to photograph, the U.S. legal
system is to presume everyone innocent until proven guilty. To shut down legal activity
without cause, presuming the photographer is a terrorist or creating images for harmful
purposes, is a violation of due process rights. It is reminiscent of predictive policing,
profiling, and what some call “thought crime” or “precrime” (A. Jones, 2010; Mayer-
Schönberger & Cukier, 2013, pp. 151, 158–163; Orwell, 1949, p. 105; Spielberg, 2002;
Vlahos, 2012). This police practice finds citizens guilty before they are even able to
commit a crime, assuming that we were about to break the law and endanger others. Add
to this that detention and arrest trends suggest police are quicker to make presumptions
about people of color—particularly those who appear to be of Middle Eastern descent
(Lin, II & Groves, 2005; New York Civil Liberties Union, 2007; Romenesko, 2007).
Tourists snapping photographs of monuments, a pier, planes, trains, or subway system
may not automatically be considered a threat to society, but police are treating everyday
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
42
In the case of the coffins, the government sought to censor the images because they claimed such
things undermined the war effort; in the cases of foreign wars and the Civil Rights Movement, the
government rationale is similar—the images reveal that the government is perpetrating barbaric acts or
allowing them to continue.
56!
people as criminals for engaging in legal, everyday activities (Booth, 2009; Doctorow,
2008; Elfrink, 2013; Endley, 2013; Staff reporter, 2011b; Zhang, 2011). Depriving us of
our rights on account of paranoia is unacceptable. The right to photograph is a right and
should not be usurped without just cause. When police interfere with this right, they
commit several inexcusable violations of due process, as explained above.

International law
While this work focuses primarily on these issues in the context of U.S. law, it is
worth noting that there are international norms and agreements that protect the right to
photograph. In the international system, this right generally falls under the ideal of
freedom of information—the right to document, to gather and disseminate knowledge, to
inform ourselves so that we can make learned decisions in the interest of our
democracies. To quote the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in an Advisory
Opinion concerning the practice of journalism: “it can be said that a society that is not
well informed is not a society that is truly free” (Inter-American Court of Human Rights,
1985, OC-5/85 (Ser. A) No. 5, sec. 70). The right to photograph is a critical part of the
right to be informed, and the existence of countless organizations, treaties, and works by
international jurists, all testify to the fact that this right must be protected and promoted.
Immediately following World War II, with the founding of the UN, drafters of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) sought to enshrine the rights of free
expression and freedom of information. Both the Universal Declaration and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) guarantee this right in their
respective versions of Article 19 (1966). The Declaration, although considered
57!
“aspirational” and initially non-binding, has come to be regarded as customary
international law and binding all states-regardless of ratification status (Frey, 1997, pp.
160–163).
43
The ICCPR is considered binding on states parties, of which the United
States is one, as is almost every nation on earth.
44

As the international human rights regime developed, global and regional
organizations sprang up to focus on protecting the fundamental rights pertaining to
information and expression. The European system has many bodies keeping watch,
including treaty bodies; the Council of Europe;
45
and more local groups such as the
British nonprofit mentioned earlier, “I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist” and the Natalia
Project (Civil Rights Defenders, 2013), and the French photographers organization,
“Union des Photographes Professionnels” (2013). State constitutions typically have
pertinent rights protections built-in, and the European Court of Human Rights may be
asked to rule in legal cases when states trample these rights. Like Europe, the Americas
have a variety of provisions and organizations concerned with these rights. The
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
43
It provided the authoritative interpretation of the human rights guaranteed in the UN Charter in
Articles 1, 55, and 56.
44
Signing a treaty makes a nation a state party in some sense, whether as a signatory or a full-ratifier. It
is true that the United States has signed some of key treaties but not yet ratified them (e.g., The
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), and The American Convention on
Human Rights (1969)). Regardless, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969) considers a
signature to be binding—it is a commitment to the enshrined rights, simply in wait of full implementation.
It also means signatory states should not commit acts in violation or which conflict with the “object and
purpose” of the treaty; if one may not enter reservations in conflict, one certainly may not commit acts in
conflict. Coincidentally—or perhaps not—the United States is a signatory but not a ratified states party to
this Vienna Convention. Still, the Convention is a codification of customary law, the officialization of
what the international community has long regarded as standards in treaty-making and treaty-respecting
behavior. General comments for interpretation of rights and advisory opinions issued regarding particular
rights in signed treaties are also said to apply. Non-ratification is not an excuse for violations committed by
signatories, though without ratification, it is certainly more difficult to hold them accountable.
45
Among the Council’s more prominent efforts are the Declaration by the Committee of Ministers on
the protection and promotion of investigative journalism (Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe,
2007) and Resolution 1535: Threats to the lives and freedom of expression of journalists (Council of
Europe Parliamentary Assembly, 2007, p. 15).
58!
Organization of American States has several treaties and statements,
46
and organizations
such as La Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa or FLIP (2013), and la Sociedad
Interamericana de Prensa (2013) are busy safeguarding freedom of information and
expression. In a 2013 decision by the Supreme Court of Canada, the right to photograph
was upheld in an atypical context—labor—in a case forwarded by unions citing domestic
and international principles (Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v. United
Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 (Supreme Court of Canada, 2013 SCC 62)).
U.S. organizations such as Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press often appeal to
international law, even though U.S. government often rejects it as a controlling force
(RCFP media coalition, 2002).
47

In Asia, rights belonging to the press and the people regarding information and
expression typically are perceived to be limited. While the constitutions of some
governments—for example, Philippines (Article III Section 4), Pakistan (Article 19) and
India (Article 19), South Korea (Article 21), and even the People’s Republic of China
(Article 35)—guarantee these rights, as is the case with the United States and other
Western democracies, rights on the books do not always translate to rights enjoyed in
practice. To help parse freedom of expression and information laws in Asia, and to
prepare journalists and others for photographic work in Asian countries, Article 19
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
46
Documents protecting these rights in the American System include the American Convention on
Human Rights, or “Pact of San Jose,” (1969, Art. 13), the Inter-American Declaration of Principles on
Freedom of Expression (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 2000), and an Inter-American
report on the right of access to information (Special Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression,
Organization of American States (IACHR), 2009). As was mentioned previously, a 1985 Advisory
Opinion also firmly asserts the right to freedom of information.
47
In 2002, the Reporters Committee took a position against the U.S, arguing for greater access to
Guantanamo and its prisoners. Also, while the Reporters Committee’s primary focus is on licensed media,
their habit of making positive comments about citizen journalists suggests they believe these rights apply to
all journalists, formal and informal, with and without press credentials.
59!
published the “Central Asian Pocketbook on Freedom of Expression” (2006). Eventually
the regional treaty body, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, enacted the ASEAN
Declaration of Human Rights, with Article 23 stating, “[e]very person has the right to
freedom of opinion and expression, including freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart information, whether orally, in writing or
through any other medium of that person’s choice” (2012) (my emphasis). This is strong,
affirmative language, and it certainly would encompass the right to photograph. The
Organization of African Unity, formed in 1963, a few years before ASEAN in 1967,
boasts similar provisions but also shortcomings. Still, advocates are heartened that such
legal standards are being enacted.
As is clear from the discussion above, rights associated with the freedom of
information and photography are regularly restricted, to the point that incidents
frequently make international headlines. Because of this, Article 19 and other regional
and international bodies fighting for these rights continue their work throughout the
world. Some documents with international scope include the Geneva Conventions
Regime
48
and the International Committee of the Red Cross (Demotix, 2013;
Verschingel, 2008), Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues (Laurent, 2013; RISC,
2013), Reporters sans frontières (2013), the Committee to Protect Journalists (2013), and
the Society of Professional Journalists (2013). These and other international
organizations struggle, undaunted, to preserve these fundamental human freedoms, and
use customary norms and treaties to assert these rights in court whenever necessary. The
right to photograph serves critical truth-seeking and democratic governance purposes,
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
48
Namely, Protocol I: Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the
Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, Part IV, Sec. III, Ch. III, Art. 79 (1977).
60!
and as regards public officials and police, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of
Europe may have put it best: “guaranteeing the right of the people to be fully informed on
matters of public concern and to exercise scrutiny over public authorities and political
affairs, as repeatedly confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights” (2007, p. 2).

Countering police reports and testimony of police
The need to create an independent record of events whenever possible is
underscored by the invention of the term, “testilying.” is used to refer to police who are
testifying in court about misconduct. A New York Times article by political scientist
Michelle Alexander was simply called, “Why Police Lie Under Oath” (2013)—not
asking if they lie under oath, or how common it might be, but rather, because it is a fact
that police lie under oath (Keane, 2011; Van Brocklin, 2009; Wilson, 2010), here are two
explanations as to why.
49
There is no way to know how many times a day police lie in
their reports, to their superiors, colleagues, or people on the street, but it must be quite
high given the number of police who have been caught and disciplined, or perhaps more
often, caught and “let off with a warning.” The number of officials caught and
disciplined for breaking the law—whether we are talking about littering and speeding or
committing acts of malfeasance or violence—is always lower than the number of
offenders. Police are trained to lie to citizens and suspects in order to sniff out crime, to
apprehend and help prosecute the accused. Police are trained and encouraged to do what
it takes to make arrests, and they are rewarded when they succeed. Lying is part of the
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
49
Alexander takes her cue from Peter Keane, a former San Francisco Police Commissioner, who wrote
in the San Francisco Chronicle that police lie because they can—they are encouraged to do it and know
they can get away with it—and to increase arrests (Keane, 2011).
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job (Johns, 1993; Van Brocklin, 2009; Weisburd, Greenspan, Hamilton, Williams, &
Bryan, 2000). Film and video of events can independently contradict what police may
have written or told to others regarding an incident—and images have done exactly this,
repeatedly (Buettner, 2013; Hench, 2013; Mnookin, 1998; Office Of The District
Attorney Of Bronx County & Johnson, 2013; Santana, Jr. & Washburn, 2011; Walczak,
2011). People must be permitted to create these records in an effort to ensure suspects
are not unjustly accused or convicted, or “simply” have their character and reputation
called into question.
This transforms the right to photograph from a matter of rights-existence to a
matter of rights-consciousness: police and public officials may still ask that recordings be
stopped, but they cannot compel someone to comply with that request. If people are
uninformed, more than likely they will do what the authority figure says. Referring back
to the police practice of lying, police knowingly tell everyday people they do not have
certain rights when, in fact, we do, and police are likely to firmly insist people comply,
may threaten them with penalties, or go so far as to ticket or arrest them. In the latter
situations, it may be that the arraignment judge is the first line of defense for those
accused of terrorism, obstruction, or disorderly conduct. Police frustrated with
individuals who do not unquestioningly obey orders frequently resort to naming these
charges; they are a form of retaliation and abuse of power. Therefore, it is important to
inform prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges of the right to photograph, so that these
cases go no further than a five-minute session. It would be dangerous for a defendant and
contrary to the interests of justice should such an incident go to trial,
50
largely because
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
50
Actually, if faced with going to trial and continuing through the larger criminal justice system, most
62!
juries are more likely to take the word of a sworn police officer over a defendant
(Alexander, 2013; D. Lewis, 1992). Without an independent record of the event, the
power dynamics involved make it difficult for the average person to prevail, even when
one has done nothing wrong.
51

Judges and attorneys should also be vigilant about how frequently such cases
cross their desks. It may be that a police department, in contravention of the law, has a
de facto policy of detain-seize-delete when they encounter someone recording, that is, a
policy of holding people on alleged suspicion of some mischief, then seizing and deleting
recordings they find on people’s devices while they are detained, or using the fact that
someone is recording them as a pretext for some other search or arrest. Judges and
attorneys ushering these incidents through the justice system might also take note of the
characteristics of the accused and their cases—race, age, gender, location where the
incident occurred—as these markers may reveal a pattern of profiling. Public advocates
and many in law enforcement frown on profiling, whether by race, immigration status,
religion, age, dress, economic class, or other aspect of appearance or identity. It is a
practice of heightened concern and common practice since 9/11, and has entered more
public consciousness with the police murders of people like Sean Bell and Trayvon
Martin.
52
Because profiling conflicts with ideals of equality, fundamental fairness, and
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
people plea bargain, agreeing to accept some level of guilt and serve some sentence, even if they have done
nothing illegal (Alexander, 2012; A. J. Davis, 2009).
51
Note this imbalance connects back to the inequality in law and the power the authorities have to do as
they please without consequence—an aspect of the state of exception.
52
Sean Bell was a 23-year-old Black man shot 50 times after being cornered by five police officers
outside of a gathering the night before his wedding in Brooklyn, New York, 2008. The officers said they
assumed he had a gun, but no gun was found. No officers were found guilty of any crime, for example,
misconduct or excessive force (Mcfadden, 2006). The murder opened a city-wide conversation about the
propriety of racial profiling, but profiling, and the city’s “Stop and Frisk” profiling policy instituted in 2004
under Police Commissioner Ray Kelly (V. Johnson, 2013). Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old Black high
63!
the presumption of innocence, often to tragic results, the practice is being reviewed in
various circuit courts around the country. Police and other public officials abusing their
authority and engaging in profiling can be disciplined for these actions using
photographic documentation.

Public safety
Lastly, preserving the right to photograph supports a broad range of safety
concerns. Rooting out corrupt authority figures, government officials, business operators,
and the like is in the public interest. Recordings can also demonstrate if these officials
are fit for duty: are they prepared, well-trained, acting appropriately, and mentally
equipped to handle their tasks? Are they in good health, alert, and physically capable, if
these traits are essential to the job?
53

But public safety is not restricted to the corruptness or physical fitness of
government agents, the military, police, fire fighters, and others to whom we entrust with
high-level administration or life and death situations. The notions of public safety and
the public interest also encompass a range of human and animal rights; it means
protecting consumers, workers, whistleblowers, and the environment. The right to
photograph is important to ensure so that wrongdoing can be documented, as objectively
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
school student shot by a volunteer neighborhood watchman who appears to have profiled him while he
walked through a gated community, after visiting a convenience store one night in 2013. He began
following the student, who was dressed in a hooded sweatshirt, but did not approach him or have a chance
to truly assess him before he called 911 to report, “[t]here's a real suspicious guy. This guy looks like he's
up to no good or he's on drugs or sumpin’” (W. Palmer, 2012). Because the watchman had not engaged
Martin and had no cause to believe Martin was suspicious, up to no good, or on drugs, it left many to infer
Martin’s race, age, and dress led the watchman to profile and eventually murder the teen.
53
An equal protection case from 1976 explicitly says that public safety and a police officer’s age—a
proxy for their continued fitness for the job—may trump their right to not be forced to retire, and making a
record of that person’s unfitness is protected in the name of public safety, Massachusetts Board of
Retirement v. Murgia, 427 U.S. 307 (1976).
64!
as possible, and submitted for public debate and redress. Companies that dump waste
illegally, farms that abuse animals, factories that endanger their workers, agricultural
businesses that manipulate reports on their use of pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics,
laboratories that lie about their findings, corporations embezzling money—all of these
must be sites where filming and photography are permitted for whistleblowing
purposes.
54
While those objecting to filming may fear that some will abscond with trade
secrets (Dreyfuss, 1998; Krages, 2006, p. 45), those championing the right to photograph
properly point out the necessity of exposing brutality and malfeasance as a more
compelling consideration. Agribusiness, pharmaceutical companies, oil conglomerates,
and more, are all seeking legislation that would make criminals out of those who make
recordings of, on, or around their operations, and removing whistleblower protections
that have previously existed (Armour, 1995; Goodson, 2012; Ramirez, 2007; Simons,
2003). The right to photograph means workers can show us what their conditions are
like, it means organizations can show willful or careless contamination of the food
supply, destruction of the environment, wanton cruelty to animals, and government abuse
of prisoners. These are public safety issues, and those in power continue to profit from
their illegal activities because they hide them from us—society, consumers, voters, policy
makers—by restricting the right to photograph. In the terms of Agamben’s framework,
they are excepting themselves from legal norms and usurping power and oversight
functions from the public.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
54
Rather, for whistleblowing purposes, at minimum. Strong advocates argue that corporations and
public spaces should be open to photography at all times, by the public and by outside monitors, not only
by employees and other insiders.
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Finally, the right to photograph—if more widely recognized—could serve to
discourage misconduct in the first place. If one is always being watched, the willingness
and readiness to commit illegal acts might be deterred. Western nations and corporations
have already imposed hundreds of thousands of surveillance cameras on their civilian
populations, looking to thwart everything from petty theft to terrorism. Shining a light—
and a camera—back on to the public officials and law enforcement figures who are
constantly watching us, serves as a public check on authority and may deter abuse.
Furthermore, public officials do not have privacy and criminal due process guarantees as
they fulfill their public functions; there are no privacy assurances or blanket immunities
while on duty.
55
Knowing “the whole world is watching” may be the only reason an
individual escapes a police encounter with their person and property intact.

Countering arguments for restricting the right to photograph
It is difficult to imagine situations when the right to photograph may be trumped
by some other right or exceptional facts of a given situation. Three arguments against the
right to photograph that are given great weight are: 1) that photography interferes with
police or government business and privacy, 2) that it puts corporations at risk of
“economic espionage” (see above regarding public safety), and 3) that terrorists use
photography to plan their attacks. On these ill-founded and unjustified beliefs,
photography is illegally restricted, but the arguments against these claims are strong and
upheld in court when legal challenges are brought.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
55
That is, no assurances or immunities on the books. In practice, police are often granted this as a
discretionary matter. That police can often have special privileges simply because they request or claim
them is another extra-legal element potentially indicative of living in a state of exception.
66!
Police consistently assert their own “public safety” concerns to individuals who
are photographing or filming, claiming the photographers are interfering with police
business, obstructing justice, contaminating a crime scene, and the like. Police have
asserted that the right to photograph is an invite to looky-loos and eavesdroppers to
intrude on the private and painful moments and details of victims’ lives, making it “more
difficult for the police to do their jobs” (Hermann, 2010).
Despite claims to the contrary, there are ways for police to allow photography and
“do their jobs”: to secure crime scenes, prevent people from being injured, avoid losing
control of a suspect, inhibit release of sensitive information, and the like. It is entirely
possible for the police to ensure the safety of those near a crime scene—suspects, victims,
witnesses, passersby, photographers, and others—while people observe and document the
incident. In short, the two are hardly incompatible. It may be that a photographer will
need to step back or move to the side, but the documenting can continue, and this is better
than it being shut down, completely. The recording also captures whether being asked to
move was necessary and appropriate in the first place, or whether the police overstepped
when they interfered with those observing public events and gathering information. This
will help establish a record of patterns and practices, potentially aiding in the
modification of department procedures.
In terms of the law, the issue of private citizens being recorded is not much
different
56
from the recording of public figures, although there is greater protection.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
56
Another common question is whether journalists have greater rights to record than others. Legally
and technically the answer is no; the law does not make distinctions. However, for example, judges may
only permit access to their courtrooms to press pass holders, or music venues may only allow newspaper
photographers to enter the stage area. In public arenas, there is generally no legal difference between
someone with “credentials” and someone without.
67!
When in public or in public view, the courts have said we and our personal effects do not
have a reasonable expectation of privacy (California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. 207 (1986);
Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 (1967); Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. 170 (1984);
Guirguis, 2004; Rothenberg, 2000).
57
It would be unfortunate for intimate details of
victims or witnesses to be captured and broadcast, but the odds of this are likely quite
low—people filming for police misconduct generally care less, if at all, about the private
life of the victims than they do about exposing the misconduct, and they are likely to edit
out that sort of information so it is not shared. Still, if individuals are captured in a photo
or on video, and can be clearly identified, it could mean bad news for them. The
consequences may be criminal (e.g., people were somewhere or with someone they
should not have been and their parole officer sees), social (family or friends ostracize
them for being involved with a police situation), or hazardous to their well-being, for
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
57
In Fall 2013, the California legislature passed a law aimed at paparazzi because of how they have
aggressively pursued celebrities and their children, but some consider the law passable in its narrowness.
Meant to prevent harassment of children, the law primarily addresses harassing conduct almost akin to
stalking, as opposed to barring certain types of images from being taken or stating that certain angles,
positions, or moments are off-limits. There are already plenty of laws restricting stalking and threatening
behavior, so it is unclear why this measure is necessary, but regardless, people in public may still be filmed
and photographed at will. California Senate Bill No. 606, Harassment: child or ward, Ch. 348–An act to
amend Section 11414 of the Penal Code (California Legislature, 2013a, 2013b) (my emphasis):
(a) Any person who intentionally harasses the child or ward of any other person because of that
person’s employment shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year,
or by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) “Child” and “ward” mean a person under 16 years of age.
(2) “Harasses” means knowing and willful conduct directed at a specific child or ward
that seriously alarms, annoys, torments, or terrorizes the child or ward, and that serves no
legitimate purpose, including, but not limited to, that conduct occurring during the
course of any actual or attempted recording of the child’s or ward’s image or voice, or
both, without the express consent of the parent or legal guardian of the child or ward, by
following the child’s or ward’s activities or by lying in wait. The conduct must be such as
would cause a reasonable child to suffer substantial emotional distress, and actually cause
the victim to suffer substantial emotional distress.
…
(e) The act of transmitting, publishing, or broadcasting a recording of the image or voice of a child
does not constitute a violation of this section.
See the bill for full text,
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB606.
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example, if they witnessed a terrible crime and guilty parties seek to harm the witnesses.
In the latter of these cases, protective services should be made available, and the right to
photograph, maintained. The two former cases, while regrettable, remain an insufficient
reason to trump the right to record. It would be unfortunate if a “wrong place, wrong
time” situation disrupted someone’s life, but it does not categorically trump public safety
interests, the need to create accurate records of important events, or the First, Fourth,
Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments.
Nebulous fears of “terrorism” are the other common reason people are restricted
from taking photographs. The U.S. government and its Transportation Security
Administration, or TSA, have encouraged the public to believe there is a nexus between
photography and terrorism, using posters depicting photographers on metros and near
airports to instruct people to report on “suspicious” persons (NPPA, 2010; Tenore, 2010;
Transportation Security Administration, 2010). “If you see something, say something,”
read the billboards and online web-banners (U.S. Department of Homeland Security,
2011), and mobile phone applications make it easy to report on fellow citizens (Brass
Star Group, 2013; Citizen Concepts & Patriot Applications, LLC, 2009; J. Johnson, 2012;
G. Jones, 2013; My Mobile Witness, Inc., 2013; NIC Inc. & WVinteractive, 2012;
NICUSA LLC & Eye On KY, 2011; Slantware, 2012; TipSoft & iThinQware, 2012).
Cities receiving large sums from Homeland Security participate in the “Suspicious
Activity Reporting” program, which asks residents to report on neighbors acting
strangely, anyone “out of place,” or people in public doing “suspicious” things (Cincotta,
2010; Salahi, 2012). Program documents read:
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“REPORTABLE SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITIES: A suspicious
activity reported on a SAR shall only include the following:
…
• Eliciting Information: Questioning individuals at a level beyond
mere curiosity about particular facets of a facility's or building's
purpose, operations, security procedures, etc., that would arouse
suspicion in a reasonable person;
…
• Photography: Taking pictures or videos of facilities/buildings,
infrastructures, or protected sites in a manner that would arouse
suspicion in a reasonable person. Examples include taking pictures
or videos of ingress/egress, delivery locations, personnel
performing security functions (e.g., patrol, badge/vehicle
checking), security-related equipment (e.g., perimeter fencing,
security cameras), etc.;
…
• Observation/Surveillance: Demonstrating unusual interest in
facilities/buildings, infrastructures or protected sites beyond mere
casual or professional (e.g., engineers) interest, such that a
reasonable person would consider the activity suspicious.
Examples include observations through binoculars, taking notes,
attempting to measure distances, etc.; …” (Los Angeles Police
Department, 2008).
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Encouraging us to monitor each other and point fingers regarding terrorism,
58
undermines
both due process and the notion of police expertise and discretion in assessing probable
cause.

TSA Poster conflating photographers with terrorists
performing “hostile reconnaissance.”

Such mini-reports are but one way the government has swept up everyday citizens
into the photographers-as-terrorists frenzy and encouraged this nefarious—and false—
association. As has been mentioned, “critical infrastructure” and popular tourist sites are
now hotspots for crackdowns. Millions of tourists and passersby approach historic
buildings by every day; countless masses use public transportation every hour. Visually
scanning for terrorists in these crowds, policing all of us as we go about our daily
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
58
The government and TSA further encourage this behavior inside of airports, from kiosks and
bathrooms to hallways and the infamous security checkpoints. Relentless messaging and bewildering talk
of “threat levels,” mean searches have become increasingly exhaustive and people are simultaneously more
worried about their safety and stressed regarding all of the inconveniences the paranoia has introduced to
air travel. Vacation magazines now regularly run features on the airports with the “easiest,” “smoothest,” or
“least unpleasant” checkpoints and TSA officers, as people have begun to use this in their calculations
regarding where to go on holiday (Orwoll & Stewart, 2013). The fact that picking a travel destination may
be seriously influenced by whether the TSA’s airport security conducts searches with aggression or is
found to be stealing from passengers’ luggage is disturbing, and fundamentally undermines the idea that we
live in a free and democratic society. Then it is almost a luxury to consider the question of whether
photography is allowed—legally it is, but this varies in practice (C. “Bob” Burns, TSA Office of Strategic
Communications & Public Affairs, & U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2009).
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business, using the possession of a camera as the tell-tale sign, is beyond absurd. The
authorities allege photographers are conducting “hostile reconnaissance”—that is,
photographing certain sites to help terrorists plan attacks—but these accusations are not
credible. Images of major sites and infrastructure are readily available online and in
books, pamphlets, travel guides, posters, and more. Terrorists are able to publicly
purchase these, or peruse them free of cost at libraries, museums, and the sites
themselves, without exposing themselves or their agents to unnecessary police scrutiny,
searches, and possible prosecution. Assuming photographers are colluding with terrorists
introduces questions about profiling and presumption of innocence addressed in the
earlier section on due process. Rampant and irrational fears of terrorism have already
lead many rights to be curtailed.
59
The right to photograph, because it is a longstanding
constitutional right and serves a multitude of information and liberty interests, legally
60

cannot be restricted by overzealous authorities.

Taking it to the Streets: Exercising the Right to Photograph
As the sections on theory and doctrine indicate, creating and sharing images for
the purpose of spurring social action involves a complex set of issues. Public and private
spaces are under constant surveillance, with authorities seeking to enforce rules that do
not exist, and even with constitutional rights on the side of photographers, law is often a
flimsy shield. When one insists on turning a camera on state actors, particularly to catch
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
59
The list of curtailed civil liberties and socio-political rights is too long to reproduce here, but many
organizations and scholars have attempted to catalogue and analyze these rights, arguing for their
reinstatement. They would also like to witness a deliberate downgrading in the level of tension and
hysteria fueling further rights restrictions (Bovard, 2003; Cassel, 2006; Cole & Dempsey, 2002; Fitzpatrick,
2003; Hoffman, 2004; R. Johnson, 2002; Parry, 2008).
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In other contexts, I would also argue, based on ethical considerations (or principles), the right to
photograph should not be restricted.
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them committing human rights violations or other illegal acts, there are serious risks to
property, and even life.
But some individuals and organizations have taken on these risks,
61
and continue
to do so in order to raise awareness among the general population and promote official
policy changes. Having established that the right to photograph exists, and having
explained why it is necessary to preserve such a right, I now turn to some specific
examples of contemporary restrictions—or restriction attempts—and how the public is
responding. Journalists and everyday citizens, in addition to artists and activists,
62
are
challenging ad hoc photography restrictions and the double standard regarding
surveillance. This section will review some of the more high profile cases and note the
wins and losses. Sometimes groups and individuals challenging an improper restriction
are successful, but sometimes they are not; this buttresses my contention that we neither
live in an era of total domination à la the “state of exception,” nor one in which our
photography is completely unfettered à la the “civil contract.” Also, the fact that the
public can and does succeed against the state, even if only occasionally, should be
heartening to those who face state repression and encourage us all to question illegal
practices.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
61
This section does not discuss certain other incidents where police interrupted happenstance
photography, but rather focuses on instances where the photography was the specific target of the police or
other authorities. There are many other incidents when police interrupt photography as they are executing
warrants or completing arrests—also illegal—because they did not want their activities captured on film.
This is a methodological decision made for practical reasons. While these acts do constitute a violation of
the right to the photograph, to fully discuss all of the different circumstances under which police illegally
deprive people of their right to photograph would be a gargantuan effort, whereas focusing on when the act
of photography, itself, is the specific target is more manageable and also more to the point that photography
has been criminalized.
62
Note that sometimes journalists, everyday citizens, and artists become activists as they pursue
recourse. I try to keep them in separate categories based on how they came to the issue. Artists—even if
they have an activist practice or have become activists on these issues—are considered artists for the
purpose of this work if their artworks are critiques of these issues, as opposed to how they spend their free
time relating to these issues. This distinction will be more obvious when specific examples are presented.
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There are different kinds of people working to preserve the right to photograph.
In addition to activists, everyday people find themselves running into unheard of
photography restrictions, as do many journalists. Most journalists know their rights—
there are courses in “j-school” and often on-the-job training that cover these concerns—
but not all journalists do, or they have too little experience sticking up for themselves and
asserting their rights as citizens and investigators. Smaller still is the percentage of
regular citizens who are familiar enough with their constitutional rights and possess the
ability and confidence to refuse to comply with unlawful instructions given by police—
courteously, of course.

The Public Citizen
Still, ordinary citizens have often succeeded in their efforts to challenge illegal
rights infringement and there are many examples from the U.S. and abroad. Take people
like Anthony Finnegan, a builder photographing an ornamental door in public (Nash,
2012); Jules Mattsson, a boy taking pictures of a parade (Staff reporter, 2011b); and
Gemma Atkinson, a woman using her phone to capture an arrest (P. Lewis, 2009; Staff
reporter, 2009); and Grant Smith, an architect photographing the exterior of a church
(Booth, 2009)—all from the United Kingdom. These individuals were all using their
cameras in public, when they were confronted by police about their legally protected
public photography, and went on to attempt to photograph the police as proof of the
event. For this, they were physically attacked by the police—everything from shoving to
being thrown face down into puddles on concrete—and accused of illegal photography
and terrorist connections. Their devices were confiscated, as well. All of them
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challenged
63
the police for violating their right to photograph, and also for their unlawful
detentions and mistreatment. All were vindicated and received monetary compensation.
64

While these cases were settled out of court as opposed to being litigated all the way
through the court system and holding the individual officers accountable, the police
departments themselves had to pay these settlements, and also to avoid future payouts,
worked on training and policy-amendment. Ms. Atkinson went on to use her settlement
to produce a short animated film about her experience and the right to photograph, and
became something of an activist on the topic (G. Atkinson & Grace, 2013).
Many cases in the United States are like those described above. Similar to what
happened to Gemma Atkinson, Pennsylvania student Neftaly Cruz, used his cell phone to
take a picture of drug bust in his neighborhood. He quickly found himself the target of
the police on the scene and was arrested for supposedly interfering with and obstructing
an investigation. Despite knowing the falsity of their own claim, the officers told Cruz it
was illegal to photograph police. Cruz was quickly released into the custody of his
parents, after which he challenged his arrest, and filed a formal complaint with the
department and Internal Affairs. To some extent, the police recanted their account and
regretted the incident (Hairston, 2006; M. L. Manning, 2010, p. 109). Another student,
Ian Spiers, was photographing a “landmark” railroad bridge in Seattle when police
interrupted him, and later sent Homeland Security agents to his home to interrogate him.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
63
People in the UK—London in particular—who face charges concerning public photography are
fortunate to have the firm of Bhatt & Murphy. Barristers at B&M frequently represent individuals,
including several mentioned here, for civil rights violations committed by police. The firm also works to
shape policy.
64
The amount varied based on the level of force and time spent in detention. Importantly, especially for
our discussion of the right to photograph, the videos the victims made of their respective arrests were
instrumental in gauging the amount of force used, and therefore, in determining their compensation. Had
the police succeeded in restricting this right, or had the right been restricted by new legislation, the victims
would have had little to no recourse—it would have been their word against that of the arresting officers.
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He had been harassed multiple times for taking photographs in public, but since
approaching local press associations and having the First Amendment Center take up his
cause, he has been left alone (Associated Press, 2004). A photography professor in
Washington State photographing powerlines, and a photographer taking pictures near a
BP oil refinery in Texas received comparable Homeland Security treatment. After their
cases were taken up by nonprofit organizations, they were largely left alone, as well
(Anonymous, 2007, 2010). The same goes for Duane Kerzic, whose right to photograph
was violated by police when he was taking photographs in an Amtrak station (Dwyer,
2010). But not everyone is so lucky as to have First Amendment advocates volunteering
to fight legal battles. In Ohio, a woman using her phone to take images of an arrest was
attacked and arrested by police who absurdly claimed it was a “cell-phone gun” (Ludlow,
2010). People innocently photographing commuter trains in Maryland, Pennsylvania,
and Washington, D.C. (ACLU of Delaware, 2013), and even at county fairs (Szymecki v.
Houck, 353 Fed.Appx. 852, 4th Cir., 2009), were also interrupted and dragged into
physical altercations with police simply for taking pictures. Fortunately, none of these
individuals sustained serious injuries.
In a case from 2011, Illinois resident, Michael Allison, openly used his
smartphone to record police harassing him near his place of business, intending to file a
report and use it as evidence. When he arrived at the police station, police used the
recording against him, claiming he had violated the officers’ rights by not first securing
their permission to be captured on video. They informed him he was facing 75 years in
prison: he had committed a class one felony, charged with five counts of eavesdropping,
and could receive a punishment on par with the punishment for rape, all for his efforts to
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hold police accountable for their conduct (Fazio, 2011). With the ACLU’s help, Allison
fought his case. Eventually, the judge threw out his criminal charges and succinctly
stated why the statute and Allison’s charges could not be allowed to stand: “[s]uch action
impedes the free flow of information concerning public officials and violates the First
Amendment right to gather such information” (Berg, 2011).
Allison may have had a good chance to beat the charges him, regardless: a white,
middle-aged, middle-class, male businessman, well-respected in his community, and
having no criminal record. But given previously discussed jury-bias in favor of the
police and against people of color, youth, and women, when those charged are like
defendant Tiawanda Moore—a young black female, only known to news outlets and the
general public as “a former stripper” (Terry, 2011)—the odds are less likely to be in her
favor. A minority woman, she felt particularly victimized and at risk of police
exploitation, leading her to feel she needed to document her interactions with the police.
In an attempt to protect herself, much like Allison but without the benefit of favored class
and race, she quickly found herself up against the law. That prosecutions can be selective
and manipulated is another reason such discretionary statutes should be eliminated. The
law used against Allison and Moore was invalidated a year later by the case of ACLU v.
Alvarez (2012) (Berg, 2011). A near identical statute in Florida led to the detention and
arrest of a black man in Miami after twelve police buried 100 bullets in the car and body
of a neighborhood man. Witnesses photographing the event were held at gunpoint by
police who proceeded to confiscate and destroy the devices—police who later denied
they had done such a thing. But contrary to what police believed, they had not
successfully destroyed all of the evidence from that night, and when the salvaged images
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came to light, the investigation flipped: the police were clinging to a wiretap statute; the
community was clinging to the First Amendment and the right to have an honest police
force (Khalek, 2011). The police were held accountable and the statute now provides
exceptions for public situations where there is clearly no expectation of privacy (Florida
Legislature, 2013). Once again, only the images were able to credibly refute the police
reports and vindicate the everyday people who are their victims, underscoring the need
for the right to photograph.
In a comparably disturbing but right-to-photograph-affirming 2005 incident, five
sheriff's deputies entered the home of Eugene Siler without a warrant, saying they
suspected him of drug activity. Siler's wife records the entire interaction, even as they
proceed torture him into signing a confession he cannot read, eventually resorting to the
use of electricity on his genitals (Siler & McKinney, 2005, p. 18). Poor, uneducated,
with a criminal record, allegedly suspected of further drug activity, it is absurd to think
jurors would take his word over five members of the sheriff's department. This makes
the record of the incident absolutely invaluable to Mr. Siler as he fought back. The
officers were found guilty, served time, and also paid money damages the Siler family
(United States v. Green, Carroll, Franklin, Webber, No. 3:05-CR 00011, 12, 13, 14
(E.D.Tenn. Jan. 30, 2008)). There are other, less violent cases where people were
arrested on their own property for openly photographing police, police who had
approached the private citizens and were upset about having the encounter documented.
Fortunately, these citizens were all immediately released by judges who had the
opportunity to review the charges. Several of them subsequently brought civil rights law
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suits against their arresting officers and were successful (Brantley, 2010; Ridley, 2008;
Sanchez, 2010; Solomon, 2011; Turley, 2011a, 2011b).
Of course, despite decades of case law and recent trends to the contrary, not
everyone wins when fighting for his or her right to photograph. In 2010, Veth Mam
observed police abusing a detainee and pulled out his iPhone to take images of the
incident. It was then that he, himself, became the target of police violence and was
arrested. After he was released, Mam sued, and his lawyer plead with jurors to send a
message about the right to photograph and the need to hold police accountable for
unnecessary roughness. Two years later the saga ended in court when jurors sided with
the police, suggesting the need for police discretion and for them to be able do their jobs
in trying circumstances. While disappointed, some suggested the verdict was to be
expected: racism against Asians is not uncommon, and the pro-police district likely
pulled a predictably pro-police jury (Moxley, 2013).
All of these everyday people were going about their own business on the day
authorities unlawfully demanded that they stop taking pictures and forfeit their right to
photograph. They could have meekly complied with the order, accepted that their rights
were being infringed upon, and figured they would use their cameras another time, but
they refused. They stood up for themselves and asserted their right to photograph, and
after a struggle—some great, some small—most were vindicated, leading to increased
awareness within their immediate circle as well as the wider community of photographers
and everyday citizens. The negative attention drawn to individual police and their
departments, even when the individual challengers have not succeeded in winning court
judgments or settling for substantial sums, has led to modifications in policy.
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Journalists
Not only are everyday citizens working to maintain our right to photograph,
countless journalists are also fighting for the same right. Of course for many, it is a
matter of their livelihood, but it is also a matter of principle. They are more likely to
encounter law enforcement and other authorities who are displeased with their efforts to
document, investigate, and disseminate information in the public interest that may run
counter to state or corporate interests. For example, Laura Leigh is a journalist for
Horseback magazine who began covering the “wild horse gather”—an event coordinated
by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that seeks to “wrangle” and “round up excess
wild horses on government land” (Rasmussen, 2012). The government sought to prevent
Leigh from photographing this annual event and documenting the treatment of animals.
She sued the BLM for the right to photograph and won (Leigh v. Salazar, No. 11–16088
(9th Cir.) 2012; Long, 2012; Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, 2012).
While she was never physically assaulted, she did feel threatened during her legal battle.
She also feared the repercussions of a decision not in her favor, if her efforts failed, she
could entrench bad law and make matters worse for everyone. These are issues that
many face when having to decide whether to accept an unlawful order given to them as
individuals or to embark on a broader fight that may affect millions of others.
Another journalist who took his right to photograph case to court—and won—is
Carlos Miller. Miller is a Miami-based photojournalist-turned-crusader for the right to
photograph. After being assaulted and arrested in Miami in 2007, he took his case to
court and won. On assignment for a local news group, he himself was arrested for doing
nothing more than photographing police as they made an arrest. The police had him
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charged with nine misdemeanors, including “resisting arrest”—charges that did not stand
(Elfrink, 2013; Miller v. State of Florida, No. 08-326 (Fla. Cir. Ct. Dec 16 2009)), and
the Society of Professional Journalists, among others, came to his defense to make sure of
this (Lunsford, Aeikens, & Kay, 2007). He continues to campaign for photographers’
rights and challenge police who attempt to interfere with his rights. His site, Photography
Is Not A Crime (PINAC),
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is read around the world, and has won multiple online
journalism and journalist-advocacy awards (C. Miller, 2007). Using his blog as an
additional publishing platform, Miller creates video content for rights-awareness
purposes, and makes appearances to discuss the right to record and how photographers
can assert their rights when questioned and even attacked.
Photographer Robert Stolarik found himself in a similar police altercation in New
York a few years after Miller’s incident occurred. Stolarik was on contract with the New
York Times when he stopped to photograph the arrest of a young girl in the Bronx
borough of New York. Police, clearly perturbed about being photographed, demanded
that he stop. When he refused and then requested their badge numbers—all perfectly
legal—he was slammed to the ground, kicked, and then arrested by police. He sustained
injuries to his back, face, arms and legs, was stripped of his camera and press credentials,
and when he went to raise the issue with the authorities, he learned the police had
slandered him. The police fabricated an entire story about the event in their official
police report, but it came to light that the arrest was completely unlawful, and the force
used undoubtedly brutal. Evaluating his injuries, and unsure he would have his press
passes back in time, he ultimately felt he needed to decide against covering the
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
65
See PINAC: Be the Media—Little Brother Watching Big Brother, photographyisnotacrime.com.
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Republican National Convention that year—a huge story for a journalist. Significant
outcry by press associations and police accountability groups followed the revelations
and the main officer was indicted (Buettner, 2013; Office Of The District Attorney Of
Bronx County & Johnson, 2013). Monetary compensation is no small victory, and
criminal charges for rogue police are rare, but Stolarik was still assaulted for refusing to
comply with an unlawful police order, and he lost an opportunity to cover a major
national news event. Fighting for the right to photograph can be physically dangerous,
career-compromising work.
Another journalist who makes this point crystal clear is Eileen Clancy of I-
Witness. Clancy is a videographer who incorporated her social justice media work into
her political activism. In 2000, after watching the massive state crackdown at the Seattle
WTO protests, Clancy officially formed I-Witness Video, doing much of the work,
herself, but with a vision for developing a video collective. In Ireland she had
collaborated with others to film British police in the streets of Belfast, and by the 2000
Republican National Convention, she had a group ready to monitor the police and help
ensure protestors did not have their rights trampled—at least, not without the incidents
being on video, providing an opportunity for recourse. She did the same at both the
Republican National Conventions and the Democratic National Conventions, every
presidential election year since 2000, and her services were found to be extraordinarily
useful. Lawsuits against police who committed grave violations of human and civil
rights at these conventions, were aided by video she handed over to government. Her
work proved the value of photography in holding rights violators accountable for their
actions (Moynihan, 2008). Then, before the 2008 RNC even began, St. Paul police had
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locked-down and raided the house where Clancy and other alternative media groups were
using as base camp. In order to bypass the requirement that police obtain a search
warrant, the police claimed the house, “full of anarchists,” was holding people hostage.
These claims were, of course, false—nothing more than pretense for disrupting
their work (Goodman & González, 2008). These illegal police actions were among
exactly the kinds of pre-emptive arrests I-Witness was interested in preventing, but their
opportunity to record the demonstrations and any ensuing police misconduct was usurped
by illegal state action. Everyone was released, and settlements were eventually meted out
to affected media groups and personnel. The fact that they were later compensated by the
police and Secret Service for the violation of their rights provides little consolation.
Police abuses were rampant at the RNC protests, and Clancy and countless others were
prevented from documenting the event and potentially providing the evidence that would
have validated the claims of untold numbers of state-abused activists (Brauer, 2008; C.
Miller, 2008; NPPA, 2008). The Glass Bead Collective, another group of photographers
and videographers, was also preemptively arrested at the 2008 RNC, preventing them
from photographing the political demonstrations against the Republican party (Glass
Bead Collective, 2008; Teichberg, Glass Bead Collective, Times Up Video Collective, &
Indymedia, 2009; Teichberg & Ross, 2008). In the end, no charges were filed, but again:
too little, too late.
Journalists covering the Occupy Movement
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faced similar targeting, harassment,
physical violence, illegal detention, and unlawful arrest. For example, a Minneapolis
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
66
Targeting of journalists was also common with the Arab Spring and contemporaneous demonstrations
over austerity policies in Europe, particularly Greece and Turkey (International Network of Civil Liberties
Organizations, 2013; H. Smith, 2013; Tagaris, 2013).
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photographer was outright assaulted by a policeman—his camera was destroyed and he
was flung on the ground and then pounded—all of it caught on someone else’s camera,
while the crowd nearby watches and chants that most famous of chants, “the whole world
is watching.” The police called it a “shoving incident,” but the video proves otherwise
(HongPong, 2012). The discrepancy underscores the importance of visual evidence and
that there be people watching. The photographer filed a complaint and his network
demanded answers (Lussenhop, 2012). At one point, Lucy Dalglish, the Executive
Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press expressed her dismay over
the targeting of journalists, suggesting she was particularly distressed that it was
happening in the United States: “What country are we living in?” she implored (2011).
But these incidents should come as no surprise to Director Dalglish, or anyone else at the
Reporters Committee: the right to photograph is very much threatened in the U.S., and
being a full citizen, a credentialed journalist, or both, is no guarantee that this right will
be respected by the authorities. It must be asserted.
Another photographer covering Occupy was met with similar police violence as
he photographed officers mistreating peaceful demonstrators. Well-known
photojournalist, Stanley Ragouski, reported he was “blitzed” by no fewer than five
policemen, an attack that damaged both his body and his equipment. Without charges, he
spent nearly 48 hours in jail—the maximum allowed. Having not violated any laws, and,
in fact, having had his own civil right to photograph violated, the police were unable to
produce charges that would “stick,” and had to release him (Rogouski, 2011). After
learning of the assault and arrest, Professor Noam Chomsky, film director Michael
Moore, and other public figures supported Rogouski in his efforts to achieve restitution
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and re-enter the camps to continue his work (Chomsky, 2012). These examples
demonstrate that even with official credentials and extensive training in press freedom,
the right to photograph is not secure and nothing less than vigilance is required to prevent
it from fading. Journalists—especially photojournalists—often on the “front lines” of
critical news stories and battles for the public right to know, now often find themselves
on the front lines of the right to photograph, as well.

Artists
Practicing artists can also use their work to both exercise and draw attention to the
right to photograph, in addition to highlighting the surveillance double standard discussed
previously. They use their practice to raise awareness of government misconduct and
critique its consistent disrespect for basic human and civil rights. An uptick in work
focused on these issues has occurred since 9/11, sometimes by famous artists with
significant followings.
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World-renowned artists such as Banksy, Jenny Holzer, Trevor
Paglen, Taryn Simon, Michael Daisey, Barbara Kruger, Evan Roth, and Wafaa Bilal
frequently take government exploits—from secrecy to surveillance to violation of civil
rights—as a common theme. They use photography, graffiti, collage, metalwork, plays,
monologues, lithography, video, and sometimes even their own body-mounted closed
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67
Of course, prior to 9/11, some artists had long careers criticizing government and oppressive
practices that existed but have become more prevalent since the attacks. For example, take Ohio-
born multimedia artists Jenny Holzer, and Australian, Denis Beaubois. Photographs and video are
frequently used, and are appropriate when they focus on the surveillance state and its pervasiveness.
For example, see Beaubois’ work, “In the event of Amnesia the city will recall…” (1996), and
multiple series’ by Holzer, including No title (1979a, 1979b), Truisms (1984a, 1984b), and Mother
and Child (1990). While they are most certainly works of fine art, they are confrontational, meant
as direct challenges to governments that simultaneously encroach on the private lives of citizens yet
mask and keep secret all of their own comings and goings.
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circuit television systems like that of Bilal (Ongoing), to throw a critical, all-seeing eye
back on the government.

L-to-R: Wafaa Bilal, The 3rd I (ongoing performance, video);
Trevor Paglen, Secret Sites (2009-2010).

When Bilal, a professor at NYU’s Tisch School of Arts, built a camera into his
head as a “third eye,” there was overwhelming outcry—people were concerned about the
privacy implications. But when the authorities install cameras on every corner, surveil us
from satellites, intercept our personal communications, follow us, enter our homes
without warrants, and more, the public seems largely unperturbed. These illegal state
actions are called into question by Bilal’s piece; rogue government practices are front and
center. Banksy’s illicit street murals boldly challenge surveillance (2004, 2008);
Paglen’s faraway, fuzzy photographs of secret sites highlight what governments hide
from their people (2009, 2010a, 2010b);
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and the multimedia work of people like Holzer
(2007, 2009), Kruger (Ongoing), and Roth (Binkovitz, 2012; McNamara, 2008),
regularly name the wrongdoing for which governments are rarely, if ever, held
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
68
Photographer Taryn Simon also has a “secret sites” practice (Lau, 2013; Rose, 2007; TED
Conferences, LLC, n.d.; TED Global, 2009). However, her work is driven more by curiosity of certain
phenomena than it is by the desire to critique and expose wrongdoing. It lacks an explicit social justice
element and is presented more neutrally.
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Clockwise from top-left: Barbara Kruger, La Surveillance (ongoing); Banksy, One Nation Under
CCTV (2008); Jenny Holzer, Projections (2007); Banksy, What are you looking at? (2004).

accountable. Their works openly question why the government may spy on its citizens,
breaking laws, breaching the public trust, but citizens may not use similar means to
monitor public officials and question their activities. Just like activists, journalists, and
everyday citizens from around the world, sometimes artists are imprisoned for these
direct challenges. Also, their works are often held up by activists and others as examples
of creative, inspiring critiques of government overreach.
Sometimes artists take their critiques a step further and provide a public service.
For example, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, went beyond creating something static, and
helped make a know-your-rights video in collaboration with a group of musicians, the
ACLU, and nonprofit filmmakers. This piece was produced with the intent not only to
criticize illegal practices, but to provide people with a free resource from which they can
learn about their right to photograph and how to respond to authorities when approached.
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The film, a clever blend of live action and animation, was put online to be shared around
the world and encourage people everywhere to confidently exercise their right to
photograph (hitRECord, 2012). When artists use their platform to raise awareness about
deprivation of constitutional rights, they often reach new and broader audiences.
Reaching a wider audience increases the likelihood that public pressure will be brought to
bear on the authorities, demanding a change in policy and practice. At such a point, it is
wise for governments to amend, or suggest it will amend, its ways, so as to avoid
widespread discontent and social action—the last thing governments want. Increased
awareness among the masses may help explain why courts are increasingly siding with
photographers as opposed to police and other authorities.

Activists
Finally we consider the role of activists. This is the group that arguably has the
most to lose if we are stripped of our right to photograph. Activists regularly rely on
images to raise awareness among the general public about social justice issues. While
there are billions of images of abuse circulating, and still, abuse persists, some images
have had an impact—they have inspired people to join movements and organizations, to
sign petitions, demonstrate strength in numbers by attending demonstrations, write
letters, donate time and money, engage in acts of civil disobedience, and more. Images
of both state repression and community solidarity drew support and membership to the
Arab Spring and Occupy; images urged outrage about Rodney King and Oscar Grant and
led many to racial justice groups; images from natural disaster zones have encouraged the
growth of mutual aid societies and donations; and images have led to reforms in
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everything from agriculture to prisons to police practices. Activists must be able to take
the photographs that stand to continue to bring people to new and evolving causes. In
many cases, photographs are the only way to expose the broader public to these issues.
Criminalizing photography not only would remove that tool from the activist toolbox, but
it would likely remove many activists from the causes themselves, as they would be
forced to serve time in prison for their efforts—recall one man with a cell phone was
facing 75 years. But as activists are wont to say: “When our rights are under attack, what
do we do? ACT UP! FIGHT BACK!”
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With so much at stake, activists from a variety
of backgrounds and dedicated to a variety of causes, have taken up the fight for the right
to photograph.
Activists are fighting for the right to photograph as individuals and local
community groups, as well as through large, formal organizations and firms. Because
individuals are the ones targeted and are the first to be directly confronted about their
photographic practices, individuals are often the first line of defense for rights. Paranoia
on the metros, the unwritten rules, the police intimidation, and sometimes violence and
arrests: all of these come down on individuals before they become a broader concern or
campaign. Activists for the right to photograph work to inform themselves and others so
that this right is confidently asserted when questioned, and people know where to go
when their rights are violated. Shawn Nee, an established photographer
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as well as a
regular mass transit rider in Los Angeles, was quickly made aware of new “rules” of the
Metro system of his city—his frequent picture snapping made him a police target early on
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
69
This is a common adaptation of a chant traced to the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP)
members of the 1980s, and is frequently modified to suit different movements.
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His work is available at galleries, as well as online at The Discarted Collection (discarted.com), and
his blog, Boy With Grenade (boywithgrenade.org).
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after 9/11. After being confronted multiple times, he began filming his interactions with
police as he would insist that he, in fact, did have the right to photograph and there were
no “9/11 law[s]” that disallowed photography in public as many officers had tried to tell
him (Cushing, 2013). These videos essentially became know your rights tutorials for
viewers; they are templates for how to behave and respond when police attempt to strip
someone of their right to photograph. His activist efforts have become a larger part of his
work as a photographer and made a significant difference to people in communities
where police often lie to and intimidate local residents into surrendering their
constitutional rights. Hoping to make further change—that is, impact Metro and police
practices—Nee and fellow activists Greggory Moore and Shane Quentin earned the
support of the ACLU and Reporter's Committee, and the ACLU filed suit on their behalf
(ACLU of Southern California, 2011; Winton, 2011). After much wrangling, public
scrutiny, internal investigations, the lawsuit remains open at this time, pending possible
settlement (Fall 2013). However, Nee and other activists vow to continue raising
awareness and challenging unlawful detentions regardless of what happens with the
lawsuit. These efforts remain necessary as he, other photographers, and everyday
citizens are still regularly harassed, detained, and even assaulted because of their right to
photograph.
Another activist who has taken up the right to photograph as part of his larger
political advocacy is Antonio Musumeci. November 9, 2009 was the first time this
Libertarian activist was arrested for committing photography of federal property,
“including public plazas and sidewalks” (NYCLU, 2010b). He was outside of the federal
courthouse in lower Manhattan, interviewing fellow libertarian activist, Julian Heicklen.
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Musumeci was illegally arrested then released, almost immediately, as he had not
actually violated any laws concerning photography and public space. Musumeci would
be temporarily arrested several more times in New York—sometimes violently—and
harassed and detained by many of the same officers before deciding to challenge the
treatment to which he was continuously subjected (NYCLU, 2010a, 2010b). A year later,
he settled in court with the Department of Homeland Security and the officers who had
repeatedly violated his civil and constitutional rights. While he did not litigate his case
all the way through the court system to set a precedent, the settlement did require the
government to release a statement regarding photography on federal property and 41 CFR
§ 102-74.420, what is commonly referred to as “the photography rule” (NYCLU & U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, 2010). The statement was a collection of instructions
to officers who may encounter photographers, explaining what the photography rule
actually says as opposed to what many assume it says or believe it ought to say, and
advising officers to respect the right to photograph (U.S. Department of Homeland
Security & Federal Protective Service, 2010). Activists of all stripes, from right to left,
from 9/11-Truth to the Libertarian Party, to the Communist Party USA, have embraced
the right to photograph as a tool for raising awareness and spreading their message
(WeAreChange San Antonio, 2010), and they are regularly challenging police and others
who attempt to infringe upon this right. More often than not, these challenges are
successful.
Developments in cases like those of Shawn and Antonio are generally positive,
and along with other lawsuits and legal changes, can be taken as signs that policies and
practices are improving. However, activists typically cannot take large legal steps on
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their own—they need larger organizations and well-heeled lawyers to support them in
their causes (McCann, 1994; Sarat & Scheingold, 1998). This brings us to the activist
lawyers fighting for the right to photograph. Individual law firms such as London’s Bhatt
& Murphy, New York’s Rankin & Taylor, Los Angeles’ Mann & Cook, Boston’s
Friedman & Milton, and Chicago’s People’s Law Office, have become almost famous for
their radical—and radically successful—defense of the right to photograph. So
committed to the cause for which they fight, they frequently provide their services free of
charge, taking minimal portions of settlements and jury awards, and often donating
portions of what they do accept to organizations that work on protecting the rights of
First Amendment advocates and civil rights defenders.
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One enterprising lawyer,
Basileios J. Foutris of Chicago, found his practice overwhelmed with right to photograph
cases, so he took it upon himself to create a smartphone application (“app”) for activists
and everyday citizens who work on this issue. The program takes the images and
immediately uploads them to the user’s own online account so that in the event the device
is confiscated or destroyed by the authorities, the images are safe. Many of the
successful right to photograph cases mentioned above were fought by lawyers
highlighted here. As individual members of groups like the National Lawyers Guild
(NLG), National Police Accountability Project (NPAP), and other First Amendment,
libertarian, and government accountability bar associations, these attorneys partner with
activists to make and entrench social change via the courts, and their commitment to this
work makes activists feel safer in their work on the streets.
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It is also not unusual for these legal advocates to provide support, if not direct lawyering, to activists
outside of their immediate jurisdictions. They will partner with attorneys in other states, or provide an
attorney from their own practice who is barred in the state in which the case is being fought.
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Law firms and individual activists are not the only ones working on the right to
photograph. A number of organizations have taken up the cause as their sole mission or
incorporated it into their ongoing work. Community groups like the Stop LAPD Spying
Coalition, Police Reform Organizing Project (PROP), CopBlock, and STOP! I’m a
Photographer Not a Terrorist! (PHNAT), began their work to protect the right to
photograph. Unique campaigns, such as PHNAT’s self-portrait project and the Stop
LAPD Spying Coalition’s community watch training program involved locals but also
took their local work to an international audience, providing valuable lessons in civil and
political rights and spreading awareness of government efforts to restrict the right to
photograph. Influenced by such efforts, Belgian activists formed the group
CAMOVER
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in advance of the meeting of the European Police Congress in Berlin. The
group had noticed that the surveillance state was rapidly expanding. To illustrate, in
March 2011, there was 1 surveillance camera for every 32 people in the UK (P. Lewis,
2011), and by 2013, it had ballooned to 1 for every 11 (Barrett, 2013). To draw attention
to this expansion of government surveillance and the simultaneous state restriction on
individual rights surveil back, the activists filmed themselves sabotaging CCTV networks
in public and put the films online (CAMOVER & ernst benda, 2013). The videos were
seen around the world and even politicians and officers at the Congress could not evade
questions about the double-standard brought to light by CAMOVER’s efforts (European
Gendarmerie Force, 2013). Politicians, occasionally citing human rights conventions,
began to object to the cameras, the installation of them has slowed, and in some areas,
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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The name CAMOVER comes from combining the words “camera” and “over,” with “over” being used
to suggest the cameras be “done with” or “gone.”
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cameras have even been removed (Liberty Media Centre, 2010; Merrick & Dugan, 2013;
Patty, 2013; Staff reporter, 2013a).
Another activist inspired by the online publishing of groups like those above is
David Packman. Packman started Injustice Everywhere, an online, daily aggregator for
news of police misconduct and the right to photograph. This side-project of his provided
maps, original writing, statistical analyses, and more. The data became overwhelming,
though, as the number of official reports spiked in the area of police violations of civil
rights generally, and the right to photograph, specifically. The Cato Institute saw it as a
critical effort, and took it on as a major program, renaming it the National Police
Misconduct Reporting Project (NPMRP) and giving it fulltime staff. It is a monumental
online effort, and it both provides daily recaps of their newsfeed and catalogues all of its
reports online for public view (Cato Institute & Lynch, 2012). Still and moving images
are also archived, available for use by everyone: activists, lawyers, community groups,
and others.
Such activist projects, where the images associated with the issue are integral to
the reporting and there is an emphasis on public access via the web, may be the future of
advocacy, underscoring the need to be able to take photographs. Another activist
collective that fights for this right and operates almost entirely on the internet is
Hollaback!, initially Hollaback!NYC. This group came to work on the right to
photograph like many human rights groups that use photographs to raise awareness and
spread their message: out of necessity. If photography in public space is barred, it would
negatively affect the ability of countless activist organizations to fulfill their missions.
Hollaback! is a good example to discuss because it is a domestic grassroots
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organization—not a large international human rights organization with paid staff who can
fight legal battles over photography—that relies entirely on the public to provide
photographs to fulfill its mission. Hollaback! formed to fight sexual harassment, an
already-marginalized social justice issue, with little visibility but great room for abuse.
This organization encourages victims of harassment—such as uninvited touching,
groping, and the like—to address and photograph their abusers as a means to discourage
such acts. These measures are of course meant to immediately interrupt and expose the
street harassers, but a larger purpose is to raise awareness of how common street
harassment is and to reveal if certain people are repeat offenders or certain areas are
hotspots for abuse. It is a shaming mechanism, much like when human rights activists
use images to shame repressive regimes (Cohen, 1996; Keenan, 2004; MCLI, 2012). Just
as police and governments and other officials should be subject to public monitoring, so
should fellow citizens who openly violate the rights of others. Victims must be able to
photograph their perpetrators and use the evidence for making claims and holding them
to account.
Local and national groups that already existed and have a large online and offline
presence—CopWatch (national), Communities United Against Police Brutality
(CUAPB), Chuco’s Justice Center, the Black Youth Project, October 22
nd
Coalition, Los
Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN), Slow Food USA, Malcolm X
Grassroots Movement (MXGM), Progress for Science, the Black Panthers, ACLU,
Partnership for Civil Justice, National Labor Relations Board, and several labor unions,
to name just a few—have also taken up the right to photograph cause. With an uptick in
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criminalization, organizations like these began to provide free know your rights trainings,
wallet cards, flyers, and downloadable e-books with a focus on the right to photograph,

Photographers’ Rights in the UK, Wallet Card.

how to avoid police altercations, and how to find legal aid should an incident not end
well. They have also videotaped trainings and public information sessions, so if
individuals are unable to attend or they live too far away, they can still benefit from these
activists’ expertise. Furthermore, these groups write collect incident reports, conduct
surveys, and compile supporting documents for international human rights organizations
like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as bodies within the United
Nations. One example of such an effort occurred in 2013, when LA CAN collaborated
with the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition to present to the Human Rights Commission what
they called “The Peoples’ Audit” of the national Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR)
initiative that officially criminalized public photography. Activists defending the right to
photograph have adopted a multipronged approach that involves everything from
organizing protests and acts of civil disobedience to the writing of formal reports and
participation in public hearings. Their activities take place online, in the courts, and in
the streets, and as a result, they have not only grown the movement to preserve the right
to photograph, but they have begun to enjoy greater success in their efforts.
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The Ag-gag Laws: A Prime Example of the Concerted Attack on the Right to
Photograph

So is there hope that the era of Azoulay’s civil contract is at least on the horizon?
Not quite. As was mentioned in the section on public safety, agricultural businesses have
been investing heavily in efforts to criminalize photography and it is one area where such
efforts have been successful. Unlike most of the public information arenas with which
most of the general public is familiar—that is, the journalistic and political settings—in
the modern era, food and agriculture are far removed from the consciousness, and
consciences, of most Westerners. The majority of people live in cities where food is
purchased from large retailers located great distances from the farms and factories from
whence it all came. Everything from bananas to buffalo flesh may travel hundreds of
thousands of miles to reach someone’s local market, and the purchaser is generally
unaware of the environmental and working conditions in which these items originate.
Labeling may help to some extent—a certification stamp from an organic association, or
a code signaling place of origin—however, photography can make it possible to close this
knowledge gap more thoroughly than labeling alone. Images of the farm, greenhouse,
animals, slaughterhouse, factory, production line, transport facilities, and more, make it
possible for both consumers and regulators to make the most enlightened decisions they
can. Images can inform individual purchases and government reporting as to whether
laws are being followed. Companies running these operations have worked to produce
what are being called “ag-gag” laws: statutes that criminalize the photography done by
investigators and whistleblowers who work to expose wrongdoing. The right to
photograph is a human right, and the government is expected to respect this right.
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Barring the few privacy restrictions mentioned previously, it is largely immaterial
whether the photographs are of everyday places and things, other people, public events,
illegal activities, animals, the environment, or some combination of these. Ag-gag laws
are problematic because they violate our right to photograph—which is precisely what
they are designed to do.
Ag-gag laws—so named because they concern agricultural businesses, or
agribusiness—are meant to prevent (“gag”) people from documenting and releasing the
internal operations of these sites. It is likely that you have heard about some of the
undercover investigations that sparked this trend: the sick and injured, or “downed,” cows
rammed by forklifts by workers who laughed and cheered the whole time (hsus, 2008;
Nocera, 2008); the cats who had their heads drilled into by university researchers in order
to install experimental neuro-based hearing technologies (P. Cole, 2013; NIH Office of
Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW), 2013); nonhuman primates injected with nerve
agents, and chemical and biological weapons being developed by the military
(DoDChemCas, 2009); the systematic dehydration of foxes before they are hung from
nooses and anally electrocuted for their fur (idapdx & Rossell, 2010; Kerr, 1998; Rossell,
1996); beagles partially dissected while still alive, their wounds left open (Associated
Press, 2010b; officialpeta, 2010b); the sows sodomized with clubs while their “runt”
offspring are slammed on the floor until they break apart and are thrown in a pile to bleed
to death (hsus, 2012; mercyforanimals, 2013); the supervising worker who, eager to show
the ropes to new hires at a cattle ranch, proudly crows, “[w]hen I get pissed or get hurt or
the fuckin’ bitch won’t move, I grab one of those rods and jam it in her asshole” (Ingram
& U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2011; officialpeta, 2010a, at 49s–56s).
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This is the reality of animal farming—the wretched, cruel, vile, hidden reality. It
is a reality that industry can deny if there are no images, but is forced to acknowledge and
even defend when there are. For example, representatives for the pig farming
corporations claimed it was legitimate to subject piglets to “blunt force trauma” of the
kind noted in the above example (Staff writer, 2012b). “Body slamming piglets to death
humane, pork experts say,” read the blunt headlines (Staff reporter, 2012d). Industry
representatives came out in droves to defend these actions, one commenting, “[t]he blunt
force trauma’s one of the things that has really stuck out and been horrifying for people.
But as of today, it is the fastest way to euthanize those little pigs. It’s part of doing
business” (my emphasis) (CTV, 2012; Allison Jones, 2012). This is not aberrant
behavior or “bad apples” of which the pork council representatives speak. These are
standard practices. This is everyday operations for Tyson, Butterball, and Hormel, for
suppliers to Costco, Wal-Mart, Safeway, and Kroger. This fact would be unknown to us
if not for the undercover investigators around the world who make it their mission to
expose the corporations that trade in abuse and death. The ag-gag laws make it a crime—
sometimes first class felonies—to film or photograph on animal and agricultural
enterprises.
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Without the images, workers and in the United States businessmen can
claim the investigators are lying or exaggerating—and they have. In general, but
especially in such cases, the images are necessary because they counter industry
assertions.
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Some statutes make it a crime to even set foot on these businesses—that is, “knowingly enter upon any
nonpublic area of a farm” (Florida’s FL SB 1184)—under false pretenses, for example, to approach such a
site pretending to simply want a job when the real purpose is to be an undercover investigator who
temporarily secures a position in order to document conditions and operations.
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In the United States and abroad, ag-gag laws are being planned, drafted, lobbied,
and voted on, daily. Industry businessmen and trade magazines ply politicians with
campaign funds and promise jobs to locals in exchange for support for these laws
(Barnard, 2012; Cagle, 2013; Carlson, 2012; Z. Mohammed, 2013; Potter, 2013b; van
Zeller & Foster, 2013). These laws would provide businesses protection from
photographers and investigators who pull the veil from farm, slaughterhouse, and
laboratory operations to show the public how these sites function day-to-day. Each
location contemplating or having passed such a law has evidence of industry support to
legislators in exchange for these laws, but to illustrate how the process works, how many
are involved, and the money and influence at stake, let us look at a few cases. In Iowa, as
in most states where these laws are passing, the ag-gag bill was a bipartisan effort. The
Democrat, Senator Joe Seng, joined Republican Senator, Annette Sweeney, to have a law
drafted. They did so with input and support from local and national industry
representatives, as well as individuals who had been involved in passing laws elsewhere.
Then a wide range of groups who stand to benefit from the law—for example, the Iowa
Corn Growers Association, Iowa Farm Bureau Association, Monsanto, Iowa Turkey
Federation, and the Agribusiness Association of Iowa—gave money to these politicians.
Agricultural groups that operate throughout the United States, such as the National Pork
Producers Council, the American Dairy Council, also lent support (Jilani, 2012). The
Iowa governor, Republican Terry Branstad, also received huge sums from agribusiness in
the election preceding the session that would pass the ag-gag law (Follow The Money,
2013b). There are also non-animal enterprises involved, without which these sites could
not operate: for example, pharmaceutical companies that sell antibiotics and growth
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hormones, construction companies that sell raw materials, and technology groups that sell
machinery. They, too, pour financial and political support into these ag-gag efforts and
the politicians advancing them. The network is vast and labyrinthine, making it
impossible to trace every last bit of money and influence. Agriculture comprises the
entire economy for many of the states that have been hit by photographers and
investigators who use images to reveal the daily abuse that occurs on farms. For
example, the forklift incident mentioned above led to one of the largest cow’s meat
recalls in history because downed cows are extremely ill and often carry bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or “mad cow.” Hundreds of millions of pounds were
recalled from stores, restaurants, and school lunch programs (ENS Newswire, 2008;
Hartman, 2008; Potter, 2013a; U.S. Senate, 2009). Prior to the investigation, the
company was named a “supplier of the year” by the USDA (U.S. Senate, 2009), but the
undercover images capture what the officially planned inspections never will.
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The
business was ruined. Because agriculture drives many economies, agriculture also drives
politics; the two cannot be disentangled. This means that if industry demands protection,
politicians believe they must provide it or risk economic collapse—and the ultimate loss
of their positions of power.
Similar scenarios have played out states across the country, from Florida, to
Indiana, to small states like New Hampshire that do not come to mind immediately when
one thinks of agriculture (Bowman, 2013a, 2013b). New York is often considered a
“blue state”—supposedly “progressive” because it is run by Democrats—but an ag-gag
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The same applies to inspections at university and corporate laboratories that use non-human animals
in experiments. Inside-images, as well as reports such as those produced by anti-vivisection groups like
Progress for Science, reveal animal abuse that goes undiscovered by government monitoring agencies (C.
L. Glasser, 2013).
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bill is on the table there, as well (NY S5172-2011). Agribusiness is extremely profitable
to the state of New York and a large portion of the state is farmland. The ag-gag bill in
the state legislature of Minnesota was proposed in part by Republican Rod Hamilton (SF
1118/HF 1369, 2011). It is hardly a coincidence that he is a current member—and
former president—of the Minnesota Pork Producers. In 2012, the year after the bill was
proposed, he received their distinguished service award (Minnesota Pork Producers &
Minnesota Pork Congress, 2012). In Utah, another ag-gag state, it seems nothing about
the norms of backroom deals was in fact, backroom: it all played out in public. At a
hearing regarding the ag-gag bill, Republican Jim Mathis remarked, “[i]t’s fun to see my
good ag friends in this committee…All my good friends are here” (Mathis, 2012).
Friends who had been working together politically for years, working to protect farming
corporations and now to pass bills to stop whistleblowing and prevent legitimate First
Amendment activity from taking place in order to protect profits and electoral power.
The AGPAC—or Agricultural Political Action Committee—is consistently one of
Mathis’ largest donors, and was one of the groups pushing for the ag-gag law (Follow
The Money, 2013a).
To Mathis, the whistleblowers exposing the wanton cruelty that occurs on farms
are nothing more than “terrorists.” In the industry publication, Dairy Herd, one advocate
likened the investigations and images yielded to hate crimes committed against farmers
(Murphy, 2011). Utah attempted to use its ag-gag law to prosecute a young woman
taking photographs of a slaughterhouse building from a public road (Dalrymple, II,
2013a; Herbert, 2013; D. Lee, 2013; McDermott, 2013; Woodhouse, 2013); she was
called a terrorist—among other things—before the charges were dropped (Dalrymple, II,
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2013b). An undercover investigator in Colorado was arrested and charged under the
state’s ag-gag law because her documenting of the crimes constitutes participation in
them. So when she turned over visual evidence of other workers kicking newborn
calves—some with umbilical cords still attached—and tossing them around, she was
accused of animal cruelty, herself. Striving to expose inhumane treatment of animals, she
found herself considered a saboteur, terrorist, and animal abuser (Abrams, 2013; Cooke
& Reams, 2013; Potter, 2013c). Just as with the use of these tactics in regard to street
photography, these words and charges are meant to deflect attention from the core issue,
and frighten people into going along with unconstitutional policies. The right to
photograph must be maintained, and whistleblower protections must remain in places so
that crimes can be exposed.
As has been alluded to, when crimes like these are exposed by photographers, the
industries perpetrating these crimes suffer losses. Brand reputations are damaged;
sometimes farms, slaughterhouses, factories, and laboratories are shutdown; workers and
managers are fired; and local economies may struggle in the aftermath of an
investigation. There are many successful undercover efforts where the images provided
undeniable proof of criminal acts and individuals were prosecuted, businesses were
forced to reform, and some were even ordered to permanently close (Animal Defenders
International, 2009; Associated Press, 2010b; Benz & McManus, 2005; Biondolillo,
2013; Creamer & Anonymous, 2009; Groff, 2012; hsus, 2012; J. Newman, 2012;
officialpeta, 2009, 2010b; Pacheco, 1981; Pearce, 2013; PETA, 2006; Peterson, 2013;
Reuters, 2011; Staff reporter, 2012b; West, 2012). The crimes committed are very real,
and the images captured by these investigators are powerful enough to make a difference
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in public perception and political and corporate policy. For this reason, these ag-gag laws
must be fought and the right to photograph protected.
That said, even if no charges are brought against perpetrators, even if the visual
evidence from an investigation is considered insufficient and “goes nowhere,” these laws
must be fought and the right to photograph preserved. These images are a critical part of
the public right to know, and therefore the images and the investigations still have great
public value. Let the public decide from an informed standpoint where they want to
invest their votes and their dollars. Perhaps the U.S. Department of Agriculture agrees
that “body slamming piglets to death” is humane; we already know that the USDA
believes a certain amount of fecal matter and pus is “safe” in cow’s milk and animal
meats (U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 2013), but does the public? Do people
know their tax dollars go to military experiments on monkeys to test new chemical
weapons? Are they aware that portions of their money may go to public university
research projects that involve live dissection of cats and end in decapitation? Why are
our elected officials advancing laws that criminalize efforts to reveal illegal activity, that
the food system is being compromised, or how tax money is utilized? The public has a
right to know how its money is spent by the government, as well as what we support
through our own individual buying habits. Ag-gag laws deprive the public of the
opportunity to know about the animal treatment they are supporting—and potential health
risks they are taking—every time they make a purchase. Even if the authorities do not
have enough visual evidence to file criminal charges, the public has a right to see those
images and receive the benefit of these investigations. The public has a right to know if
their money is going to criminal enterprises that may also be endangering their health.
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This sort of transparency is not radical, but necessary, and demanded by core democratic
principles.
The platitude attributed to musician Paul McCartney, that people would become
vegetarian if slaughterhouses had glass walls, is obsolete in contemporary society—the
number of people who live near animal enterprises today is infinitesimal. Photographs
are as necessary today as they have always been to social justice struggles: they show
things to people they would not ordinarily see, but on which they can have an impact.
Just as most people in the U.S. did not personally witness the lynchings and beatings of
Blacks, and did not live in Vietnam to see the horrors visited there by the United States
government. The pictures moved people to act, to demonstrate, to urge official changes
in policy, and these people won. It is difficult to imagine such a change in tide absent the
images, the proof of cruelty. The proliferation of ag-gag laws proves that the
photography is working and the images matter, but it also confirms that the right to
photograph is in danger. This right must be preserved. It plays a critical role in the fight
for social justice.

Why the right to photograph is currently insufficient and what can be done
As is evidenced by the many incidents and cases discussed above, the mere right
to photograph does not prevent corporations and the state, via police on the street,
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from
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It is important to note that the argument for the right to photograph is not strictly an argument against
police or policing. The police are the focus of case law because they are on the frontlines—they are the
agents charged with the responsibility of enforcing state and corporate interests. While there are rogue
police who usurp the right to photograph because they can and want to, it is the government seeking to
infringe upon this right and limit the public’s right to information and free expression. It is corporations
that seek to prevent the public from knowing about their practices—illegal, distasteful, dangerous, or
otherwise—and not necessarily the police despite the fact that the police are the ones enforcing these state
and corporate desires.
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overstepping their bounds. The examples demonstrate that while many are successful in
challenging the state of exception when it comes to photography, we do not live in
Azoulay’s era of the civil contract, either. All of us, from professional photographers to
everyday citizens, continue to find ourselves occupying the space in between the two
poles. Despite multiple memos, position papers, and cases nationwide, the mere
existence of a right to photograph is insufficient to the task of guaranteeing the right in
practice. The average number of incidents per year, if not officially filed cases, continues
to appear to trend upward (Krages, 2012; S. Simon, 2012; Yakas, 2013).
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There is
probably no way to know how often this still occurs because we do not know how many
people do not report the interference with the right to photograph or challenge actual
incidents and arrests. Furthermore, with the level of police discretion involved on-site, in
the moments that matter most, the right to photograph is easily eroded or dismissed, and
people have no immediate recourse. Fortunately, many of the organizations mentioned
here, along with countless attorneys and social justice advocates, are committing
themselves to asserting and protecting the right to photograph.
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CONCLUSION
The right to photograph is well-established as a matter of law, but it is not
untouchable—we are neither subjugated to Schmitt or Agamben’s state of exception, nor
liberated by an era of the civil contract as posited by Azoulay. Preserving and asserting
the right to photograph is the next and greatest task before activists and legal advocates,
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I maintain a list of incidents reported in national newspapers and found in databases, most with a brief
summary. I am happy to share these with those interested.
77
The memorandum I previously prepared concerning the legal right to photograph closes with specific
strategies and tactics for preserving the right to photograph, from the books, to the courts, to the streets.
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meaning we must make affirmative efforts to disseminate this knowledge, conduct know
your rights trainings, and strategically guide the legal challenges and activist efforts of
the general public. Building the right to photograph is a key part of protecting a range of
constitutional rights from greater erosion, as well as part of maintaining public safety and
holding authorities and our justice system accountable.
This right also has implications for international social change movements.
International law protects this right just as the United States Constitution does, NGOs
work to defend this right on behalf of journalists, whistleblowers, activists, and everyday
citizens. As I have suggested is appropriate in the U.S. context, people around the world
should not only take heart in the existence of these protections, but they should do
something with them: namely, resist illegal orders the authorities attempt to impose,
make claims when they violate our rights, and pursue legal challenges whenever possible.
We must never stop photographing or allow those in power to intimidate us into
relinquishing our rights and forgoing legal recourse. This is the only way to potentially
shine a light on misconduct, to hold others accountable for their actions, and our only
hope for ensuring such violations do not occur again.
Photography is an increasingly necessary part of rights claiming. It can provide
crucial evidence of wrongdoing, and not only lead to global calls for action, but to the
growth of international social movements. Photographs help us to hold responsible the
perpetrators of all varieties of crimes. People must be able to photograph the acts in
question in order to pursue legal action and social change.
Which brings me to my final point: the very necessary connection between the
images we make and the actions we must take. Activists around the world risk their very
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lives working to secure evidence of wrongdoing in order to raise awareness and make
social change. When those images are released and made public record, it imposes a duty
on us to act. Some have suggested that human society has greatly progressed in that we
have rights treaties and we often feel personally affected when confronted by images of
suffering (Sliwinski, 2011). But rights on paper and gut feelings of sadness or outrage
are insufficient to the task of actually making social change. Social change requires great
energy and effort, and we owe it to those subjected to abuse, as well as those who work to
expose this abuse, to do more than simply let the images circulate and the laws sit on the
books. The images must be used in campaigns, demonstrations, court cases, and more,
and used to mobilize public support for these efforts. The public should be encouraged to
learn more about the origin of the images, and what they mean, and what each person can
do to make a difference. Along with the images, the public should be offered
opportunities to participate in social change efforts—to volunteer, commit acts of civil
disobedience, donate, or join organizations, to write letters, articles, reports, to attend
government hearings, change voting and purchasing preferences, and so on. Making
change takes work, just as photographers and activists work to reveal many ills that must
be changed. This work can be hard and risky, and the right to photograph may not
always be enough to protect the advocates wielding the cameras. If they can capture and
release a photograph of abuse, it is incumbent upon the rest of us to find a way to act on
that image.

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CHAPTER THREE

Interpreting the Scope of the Right to Photograph:
Ethical considerations

Having established that the right to photograph is a human right, to be respected
and ensured by government and other state actors, the question becomes about how to
take advantage of this right in a manner consistent with ethical standards. It is necessary
to identify the principles that ought to guide photographers in general, but especially
photographers committed to social justice. Social justice goals are pursued with certain
ethics and principles in mind, and the photographers in movements should align with
these as well. In this chapter I reiterate a key idea, namely that photographs have been
powerful and productive parts of social justice campaigns, but that we have paid
insufficient attention to their tactical deployment and have largely failed to undertake any
ethical evaluation of these processes. I discuss dilemmas frequently encountered by
photographers and how they might best be handled within a framework that prioritizes
social justice. Privacy, ownership, aesthetics, and exploitation are common concerns for
many in photography, but photographers engaged in social justice pursuits must also
navigate thorny issues of collaboration, representation, money, stereotyping, authority,
cultural understanding, truth, trauma, and often undefined duties to communities with
which they work. The concerns of a social justice photographer go beyond technique and
professionalism to a realm bordering deep social work. After reintroducing some
historical context concerning photography and social movements, I take up a small host
of general concerns for photographic practice today, and then address a special subset of
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issues facing for social movements and their photographers: photographers on a mission
to use their craft to make the world a better place.

INTRODUCTION
I learned a great deal preparing this chapter; in fact, it is the culmination of
several years of research. First, the texts I consumed reinforced my belief that
photography has been and may continue to be a useful tool for political movements. The
variety of texts and disciplines related to the core questions of this dissertation reaffirms
my decision to make this study multi-disciplinary and considerate of multimedia efforts
and multi-method research that seeks to explain impacts of visual culture. Unfortunately,
those impacts may not always be the desired ones, that is, some images and image-
making practices may negatively affect social justice work, and my evaluation of some
recent and historical photographs used in movement contexts reveal several troubling
trends. These trends do not figure largely in the literature, and are rarely if ever
addressed by the working organizations and photographers themselves. Much of this
chapter will focus on these challenges and possibilities for improvement. A reliable,
effective, ethical, thoughtful, empowering mode of photography—that is, a mode capable
of respectfully raising awareness of social justice issues and transforming bystanders into
actors—is yet to be devised, but I hope to contribute some useful ideas to the
conversation about photography in social movements and inform some of the practices of
organizations and photographers working toward this purpose.

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Context: Photography and historical social justice efforts
It would be folly to suggest that I am charting new ground when I say that
photographs have influenced, and even changed, the course of history. An overwhelming
array of evidence points to this, from the anecdotal to published discussions and analyses,
to a slew of survey responses indicating that people joined social movements because
they felt forever changed by photographs they saw. This is true for people in power,
including legislators and national executives, like presidents of the United States. For
example, Theodore Roosevelt worked with photographers such as Lewis Hine on child
labor and other labor issues to tremendous social and public policy effects (Trattner,
1970, pp. 54, 105–106, 227). Later, Ansel Adams made photographs of pristine natural
landscapes across the United States and, working with the next President Roosevelt,
Franklin Delano, and Interior Secretary, Harold LeClair Ickes, Adams helped make the
U.S. National Parks System a reality (K. Burns, 2009b). Adams’ photographic advocacy
arguably launched the popular aspect of the conservation movement (Clepper, 1971;
Schoenfeld, 1977; Spaulding, 1998),
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and photographers continue to comprise a
significant portion of the Parks System’s artist-in-residence program (National Parks
Service, 2009). Jacob Riis, the famous New York muckraker, photographed the living
conditions of urban workers and immigrants, conditions too ghastly to ignore, forcing
legislators to adopt standards in housing and public space, and to regulate delinquent
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78
I would consider Adams the photographic equivalent of John Muir. In Clay Schoenfeld’s piece on
how media shaped the environmental movement, he goes so far as to say, “more than any other single
person perhaps, Ansel Adams has married conservation to the camera” (1977, p. 61). However, note that if
it can be said Adams inspired the public to take up modern conservation efforts, he was nearly a century
behind the first move to create national preserves—that accolade goes California Senator, John Conness.
As the Civil War raged, Conness asked Congress to cordon off and protect a discrete plot of land in the
western U.S. This parcel eventually became Yosemite National Park (K. Burns, 2009a) and photography
classes, workshops, and “photo walks” are held in his name (Gardner, 2012).
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property owners (Alland, 1993; Bogre, 2012; Lane, 1973; Riis, 1890; Roosevelt, 1901).
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As was mentioned in chapter one, President Lyndon Baines Johnson credited images of
Southern brutality against Blacks with pushing him to finally agree to the 1965 Voting
Rights Act (PBS, 1965/2000).
Not only shaping history by influencing opinion leaders and policymakers,
photographs also affected society by influencing the lives and choices of members the
general public. For example, U.S. citizens of all races and classes credited images in the
press for motivating them to join Freedom Rides and fight for civil rights.
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Images also
inspired them to change their voting behavior, to protest wars being waged across
Southeast Asia, and to demonstrate against Apartheid in South Africa (Goldberg, 1993;
Hariman & Lucaites, 2007; Moore & Durham, 2007; Moran & Alter, 2005; P. J. Nelson
& Dorsey, 2008; G. Olson, 2013; Stover, 2005). Photographs changed lives and history
because they showed people what they were not immediately exposed to in their own
lives because they were far away from the tenements of New York, from the police dogs
and fire hoses of Selma, from the scorching napalm used to douse the people of Vietnam.
In some cases, photographs have helped change lives because they have changed
people’s minds about people who, although in our midst, many have long conceived of as
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Of course, sometimes improvements are a double-edged sword, forcing cost-of-living increases and
making it impossible for immigrants and the working poor to afford housing near their workplaces. Riis
was also known to trade in stereotypes and use racist language as part of his appeal to middle and upper
class individuals who might make reform reality. His language made him one of the comfortable class and
distanced him from the immigrants and workers he often photographed (Buk-Swienty, 2008; Dowling,
2008; Stange, 1989). These tendencies of his are alive and well in the twenty-first century and will be
discussed later in the chapter.
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For a relatively unknown instance of news photographs driving social justice activity, see Evelyn C.
White, Alice Walker: A Life: “Looking at the photos ... she felt compelled to ‘wade in the water,’ again”
(2004, p. 130). White explains that author Alice Walker credits photographs in a magazine story about
children in the U.S. South as what compelled her to abandon major international travel plans and instead go
to Mississippi to work on civil rights with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF).
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“different” or to be avoided: the queer community, immigrants, people with disabilities,
those living with HIV/AIDS, and more. Visual culture compels us to reconsider the
“other.”
Photographs continue to be cited as reasons why people take up activist causes
and join social movements. For example, images of police brutality continue to drive the
public to rally on the side of the victims—from Rodney King, an unarmed Black man, to
Kelly Thomas, a white man who was homeless and diagnosed with schizophrenia (Loftus
& Rosenwald, 1993; Richardson, 2010; Santana, Jr. & Washburn, 2011),
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to Occupy
activists in the U.S. and abroad brutally attacked by police, and many more. On seeing
Police brutalize journalists and non-violent demonstrators attending in
Occupy Wall Street protests and solidarity gatherings (2011).

the evidence of excessive force, the public joins the victims’ families and friends in
calling for justice and accountability of law enforcement. Likewise, in 2013, devastating
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In these cases, images of the brutalized men took on heightened power, and were circulated with even
greater fervor, after police involved in the beatings were acquitted. It is as though the victims are then
granted martyr-status. The post-trial outrage was palpable, and people at demonstrations appeared to yell
and cry out louder than ever as they waved images of the injured, wailing over the justice deferred. After
the acquittal of the police who murdered Oscar Grant, Grant’s advocates acted in a similar fashion, sharing
images of him with greater force and frequency than before. The images were used in organizing to bring
people to—or back to—the cause of fighting police brutality, and were imbued with added importance and
gave the issue a greater sense of urgency because police impunity seemed especially terrible in those post-
trial moments. Perhaps we can liken this to the practice of las madres de la Plaza de Mayo (Las Madres)
who turn photographs into necklaces and posters representing their disappeared loved ones—primarily their
own children—for when they gather in protest. Photographs of the wronged and the dead often resonate in
ways that other photographs simply cannot.
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photographs of sweatshop workers buried alive in factory collapses led millions
worldwide to demonstrate in the streets, sign petitions, fight for unionization, and call for

Taslima Akhter (2013). The Final Embrace [Rana Plaza factory collapse, Dhaka, Bangladesh].

improved labor standards and enforcement mechanisms (Akhter, 2013a, 2013b; Elk,
2013; Mahr, 2013). These are but a few examples. Images of abused animals and
browbeaten workers, photographs of irreparably destroyed landscapes, and people
maimed, killed, and mentally annihilated by wars, genocide, prisons, police, and other
social plagues, continue to galvanize people around the world to organize for justice and
progress.
All of this is not meant to rehash the debate of whether or not photographs make a
difference, but rather to remind us that they do, and to justify my exploration of the image
production process as the next necessary step for consideration by scholars and advocate,
alike. In order for photographs to continue to make a difference, we must consider the
production and dissemination aspects. Using that as my premise, I discuss the role and
deployment of images as part of making social change. I build on cases like those above
and the relevant literature about them in order to discuss photographs in social
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movements as well as what I believe are some common mistakes made in image-centric
campaigns, despite the best of intentions. To do this, I have reviewed several hundred
photographs and photo-based campaigns, analyzing form and content, as well as the
issues and peoples depicted. Where possible I have investigated the campaign goals and
motivations behind the photographs in question; learned about the photographer, the
NGOs, agencies, or press corps involved; worked to understand the intended audiences;
and more. These are relevant issues to consider in order to fairly discuss the content and
ethical merits of photographs made and used in social justice efforts.
Because such images come from a variety of sources—freelancers, journalists,
stock photo repositories, artists, activists, personal work files of career human rights
advocates, survivors of human rights abuse, and others—I used professional and social
networks, disciplinary databases, physical and digital archives, libraries, internal
organizational documents, and more to find images previously used in campaigns and
which are circulating through 2014. My interpretations and analyses of the photographs
discussed here were influence by scholarship in art, critical theory, communications,
political science, sociology, psychology, anthropology.
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I use these disciplines not only
to inform image analyses, but to put them socio-political context. For example, how
different communities view the social issues in question; the societal strata of race, class,
gender, and more, in relation to the rights of individuals and groups; and even the role of
emotion in response to visuals, how feelings may be manipulated to generate a particular
response, what may mentally distinguish bystanders from activists, and how concepts
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82
My interpretations will also be influenced by informal and unconscious influences accumulated over
two decades of personal social justice advocacy. Also, an understanding of law figures in to more technical
discussions regarding image ownership.
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such as denial and psychic numbing diminish the potential to succeed (Cohen, 2001)
when using images to promote social justice causes and activism.
However, before we return to an exploration of photography for social justice,
some ethical matters arise in most all photography and deserve at least brief discussion.
While these issues will not be given much attention because they are not central to social
justice efforts, some do have broader implications and will be reintroduced in that
section. For now, the general photo-ethics issues of copyright, contracts, and paparazzi,
will be concisely addressed. There are some other issues facing photographers that could
theoretically concern those engaged in social justice work, except that this particular
subset of photographers typically does not pursue those sorts of images—for example,
privacy issues concerning mugshots and other photographs of alleged criminals,
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candid
images of those forced to do “the perp walk,”
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photographs of famous people in car
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83
In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombing, people online took it upon themselves to search
for the likely perpetrator(s) by using images available online, leading to a witch hunt that ended in the death
of Sunil Tripathi, a student at Brown, after he was wrongly fingered by members of the online community
at Reddit (Abad-Santos, 2013). A completely innocent person was killed and dumped in a river because he
resembled someone in photographs taken at the bombing scene.
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Journalist Art Harris dubbed the perp walk, “the crime reporter's red carpet,” and others from pop
culture publications to scholarly journals have commented on the nature, purpose, and effects of the
practice. The rights of the accused are a concern as images of people in handcuffs being forced around by
police may bias public opinion and have a prejudicial effect on potential jury pools. For example, take the
1989 case of the Central Park Five, the five youth of color framed by police for the rape of a white woman
in Central Park. The most prominent images of the boys after their arrests and in the lead-up to their trial
were the images of them doing the perp walk—a “media frenzy” had these on the cover of every
supermarket tabloid for weeks (L. J. Lewis, 2007, pp. 26–27). They were swiftly convicted and served
their respective sentences, only to be vindicated and in 2003, almost 15 years later. People have argued the
perp walk photographs sealed their convictions before the trail began—the general public had only ever
known them as rapists (K. Burns, Burns, & McMahon, 2012; S. Burns, 2011, p. 69; L. J. Lewis, 2007).
On occasion, perp walks rise to the level of an “international incident”—as with the walks of ousted
managing director of the IMF, Dominique Strauss Kahn, and billionaire financial mogul turned bankrupt
disgrace, Bernard “Bernie” Madoff. The French were horrified by Kahn’s forced walk of shame, and
international financiers feared ripple effects on markets and other kingpins of capital (Boudana, 2014; J. S.
Gordon, 2009; Michaels, Ward & Rabinovitz, LLP, 2009; Ruiz & Treadwell, 2002; Tompkins, 2011). It is
difficult to gauge the impact such images have, or to know the role that class or type of offense plays in
whether perp walks are public affairs, and if so, how images of the perp walk are received and interpreted
by the public.
Strauss-Kahn sexually assaulted a woman from hotel housekeeping, and Madoff stole fortunes untold
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crashes or their bodies after autopsy,
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upskirt photographs,
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photographs taken in
private settings,
87
and various sorts of pornography.
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While these are important issues, I
will not consider them here because they do not bear on our fundamental question.

PART I: ETHICS IN PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Photography and the problems of copyright and contracts
The legal concept of copyright has long been important for creators of original
material, be it fiction or nonfiction writing, music, software programs, sculptures,
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from individuals and philanthropic organizations—these acts were deplorable and illegal. Neither character
is deserving of sympathy, but like all of us, they are deserving of a fair trial. The countless photographs of
them—and others who are so publicly arrested—as they are dragged from their homes and businesses in
handcuffs, in shame, for all to see, can reasonably be seen as potentially influencing jurors who will seal
their fates. The poisoning of a jury pool is a genuine risk when such photographs are taken. Sacrificing
someone’s right to a fair trial would be a concern for photographers and may be why some prefer not to do
it.
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If interested in topics related to photographs of the dead (before, during, or after autopsy), crime
scenes, or controversies surrounding such photographs a few references include Audrey Linkman’s
Photography and Death (2011), Barbie Zelizer’s About to Die (2010), Ariella Azoulay’s Death’s Showcase
(2003), and Peck and Reel's Media Ethics at Work (2012). Renewed interest in this topic often comes with
the deaths of public figures. This includes a desire for images from, for example, the car crashes that took
the lives of Princess Diana, and famous race card driver, Dale Earnhardt, as well as from the killings of
people like Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, and Osama Bin Laden.
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Several states have sought to criminalize this activity, although some courts have ruled it technically
legal and invalidated laws that punish “upskirt” photographers. Legislators have been pressured to write
new laws that adapt to the rulings while protecting the privacy and bodily integrity of individuals at risk of
being the subject of such images (LeBlanc, 2014; Oddi, 2011; Pratt, 2014; Steinmetz, 2013).
87
For example, we know that private photos have been used to shame people or deprive them of status
and employment, particularly if they are engaged in illegal or unbecoming behaviors: participating in racist
events (Julie Myers, head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, hosting a party for people in racist
costumes, including blackface, 2007; the UK’s Prince Harry wearing a Nazi uniform to a party, 2010);
teachers found to have moonlighted in pornography (California middle school science teacher, Stacie
Halas, 2012); athletes and performers using controlled substances (Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps
smoking marijuana); and public officials breaking laws (Toronto Mayor, Rob Ford, using crack cocaine,
2013) or other oaths, such as their marriage vows (Senator Gary Hart’s extramarital affair with Donna Rice
scuttled his bid for the 1988 presidential nomination).
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A variety of texts, court cases, and news items exist on the topic of pornographic photography—
everything from production, circulation, manipulation, and issues affecting producers, performers, and
consumers (Attwood, 2010; Baird & Rosenbaum, 1998; Doe et al v. Boland, 6th Cir. U.S. Ct. App., No. 11-
4237, 2012; MacKinnon & Dworkin, 1988; Nelson & Simek, 2007; Schlosser, 2004; Strossen, 2000; Strub,
2013). Pornographic imagery can also end political careers, for example, the career of New York
Democrat, Anthony Weiner, who was caught sending lewd photographs of himself via text message to
young women, and then lying about it.
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fashions, paintings, scientific knowledge, or the art form at the center of this study:
photographs. The owner of the copyright of a work has the sole right to use and
distribute the item, and if another person or corporation tries to use it or claim it without
permission, the copyright owner has a legal claim against him or her (World Intellectual
Property Organization, 1886).
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While formal copyright is important for my study, it is
not central to it. My dissertation focuses on ethical matters that arise in doing social
justice photography, and I argue that such photography necessitates collaborative
production and ownership. This makes ownership a topic to address, but this is quite
distinct from the legal conceptions of property primarily intended to protect authors’
rights to sole social and financial benefits
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from the item they produced. Currently, the
person who takes the photograph—regardless of image format or apparatus owner—is
considered to be the image owner (17 USC 201).
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Copyright claims are frequently the
center of public dust-ups. For example, the AP photograph of President Barack Obama
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In the United States, copyright law primarily flows from Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution which
states Congress has the authority, “[t]o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for
limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”
Copyright in the United States largely exists on the “economic incentive” model, where the purpose behind
the right is to enforce a property interest for personal profit (Hurt & Schuchman, 1966). Since before the
founding of the U.S. Patent Office is 1790, U.S. copyright law has been drawn from this section and is
driven by the same purpose. Cases into the twenty-first century support that this continues to be the core
rationale (Goldstein & Reese, 2010; Vaver, 1997).
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“Social and financial benefits” may include: image sales, royalties, pay increases, job promotions,
career boosts, prize winnings, book deals, elevation in social status, and the like.
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The exception to this general rule is “work for hire,” or freelancers who sell (not simply lend, license,
lease, or rent) their images to others. There may also be disagreement as to who has “made” a work
because someone may feel they conceived of a particular image while someone else snapped the
photograph. On this, consider the thoughts of modern artist Joseph Beuys: “[f]or me, the formation of the
thought is already sculpture. The thought is sculpture” (Beuys, 1993, p. 90). If someone else hand-makes
the sculpture Beuys planned, does that strip (Sawatzky, Porter, Strauss, Blank, & Amazon Technologies,
Inc., 2014) him of ownership? Amazon.com owns the exclusive patent to take photographs against a white
background, and can enforce that patent against others who take photographs against white backgrounds—
which seems absurd. Copyright laws, and rules regarding ownership and enforcement of ownership rights,
are extremely complicated. Thus, those intricacies will not be discussed here, as they are given thorough
and proper treatment in other works where copyright is the central focus.
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used without permission by printmaker, Shepard Fairey,
92
for Obama’s 2008 run for the
White House (Rosenfeld, 2011); a battle over an image reproduced on the sides of police
vehicles in Detroit (Jesse, 2013; Neavling, 2013); and there are regular conflicts over
sales of photographs of famous paintings, landmarks, buildings, sculptures, and other
artworks, especially in scholarly publishing where people wish to reproduce images of
works they discuss. Some would prefer that the original artists control the use of
reproductions, but items in the public domain are usually considered open and available
for photographing and hence the resulting photographs are reproducible. However,
claiming to own or to have produced a photograph taken by someone else, regardless of
the subject of the photograph, would be considered a violation of the original
photographer’s copyright. The rights of the subject who appears in that photographer are
considered a separate matter (L. Gross et al., 1988).
These rights of the subject occasionally do intersect the issue of copyright,
particularly in the areas of contracts and photographic manipulation. Photographs taken
of others, especially of amateur and professional models, are typically governed by
contracts. As with contracts in other areas of life, bargaining power in photography
contracts is on a spectrum that ranges from relatively level to unconscionably skewed.
93

Sometimes models—or their representatives, be they family guardians or paid career
agents—surrender a great deal of power with respect to the images they will help create
by agreeing to be the subject. Plenty of times this is done knowingly and willingly
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
92
This was far from the first time Fairey had appropriated someone else’s work without permission or
credit, but the image became so well-known and iconic—and the photographer involved belonged to a
major agency, the Associated Press, as opposed to being a lone artist—that a public legal battle ensued.
93
For the origin of the U.S. doctrine of unconscionability and the issue of power dynamics in contracts
see Williams v. Walker-Thomas Furniture Co., 350 F.2d 445 (1965).
119!
because the models are banking on the images providing them exposure and helping them
grow a future career and fan-base. It is not unusual for models to be unfamiliar with the
terms used in their contracts, or to misunderstand the implications of their contracts and
the rights, therein. For example, in posing for stockphoto libraries, someone’s
photograph may be used to sell or promote awareness of any number of causes and
products—religions, medications, diseases, lifestyle preferences, clubs, online
communities, and more—and as a result, the person may be associated with those in
perpetuity. Yet, contract language may be vague about this reality. Children
photographed at open calls for modeling contracts have found themselves on religious
billboards opposing abortion (Fisher, 2011; Kumeh, 2011); individuals in committed
relationships, posing exclusively for particular products and services, later have found
themselves in ads for dating websites (Filip, 2011; Lattimore, 2011; Licata, 2013); and
others who have personally published images of themselves online have discovered these
images stolen and repurposed as memes
94
(Albert, 2013; Broderick, 2013; Curth, 2013;
Mueller, 2012) or by companies trying to sell everything from weight loss drugs, to
sexual “connections,” to audio systems, and even birthday cards (M. Allen, 2007;
Harmanci, 2012; Posnanski, 2014; C. Willis & Barry, 2014). In one case, a dating
website called “ionechat”
95
stole the Facebook profile photograph of a 17-year-old
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94
One particularly bizarre, unsettling incident involved an image taken from a police mugshot
repository. A woman arrested and booked for DUI found her mugshot spreading around the internet as the
“Attractive Convict” meme, a popular “advice animal”-type (Vickery, 2014) of viral image that people
customize by superimposing text of their choice and then share. In 2014, four years after her arrest, she
sued the background check company that made her mugshot public in an advertisement for their services.
She alleged invasion of privacy, and that the company’s commercial use of her image was unlawful
(Silman, 2014). Others who have found themselves on the internet in mugshot repositories or on the
Discovery Channel’s “Investigation Discovery—Crime Feed: Monday Morning Mugshot” (Discovery
Communications, LLC, 2013), experience similar feelings of shame and violation.
95
As of May 2014, one year after the incident, the website no longer exists. It is unclear when or why it
120!
Canadian survivor of gang rape named Rehtaeh
96
Parsons, placing her headshot alongside
the tagline, “Find Love in Canada!” They happened to do this just after Ms. Parsons
killed herself. The terrible four-man attack on her was filmed and photographed, and
tragically, the images were circulated, reaching many people who knew her. After two
years of unrelenting harassment and shame, being unable to escape the images of her
violation and the “slut-shaming” meted out by her peers, Rehtaeh committed suicide.
97

Her parents, just beginning to grieve, came upon the matchmaker advertising, as had
several others in their community. The dating company was not held liable for any
emotional damage or for stealing the photograph (Parsons, 2013)—perhaps because the
photograph’s owner was deceased and ownership had not been transferred. Facebook
apologized to Rehtaeh’s parents for the “unfortunate example of an advertiser scraping an
image from the internet,” but that was the extent of their comments (Staff reporter,
2013b). The twenty-first century has ushered in an era of “viral” rape images, both films
and stills (Friedman, 2013) that compound the horribleness of the event, resulting in
years of unimaginable torment. Even high profile cases involving images of people’s
rapes have not resulted in justice for the survivors, or those left behind after a loved one
who is raped succumbs to the physical and psychological injuries.
98
To say that the
internet has changed the matter of image ownership is to put it lightly.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
shut down.
96
Pronounced Reh-tay-ah.
97
Despite the visual evidence, rape charges could not stick. Instead, two of the four rapists were
charged with possessing child pornography, and one was additionally charged with making child
pornography.
98
Notorious cases include that of Audrie Pott (raped at a party while passed out from alcohol, fellow
students took photographs—15 years old); ‘Jane Doe,’ Vancouver (drugged and gang raped at a rave,
countless onlookers took photographs—16 years old); Jada [last name protected] in Houston, TX (drugged
and gang raped at a house party while onlookers took photographs and filmed, and then photographed
themselves for social media in the “jadapose”—the bodily configuration in which she was last
121!
Once the wronged individual files a case, the matter is typically settled after the
offender pulls the image and provides monetary compensation. However in some cases,
a great deal of personal damage may have already been done. For example, a young
Brooklyn model unknowingly became the poster-woman for the New York State
Division of Human Rights’ HIV-positive empowerment campaign. The model, Avril
Nolan, understood her photo-contract to say that she was posing for a fashion feature and
that she would have a modicum of control over what her visage was used to promote—a
right she could exercise at any time. However, the images were licensed to New York
DHR by Getty Images,
99
which had acquired them from the original photographer, and
Nolan was never given an opportunity to agree to their use by Getty. The posters were
placed throughout the boroughs of Nolan’s city, New York, and after she was forced to
have repeated “awkward conversations” with people in her life, Nolan sued Getty for
$450,000 to clear her reputation, compensate her for her anguish, and vindicate her rights
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
photographed, splayed out, unconscious; Jane Doe, Elmwood Park, New Jersey (drunk and unconscious,
raped by four men while a friend filmed with his iPhone) (Delhaume, 2014; Dewey, 2014; Friedman, 2013;
Kleimann, 2014; Klimas, 2014; Ridge, 2010; Staff reporter, 2014a); and two separate, filmed gang rapes of
minor girls in South Africa that were circulated on social media (2012 and 2013). The South African cases
have not come to resolution despite the visual evidence, hoards of media attention, and public outcry. One
of the girls died. The other, born with a developmental disability and was left to die, somehow survived
her ghastly injuries (Cropley, 2013; D. Smith, 2012).
In the Steubenville, Ohio case involving a passed out 16-year-old girl whose rape was watched and
recorded by various party-goers, two of the rapists were tried and found guilty—primarily on account of the
visual evidence. After the verdict was read, one of the rapists seemed to try to apologize but said, “[n]o
pictures should have been sent around, let alone ever taken” (Oppel, Jr., 2013, p. A10). As with the U.S.
government’s response to the Abu Ghraib torture photographs, the perpetrators consider the photograph to
be the problem—not their vile, inexcusable behavior.
99
Getty commented only briefly on the matter as they considered the photographer to be the primary
target of legal action: “We empathize with and understand the sensitivity of Avril Nolan’s situation. Getty
Images had a model release and relied upon the photographer’s documentation when we made the image
available for license” (Getty Images, 2013). In this case it is important to note two things: First, Getty's
contracts require “end users”—in this case, the NY DHR—to not defame or degrade the person whose
likeness is placed in advertisements. This situation could constitute a lapse in duty under that stipulation. It
may be an arguable point if a disclaimer was put on the ad—“model is a paid spokesperson,” or “model is
not HIV-positive”—but there was no such disclaimer. Second, in licensing the image to others, Getty is
assuring the end-user that Getty has full rights to the photograph and has secured all of the standard and
necessary model releases. Getty failed in this regard.
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(Divito, 2013; Rush, 2013).
100
Getty fought to have the case dismissed, but in 2014, a
judge decided the lawsuit should advance to trial (Singh, 2014; D. Walker, 2014).
101
In a
more extreme case, a Tamil Nadu woman and her daughter were featured in the Health
Ministry’s statewide AIDS campaign that suggested the two were infected. She won her
case in the High Court, but it was a long process and untold numbers of people had
already been given the impression she and her daughter were being treated for AIDS, a
disease that carries much social stigma. Even her husband doubted her persistent claims
that she was not infected, was not in treatment, and had not consented to participating in
the campaign. On multiple occasions she considered killing herself. She nearly did
(Ethiraj, 2009; Express News Service, 2009; Mahadevan, 2009).
102

Ideally we might live in a world that does not torment individuals with
diseases,
103
but photographers and image owners have a duty not to harm those whose
images they create and possess. Image-makers—also known as copyright-holders—
should always seek consent of the photographed, and licensers should only acquire rights
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
100
In an ironic twist, at Nolan’s waist, the poster text reads, “I HAVE RIGHTS” (the phrase appears in
all capital letters in the original).
101
A similar situation happened in North Carolina when an HIV-positive woman agreed to be
photographed for an internal publication by drug company, Roche Laboratories in conjunction with the
advertising group Gerbig, Snell/Weisheimer. She later learned that her image, along with the full story of
her personal struggle with HIV, was not kept to the publication as agreed, but had been widely published
online. She sued both Roche and the ad agency and later settled with them in October 2010 (Doe, 2010a,
2010b; Frazier, 2010; McCue, 2010).
102
As a general comment regarding these cases and ones like it, some have said the people involved
have been to sensitive, and that to react with potential suicide to a poster featuring their image is extreme. I
am not comfortable making such a judgment. Only those depicted are legitimately positioned to decide
what is a reasonable response to such a violation, given their circumstances, culture, the image, the
campaign, and other factors relevant to them and only them.
103
Or people who pose for health promotion campaigns, whether or not they have the particular ailment
being addressed.
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to feature informed and consenting participants.
104
This is an especially important
working principle for those using images in efforts to make social change.

Paparazzi, Publicity, & Privacy
Paparazzi photography—the now-commonplace tactic of pursuing and
photographing celebrities
105
—also falls outside of the scope of social justice
photography.
106
A paparazzo is not concerned with the human rights of the subjects he
photographs, does not seek to make images that are ethical and respectful, and does not
view this photography as part of an effort to create socio-political change (Grano, 2010;
A. D. Morton, 1999).
107
A paparazzo’s primary goal and purpose are to take candid
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104
Conscientious photographers and licensers make it standard process to secure written consent and
maintain records of same. In the event the person or group in the photograph is deceased or otherwise
unable to consent and comment on how their image should be used, licensers should make a good faith
effort to not misuse, misrepresent, or put their photo in a context in which they would likely refuse consent.
105
Paparazzi generally chase and photograph celebrities who are famous actors or political figures, but
celebrities could also be people of temporary or accidental fame, such as individuals tied to a highly
publicized legal case or tragic accident.
106
For more on paparazzi photography, and photographs of the famous or infamous deemed “shocking”
or variously “inappropriate” by the general public—for example, images of the dead—see: Carey v.
Population Services International (1977) (affirms the individual right of personal privacy, acknowledges
the existence of “zones” of personal privacy); National Archives & Records Administration v. Favish
(2004) (photographs of war dead and death scenes are not automatically FOIA-eligible as they may be
traumatizing to family members still living); Schuyler v. Curtis (1895) (“It is the right of privacy of the
living which it is sought to enforce here. That right may, in some cases, be itself violated by improperly
interfering with the character or memory of a deceased relative, but it is the right of the living and not that
of the dead which is recognized. A privilege may be given the surviving relatives of a deceased person to
protect his memory, but the privilege exists for the benefit of the living, to protect their feelings and to
prevent a violation of their own rights in the character and memory of the deceased,” p. 447); Melton v.
Board of County Commissioners of Hamilton County (2003) (much as families have a right to the “remains
of a loved one,” they have a right to the decedent’s death images; images may be considered “remains”);
Catsouras v. Department of California Highway Patrol (2010) (images of the roadside-dead are no longer
“public information,” they are morbid and sensational, and constitute unnecessary prying). Note that the
circumstances mentioned here are quite different from cases where family members want to share the
images of their dead relatives, for example, when Mamie Till wanted to publish images of her son, Emmett
Till, as evidence of the horrible beating and murder he suffered at the hands of white supremacists (Center
for Art, Design and Visual Culture, 2010; Till Bradley, 1955) (Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture,
2010; Till Bradley, 1955).
107
This motive remains even if some of the images they produce happen to be ethical and/or respectful,
or if they come to be associated with some social justice cause.
124!
images of famous people and sell these images to the highest bidder; both the drive of the
photographer and the purpose of the images are purely commercial. Photographs of
celebrities fetch hefty sums from tabloid magazines and other corporations,
108
and often
there is a premium on photographs of the children or partners of famous people, as well,
which has led to ever-invasive photography techniques and even dangerous pursuits
(Grano, 2010). These conditions have ultimately driven celebrities to seek creative ways
to shirk photographers
109
as well as to fight for legislative efforts to restrict photography
(California Legislature, 2010; A. D. Morton, 1999; Scharf, 2006; K. R. Weiss, 2004; K.
D. Willis, 2007), some of which were mentioned in the last chapter. While issues related
to paparazzi photography do have implications for social justice photography—namely
privacy concerns—the need of every dissertation to remain narrowly tailored means this
form of photography is situated beyond the scope of this work.
Still, there exist certain circumstances in which photos taken in private or
otherwise hidden and “sensitive” settings should be seen by the public—that is, the public
has a right to see and know about them. In such cases, the publishing of the photographs
is in the interest of justice and trumps privacy rights.
110
For example, the U.S. military
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108
For example, video game companies producing sports games have made huge profits by using the
likenesses of college and professional athletes, even without their permission or express sponsorship. See,
Brown v. Electronic Arts, Inc. (2013), Hart v. Electronic Arts (2013), and Keller v. Electronic Arts, et al.
(2013) for more information on litigation regarding the right of publicity as it pertains to athletes and
unlicensed commercial products.
109
For example, in addition to using body doubles and secret entrances, some celebrities have taken to
wearing and marking arms and foreheads with curse words that would be disallowed from appearing in
print, making the photographs unsellable (Abramovitch, 2012; James, 2012).
110
As an aside, a claim of privacy is often asserted to prevent the publishing of sensitive photographs,
but those claiming privacy rights are not always clearly having their privacy violated or otherwise
personally at risk if photographs are published. For example, soldiers seeking to prevent publication of
photographs of their misdeeds do not always show them, the offender, in the photographs—only the victim
or aftermath of what the offender has done. True, there is risk that they may lose their job or face criminal
charges, but there is not privacy or immunity for criminal acts committed under the color of law. The right
of privacy does not exist to prevent evidence of wrongdoing from surfacing and being used against the
125!
sought to prevent the publishing of photographs of soldier coffins being returned from
our invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Privacy was touted as the rationale, along with
“national security concerns” (Post, 2009; Rutten, 2009; Seelye, 2009; L. Smith, 2004).
However, the war dead are an issue for the general public, and many in the families of
those who do not survive combat want others to be aware of the local human costs of
these international offensives. Quietly hiding away the flag-draped coffins of dead
soldiers in an attempt to avoid public criticism and questioning of policy is a government
misdeed. The rationale for secrecy is the desire to be unquestioned and unopposed, but
this is a right-to-know issue for the public (M. E. Price & Thompson, 2002). This
concerns policy decisions about which the public deserves to discuss and comment.
Blocking these photographs is against the interests of justice as it usurps the
constitutional rights of citizens to be informed and petition their government, and
altogether prevents important conversations from occurring.
The same is true for the photographs taken by soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison in
Iraq, although this case is more complex. In the first place, the war, the prison in
question, and the conditions at the facility were all illegal according to international law,
despite U.S. government claims to the contrary (Annan, 2005; Bellamy, 2003; Cusac,
2004; Sadat, 2004). U.S. citizens did not have any part in the decision to invade or to
conduct an ongoing war with indefinite detentions and without due process in Iraq,
Afghanistan, or elsewhere. Also illegal was the torture committed on the detainees by the
soldier-wardens at Abu Ghraib and the soldiers’ use of cameras to make morbid
mementos of their deeds. The leaking of these photographs—several hundred in total
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culprits.
126!
though only a portion were ever made fully public—while they were lewd, graphic, and
altogether horrifying, was a public service. The government attempted to keep these
images from the press and people around the world, citing national security and claiming
it was an internal personnel matter.
111
While there are national security implications
because torture images may fan the flames of hatred of the U.S., and it is undeniably a
personnel issue—soldiers are employees, after all—these are excuses and not legitimate
reasons to hide this behavior from the public. Citizens have a right to know the crimes
their government commits in their name and with their tax dollars. These photographs
are the proof of those crimes and should be submitted to the public for scrutiny of the
issues they raise. They should also be used to prosecute the offenders. Hiding these
images would prevent public scrutiny and, had they never been leaked, we could imagine
that no prosecutions would have occurred. There are many historical instances where
crimes were covered up by government rather than revealed and pursued through the
justice system.
However, something that makes it difficult to encourage a blanket release of the
images is the nature of the images. The photographs are violent and not only reveal the
most intimate parts of the torture victims’ bodies, but they also show them in the most
desperate of circumstances, the throes of death and despair, prone and clearly wailing in
agony. The torture was horrible enough, but the torturers compound the pain and
humiliation by photographing the acts, and the sharing of the images humiliates the
individuals once again. If we go one step further, recall that the survivor’s anguish over
the photographs may never subside, because, just like physical scars, photographs do not
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111
The classic “bad apples” defense was trotted out early and often.
127!
disappear, they exist in perpetuity because of the digital era in which we live.
112
Thus,
the creation and circulation of these images could be said to constitute yet another
crime.
113
This is a legitimate concern, but in the case of these photos, two facts overcome
it: first, many of the images happen to conceal the identities of those depicted, and two,
not all photographs would need to be made fully public
114
for there to be enough of them
released to inform a conversation about the crimes at hand. Many of the photographed
detainees had their heads covered by sacks or even underwear; that, or people’s faces
were not square and clear to the lens because their heads were hung towards the floor, be
out of shame, pain, instruction, or exhaustion. Using privacy to shield government actors
from accountability, particularly in the case of public policy decisions, is illegitimate, and
images exposing wrongdoing should be made public to inform debate. Concern for the
privacy of others depicted may be considered, but middle ground can be negotiated to
“protect the innocent” and scrutinize the officials. A separate issue, one that will be
visited in-depth later in this chapter, is the question of whether circulating disturbing
images numbs people to them or contributes to compassion fatigue. Whether the answer
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112
These images are still more exceptional in this regard because they constitute a part of public
memory and even popular culture (Andén-Papadopoulos, 2008; Eisenman, 2007); there was a time when
they were everywhere and they remain readily available to anyone wishing to see them.
113
That those depicted may never see the photographs of themselves, or may even be deceased, should
not figure in to whether or not the publishing of the photographs would further degrade, humiliate, and
harm them. The publishing of the images, itself, must be analyzed independently—this must be decided as
a matter of principle regarding the value and purpose of publishing what is likely harmful, rather than in
relation to whether the publisher would be “caught” by or potentially held accountable by, those depicted.
As the act of stealing is considered independent of whether one is caught and jailed, the act of publishing
the photographs should be considered on its own, regardless of whether the victim learns of their
publication and may take action. This framework for analyzing whether or not behavior is ethical may be
likened to the adage, “character is who you are [or what you do] when no one is looking.”
114
For example, in this case and in future situations like it (which surely there will be), we might
reconsider the release of images that do not obscure people’s identities, or ask survivors for permission
before releasing images.
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to that question should figure into our decision to share such images is another ethical
aspect of the debate.
For now, though, we turn to issues at the core of photography for social justice. I
start by discussing the issue on which much of this photography turns, the fundamental
approaches to visual production that are taken by social justice groups, and then I take up
the roles and duties of the photographers and others closely involved. I look at
photographic practice as it relates to media & political “deadzones;” matters of privacy
and exploitation; shocking or gruesome images; the notion of truth and problems of
photo-fakery; stereotypes and visual tropes; aesthetic concerns; and the issues of
representation, ownership, and production.

PART II: PROBLEMS IN SOCIAL JUSTICE PHOTOGRAPHY
Looking at photographs used in contemporary social justice campaigns as well as
various movements of the past, one begins to notice several troubling trends in image-
type and message. These are trends that, in some way, undermine the primary goal of the
photographs—that is, while the photographs are part of an effort to further social justice,
certain elements of these photographs do damage to that cause. These undermining
issues are introduced by the work approach generally taken by organizations and
photographers; the alleged or apparent interests and preferences of the media and the
general public; and the urgency or awfulness of certain events and a pressure to respond,
immediately. Furthermore, there is an assumption that all actors—organizers,
photographers, NGOs, volunteers, and others involved in social justice work—play their
parts in good faith and any harm done is unintentional and not to be fretted over too much
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in advance, delaying work and timely reporting. I do believe the missteps are
unintentional and that those working on rights campaigns are well meaning. I am not
alleging indifference or carelessness, and certainly not malice. The issues identified in
this chapter are not noted in order to undermine the work being done nor the workers
doing it, but to help us reflect on how we all might be better advocates through
photography. In that spirit, I begin with organizational orientations toward social justice
work and how these orientations problematically manifest themselves in photographic
campaigns.

He who fights with monsters might take care
lest he thereby become a monster…
115

—Friedrich Nietzsche
Approaches to human rights photography
Difficulties with the photography of social justice movements begin with the
dominant activism model many groups employ. Typically, organizations show viewers
images of suffering, suggest that the organization has the solution, and then the
organization asks for “support” to implement their solution. A common, concrete
example of this are mass mailers featuring images of poor children from sub-Saharan
Africa alongside pleas for donations to groups such as Save the Children or World
Vision.
116
The material indicates one’s donation will feed, clothe, shelter, medicate,
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
115
Complete original: Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer
wird (Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein), Beyond Good
and Evil, Aphorism 146. Also translated as, “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process
he does not become a monster (And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you)”
(Nietzsche, 1886/1989, p.89).
116
Both of these organizations have operational budgets in the billions and boast a Christian mission.
Unfortunately, both have also been caught on multiple occasions for crimes of fraud, money laundering,
and even for being front organizations with designs on political disruption in host countries. When child
130!
educate, or otherwise improve the lives of children like those in the images.
117
A
postage-paid business-reply envelope is provided for ease of donating, as are the tax ID
numbers of the NGOs so that donors can be sure to receive charitable giving deductions.
It is blisteringly straightforward and uncomplicated, “takes only a moment,” and the
consumer of these image appeals is handed a quick and easy way to help alleviate the
suffering they are shown: give money. Personally, the donor feels good, and even
confident, that they have done something wholly, objectively good—a selfless act beyond
reproach. But did they?
I contend argue there is a downside to this model in that it negatively affects the
prospects of stable, long-range, long-term progress. What they are doing is selling an
organization and agenda, using suffering as the marketing ploy. They trade in the
poverty and misfortunes of others for temporary organizational gain instead of thinking
more critically about executing a visual strategy that would further long-term social
justice goals. The commonplace appeals for donations do not show the systemic
causes
118
of the suffering depicted, rather, they show an easily identified, stereotypical
119

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sponsors have sought to be in touch with “their child,” these requests have been rebuffed, and on the rare
occasions when sponsors do make contact with the children, they discover the child has not been part of a
program and is not receiving their financial aid, despite correspondence from the organizations that
suggests the exact opposite. The scandals involving these organizations have run broad and deep, but
rarely make headlines. On multiple occasions, reports, journal articles, and news pieces praising the
organizations were found to have been authored by staff (Boone, 2012; Geoghegan, 2008; Mungcal, 2012;
Staff reporter, 2006, 2011a, 2012c; Whaites, 1999).
117
These individuals, as depicted by words and images, often do not exist. This will be explored later in
this chapter, in the context of the disgraced of international anti-human trafficking advocate, Somaly Mam.
118
That said, and perhaps to their credit, they also do not promise to work on the systemic causes. They
offer to spend a portion of donated dollars doing direct “relief” work—nothing more. Some organizations
indicate the portion of donations that goes to administrative support, but not all. Often, this information
must be sought—or bought—from watchdog groups, such as Worldwatch Institute, GuideStar, Charity
Navigator, NGO Monitor, and GreatNonprofits. The ethics of the monitoring system, and whether or not it
is effective, are important, but that is too large a topic and too much of a divergence to undertake herein.
119
Walter Lippmann argued that stereotypes were necessary to us, useful and good, allowing us to
simplify a complex world and make it manageable. We could boil down people and regions into types
131!
suffering—poverty is people who appear homeless, in dirty, tattered clothing; hunger is
children with distended bellies; refugee crises are teeming masses behind barbed wire.
While these symptoms are serious, it is the structural causes
120
of poverty and violence—
the lack of systems and infrastructure for self-directed and implemented food production,
education, transit and communications networks, government administration, and
delivery of social services, addressing needs and rampant inequality—that require
attention and support if we are to remedy the symptoms.
121
Major philanthropic
foundations that fund social justice groups, aid societies, and the like, are no better than
the average person donating to these causes—they, too, buy into and perpetuate the
simplistic imaging, glossy annual reports, and slick marketing campaigns. Support from
these foundations comes at a further price, as well: organizations are constrained to
continue doing business as usual, while committing large portions of the new money to
fundraising, “benchmarking,” and internal assessments
122
(Kania, Kramer, & Russell,
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using heuristics, shortcuts, and various non-verbal cues, to help us efficiently process what we were seeing
in order to respond with what was most likely, based on our experiences, the most appropriate course of
action. Because we heavily rely on stereotypes to interpret the world around us, information that
contradicts these stereotypes is either discarded or only very slowly incorporated into our worldview.
Renouncing our stereotypes is much more difficult than reinforcing them (1922, Chapters 6, 7).
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Because of the tendency to address symptoms and not causes, the term “band aid” is sometimes use
to refer to NGO efforts by critics of international “relief” and “development” work, and sometimes even by
populations receiving NGO practitioners and aid. Anecdotally, the term band-aid is sometimes used with
irony and derision by those familiar with the concert series dubbed “BandAid,” where international
superstar musicians performed to huge crowds with portions of the proceeds pledged to a non-descript
“Africa” (M. J. Barker, 2014; Martlew, 2009). Even Bob Geldof, the founder of the BandAid/LiveAid
franchise and a patriarch of celebrity humanitarianism, used the term in this way as he reflected on his
efforts and their actual effects.
121
This is not unlike the oft repeated phrase in medicine, “causes resolve on treatment of the underlying
condition.”
122
Reflecting on his time spent running a community-based organization, Darren Walker of the Ford
Foundation confirmed difficulties with foundation constraints and metrics:
“…I—and many of my colleagues—sometimes felt imprisoned by logic frameworks, theories of
change, and elegant PowerPoint decks that sought to oversimplify how our neighborhood
revitalization programs would affect our community. To us, social change could not be diagrammed
with boxes and arrows, even though the foundation initiatives that funded our work demanded we
explain it within a neatly organized ‘strategic framework’” (D. C. Walker, 2014, p. 35).
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2014)—in other words, to internal administrative tasks. Goal-setting, self-reflection, and
taking standards seriously are necessary for organizing to be successful and for nonprofits
to run their businesses smoothly, but groups already spend an inordinate amount of time
begging for money and attempting to play up, or down, their various political
commitments in order to secure that funding. This endless begging and politicking often
involves peddling problematic photographs of those they serve, and taken all together,
this hurts their missions and interferes with their ability to be effective. They are using
people to make a sale, a sale that invites oversight and interference from wealthy third
parties that may have little understanding of what the organization needs to do day-to-day
to serve its constituents and make good on its promises. With money from major donors
comes a political and practical rigidity that prohibits social justice groups from trying to
step out of the old approach and attempt something new. The non-profit industrial
complex, as some have come to call it, grows and grows, while organizations become
fierce in their competition with one another, and more entrenched in methods and
approaches that are outmoded and serve no one but the bottom lines and reputations of
major foundations and their figureheads. The problems we face are messy and the
solutions being imposed by the current nonprofit model are too neat. Until now,
photography has contributed to the simplistic understanding that so many of us have with
regard to social problems. Photographers for social justice can add layers and necessary
complexity in order to help reverse that trend and enhance our ability to actually address
the problems at hand.
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Also, remember that with these expectations and requirements come consultants, trainings, travel,
meetings, software and hardware packages, and other purchases that drain already-limited financial
resources.
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The images used in many social justice campaigns are further damaging because
of another aspect of how the problems are depicted. Simply showing masses of people in
struggle makes a problem seem intractable and overwhelming, the individuals are
converted to a faceless mob to which spectators cannot relate (Small & Loewenstein,
2003; Small, Loewenstein, & Slovic, 2007). On the other hand, framing research
demonstrates that when people are exclusively shown nameless individuals facing
specific hardships—such as a particular person who is hungry or carrying HIV/AIDS—
they are more likely to view the problem as belonging to the individual and as one of the
individual’s own making, for example, the result of bad behavior. This undermines what
we know is more likely to be the case: the problem depicted is a widespread one,
affecting many individuals, and is actually the result of social forces out of any
individual’s control, shaping the their condition and life circumstances (Iyengar, 1990,
1991; Spence, 2010). This is not to say that episodic images of individuals in dire straits,
individuals depicted by common signifiers of tragedy and injustice, are inherently false or
should be completely eliminated. These people and moments are real. However, such
images fail to present necessary information about the complexities in play—structural
violence, historical conflicts, colonialism, unprecedented inequality, corruption in
government, local economy disruption by international efforts and nonprofits, endemic
disease, and now climate change, among other conditions—meaning the images fail to
communicate about the problems and tasks at hand. Annual or occasional tax-deductible
donations will not remedy the problems depicted, largely because they are not meant to
address the root causes of inequality and suffering. The current model asks well-meaning
individuals in a simple way to do something simple. The trouble is, these problems are
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not simple, and suggesting that a donation can fix these problems misleads the public
about the scope of these problems, who is responsible,
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and what is actually required to
solve them. Self-determined social movements that feature political education and
mobilization are key to addressing social problems, and building such movements
requires more than smatterings of foreign NGO money intended for discrete projects that
consistently neglect these two necessities. World audiences will continue to
misunderstand the problems at hand and progress will not be made until there is a
conscious shift toward sharing and explaining the complicated information inherent to the
social issues we aim to address. This short-circuit in the campaign model effectively
prevents movements from forming, and nothing changes.
A new photography will visually connect problems and causes in order to change
the way social justice organizations go about their work. This change may ultimately
help develop the movements necessary to remedy the core problems. However, to work
towards developing this mode of photography, some theoretical and practical issues must
be discussed, and some earlier modes of photography must be modified if not abandoned.

The question is not what you look at, but what you see.
—Henry David Thoreau, journal entry (1851)
Truth
There are a few ethical aspects to the notion of truth as it relates to photography
for social justice. There is the idea that a photograph is true and objective evidence, an
unbiased document as opposed to a representation. There is the issue that a photograph
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123
That is to say, who or what is responsible, both responsible for the existence of these problems
existence and responsible for addressing these problems.
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cannot tell a complete story or provide all of the information necessary to make informed
decisions about what may have occurred and is represented in the photograph. And
finally, there is the fact that photographs can be manipulated: they can be staged or edited
in cameras, in dark rooms, and since the end of the twentieth century, quite
sophisticatedly altered with digital technology.
I turn first to the idea of photographs as evidence, the basis for the expressions
“seeing is believing,” “pictures to prove it,” and the social media favorite, “pics or it
didn’t happen.” Photographs carry an “aura of believability.”
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This aura is what gives
photographs their power, but as the word aura suggests, this idea that photographs are
truth—facts, unmediated evidence or proof of something—is not real. Photographs are
not truth; they are constructed representations of a moment. These representations are
mediated and influenced by a number of actors and factors. These factors include but are
not limited to: the photographer; the agency or news outlet for whom a photographer
works; whether the photographer is an independent artist creating works of art; the
organizations involved in the production of the image; and the government, groups, and
people of the nation where the photographs are taken and then disseminated. All of these
are further influenced by the photographers’ own ethnicities, identities, politics, training,
employers, associates, and governments, as well as their institutional and personal
biases,
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knowledge, and experiences. The photographs that photographers make are not
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124
David Levi Strauss turns this phrase in his essay, “Between the Eyes” (Strauss, 2005, p. 71). The
concept is occasionally contrasted with the post-modern “crisis” of believability (Grosvenor, 2010, p. 161;
Ritchin, 1990), the ever-present suspicion and lack of faith that many now have in photographs because
they can be easily doctored, and audiences, manipulated.
125
Of course, viewers also bring their own institutional and personal biases to the table. The
observation of Henry David Thoreau that opens this section, pertaining to our tendency to not see strictly
what our eyes have before them, but to construct another vision we somehow prefer, is borne out by
psychology studies. For example, in reviewing a court case’s CCTV footage of an alleged crime, there
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unbiased documents.
126
Even under the best of conditions and when created by
photographers with the best of intentions, photographs are mediated by a variety of
factors, which is why we must think critically about all that we are shown, and especially
what we are directed to see. In the event that a photograph is accompanied by a caption,
we must think still more critically because they, too, are written by people with biases:
captions tell us what we are being shown, what we are to think about that, and they
construct narratives around events.
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Images, and any text that comes with them, can
control how we think about an issue, and those images and captions each come from
sources with political, economic, and ideological commitments. This cannot be
forgotten.
Further, the photographs made available to the general public are carefully
selected, cropped, and even altered, before they reach us. The public is literally not
receiving the full picture; we do not see “the whole truth” (DeGhett, 2014; Friedersdorf,
2013; Jarecke, 1992). A savvy public is aware of this and photographs may be regarded
with skepticism.
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Skepticism can be either deserved and well-placed or hasty and
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were “sharp differences of opinion along cultural, ideological, and other lines [namely race]. We attribute
these divisions to the psychological disposition of individuals to resolve disputed facts in a manner
supportive of their group identities” (Braman, Kahan, & Hoffman, 2009, p. 837). The pictures alone were
not objectively viewed because they could not be objectively viewed (which, perhaps arguably, is the case
with everything). Scholar, professor, and courtroom expert, Elizabeth Loftus, has repeatedly published
findings of bias in image reception, particularly in the context of juries.
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There are some instances where there is not a “photographer” in the traditional sense: for example,
satellite images, like those used to show war crimes were committed in Palestine and Darfur (David, 2011;
DigitalGlobe satellite, UNITAR/UNOSAT, & Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, 2011; Horn, 2011; Staff
writer, 2014d; UNITAR/UNOSAT, 2014) or the existence of CIA black site prisons (Associated Press,
Apuzzo, Butler, & Goldman, 2011). Google Earth image captures that reveal illegal dumping and pollution
(Tepper, 2013; Tietz, 2006), or for film, the CCTV cameras that are constantly rolling and not under any
one’s direct control like traditional hand-carried cameras.
127
Errol Morris’ Believing is Seeing (Observations on the Mysteries of Photography) contains excellent
commentary on the very presence of captions, as well as their exploitation for spin purposes and even
outright deception (2011).
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Of course, in the case of social justice photography, particularly in the event of egregious human
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detrimental to social justice efforts. These poles must be kept in mind by advocates so
they never sensationalize or even “doctor” the images they release.
Such actions must never occur, as they could lead to accusations of “crying wolf”
or providing false testimony. This would have terrible consequences for the communities
in crisis as well as the organization. Exaggerating or outright lying—adding bodies,
blood, or wounds, claiming an image is of a certain place, crime, moment, or people—is
highly unethical and can unduly cause greater widespread skepticism about the actual
situation.
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Not only that, but great damage may be done to the faith that both survivors
and the general public have in social justice organizations and advocates, particularly if
the untruths are brought to light.
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Some images are dismissed out of hand and never
investigated because the immediate assumption is that they are fake, meaning
occasionally we are correct to ignore images. For example, when fake photographs of
deformed fruits and vegetables were circulating after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power
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rights violations such as torture, we may be inclined—or even psychologically programmed—to doubt
what we see. We do not want to believe such abuses can be real or true, and denial becomes a coping
mechanism (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989; Cohen, 2001; Seu, 2003). Freud also spoke of denial as a
coping mechanism (Baumeister, Dale, & Sommer, 1998): “…if the perception of reality entails unpleasure,
that perception—that is, the truth—must be sacrificed” (Freud, 1937, p. 237). Professor of education,
medicine, and philosophy, David Nyberg, also has a useful book on disbelief and deception called The
Varnished Truth (1993).
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There are now programs and even smartphone apps to detect if footage and photographs are real and
match the time, date, location, details provided in order to corroborate records of wrongdoing and rights
violations (Cherry, 2013; The Guardian Project & Freitas, 2013). Worth mentioning is that the same
company also provides technology to protect activists and survivors visible on film which automatically
detects and blurs faces if so desired, while encrypting the original for authentication purposes.
Photography competitions, such as those administered by World Press Photo and National Geographic have
been performing photo-authentication services for many years in an attempt to prevent doctored
photographs from winning awards. The same services could be used in social justice work if there is a
question of image veracity.
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This is not to say that the photographers and organizations should decide to lie (or not) based on the
potential consequences if they are exposed for this lying—they should not lie, regardless of potential
consequences. However, I wanted to point out that should their lies come to light, it would be particularly
harmful to the cause that they believed and intended their exaggerations to help.
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plant disaster in Japan (Moon, 2013),
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people paid them little mind. The food supply
was indeed contaminated, and the danger was absolutely real (Glionna, 2012a).
However, the early photos people saw were fake, influencing how people responded to
later images and reports advising people to be cautious. We have a right to be informed
of such dangers, and for our governments to protect our food supply, but we all suffer
when cannot know what to believe. Real photographs of harmfully mutated foodstuffs
may have emerged, but there had been so many known false images that true images
probably did not stand a chance of being accepted in a timely manner and that could have
harmed people’s health.
Another instance of photographs being disbelieved at a cost to our rights and the
rights of others is the case of images of Iraqi women being gang raped by occupying U.S.
soldiers. These images were among the initial release of Abu Ghraib torture photos
(Azoulay, 2008, pp. 270–277). It is true, staged rape photographs (Wagstaff & Solomon,
1998) and pornographic films with rape as the “theme” have been made—some even
with the U.S. military-vs.-Iraqi women “theme”
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—but such horrid events have also
been found to be real life events (Brison, 2004; Dao, 2009; von Zielbauer, 2006;
Zucchino, 2014). A similar wave of disbelief came over the international community in
response to photographs allegedly out of Syria depicting torture, bombings, chemical
attacks, and more (Gladstone, 2014; Harf & U.S. Department of State, 2014; Hubbard &
Kirkpatrick, 2014; Landler & Hubbard, 2014). On several occasions, viral images from
the conflict were found to be fake: they were taken in different years, different places,
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131
A set of these images is on file with the author. The images have been put up and taken down,
repeatedly, on various sites, making it difficult to properly track and cite them.
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A simple Google search for the words, pornography iraq us soldiers rape (in no particular order),
yields millions of results.
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and some where even stills from movies (Anonymous, 2014; English, 2014; Haaretz,
2014; Hooton, 2014; Staff writer, 2014a, 2014c). As has happened with previous fake
photographs, people grew reluctant to undertake investigations when new images of
rights violations emerged, and appeared more fatigued with each revelation of new
photographs (McManus, 2013; Sullivan, 2013). The public begins to assume they are
fake.
A repeatedly tragic example of fake and doctored photos damaging a cause
concerns Palestine and Israel’s gross human rights violations—the false images
undermine the true ones, and people hesitate to believe, let alone investigate. Israel has
illegally targeted civilians, children, aid workers, journalists, and U.N. staff; it has used
white phosphorous and other internationally banned weapons; it has destroyed schools,
hospitals, places of worship, and cut off access to food, water, and basic necessities; it
does operate an Apartheid government with two different tiers of “citizenship” and
personhood (Horowitz, Ratner, & Weiss, 2011; Rouhana, 1997). Organizers need not
circulate photoshopped images, or images from other locations, to suggest these crimes
have occurred because it is documented fact that they have. On all of these counts and
more, Israel is in violation of international human rights law and humanitarian law
(Bisharat et al., 2009).
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All of this is to say that the daily reality of Palestinians is
terrible enough.
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False images are completely unnecessary and only serve to damage
the cause of Palestine, which already faces formidable obstacles because of the political
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133
It is well-documented that Israel repeated many of these crimes against Palestinians of Gaza during a
major, month-long 2014 onslaught.
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For visual evidence regularly verified for accuracy and lack of manipulation, see Safa—both safa.ps
and safaimages.com, branded as “Your first source for photos in Palestine,” and “The leading agency for
Photojournalism in Palestine.” Note that both websites are in Arabic, but some captions are multilingual.
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climate and long-running international support for Israel. The state of Israel is a chronic
and unapologetic human rights abuser, but people who lack first-hand knowledge
question the visual evidence because some of it has been fake. It is wrong to ignore
images and allegations because some have been staged, but it happens when people feel
tricked—“fool me once…”—and the human urge to disbelieve terrible truths is
strengthened because fakes abound.
Social justice advocates should not stoop to using falsehoods to gain support;
deception is a control tactic of those with wealth and power because truth is not on their
side. They need staged and doctored photographs in order to maintain their
dominance
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—for example, they doctor images to bolster their personas (Associated
Press, 2010; S. Brook, 2004; Burgess, 2012; Bush-Cheney ’04, Inc., 2004); to project
strength (Kaplan, 2012, p. 38; Wire service, 2008) or piety (Schwirtz, 2012); to impugn
or imprison activists and adversaries (Burgess, 2012; Light, 2004; S. Nelson & Simek,
2007); as propaganda to drum up support for things like military attacks and interventions
(Barrows-Friedman, 2014; M. R. Gordon & Kramer, 2014; International Solidarity
Movement, 2014; Kellner, 2008; Sullivan, 2014); to protect themselves from legal action
(Dalrymple, II, 2013); or to hide or downplay injuries they caused (H. Smith, 2013;
Tagaris, 2013). False photographs should not be circulated by social justice
photographers and advocates because, as with the previously mentioned photographs of
rape, torture, war crimes, and the effects of nuclear disaster, the veracity of the abuse
claims—and not merely the photographs of these crimes—begins to be called into
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They may also manipulate photographs to reinforce socio-cultural dominance, e.g. race and gender
conformity by lightening the skin of favored people of color or darkening the appearance of those accused
or convicted of crimes; enhancing the breasts and slimming the waistlines of women; or adding height and
muscles to the frames of men.
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question. Then the status quo prevails, benefiting politicians, corporations, and dominant
social groups, setting back the movement for social justice. We want images to draw
attention to an issue, but the desire to attract an audience cannot be pursued at the
expense of honesty and legitimacy. Any immediate gains will be lost when the truth is
exposed.
Instead of seeking ever more dramatic images in a bid to gain support, we must
simply admit to ourselves that sometimes photographic evidence of injustice is boring.
Sometimes it is a document of what is now absent: people, wildlife, natural resources, or
man-made structures/items. In such cases, images may necessarily lack drama—drama
we crave. This needs to be allowed to happen, and audiences should be exposed to the
situation as it is, whether it be the banality of that which is missing, or the horror of all
that is present. We already utter phrases like, “it was unreal,” and “it was like in the
movies;”
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even things we see with our own eyes are viewed with skepticism when they
are overwhelmingly terrible. We simply do not want to believe such things are possible,
and we try to assuage our troubled minds by likening them to the unreal. Our gut impulse
to ignore, downplay, or dismiss images of very real, very horrible acts is encouraged
when such photographs are found to be fake; it reinforces our desire to not believe such
things are true. Social justice organizations rely on the public to respond to appeals, so
misleading the public—even if only slightly, or with good intentions—undermines the
advocacy work to be done and does long-term damage.
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To comment on the “unreal” quality of crisis photography, and our ability to easily shake off any
disturbance we may feel, critic Martha Rosler puts it this way: “Documentary is a little like horror movies,
putting a face on fear and transforming threat into fantasy, into imagery. One can handle imagery by
leaving it behind. (It is them, not us.)” (emphasis in original) (1992, p. 307).
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Take the case of Somaly Mam,
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leader of the anti-human trafficking group The
Somaly Mam Foundation and its French arm, AFESIP. It came to light that Mam’s
international advocacy persona and her organizations had been built on lies. She even
lied about people she claimed to be helping. It turned out that some of these individuals,
as depicted by words and images, actually did not exist as individuals—they were a
combination of people, anecdotes, and white lies. Commenting on the downfall of Mam,
head of a Cambodian anti-trafficking non-profit, one of Mam’s advisors, Pierre Fallavier,
discussed what many in the aid community would rather not: in organizations’ quests for
donations, they use “composite portraits” of people, combining stories and struggles to
paint a tale that would fetch the most donations. Such composites bring in millions of
dollars, but are unethical, unacceptable fabrications. Others finally admitted that their
stories were “fabricated and carefully rehearsed for the cameras under Mam’s
instruction” (S. Marks, 2014). She knew exactly which images would deliver the most
compassion—and cash.
“At the same time, donors were getting an interest, and were sending their
people with crews of journalists to take pictures. I used to tell Somaly to
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It is important to note that Mam is not alone in the creation of this epic sham—Nicholas Kristof, the
New York Times writer, is also to blame as cofounder of the “Half the Sky” franchise. “Half the Sky,” a
partner of Mam’s foundation, is effectively the brand name for Kristof’s media enterprise on trafficking. It
consists of a book, a docu-drama film, and events that include the sensational raid of a Cambodian brothel
during which he “live-tweeted” the happenings (2011), and even his personal acquisition of two child sex
slaves for US$150 and US$203, respectively (2004) (Kristof, 2004, 2011; Pollitt, 2004). How he has not
been prosecuted for his violations of international human rights law, including the CRC and anti-trafficking
regulations, even if they were “only” media stunts, is unbelievable and shameful. He has financially
profited from his franchise and the positive buzz around him continues even as Mam tumbles from grace at
lightning speed. Perhaps this is but another example of white male privilege. He used Mam to gain access,
equated all sex work with sex slavery, he exposed children and others to great danger, and violated their
privacy as well as their right to be treated as ends, not means, all in order to “get the story.” Even if he
claims he does these things to “raise awareness,” this is not reason enough to sacrifice the rights and
personhood of those we claim to serve. He started a corporation and goes on escapades that turn young
women into objects serving his personal goals—buzz, legacy, authority, recognition.
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send them away, that all they wanted were exotic stories of violence and
sex, with the picture of a beautiful hero saving children so they could sell
their papers. But they came with the funders” (Mullany, 2014).
The social media world immediately overflowed with cries of disgust and disaffection;
they had been duped. Anti-trafficking advocacy has been terribly harmed by the gross
misconduct of Somaly Mam, and it is neither clear how much it will harm other
organizations doing good work nor how long it will take for trust and relationships to be
rebuilt.
I have sympathy for Mam: she was used in the same way as many she helped, as a
sex object; and she was also used in the same way she used others, as a golden goose.
But both exploitations are wrong.
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She knew better, and should have done better.
Stooping to deception, visual or otherwise, is first and foremost a gross betrayal of the
survivors, but it also betrays the cause and the international community. Doing social
justice means being faithful to the truth.
What would it mean to photographically provide a more complete truth, or “the
full picture?” Even if a single image could possibly be worth a thousand words, it would
require more than a single image to do justice to complex issues like poverty, war,
discrimination, environmental pollution, and more. Social problems have multiple causes
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138
It is also important to note that many in the Khmer community did not trust Mam and had tried to
convince others that she was a fraud, but they were ignored in favor of the aid industry, international media
attention, and the donor support that Mam had already cultivated. She even forced survivors and members
of the anti-trafficking community to put on a show for donors and the press, pressuring them by suggesting
the fates of others who had been trafficked depended on their performances. One commented, “Somaly
said that...if I want to help another woman I have to do [the interview] very well” (S. Marks, 2014). That is
more than unethical, that is downright cruel—tantamount to emotional blackmail. It was only after the
cascade of truth had become overwhelming that it was officially acknowledged and Mam had to resign.
This is not work authentically driven by social justice principles or an ethos of community-first self-
determination.
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and multiple effects; to capture them all in one photograph would be an impossibility.
One might think that because there are so many photographers covering all of these
issues, that a variety of perspectives and images would organically emerge, but in
practice, it simply does not work this way. Photographers are constrained by funding and
their superiors, and thus are often concentrated in certain cities, sometimes sharing
flights, housing, equipment, fixers, translators, and drivers, and can be seen focusing on
the same neighborhoods, individuals, and angles of a conflict or tragedy.
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This creates
a largely uniform narrative across news outlets and even human rights groups.
To illustrate, let us take the death of Fabienne Cherisme, a 15-year-old girl who
did not survive the aftermath of Haiti’s massive 2010 earthquake. Fabienne was not
crushed by rubble, nor did she die from the cholera outbreak that quickly enveloped the
nation. Police shot her in the head after they thought she had stolen paintings and a chair
from a shop—a purchase her father had sent her to make and for which he had given her
money. The police claim the shootings that day were justified because they were trying
to control looting (R. Carroll, 2010). Fabienne’s body fell to the ground, slumped over
the paintings, and she was soon surrounded, not by medical personnel, but by
photographers. Hundreds of photographs were snapped of Fabienne’s lifeless body and
published around the world on individual photographers’ websites and photo-galleries.
The photograph was everywhere, both online and in print: Reuters and AP; the UK's
Guardian, Telegraph, London Evening Standard, Mirror, and Daily Mail; the Sydney
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139
The international news corps is collapsing, with bureaus closing and journalists increasingly hard-
pressed to find funding to undertake extended stays abroad in order to complete in-depth stories. For better
or worse, fixers and others on the ground have become indispensible, and are often shared by
correspondents who can only afford them if they also share the costs of services (Murrell, 2009; J. Palmer
& Fontan, 2007).
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Morning Herald; the Toronto Star; blogs for Boston.com,
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CNN, and the New York
Times; France's Le Point and Courrier International; Germany’s BILD and Sweden's
Dagens Nyheter/Daily News; Huffington Post; countless photo-sharing sites and
Facebook pages; and Getty Images soon began selling photographs of Fabienne’s body
being carried away.
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Human rights organizations and aid workers blogged about the
incident immediately. The drama and bleakness of the moment were lost on no one.
Photojournalist Paul Hansen won the top prize for International News Image at the
Swedish Picture of the Year Awards
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and top honors in other competitions for his photo
of Fabienne. On the scene with Hansen was a photographer named Nathan Weber, and
he, too, took photographs of Fabienne. But Weber also stepped back a few paces,
widening the gaze of his viewfinder, and snapped another photograph, one that showed
us the throng of fellow photographers who had gathered to shoot the same image. This
L to R: Paul Hansen’s prize-winning photograph of the dead body of Fabienne Cherisma (2010); Nathan
Weber’s documentation of the numerous photographers gathered to get their best “shot” of her (2010).

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140
Boston.com is the online-home of the Boston Globe.
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If one searches the Getty Images repository for “Fabienne Cherisma,” a few dozen images appear for
purchase. These images can be sorted by a few attributes, including “Most Popular,” which feels a tad
distasteful. The photo array includes images of her grief-stricken family wailing in the streets and of her
father carrying her body, tears streaming from his eyes. See search results at Getty Images’ online portal,
http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-
US&assetType=image&excludenudity=true&p=fabienne+cherisma
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“Årets Bild 2011–Vinnare, Årets Nyhetsbild Utland,” Paul Hansen, http://aretsbild2011.se/?p=493.
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second photograph showing the members of the press corps standing over her body has a
predatory feeling, suggestive of stalking, revealing a group of men who had gathered to
“take” her photo.
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The images of Fabienne disturb, sadden, and suggest complete, incomprehensible
chaos; they also play into Western assumptions about the “nature” of Haitians and the
“backwardness” of the country.
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In this way, the close-up images of Fabienne do a
disservice. The image tells us nothing about Fabienne and the conditions in which she
lived, about the tragedies unfolding in the days and weeks following the quake, or about
the prevalence of wanton police violence and why law enforcement were out to shoot
people at a time when they might have instead been delivering aid and emergency
services. Fabienne’s death is tragic, and the images of her body are upsetting, but they
also sell papers and online page-hits as people pursue salacious news and tidbits that
reinforce their inclination to dismiss needs and traumas of others. The image excuses us
from any responsibility we may feel toward our fellow human beings in Haiti because the
situation is clearly too far out of control and overwhelming for anyone to do anything.
We may feel even less responsible to “bother” taking action because the images reinforce
stereotypes about how irredeemably “uncivilized” “those people” are; we are repeatedly
shown images that suggest the downtrodden are “beyond help.” Real people, unique
individuals, who are alive today—perhaps in distress, but alive—are flattened to fit the
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143
There are countless examples I could have chosen to discuss the notion of truth and the limited
perspective provided by photographs, but I chose the case of Fabienne precisely because of Weber’s
photograph. With Weber’s photograph we can see what the other, cropped and close-up images of
Fabienne did not reveal about the way crises are covered and become homogenized stories across media
platforms.
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Othering notions of “backwardness” and mutual distrust between the photographers and the
photographed appear in work that occurs in the United States, as well. The documentary, Stranger With A
Camera explores these issues within a community of impoverished coal miners in Eastern Kentucky
(Barret, 2000).
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existing narrative that they are a pitiable mass, but little more (Small & Loewenstein,
2003; Small et al., 2007). If that is the case, it is understandable that others around the
globe do not want to try; they have little incentive to back a lost cause. In order for
audiences elsewhere to expand their notion of who these people are, what they are
struggling with, and what can be done, they need to be shown something different.
Unfortunately, the photographers—though many—are not showing us anything
different, or revealing multiple angles of a story or crisis. They all pursue the same
image, one that they know will sell papers, that their bosses will approve, and in the case
of Paul Hansen, an image that may even win an award. This is not an attack on them as
individuals—I firmly believe that photographers like those in this example, or doing
other war and crisis correspondence, sincerely want to be witnesses and encourage social
action. Unfortunately, these photographers are all part of a system much larger than
themselves, one in which it is their job, and it is standard practice, to follow major stories
along a certain trajectory, and to provide illustrations that draw viewers and readers. The
photographs of Fabienne—and of millions of others who are brutalized, starving,
struggling, suffering, each in their own way, in their own place—put a face to a major
story and draw viewers and readers. The problem is that while these images are true
insofar as they show us something that really happened, they are incomplete. The lack of
information leaves the viewers and readers ill-equipped to understand, discuss, and work
on the problems at hand, and in turn, even if moved, they do nothing. We need “true”
images, but we also need complete ones.
Photography for social justice must aim to fully inform and empower viewers, not
simply stir their emotions. It will stick with a cause and the people involved, seek out the
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conditions underlying the tragedy—or the success story—and work to reveal,
contextualize, and explain them, along with points of entry for the viewer if there are
opportunities to engage. Committing to doing these three things requires more funding,
and more “space,” more inches in print, more bytes online, but the investment is critical
to the mission of addressing social ills as opposed to simply pointing out that they exist.
The dominant model in reporting and social justice work fails in providing full truths, the
full picture. It directs our eyes to narrow stories that are either neat and tidy or messy and
overwhelming, short-circuiting the opportunity for critical thinking and action.
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Our
eyes are never shown everything we need to see, and we are rarely given an opportunity
to understand and respond.
People may charge that the public is too impatient and indifferent to take in the
full picture, or that editing and sensationalism are necessary to grab people’s attention. It
is true that many of us live in a fast-paced culture that craves “quick‘n’easy,” and that
long-term change will demand patience. However, to contend that the public lacks the
very capability to invest time, caring, and effort is not only untrue—there are already
people who do exactly this—but it also smacks of bad faith. To not try something new
because some fear it will not work is irresponsible, especially considering that the model
we have used for decades has not worked. I foresee no harm in trying another approach,
particularly one built on principles of ethics and aiming to improve social conditions as
opposed to simply illustrate the news. Photography for social justice works to tell the
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145
Some may dismiss it as paranoia, but I find it rational to wonder if this short-circuit is not precisely
what those in power prefer—without information and the full picture, people generally cannot act to change
a situation, and the status quo remains. In one of his most famous essay collections, John Tagg, critic and
professor of art history and comparative literature, accused photography of being a government tool—a
“function of the state,” “representations” turned “commodities,” an “ideological” force to be wielded
against the masses, an apparatus perfectly suited to the task of shaping, dulling, and lulling whole
populations (1988, pp. 161–168).
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whole truth, grim and complicated as it may be, because the goal is fostering
understanding and action that lead to social change.

Roles and duties of photographers and photo-based advocates
What responsibility, if any, does a photographer have to the subjects she
photographs? By “subjects,” I primarily mean people. I think this is one of the first
problems: much of the language of photography treats people as objects. The people and
circumstances depicted in photographs of strife are often far enough removed—be they
regionally or culturally distant, or their situation too terrible to fathom by outsiders—that
there is a built-in otherness, heightening the surreal or “movie-like” quality that people
find in such images. This further separates and dissociates the people seeing the
photographs from the people in them, destroying the possibility of creating solidarity.
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I think part of creating a new mode of photography for human rights and social justice
will mean not only changing the approach to abuse survivors and rights issues, but
changing some of the language we use to describe this kind of photography, and its
processes and relationships, as well. When this happens, photographers will describe
their work in terms of the people with whom they work and whose lives they touch and
are touched by as opposed to technical and professional attributes such as agencies,
foundations, lighting, framing, or the equipment limitations they face “on location.”
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146
Much of this critique is influenced by notions of “the other” or subaltern, and the “Orientalizing” that
activists and theorists around the world have sought to highlight. Classic and influential works addressing
these issues have been produced by Antonio Gramsci, Jacques Lacan and Emmanuel Lévinas, Edward
Said, Michel Foucault, bell hooks, Jacques Derrida, Gayatri Spivak, Owen ’Alik Shahadah, among others.
Some historically significant photographers who dedicated much of their careers to “the other,” whether in
an attempt to break the barriers of difference or to play-up their presence, include Edward Steichen,
Weegee (Arthur Fellig), and Diane Arbus. There are many competing viewpoints concerning the concept
of the other, hence many in conversation, and even naming only the “most influential” would still require
an excessively long list.
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But back to the photographer. Is there a duty to assist the people photographed?
Susan Sontag seemed to angrily lament that there was no duty, nothing owed, to those
photographed. She wrote,
“[t]he camera is a kind of passport that annihilates moral boundaries and
social inhibitions, freeing the photographer from any responsibility toward
the people photographed. The whole point of photographing people is that
you are not intervening in their lives, only visiting them” (1977, pp. 41–
42).
But I think many, if not most, photographers invested in social justice would disagree.
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They unequivocally consider their work to be an intervention, an attempt to expose
hardship and encourage some action be taken. It is not uncommon for dedicated social
justice photographers to call their witnessing
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“an act of love” (Nachtwey, 2008).
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Still, the issue of responsibility is worth interrogating. If a photographer snaps a shot of a
hungry child, should he feed her? What if he chooses not to? If he feeds the child, is it
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147
Shahidul Alam, a Bangladeshi photographer known for his social justice work, tells us that his
photographs are not of “events and objects” but “feelings and relationships” (Alam, 2013, p. 136).
Photographer Bruce Davidson once said, “[m]ost of my pictures are compassionate, gentle and personal.
They tend to let the viewer see for himself. They tend not to preach. And they tend not to pose as art.” In
longer interviews, and in comments made by people involved in his photographic process—e.g. editors,
magazine writers, gallerists, and his subjects—it appears he does not see himself as chasing a particular
aesthetic or seeking any grandeur, and he is not exploiting the people he works with, be they veterans, drug
addicts, students, gang members, folks on the subway, political demonstrators, families, people in the park,
and so on. These comments stand in stark contrast against those of photographers concerned first and
foremost with composition, technique, foundation support, world renown, exposure, experience, and travel.
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The notion of “witness”—the act of witnessing and being a testifier, a truth teller—is also important
as regards photojournalists. However, we must be careful to ensure that the focus remains on the crimes
witnessed and not on the witnesses. Sometimes we glorify the photographer, or make celebrities and
heroes out of them for what they saw, when we should instead be focusing on the wrongful acts and how to
use the testimony to try and address those acts.
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In fact, during that discussion, Nachtwey contradicted the compassion fatigue thesis, making it clear
that having seen “so much pain and so much sadness” had not injured his ability to feel love and
compassion. Nachtwey has been one of the most influential, and “talked about” photojournalists of the
twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, having covered famine, AIDS, environmental degradation,
genocide, war, torture, discrimination, prisons, and many more social ills.
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out of pity or charity, and is this demeaning? Preserving life is said to be the ultimate
goal of taking such photographs,
150
so does it “matter” if the life-saving actions were
driven by pity and can be considered demeaning? Would there be a duty to give shelter
or deliver someone to a safe place if they are abandoned or wounded? Should a
photographer intervene in a beating? A rape? A street execution? Does the
photographer’s presence embolden some perpetrators,
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or does the photographer deter
criminal acts (M. E. Price & Thompson, 2002), serving as an immediate physical
reminder that “the whole world is watching?”
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I am prepared to acknowledge that no
bright line rules can be made about choices to directly intervene. It is difficult to say
which risks are “worth” taking: each situation is legitimately different, as are the
capabilities and knowledge of the photographers that would enable them to actually help
as opposed to unwittingly cause harm. But photographers for social justice enter the field
open to offering direct assistance, and would certainly try, whereas other photographers
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150
To this point, take the singular motto of WITNESS, the social justice documentary group: “See it.
Film it. Change it.” They market themselves as “an international nonprofit organization that trains and
equips people to use video in their fight for human rights.” See witness.org for more information.
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Susan Sontag worried about this in On Photography, writing, “it is a way of at least tacitly, often
explicitly, encouraging whatever is going on to keep on happening. To take a picture is to have an interest
in things as they are, in the status quo remaining unchanged…to be in complicity with whatever makes a
subject interesting…another person’s pain or misfortune” (Sontag, 1977, p. 12).
In The Act of Killing and essays related to the making of that film, author/director Joshua
Oppenheimer reveals that some perpetrators of genocide felt pride in their “work,” even after decades have
passed and their acts have been internationally denounced and mourned. Oppenheimer introduces us to
some of the murderers from Indonesia’s Suharto regime of the 1960s, everyone from generals to
underlings, and evidently neither remorse, regret, nor fear of prosecution are experienced by them. The
killers, on their own volition, create scenes to re-enact the crimes they committed and the mass murders
they orchestrated. They dress in dramatic makeup and costumes, choreograph song and dance routines, and
exude a sense of joy, grandeur, and self-satisfaction with their heinous acts that completely baffles most
viewers (Oppenheimer, Cynn, & Anonymous, 2012; Oppenheimer & ten Brink, 2012). The presence of a
camera was not a deterrent when the acts were committed in the 1960s, and it was apparently nothing but
encouragement when they were asked to relive those days. They were proud to perform their crimes for the
camera, relishing the experience to be filmed and remembered as heroes of the long-gone Suharto regime.
152
This is a common chant, popularized by its use during the 1968 Democratic National Convention as
Chicago police began to beat peaceful demonstrators, eventually causing a massive retaliation riot (Kusch,
2008, p. 99).
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arrive to perform a limited journalistic function, as revealed by their comments on
professionalism and objectivity.
Another question that arises when discussing duties of photographers involves
how others should be represented. Should a photographer take a photograph he knows is
humiliating
153
or an invasion of privacy
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but that would likely capture international
attention and translate to much needed aid and support? Again, these kinds of questions
seem unanswerable, ultimately dependent on the circumstances of the moment and the
resources of the photographer. But can we devise guidelines for action in such
situations? As I have mentioned, I think that a social justice photographer working in
crisis situations would do what he or she could to intervene on behalf of someone being
threatened or abused. In such a case, the photographer’s primary goal becomes to
preventing actual harm as opposed to taking a picture. If there is nothing the
photographer can do, or if he or she fails in the effort to intervene, photographic evidence
of the crime is useful to have and the photographers should not be attacked for taking the
photograph or their efforts belittled as profiting from someone’s misfortune. There are
countless cases where a photographer will not be able to do anything, but a healthy, self-
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153
For example, an image of someone who has soiled himself, whether in fear, from a medical
condition, or some other reason, or of someone who was stripped naked and sexually violated. Such
images may be especially humiliating, and even life-threatening, for the person depicted if they belong to
certain religious or cultural groups.
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For example, a Chicago-based doctor volunteering in Haiti took a photograph of a fetus he had just
aborted (photo on file with the author). The abortion was performed at a woman’s request after she had
tried to self-abort—a crime in Haiti. It appeared the pregnancy had gone awry, so the woman consumed
some pills to terminate, leaving her very sick and in pain. Desperate for help, she saw a doctor. This
doctor then put his photograph of the fetus on his personal blog, “Dying in Haiti,” along with a short
description of the event (J. Carroll, 2010a, 2010b). Is the patient aware of this? Does she know that the
fetus and her personal story—along with photographic evidence—are posted on the world wide web,
available to everyone with an internet connection? Dr. Carroll certainly makes no mention of permission
being granted to share the image, her story, or her medical history. Was she asked to be a participant in the
telling of this story? Perhaps told this could be a teachable moment? Or was it done behind her back? The
purpose of the post is unclear, and while I want to trust that the physician to a vulnerable woman
undergoing such a delicate procedure would not betray her trust, there is no assurance that he has not.
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aware photographer who knows the area in which they are working can probably do
something to have a positive impact. For example, he or she can pick up a wounded
child and deliver them to an aid station or their own base camp, help a hungry person find
something to eat, connect sexual assault victims to medical personnel, transport a witness
of war crimes to protective custody, or perhaps blur the face of a witness
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so that they
cannot be pursued by perpetrators and those who would do anything to prevent them
from testifying. Each situation could command something different, but a photographer
would likely be able to find some direct way to act if needed. Photographers committed
to social justice are people first, camera-wielders second. They have already decided not
to be bystanders, and capturing images that raise awareness is only one part of that
mission. The solidarity-based commitment to the photographed involves an assistive or
protective hand whenever possible.
Another part of the mission of a social justice photographer is not misrepresenting
or misleading the people photographed, even if we think the misrepresentation is mild or
we have good intentions. Some iconic photographs that shape the way that people
remember history tell and perpetuate white lies. They form tidy pictures of people and
events, and these are used to construct national identities, cultural pride, or easily
processed explanations of the past. This is part of what makes them iconic—they are
uncomplicated representations, easily processed symbols. Some photographers mislead
the people they photograph so that they may gain access and “get the shot.”
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The
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155
—if they publish the photograph at all. In the interest justice, and for the well-being of the person
photographed, it may be best not to publish the image.
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In an interview for the Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies, photographer Geoffrey O'Connor was asked
about his duties toward those he photographs. He replied that his duty is to be cameraman; he is not there
to be an advocate or fellow human, but to “get the shot” (Zichelle, 1998, p. 124). O’Connor acknowledges
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photographer may go on to gain fame or win awards, for example, the South African
photographer, Kevin Carter. His infamous image of a starving girl child being stalked by
a vulture
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won a Pulitzer Prize that year (Fischer, 2011, pp. 166–169). Meanwhile, the

Kevin Carter (1993). Young Sudanese girl crawling to the food station.
Ayod, Sudan (South Sudan).

people who are photographed and discarded rightly feel betrayed. They are forgotten.
To wit: who was Carter’s girl child? Did she have a family? Did she survive? No one
knows. How little effort it would have taken for him to bring her—this tiny, feeling,
seemingly abandoned creature—back with him to the nearby aid station or the personnel
at the press corps plane. Instead, with the image burned into the negative in his camera,
he walked away.
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I think a number of us, including myself, feel sympathy for Carter:
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that some photographers “can do both,” but it seems from the way he tells it that he does not count himself
among those ranks. Photographer David Butow has made a long, award-winning career of covering strife,
and he echoed O’Connor’s view on personal responsibility when he told OpenShow, a company that
coordinates photo-related events, that he does not think it wrong for photographers to intervene if they are
“the only person in position to do so” (Zhu, 2011). In any case, photographers who would “do both” seem
hard to come by, but this willingness is certainly a quality held by photographers doing social justice.
There is a preference among the photo-corps not to let urges and feelings get in the way, or “keep you from
doing your job” (Zhu, 2011).
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The image has been written about heavily, even playing a significant role in works of fiction. For
example, in House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski (2000),the photograph and Carter could almost be
considered a whole character. There is now a legendary quality to the photograph, the drama and the
trauma it encapsulates, the unknown fate of the girl, and Carter’s subsequent downward spiral.
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Carter grew more and more tormented by the success achieved on the back of the starving child he
did not save. His life began to spiral: he fell into a depression, drank to excess, and was fired by Reuters
before he committed suicide just three turbulent months after winning the 1994 Pulitzer prize for his photo
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he spent his career photographing crises at home and abroad, and personally bore witness
to more suffering than most Westerners ever will. But while I have sympathy for Carter,
I cannot understand his decision to walk away, and I hope that social justice
photographers of the future in a similar position will never make the same choice.
Contrast Carter’s choice to get his photograph and walk away, with Nick Út’s
decision
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to save the young girl in his own Pulitzer Prize winning image (Fischer, 2011,
pp. 78–79). Kim Phuc was nine years old when her community was dusted with napalm
by U.S.-backed South Vietnamese forces. Út saw her and others, naked, screaming,
running down the highway, and he snapped pictures (Út, 1972); the next day, the world
called her “Napalm Girl.” But instead of leaving the scene once he spent a roll of film,
Út swooped her up, took her to a hospital, stayed by her side, and then stayed in touch.
She began to call him uncle, and as of this writing (2014), they are still close (R.
Blumenthal, 2013; Eun-Soo, 2014; KIM FI, 2010; Út, 2012). Carter was not in personal
danger when he walked away from the starving Sudanese child in his photograph; Út was
exposed on a main highway in a live fire zone during one of the most protracted and
deadly wars of the twentieth century (Hirschman, Preston, & Loi, 1995;
Teerawichitchainan & Korinek, 2012; Tirman, 2011). When we think of Nick Út, we are
reminded that social justice photographers have chosen to be more than just
photographers. They can again.
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of the girl in peril. He left behind a partner and his own six-year-old daughter (Keller, 1994; Macleod,
1994).
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During Israel’s summer 2014 assault on Gaza, a Norwegian photojournalist made a decision similar
to Ut’s. When an IDF missile struck a beach near a hotel from which Harald Henden was reporting, he ran
toward the site of the strike, continuing to report in the live fire zone, but then stopped to help a child who
had been wounded. He personally dressed the child’s wounds and carried him to emergency medical care
before resuming his post as a documentarian (Skjærli & Ege, 2014). Several photojournalists took on
similar humanitarian care functions after the bombing of the Boston Marathon in 2013. Photographers can,
and some do, make the choice to temporarily put the camera aside and take care of fellow human beings.
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In the context of social justice photography—especially in international human
rights work—the photographed tend to be unable to control the taking and use of their
image and are without recourse if they feel violated, making them distrustful of
photographers and advocates who genuinely want to be in their service.
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The tactics
and false promises used to gain trust violate the principles of social justice; that
photographers and organizations abandon the people and communities they depict
constitutes a second violation. This is not photography for social justice; rather, it treats
people as means and not ends, a central problem in ethics that many advocates would like
to believe was famously addressed and resolved with the Age of Enlightenment (Kant,
1785, p. 44). Photographers doing social justice work do not “get the shot” at any cost in
order that organizations or media outlets have an image to run that sells publications and
draws donations. Having that as the goal is what transforms photographers into
paparazzo, into stalkers, trespassers, voyeurs, thieves, merchants of misery, peddlers of
poverty, and “agents of death” (Barthes, 1980, p. 92). How are these photographers any
different from those who chase celebrities and sell their images to tabloids offering the
most money? Social justice photographers work to build relationships, provide insight
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This happened frequently with indigenous peoples, including Native Americans or American Indians,
Aborigines, the Māori, First Nations, and other tribal or remote communities. An international example
that dates back to the 1800s and parallels experiences of Native Americans in the United States involves a
set of photographs unearthed in New Zealand. Photographer William Henry T. Partington, a European
immigrant to New Zealand, photographed hundreds of Māori individuals and villages in the Whanganui
River Valley, but did not share the photographs. He absconded to the city, and the photographs were not
seen again until they were found in a trunk and set to be sold by an auction house in 2011. The descendents
of those depicted fought to reclaim the images, though they had no legal claim. After significant protests,
including lengthy marches and raucous sit-ins, the auction house capitulated. The demonstrations were a
shocking but welcome success, the Whanganui Māori were reunited with their tupuna—their people, their
ancestors—and they returned home to the river valley with the photographs in tow (Brown, 2010; R. A.
Carroll, 2008; Cutore & McNeill, 2010; Fitz Gibbon, 2005; Grey, 1992; Harris, 2004; Kelly, 2011;
Nafziger, Paterson, & Renteln, 2010; Partington, 2003; Purdy, 2001; Yandall, 2001).
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and context, and to undercut the dominant—and ineffective
161
—charity and media
models that exploit and discard people in crisis.
Just as I argue that organizations should never doctor or sensationalize the images
they use, I believe that a photographer should never lie to or about the people and issues
he claims to serve. For human rights work to be effective, I argue that relationships must
be formed in doing it, relationships with those depicted, with advocates, and with
audiences. These relationships must be based on honesty, on a commitment to deliver the
most honest and complete picture of the situation. One unfortunate and incredibly
famous examples of deceiving someone in order to “get the shot” was the case of
Florence Owens Thompson, more commonly referred to as “Migrant Mother.”

Dorothea Lange (1936). “Migrant Mother” [Photograph of Florence Thompson and children].
Farm Security Administration Collection.

Photographer Dorothea Lange lied to Florence to gain access, and then lied again about
what would come of the photographs. She promised the images would not be published
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161
Countless investigative pieces, internal reports, books, journal articles, watch-dog evaluations,
oversight programs, and lawsuits have revealed that the aid system, particularly the international aid and
“disaster relief” system, is broken (M. J. Barker, 2014; Borer, 2012; Martlew, 2009; Moeller, 1999; Moyo,
2009; Owen & Purdey, 2009; Polman, 2010; van der Gaag & Nash, 1987).
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and that Thompson would receive a print—neither promise was kept, and Florence
rightly felt betrayed, using the word “exploited” (Associated Press, 1978). She also felt
ashamed at having become the icon of Depression-era poverty. They were not dirt poor,
struggling and starving the way Lange and the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and
its photographers had sold her story and image. She also identified as Native
American—Cherokee
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—but that part of Florence’s identity did not fit the narrative
Lange sought to sell. Lange’s story of the photo goes,
“[Florence] said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the
surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the
tires from her car to buy food” (Lange, Farm Security Administration, &
LOC Staff, 1936).
Florence had no idea why Lange wrote that; it was not true, and they had only just
stopped to fix their radiator when Lange happened by. Florence never benefited from
trusting Lange—not socially, financially, or otherwise—but she did feel used. “I wish
she hadn’t taken my picture” (Associated Press, 1978), she said, and she was deeply
upset about the whole ordeal. She spoke out about feeling objectified until she died of
cancer in 1983, at which point she actually was poor, struggling to raise money for her
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162
Throughout U.S. history, it has been mentioned that Native Americans, the Indians, did not like
photographs because they feared their souls would be stolen (Brumbaugh, 1996). I acknowledge that this
may have been true in some cases, but note that some figures, famous and not so famous, embraced the
technology, sitting for photographs taken by invaders and also adopting the medium and taking
photographs themselves of their own people and homeland. I question whether the soul-stealing angle is
too quickly dismissive of what may have been an act of resistance and not one of fear and superstition. The
soul-stealing angel elevates the encroaching European’s technology, knowledge, and way of life, while it
infantilizes and “others” the Native Americans. Is it so hard to believe and accept that tribes did not want
to embrace the Europeans, their technology, and way of life, especially having heard what they already had
done to other tribes? To me, this off-hand explanation is offered in order to perpetuate the superior/inferior
myth forwarded by colonizers. If there was more to it, by this time in history, greater detail could be
offered regarding the nature and origins of their beliefs about photography.
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own healthcare (Dunn, 1995). Lange was ostensibly out to improve the conditions of
those who were out of work, struggling, and hungry during the Great Depression, and she
did. Her images illustrated dire poverty, and in turn, having seen the images and believed
the stories spun by Lange, Stryker,
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and others at the New Deal photography project,
some people in positions of power worked to alleviate that poverty. Some may say that
Florence should have gracefully “taken one for the team.” After all, the photograph did
good for those in poverty, and many interpreted the picture as one of dignity and strength,
not one of shameful dejection. But it should have been Florence’s choice—it was her
face, her family, and “her story” being used, and she should have been given the chance
to either be a willing participant in the deception or to refuse. Lange should not have
done what she did: she treated Florence as a means to an end, sacrificing the trust and
identity of an innocent woman in order to manipulate audiences and meet FSA goals.
There were millions of people truly experiencing the situation Lange sought to expose,
which arguably makes the deception especially wrong because it was completely
unnecessary. This is but one instance of many where photographers, however well-
intentioned, have taken advantage of someone in order to make a point and send a
message. This is behavior that social justice photographers will not replicate.
Not only should photographers and advocates not exploit those they photograph,
they must never use images to deceive the audience, either by doctoring photographs or
misrepresenting what occurred before the lens. It is unethical to do this in order to trick
viewers into taking a side, manipulating their emotions and exploiting their generosity.
Again, when it comes to social problems and human rights violations, the truth is often
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163
Roy Emerson Stryker, the famous photographer chosen to lead the New Deal’s documentary efforts.
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terrible enough—no need to exaggerate. As was mentioned earlier in the discussion
about doctoring photographs, much could be lost, but nothing gained, by deceiving
viewers. Advocates for social justice must not stoop so low. It takes time to build
movements to address social ills, and a photographer’s dereliction of duty to her subjects,
causes, and audiences can explode years of work toward that purpose.

Dark continents, white saviors
One of the most common types of image encountered when collecting and
researching social justice photography is that of the white savior: someone from the West
swooping in to save the brown and “backward” from themselves. Often written about by
anti-imperialists and post-colonial critics (Chafkin, 2013; Mutua, 2001, 2002; Pollitt,
2004), I have found that this notion is also repeated photographically. For example, we
are presented with images of a white doctor administering medicine or a teacher
addressing a crowd in what is commonly referred to as the “Global South”
164
: people in
Central and South America, Africa, India, and occasionally people in the Middle East and
Eurasia.
165
These images are disseminated in NGO material, and as they spread, they
reinforce the stereotypes of whites as benevolent, powerful healers and echo outright
racist depictions of people of color as desperate, forlorn creatures, with either hapless or
truly evil governments. The roles and hierarchy are made clear to viewers: the whites are
needed, and the people of color are needy. These roles fit well with typical Western
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164
I object to use of this term on intellectual and activist levels, but it continues to be the standard term
used in political science and international relations.
165
There has been an increase in organizations operating in, and depicting the people of, these regions
since the U.S. entered Afghanistan and Iraq and began pursuing its “War on Terror,” but historically the aid
industry has been focused on Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
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worldviews and expectations about power and need, which can make such visual calls for
support readily processed and therefore more appealing to privileged audiences. After
coming across the trope countless times, I began to wonder if it was not also meant to
boost the self-esteem of typical Western viewers because they could identify with the
white savior. If the transitive property can be applied, this identification may become
even stronger once the Western benefactor provides a donation: the depicted savior is
clearly a do-gooder, meaning the person responding to this advertisement is, as well.
They are kin, cut from the same cloth. Not all Westerners responding to these
organizational appeals will physically or phenotypically resemble the saviors in the
photographs, but the viewer may infer that their own sensibilities and life experiences are
similar enough that they feel a connection and identify with the savior figure.
Another way to employ, and even amplify, the effect of the white savior trope is
to picture women and children alongside them. This is a technique visual marketers use
to turn up the drama and emotional content of their appeals, hoping viewers feel even
more drawn to a cause because women and children are considered especially vulnerable
(R. C. Carpenter, 2003).
166
The marketers may be well-meaning—they want to make a
positive difference in the lives of struggling people, but again, this is no excuse. It is easy
to imagine that such images could create shame among those depicted as helpless,
especially considering the prevalence of the theme. So, not only does this visual trope
not help, it effectively does harm, diminishing people of color, people from other
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166
They are also generally considered more “worthy” or “deserving” of support. Outsiders more readily
accept women and children as completely innocent victims who did nothing to justify their suffering.
However, if confronted with photographs of men, viewers may wonder if they are somehow responsible for
their own plight and the plight of their people—for example, if they have been criminals, terrorists, rogue
soldiers, or somehow involved with destructive forces in their nation-state.
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countries, and even reinforcing widespread, cross-national gender stereotypes. Allowing
this construction to become perpetuated because it appeals to Western sensibilities, and
also because it is unlikely that those depicted will see the images of themselves, is
unethical—it takes further advantage of their circumstances. It reinforces traditional
power dynamics and the superior/inferior dichotomy that undermines core human rights
principles, namely, that we are all equal, here to raise each other up and learn from one
another. What amount of donation money could justify these kinds of harms, this level of
betrayal of people and principles that only further entrenches racist and classist
ideologies? Organizations that produce images like these risk wounding and alienating
the people they work with, and ruining any opportunity to build international solidarity.
I am frequently told that building international solidarity and taking a non-
exploitive approach sounds great, but then asked to discuss what these mean in terms of
real-time photographic practice for advocacy purposes. Considering the implications is
important, and I am often presented with some version of the following hypothetical
dilemma that organizations may face. Let us imagine a photographer is working for an
organization that strives to raise world hunger awareness. She goes on assignment and
takes a photograph—for example, it is a close-up of a few very young, naked, unkempt,
impoverished children, children who are seemingly alone, crying, and starving. Their
surroundings are filthy and there are flies everywhere. It is a photograph that wails with
desperation; the need and hunger are real, and this photograph will be the closest thing to
a direct plea to well-off viewers that these children will ever have. The organization has
been using photographs like this for years, assuming that these images do in fact raise
awareness, create empathy, and encourage group and individual action on hunger and
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related poverty issues. A “new media”
167
editor is deciding whether or not to use the
image, an image like those they have always used and which they continue to believe
reliably deliver donations. As advocates, is our duty to those children in that photograph,
to helping them financially with direct aid that may result from these photographs, or is
the duty to prevent children from being put in these conditions in the first place? There
appears to be a trade-off, using exploitative images that help individuals but allow
systemic conditions to go unaddressed, or forsaking those individuals for an unknown,
but possibly more progressive, future where children like them are not forced to endure
the same circumstances. What people ask is, are you sacrificing the children of today (in
the photo) for (unknown) children in the (unknown) future? If so, how can you? How
can you say “no” to a child right in front of you right now? Using a possibly demeaning
photo of people in order to achieve an advocacy goal—to raise funds or awareness, for
example—is to treat them as a means to end instead of as individual agents with rights,
deserving of respect. It uses them to make a point and send a message, which subjugates
them. It makes them less human by turning them into a message—and a desperate one, at
that. Consciously or not, that subjugation is communicated when we use such images
(Dolinar & Sitar, 2013). Thus, we must intentionally use images that do not make people
less human. When we use images that present people as whole and as our equals, we
communicate that there is more at stake—namely our humanity and our ethical
foundation—and that there are more critical issues involved to which we must attend.
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167
“New media” is a term of art used to connote a wide array of on-demand, available anywhere, digital
platforms that emerged and took precedence at the beginning of the twenty-first century: social media,
online photo galleries, YouTube documentaries, “advertorials,” memes, “viral” campaigns, and the like (S.
Jones, 2003; Lister, Kelly, Grant, Giddings, & Dovey, 2009). For more information about this term, how it
developed, and what it encompasses, see the website and materials of the New Media Institute located in
New York, NY.
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Of course, even this exercise is an oversimplification of what our real thought
processes and actions would or should be.
168
The premise—if we use this photograph,
the child survives; if we don’t, she dies—is ridiculous. First, it is a photograph: not a
vaccine, not food, not safe transport to medical aid. Second, research has not proven that
these pitiful pictures are more effective than other types. Finally, the emotional
blackmail in the suggestion itself is unethical. What we should be working toward is
making images that will move the public to, yes, service immediate needs, but also to
develop, negotiate, and implement long term changes in the current system. We know
that human suffering is not caused by a lack of resources such as food, water, energy,
shelter, education, or medical attention. Farmers are paid not to plant crops, desalination
plants are shut down, water is diverted from locals to large-scale capitalist endeavors, and
aid programs are deemed too costly or “risky,” then summarily cut. As many have
pointed out, we have a “distribution problem.” It is not a lack of resources, but the lack
of will to redistribute these resources and to commit to long term investments in radical
but necessary socio-economic and political transformations. We are not faced with the
false dichotomy of saving the life of an individual in a photograph or making systemic
change—we have the resources to do both. To transform this debate into this dichotomy
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168
This is much like the distraction raised by people who support sweatshops: when the issue of
sweatshops is raised, they make claims along the lines of, “these factories give people jobs. Do you want
them to have no jobs and be worse off than before? The sweatshops are a good thing, or, even in the worst
case, a necessary evil.” Rather than discuss the fundamental rights violations and cruel exploitation that
should be the focus of discussions about sweatshops, they divert attention to talk of relative conditions,
often based on racist and/or classist assumptions about what expectations the lower classes in other
countries can have with respect to their human rights and living and labor conditions. The corporations can
pay more and they do not. They can improve conditions of these factories and they do not. This is where
the focus of the discussion should be. These corporations fundamentally value the lives and wellbeing of
these workers less than they value their own profits, and this is not a necessary condition—it is one that can
be addressed with political will. To argue that people are lucky to have a job that nearly kills them, and
they must either take that job or live in a trash pile is disturbingly unimaginative and simply a way to avoid
the core issues.
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is a disservice to the cause and distracts us from the real task at hand: the development of
international solidarity, the formation of a deep social movement to help us all thrive
together under the banners of dignity, respect, and equality.
International solidarity will be key to addressing today’s human rights problems.
Darfur does not need George Clooney; Mumbai does not need Angelina Jolie. People in
the streets of São Paulo, trafficked youth in Bangkok, and racially-profiled African
Americans throughout the United States do not need one-off benefit concerts, a
celebrity’s episodic charity, or the general public’s fleeting sympathy. What is necessary
is building a movement to address the conditions that create these and other social
problems. Part of building this movement will be the development of a photography that
moves from simple snapshots to the full exposure of these problems as complex and
systemic.
169
It will be a photography that does not demean or subjugate the people in
struggle, visually contrasting them with an enlightened white West. It will elicit empathy
not sympathy,
170
and inspire action as opposed to resignation. New social justice
photography will build unity and solidarity, not enhance and play on difference.
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169
I do not think it cliché to quote the words of two dedicated, long-time human rights as I discuss
solidarity (as opposed to charity) and the task of building a movement to overcome systemic, intersectional
problems:

If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have
come because your liberation/struggle is bound up with mine, then let us work
together. –Lilla Watson, quoted in Action Research, by Ernest T. Stringer
(2007, p. 194).

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. –Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963).

These sentiments have guided, and continue to guide, activists and human rights organizations in struggle
today.
170
For a thorough and nuanced discussion of the distinctions, particularly as they relate to ethics,
consider Yale Professor, Stephen Darwall’s, Empathy, Sympathy, Care (1998). A short explanation is that
sympathy is rather surface level, resembling something like pity; it is to feel sorry for someone in a difficult
situation and is absent a direct personal connection to their grief. By contrast, empathy is a deep level of
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Perhaps a principle of this new photography will address who is doing the
representing—that is, who the photographers are. There is a significant ethical difference
between a photograph which “says,” “this is happening to them, there,” and one which
says, “this is happening to me, here.”
171
Also meaningfully different in self-driven, self-
focused photography is the message being communicated. Several international projects
have begun exploring this approach—for example, the Born Into Brothels project and
documentary film by the same name, which gave cameras to children in Indian
brothels
172
—but the organizations developing, directing, and controlling the projects are
largely whites from the West. The participants who agree to share their lives with the
world
173
may be awarded scholarship money to study in the West, or later be hired as
translators, fixers, and production assistants (PAs) for the project directors and producers
while they are on location. Meanwhile, parts of their lives are marketed in the West in
films, photos, and a dazzling array of paraphernalia including everything from clothes, to
coffee, to calendars. As is often the case with nonprofit marketing campaigns and
fundraising, it is rarely clear who benefits from these projects, or what becomes of the
profits and funds raised. The complexities involved make me wonder if the whole thing
should be chucked and Western photographers and organizations should not be involved
in struggles elsewhere—as some say, “who are they?” What right do they have to
intervene? To take photos and then profit from them? There are undeniable tensions
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feeling for someone, an understanding of what the other is going through; it is often characterized as
involving a profound identification with and internally-experienced, personal aching when we learn of
someone's plight. It is as though we are experiencing the situation ourselves.
171
or “us.”
172
Born Into Brothels is but one documentary exemplifying a style used in many such projects, but BIB
was one of the first to be a commercial success and it became widely known throughout the world, setting
an example for some later projects.
173
An especially cynical view of such efforts might call it Western reality TV, “Global South” edition.
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here and power dynamics that disrupt the work, problematize the relationships of those
involved, and mix the message communicated to those who see the images. These issues
are particularly difficult to manage and navigate as we in social justice movements
attempt to forge a new, more egalitarian, post-colonial world.
What would likely be a better approach for the purposes of representation,
inclusion, accuracy, diversity, meaning, and even things like “interestingness,” is if the
photographers were of the communities being photographed. So Palestinians like
documentarian and art photographer, Rawan Serhan,
174
and Eman Mohammed, “Gaza’s
first female photojournalist” (MacKenzie, 2014; E. Mohammed, 2014), will be
representing their own community to the world and participating in the direct and
authentic telling of Palestinian struggle. People in queer and transgender communities,
people like Amos Mac,
175
can visually communicate about their own lives and choose
how to convey their bodies and identities—if they choose to discuss that particular angle
at all. There are countless underrepresented and marginalized communities that have
long had their experiences depicted by others to the outside world—immigrants;
176

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174
Serhan’s work frequently focuses on the family, land, folkways, and contemporary life. Her work
does address the conflict with Israel, but not in the obvious and dated ways of the mainstream media. Her
2014 exhibit, Peplitecture, provides a peek into the lives of the Palestinians in the village of Biteen (Irving,
2014) and is on display at London’s P21 Gallery from 30 May–12 July 2014 (p21.org.co.uk,
p21.org.uk/reACT.aspx).
175
Amos Mac is a trans photographer who focuses on the genderqueer and trans communities and
launched the magazine and website, Original Plumbing (Mac, 2009, 2014).
176
For example, take MigraZoom, a project of photographer Encarni Pindado who has spent several
years covering immigration to the United States. He told an interviewer, “I’d been on the trains with them
as they made their way to the border, but I also knew that something was missing, that there were moments
that we were still not capturing.” This led him to give migrants cameras so they could take pictures that he
would then make public. As the artist and director, this technically makes the images his own work; he
conceived of the project, and the photographs are unattributed or designated as taken by a “MigraZoom
Participant” (Flores, 2014; Garsd & Pindado, 2014). I believe this is well-intended, and he may mean to be
empowering, but the ownership aspect troubles the waters: he is effectively trying to make his own work
but by extension, through the efforts of others. He admits that he has switched to this format because he
wants to get pictures he cannot get otherwise. This means the effort is not so much about people telling
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women;
177
children;
178
sex workers;
179
indigenous peoples;
180
people with disabilities,
181

illnesses,
182
or addictions;
183
people who are under-employed, elderly,
184
homeless, living
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their own story and reaching and touching people photographically, it is about him getting pictures he
wants via other channels because his outsider status denies him the necessary access to make those images
himself. Before Pindado’s project began, migrants had already been documenting their own experiences,
visually and otherwise, both in real time and after the fact, in urban (VozMob, vozmob.net) and rural
environments. This continues and even saves lives when they share on social media because these posts
help others to know where there may be food, water, or safe haven, as well as where there may be trouble
(Cave, 2011). Pindado did not invent this effort, but he has the contacts necessary to make it a mainstream
story. The marginalized are already making work about themselves and trying to tell their own stories, but
the mainstream is not providing a platform.
177
Feminist groups like MADRE (madre.org), Grassroots Operating Together in Sisterhood
(groots.org), and the Guerrilla Girls (guerrillagirls.com) make photographic statements that are
simultaneously careful and eye-catching—aesthetically interesting and even beautiful without being
precious, trite, or exploitative.
178
Social justice photography will take care to not simply lump together “children” with women, as is
often the case. This formulation treats children as simply an extension of their parents (mothers), and
suggests women are, at their essence, simply mothers. A few terrific examples of groups that visually
convey youth as autonomous agents with uniquely varied personalities, curiosities, and capabilities are
Girls for Gender Equity (ggenyc.org/), the Global Action Project (global-action.org), Morris Justice Project
(morrisjustice.org), and Black Youth Project (blackyouthproject.com).
179
Journalist Jordan Flaherty has done extensive reporting and collaborating with sex workers. When
talking about an article accompanied by a series of photographs that, according to a commenter, resembled
a, “a cop-fantasy themed porno,” he remarked, “[g]ood point. In talking to sex worker activists, I think one
of the biggest media complaints I've heard is the awful photos that illustrate every single article about sex
workers” (Flaherty, 2014). Sex workers are repeatedly portrayed as being one-dimensional persons—they
are either helpless victims or insatiable whores—and their ongoing organizing for respect and labor rights
is attempting to complicate the misperception about what they do and who they are in the public’s
imagination.
180
One strong and vocal Native American artist and activist is Frank Waln. He has spoken about how
others have objectified his people and taken a stand against prevalent tropes, refusing to perpetuate them in
his own work and asking others to do the same (Waln, 2013).
181
Not Dead Yet (notdeadyet.org) is a fantastic, radical disability rights organization that is run by and
for people with disabilities, and their imaging choices reflect both their progressive politics and their
leadership/membership. The visual campaigns are strong and thoughtful. L’Arche (larche.org) is an
international disability rights group that is not as radical, but is still careful about its visual messaging—no
frames or poses that make people look slight, pitiful, demented, or “difficult.” Danielle Hark, a woman
with depression and bi-polar disorder, began a photography and arts group, the Broken Light Collective, to
provide a creative outlet for people with mental illnesses and disorders (daniellehark.com,
brokenlightcollective.com). Even those without prior experience with photography blossomed into
professionals as they expressed their respective illnesses and everyday difficulties through the medium and
within the online community, sharing work, struggles, and triumphs. Exhibited online and in galleries
around the United States, the work connects people with various issues and gives an inside look at
complex, often stigmatized diagnoses. Photographer John William Keedy’s ongoing work addresses
mental disability and because he personally struggles with a mental condition he regularly puts himself in
his photographs. The notions of “identity and normalcy” for himself and other people with disabilities are
central to his work (johnwilliamkeedy.com).
182
Two advocacy groups that do focused and thoughtful visual campaigns are Housing Works
(housingworks.org) and ACT-UP (actupny.org), both working on HIV/AIDS.
183
There are many sorts of addictions that photographers personally experience and use photography to
explore and understand: drugs (e.g. Graham MacIndoe who photographs his downward spirals and attempts
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in toxic environments,
185
or all of the above;
186
people who belong to a-typical religious
groups or lifestyles; people at the intersections of multiple communities; survivors of
abuse;
187
and many, many more. Self-representation is akin to self-determination—a
human right
188
echoed by the slogan “nothing about us without us”—and we all deserve a
chance to be heard and understood.
It is not that we are not already photographing our lives and telling our own
stories. We are. Rather, it is that our own efforts are overlooked or rejected, given less
room in the mainstream public discourse while others’ discussions about us are elevated,
readily available to all. The dominant model—where outsiders drop in, meet some
people, take some photographs, and leave—verges on a caricature of itself. Outsiders can
easily miss the richness of others’ experiences, not on purpose, of course,
189
but because
they cannot change that they are not of a particular group or innately understand a
particular existence that is not their own. Our underrepresented communities would not
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at recovery (MacIndoe & Stellin, 2014), grahammacindoe.com/); eating disorders (e.g. Fritz Liedtke—a
rare and brave example of a male with anorexia—who uses photography to explore his own disorder and to
help others explore their own disorders (Liedtke, 2013), fritzphoto.com/).
184
While there are many local and governmental organizations that claim to be advocates for people of
advanced aged, Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (rightsofolderpeople.org) visually walks the
walk. Their materials are not overly dramatic and they do not portray elders as helpless, hapless victims.
They work with groups at all levels, from the neighborhood to the United Nations on policy change and
personal empowerment.
185
Two exemplary activist organizations focused on environmental justice are Communities for a Better
Environment/CBE (cbecal.org), and Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) (ourpowercampaign.org/cja).
186
The Los Angeles Community Action Network/LA CAN (cangress.org), and Causa Justa/Just Cause,
(cjjc.org) are grassroots organizations that provide support to those living in poverty and struggling with a
variety of personal and external obstacles that make it difficult for people to get back on their feet. They
also excel at political education, and promoting direct action and civic engagement among the
disenfranchised.
187
Such as those who defiantly share photographs of themselves and their bodies after violent trauma—
domestic violence, rape, or other crimes—calling out their assailants and encouraging similarly situated
individuals to report crimes committed against them (S. Allen, 2014; Mack, 2014).
188
That this is a human right, and non-human animals are effectively unable to make photographs in
order to speak for and defend themselves and their interests, I intentionally have excluded this group of
marginalized individuals from this discussion.
189
At least, I hope photographers are not aiming to misrepresent those they photograph.
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only benefit internally in terms of power and pride, from being given more public space
in which to communicate about ourselves, but we can be more confident that the images
that circulate about us are fair and varied. For example, immigrants are not only
immigrants, to be depicted in “typical” immigrants-only situations; people with
disabilities are not the embodiment of those disabilities and living lives fully defined by
them. There are countless other aspects to our individual lives and our group identities—
some that overlap, some that do not—and in photographing ourselves we can reach
beyond the stereotypical depictions to which we all are accustomed. Owning this task
empowers us to document our everyday existence, from the novel, to the banal, to our
intentional acts of resistance. For many of us, resistance is part of our daily experience,
including everything from large-scale demonstrations, to acts of “vandalism,” to civil
disobedience—for example, jumping into the “whites only” public swimming pool,
190

damaging surveillance cameras,
191
or breaking locks on blighted, abandoned parcels of
land to turn them into urban farms to feed our communities (Chang, 2006; Gottlieb, 2006;
Norrell, 2006). Depicting ourselves has the potential to break the normalized narrative
and make us out to be the complex people and groups that we are. That is an opportunity
to better convey reality, and thus, an opportunity to create new and improved forms of
social justice photography.

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190
“Swim-ins” were among the more headline-grabbing tactics of the Civil Rights Movement, often
resulting in enough press and public pressure to force the pools to be integrated (Associated Press, 1964;
Guzman, 1999; Herbers, 1964; Pittman, 2014; UPI/Chicago Defender, 1964). Lest anyone think this brand
of segregation is behind us, recall that there continue to be incidents of African Americans being turned
away from public pools. After the publication of a book called Contested Waters (Wiltse, 2007), and a
Pennsylvania dust-up that made national news in 2009 (Martin, 2009; Urbina, 2009), multiple blogs and
websites began to collect contemporary stories of such rejections and off-the-books policies.
191
For example, recall the tactics of CAMOVER from chapter two.
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Media attention and political dead zones
Continuing with the problem of complex imagery reaching the public, I now turn
to issues with our current media system. Scholars in communications acknowledge that
press coverage has grown both more sensational and international. While I agree with
the former charge, I am not convinced of the latter. We may have more coverage for the
Tokyos, Berlins, Moscows, and Beijings, but it is a stretch to suggest all international
coverage has expanded and deepened. Geopolitical hotspots rule the day as they long
have. Instead I agree with Stanley Cohen and what he calls ‘The Chad Rule’: “No one
wants to hear about Chad” (2001, p. 173). Western media and their consumers, and
increasingly human rights organizations that depend on these consumers for donations,
are not interested in “geopolitically insignificant”
192
—insidious code words—countries,
and they certainly do not care to hear about their troubles.
193
While we may have access
to truly international coverage, the majority of Western news outlets cover the same
countries and issues every single day. An earthquake or civil war may bring a country
out of obscurity for a day or two, in sound bites and simplistically constructed visual
montages, but after that, the country and its people fall away from public consciousness.
Whether this is simply a reflection of the desires of Westerners—the public does
not want truly international coverage, so the media, as a producer of goods for
consumption, does not provide it (J. A. Berger & Milkman, 2012; N. Newman & Levy,
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192
In social media circles, countries that the West tends to ignore are not only considered “geopolitically
insignificant,” but are also derisively referred to as “Outer Mongolia,” which at one time roughly referred
to a hardy piece of terrain in located along Mongolia’s border with Russia and China, where few live or
travel. The phrase “geopolitically insignificant” typically refers to somewhere that most of the Western
general public would consider obscure, remote, impoverished, uninteresting, and undesirable.
193
Not only does the West’s general public not want to hear about countries like Chad, but they also do
not want to hear bad news (N. Newman & Levy, 2014; Thompson, 2014), and human rights crises are
invariably bad news.
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2014; Thompson, 2014)—or is a top-down decision by media conglomerates—“we give
you the news we think you should think is important, and we think you should only care
about the West”—I am not sure.
194
Regardless, a new social justice photography will
need to break away from both of these models, remain committed to every region, and
every human rights issue, and make this apparent by providing steady coverage and a
variety of visual entry points. There are enough of us to do the work, and we are already
well-positioned, both in our respective communities and around the globe, to do the
comprehensive coverage I am suggesting is necessary. This will be difficult to do,
particularly at first. Politics may further complicate these efforts if criticism is leveled at
the United States or other prominent Western allies and governments such as Israel, but I
think progress can be made on these fronts by connecting “new photographers” with
existing human rights organizations and building a web of media outlets, activists and
activist groups, international workers, policy centers, and others.
The more groups that take care to circulate various viewpoints, offer truly
international and complex insights, and share images of worldwide social justice
struggles taken with an ethical eye, the better chance we have of creating the more just
world so many of us want. That world and those ideals are not being communicated by
the mainstream media, so we will have to do it ourselves. Creating that world involves
envisioning it. We must not only expose inequality and injustice, but also show what a
future of rights and equality could look like, everywhere—every culture, country, and
continent. Envisioning that world can begin with photography.
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194
This is a chicken-egg question if ever there was one.
195
Not only can documentary and journalistic work be of help, here, but work by artists who concentrate
on themes of inequality and injustice (and their positive corollaries) may help people to see a different sort
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Aesthetic concerns
The nature of photographs—that they are almost immediately available visuals—
means they can instantly create an aesthetic experience, a visceral response emanating
from the gut and brain when perceiving beauty, confusion, awe, disgust, compassion, and
any number of other sensory and emotional responses. Photographs in the social justice
context tend to offer visually tight representations of moments and feelings, and as we
have seen throughout history, when the photographs are strong, they can move us to act.
But what makes a strong photograph? What moves us?
The findings are inconclusive regarding which types of images are most effective
for inspiring people to take social justice action. No single photographic facet or style
holds the key to success every time (more on measurement in the next chapter), and the
variation in photographs used by organizations underscores the fact that no single aspect
always carries a campaign to success. Instead of a single silver bullet, I found that the
majority of images fell into two distinct camps: one I descriptively label the Misery
Model, and the other I call the Promise Model. Photographs in the Misery Model are
upsetting: they may be negative, nasty, ugly, graphic, grisly, gory, harrowing, bloody,
pitiful, shocking, disgusting, or otherwise disturbing. If alive, people in these images are
clearly in distress, sick, dying, broken, altogether hopeless. In all cases, these images are
somehow difficult to view; we may need to look away and even wretch. The Promise
Model is the polar opposite: these images are positive, heartening, beautiful,
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inspiring,
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of future, an alternative way to think and to be.
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Occasionally images that fall within the Misery Model in terms of content may be visually beautiful,
but generally speaking, once the content is understood, there is no doubt that they are of depressing,
distressing scenarios. Economist turned photographer, Sebastião Salgado, is the consummate example of a
photographer who has managed to create visually stunning images of suffering that neither exploit those
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sweet, warm, encouraging, and otherwise comforting. People in these images are happy,
smiling, adorable, precious even if they appear to be in a difficult situation. Those who
smile for the camera in times of trouble represent triumph; they are strong, blessed,
resilient, hopeful, admirable. Images from both models were about equally common. It
seems that human rights organizations and photographers cannot decide whether it is
more effective to show graphic, disturbing images, or gentler, well-composed, pleasant
images. Oregon-based critic, curator, and lecturer, Pete Brook, has studied this visual
indecisiveness and he occasionally discusses it in public and on his website, Prison
Photography. While he has not conducted scientific inquiries into the matter, years of
closely observing visual trends in addition to direct engagement with photography
researchers and documentarians have led him to conclude that when using photography,
“depressing stories don’t have the readership coming back” (P. Brook, 2014).
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He
suggests viewers want positivity and redemption, a “human interest story” that leaves one
feeling good about both the specific situation and the world, in general. However, we can
imagine there being a meaningful difference between what viewers would prefer to see,
and what images may compel them to act. Fundraisers at major NGOs tend to want more
graphic images in their appeals, whereas policymakers at these same NGOs are more
conscientious and want be more rights-aware and respectful of those being put on
display. They would prefer to use more positive images where the agency of the
individuals is evident (Renteln, 2014). They debate which is more effective by following
which images make the front page of newspapers, which deliver the most clicks on their
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depicted nor minimize their strife.
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In the case of organizations and appeals, the word “readership” can be exchanged for donors and
supporters.
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websites, or which images garner the most “likes” or “re-shares” on Twitter and other
social media sites. What research has been conducted into mental attitudes, media, and
pro-social behavior, tends to concur with Brook’s conclusion and the preference for
organizations to exude “positivity” (N. Newman & Levy, 2014; Thompson, 2014).
However, plenty of the material produced by social justice groups and mainstream
journalism channels continues to be of the more “negative” type, trending toward shock
and sensationalism. Again, underscoring that no one style or facet always carries the day
(or dollars). Future research on this thorny subject may help organizations target their
campaigns more effectively.
Is the continuous exposure to ghastly images dulling our ability to respond? If the
concept of “compassion fatigue” real, then the onslaught of these images is interfering
with our capacity to feel empathy and be compelled to act. Beyond projections and
philosophizing by those invested in advocacy work, psychologists and neurologists are
doing work that suggests that gradual empathy loss—both at the individual and social-
societal levels—is much more than theory.
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This being the case, we must consider
whether human rights photographers and advocates should start to avoid grisly scenes
and instead focus on the perseverance and hope displayed by survivors. Perhaps we
ought to err towards over-representing the “promise” that people may hold if only they
had a hand. Of course, this would raise another question: is it ethical to avoid
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198
University of Toledo’s Dr. Jeanne Brockmyer is one of the lead scientist-psychologists in this field
and has spent her career conducting and publishing multi-method studies about exposure to violent
imagery. In discussing the latest findings made by her and others in the area, she told the New York Times,
“Initially, people are horrified by things they see, but we can’t maintain that level of arousal. Everyone
gets desensitized to things” (Bilton, 2014). While the studies do not directly address photography and
visual culture, scientific evidence increasingly suggests that seeing violence stunts our growth of moral
duty and dulls our ability for empathic response (Bajovic, 2013; Bernhardt & Singer, 2012; Funk, 2005;
Funk, Baldacci, Pasold, & Baumgardner, 2004).
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photographing and sharing the harsh realities of war, genocide, poverty, and more? How
do we incorporate concerns for how images may psychically harm audiences far away,
someone the photographer wants to engage, not offend or anaesthetize? If we show only
beautiful images, do we minimize the reality that people are living and therefore do them
an injustice? I worry that neglecting the more difficult images sends the message that
everything is more or less “OK,” and gives people a reason to pay even less attention
than many of us already do. This is problematic because we may implicitly be sending a
message that matters are improving, or have improved so much that they no longer
deserve our attention.
Many have accused documentary and crisis photography of being exploitative,
cruel, self-indulgent, ineffectual—an insult to injury. The examples are far too many to
fully account for here, but there are some choice outtakes that frequently appear in
photography discussions, likely for their acerbic charm. For example, decades before
Susan Moeller penned her thesis on the topic (1999), Sontag accused photography of
creating compassion fatigue: “photography has done at least as much to deaden
conscience as to arouse it” (1977, p. 21). According to Sontag, photography was far from
imbued with ethical purpose and potential, “though it may presume, intrude, trespass,
distort, exploit” (1977, p. 13). On Photography may be a relatively short piece, but the
critique is blistering and relentless. Her view of photography as depoliticizing and
aestheticizing may be considered “second wave” because Walter Benjamin had already
made similar points,
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but because she was—and remains—something of an icon, her
critiques are available to a much larger audience.
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199
For example, in “The Author As Producer” (1934), Benjamin accuses photography of making
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Roland Barthes, the very same theorist who wrote the quintessential love song to
photography, Camera Lucida, claimed much photography is “false” (1979, p. 73),
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and
he was troubled by the feeling that they left us “dispossessed of our judgment” (1979, p.
71). To him, photographs are “overconstructed,” in that their meaning and message have
been predetermined, and tightly so, leaving the audience nothing to think about for
ourselves. There is nothing to come after viewing such photographs; they are seen, and
so ends the experience. For social justice photography, seeing an image cannot be the
end; images made for advocacy serve their purpose and are a success when something
comes next. We learn this possibility, that there can be something next, may be allowed
by Barthes when he comes to write Camera Lucida. In it, he acknowledges the
emotional content of photographs; they are not dead and easily dismissed, rather, they
can touch and move him. He notes that such feelings may linger after the photograph is
no longer before us as we continue to think about the image and its meaning (1980, pp.
26–27, 40, 53). These stirrings are among those sought by photographers working in
social justice.
Martha Rosler called photographers
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“ancillas to imperialism” (1992, p. 311)
and along with her contemporary, Allan Sekula, decried the exploitation and
aestheticization of the suffering and impoverished. They seemed to harbor true disdain
for documentary work, not simply surface-level disinterest, Sekula arguing that this vein
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suffering palatable and beautiful: “For it has succeeded in transforming even abject poverty—by
apprehending it in a fashionably perfected manner—into an object of enjoyment” (1986, p. 230). Perhaps
“enjoyment” seems too strong a word, but consider how we consume social justice campaign images and
the nonprofits that produce them: we enjoy taking in the imagery and thinking of ourselves as supporters,
allies, partners, even friends. We are consuming this poverty and suffering, and while some of us do more
than simply consume it—for example, we engage in direct action or other forms of support regarding what
is depicted—many more of us take it in one moment and move on the next.
200
Barthes later makes allowances for the possibility of truth and shock in “news” photos (1979, p. 73).
201
Rosler also included ethnographers and filmmakers among the “ancillas.”
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of photography was all about “spectacle, [] retinal excitation, [] voyeurism, [] terror, envy
and nostalgia, and [contributed] only a little to the critical understanding of the social
world” (Sekula, 1984, p. 57). On the point of whether or not documentary had increased
our understanding of the “social world” and one another, Bertolt Brecht accused
photojournalism of actually doing damage to the cause of truth-telling about distant
people and crises—the camera was a “weapon” wielded by the upper class, manipulating
the masses, just “as capable of lying as a typewriter” (1931, p. 43).
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Photography’s
critics have been nothing if not harsh and unrelenting.
Of course, these critics are correct. Photography, like all things, can be used to do
harm, and it has done harm. I do not deny any of that, and even note in this work that
photography has been part of perpetuating stereotypes, leading to disbelief regarding
atrocities, caused shame, violated privacy and autonomy, and converted innocent
individuals from ends into means. But to a certain extent, this negativity is unproductive
and highly academic, a tad divorced from the real world and the everyday makers and
consumers of images. To blame photography for failing to rid our world of its ills is
absurd, and irresponsible: we made these problems, we must address them. Photography
is but a tool, and so, can only be a part of that process. Therefore, while I appreciate the
criticisms, and even agree with them in many ways, this handwringing is paralyzing and
unrealistic. Photography is not going away, and photography on its own cannot fix the
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202
Brecht said these things in a letter to a publication that was filled with photographs, illustrations, and
montage work exclusively produced by worker-artists, Arbeiter-Illustrierte- Zeitung, or Worker Illustrated
Magazine (AIZ). Here is more of the excerpt in its original German (emphasis mine to indicate the line
quoted above):
“Die ungeheuere Entwicklung der Bildreportage ist für die Wahrheit über die Zustände,
die auf der Welt herrschen, kaum ein Gewinn gewesen: die Photographie ist in den
Händen der Bourgeoisie zu einer furchtbaren Waffe gegen die Wahrheit geworden... Der
Photographenapparat kann ebenso lügen wie die Schreibmaschine.”
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world. Instead, let us think about how to be better in our photographic practices, not
dismiss photography as something evil to be ignored because it cannot be legally
abolished.
One such photographic practice to grapple with is our own tendency toward shock
and sensationalism. Are the “hard truth” images which comprise the Misery Model
simply voyeurism by another name? Is it “disaster porn?” Do they become signifiers
meant to tell those of us in the West, “we are in better shape than them,” and reinforce
stereotypes of helplessness and the West’s notions of superiority? Do the aesthetically
more pleasant images play down the suffering? Should we even attempt to visually
represent a matter as complex as the suffering of others?
I do not have the answers to these questions. I know that when I am shown that
someone is suffering, I feel compelled to act. I know it drives me to find out more
information and to see what, if anything, I can do to raise awareness and improve the
situation. These images hit us in the gut, and can make us feel guilty if we look away.
Our visceral response to dramatic imagery is evidence they can be effective tools.
Consider the basic case of photographs on cigarette packages that reveal the damage
smoking causes to the lungs: smoking rates fall at statistically significant rates
everywhere such images are introduced (Goldman & Glantz, 1998; Innis, 2014; A. A.
Newman, 2014; Nyhan, 2002; O’Shaughnessy & O’Shaughnessy, 2004; Steinhart,
Carmon, & Trope, 2013).
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The images inform us and force us to make choices about
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203
These straight-forward ad campaigns are apparently so effective at convincing people to quit
smoking, that those with a vested interest in cigarettes—namely “Big Tobacco”—continue to back legal
challenges to the packaging rules (FDA Center for Tobacco Products, 2013; L. Greenhouse, 2012; Kendall
& Dooren, 2013; Pelofsky, 2012; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services & Office of the Surgeon
General, 2014; William Van Duyn collection & Yale University, 2014). As has been discussed, people
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how we behave, which is what images do in the socio-political context, as well. When I
see images of suffering or environmental degradation, I am forced to consider my
complicity in those crimes and their causes. I have to choose to ignore what I see or to
act on it. Further, I know that I am not alone; other activists and everyday people share
these urges and have to make these same choices. So, while it is a particular kind of
painful to see graphic images, I think they will be a necessary part of a new social justice
photography.
On that point, on what is occasionally called a perpetuation of violence by
“forcing” people in the West to confront images of others suffering,
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I would like to add
this: if the greatest violence done to someone on a given day is that they were “forced” to
see, and on some level, acknowledge, that others in this world are suffering, I think that
their position of privilege should be the first thing examined—not the images supplied by
photographers and advocates. We must all come to know difficult things, and cannot be
forever protected from the facts of our world. Violence exists. It exists in varying levels
and comes in different forms, I agree, but I do not agree that we can directly compare the
psychic “violence”—I prefer disturbance or disruption—felt by someone who sees a
photograph depicting an entirely different sort of violence to that visual experience: rape,
torture, hate crime, war, slavery, execution, starvation, genocide, trafficking… These are
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often do not want to know the truth, and when confronted with it, must make difficult decisions. It is in the
interest of the most powerful (and their profits) that we not know the truth so that we continue consuming,
doing, and ignoring that which is destructive and unhealthy to ourselves, others, and our environment.
204
This has nothing to do with “trigger warnings,” which I generally find appropriate, especially for
survivors of rape and torture. Unfortunately, this is not the place for a full exposition of triggers and trigger
warnings. That said, it is worth noting that “perpetuation of violence” claims are increasingly levied by
members of the general public who want to avoid certain topics, not by those arguing for survivor
protections or support for those with suicidal or non-suicidal self-injuring (NSSI) tendencies (Duggan,
Heath, Lewis, & Baxter, 2012; Rentschler, 2014). In fact, in many cases, survivors are eager to share
images of their wounds, evidence of the violence done to them and the crimes committed—this is their
opportunity to testify to the public and advocate for change (Klimas, 2014; Mack, 2014).
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violence; these are crimes. We must not forget that the true criminals here are those
violating people’s rights and committing irreparable harms—not the photographers, and
not the advocates working to raise awareness of those crimes. Denial keeps us safe;
ignoring these crimes preserves our constructed idea of a world where things are “more
or less ‘fine.’” Redirecting our outrage from perpetrators to social justice advocates
because advocates present us with difficult truths is a tragic waste of energy and
resources. Denying and ignoring such crimes is what perpetuates violence, not raising
awareness about them. Pretending these things do not occur, being offended that our
worldview was momentarily shaken because we have been “forced” to see them, is what
perpetuates violence.
All of that is to say that I do not think the sensitivity of Western observers should
be a primary concern in human rights photography, nor do I think we should try to make
suffering more visually palatable.
205
I know that people are tired of seeing difficult
images, but if we are tired of seeing these far-away traumas, even irritated, perhaps we
should instead think about how it would be to live in some of these places and personally
experience these violations. It would be still better if we focused our energies on possible
remedies to the situations rather than investing time in pitying ourselves over the burdens
that this knowledge brings.
I know we will not be able to draw people to a cause with any consistency by
barraging them with images of pain, but we also should not hide them. For some, a
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205
Again, trigger warnings for particular sorts of photographs—for example, images of rape or torture—
may be warranted. However, the majority of the population is not suffering post-traumatic psychological
issues that would necessitate protecting them from seeing difficult photographs, nor are sufferers generally
the ones requesting these warnings and protections. Later I take up the matter of whether gory images are
effective organizing tools when I discuss things like images taken from battlefields, slaughterhouses, and
abortion clinics.
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visually compelling composition is going to be what catches their eye and makes them
look and act further; meanwhile, a more subtle sign of strife in an image may be what
works for others. I think that the Misery Model and the Promise Model are failing human
rights photography. The simplistic nature of these models shortchanges the people and
issues depicted, and insults viewers and potential advocates—we all know that these
issues are complex, and they deserve more complete, thoughtful treatment. Moving away
from these two visual poles and producing collections of images that are richer and more
informative will be necessary in order to advance social justice photography. If this form
of visual storytelling is given a chance to thrive, it will be less concerned with offending
particular audiences and more invested in effectively communicating difficult truths.
However, what may be still more dangerous, and worth greater consideration, than the
handwringing over Western sensitivities, is the tendency to turn suffering into nothing
more than advertising campaigns. That is the true peddling of misery.

Rights for sale
Because of the desire to make social justice palatable to wider audiences,
sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference between advertisements for goods and
services and those for progressive causes. For example, corporations like United Colors
of Benetton
206
(Arthur, 1992; Salvemini, 2002), and Amnesty International have both
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206
Others in fashion have used similar devices, claiming an interest in drawing attention to social justice
issues or human rights violations, but they appear as little more than glamorized violence. A strong
example of this phenomenon appeared in a style feature in the April 2014 issue of Vogue Italia. While the
editor in chief, Franca Sozzani, suggested the images were meant to draw attention to the issue of domestic
violence (Fury, 2014), the images themselves could only be described as highly erotic—the models, their
bodies, the feeling being communicated by their eyes and body language, was more come hither than terror,
despite the fact that they were bloodied and bruised. They appeared to be craving more brutality be done to
them, not that they feared for their lives and wanted out of a dangerous situation. This was not a spread in
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used images of people in dire straits to draw attention to what they are selling. In the
case of Benetton, it is clothing befitting one with a “hip” lifestyle and sense of self. It is
purely about aesthetics, glamour, trendsetting, and jet-setting. Benetton is known at least
as well for its “edgy” social advertising as it is for its clothing; the billboards brought
them global notoriety and record profits (Salvemini, 2002). In the case of social justice
groups, the images are meant to sell the group itself.
207
In exchange for consumer
dollars, the group provides the commodities of membership, tax-deductions, and positive
self-worth in donors. Once again, the people in the images are means to corporate ends,
whether that corporation is of the usual sort, like Benetton, or is a non-profit or rights
group like Amnesty. The intentions may be good,
208
but it cannot be denied that people
are being used to benefit a corporation, and this would be ethically inconsistent for a
photographer and organization dedicated to doing justice.
Similarly, it would be untenable for a photographer claiming to serve progressive
causes to offer their images and services to groups and corporations with missions
diametrically opposed to social justice, for example, to militaries or weapons purveyors.
It is a point that may sound obvious, but one of the most famous war correspondents in
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a fetish magazine where glamorized violence is presented for a particular taste, this was a major
international fashion publication that claimed it was trying to raise awareness about violence as a bad thing.
There was immediate backlash by women’s rights groups; Vogue claimed it was simply trying to be “real.”
Vogue was using sex and horror to sell haute couture, not raising awareness about a prevalent human rights
issue. The awareness-raising claim may have been more believable if they had partnered with a domestic
violence organization—as opposed to clothing labels—and the feature was accompanied by a statement
regarding the nature of the images, however it is highly unlikely a legitimate organization fighting intimate
partner violence would have allowed such images to be used. A similar uproar occurred in the summer of
2014 when a fashion spread in India appeared to glamorize and make “sexy” or “dreamy” the epidemic of
gang rapes on city buses (DNA Webteam, 2014; Karnataka, 2014; Staff reporter, 2014b).
207
This is not the same as the branded products the organizations also tend to offer—for example,
clothing, buttons, stickers, books, calendars, even coffee and chocolate of the “fair” and “direct trade”
varieties—but those added-value items also are offered and become part of the NGO package. The largest,
most attractive, and most popular tend to offer logo goods and other things that fit their mission.
208
In fairness, the intentions may be good in both cases, where, for example, the corporations, not just
the NGOs, do what they do because they would like to do something to raise awareness.
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history, Ron Haviv,
209
has touted his progressive pedigree while providing images to the
military. Take the work he licensed to Lockheed Martin for their advertising purposes.
Lockheed is the largest military contractor of the United States (Hartung, 2010), and
according to financial reports supplied by both the government and Lockheed, roughly
85% of Lockheed’s income arrives in the form of U.S. contracts for war-related goods
and services (Securities and Exchange Commission & Lockheed Martin Corporation,
2011). Haviv has tried to claim ignorance about how the photograph would be used
when he licensed it to Lockheed, but this is disingenuous: the licensee was Lockheed.
Lockheed would not acquire advertising images to make posters for other, non-war-
making corporations,
210
it licenses images to promote its own weapons and weapons
delivery systems. Furthermore, Haviv’s “I did not know I was providing marketing
material to the military-industrial complex” defense appears even more hollow when we
discover that he also then provided a series of photographs to BAE Systems,
211
a British-
based arms corporation, for a major ad campaign they did which drew attention to their
(tax-deductable) support to the United Service Organizations (USO).
212
Here, Haviv’s
photographs were used to boost BAE’s image and to sell Lockheed’s weapons, both of
which ultimately promote war.
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209
Haviv is especially famous for his work in war zones and on genocide, particularly the conflict that
enveloped the Balkans in the 1990s.
210
In fact, that would be illegal unless it was in the contract—only the licensee may use a licensed
image—and this was not stipulated in the contract.
211
BAE Systems is the multinational product of the joining of two military contractors, British
Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems. BAE Systems, Inc. is the subsidiary that operates in the
United States and describes itself as one of the U.S. government’s top military suppliers—top six according
to its job postings, stock profile, trading portfolio summary, and media packets (BAE Systems, Inc., n.d.;
Bloomberg, n.d.; Robertson, 2007; U.S. Department of Defense, n.d.).
212
The USO is affiliated with the U.S. military and provides entertainment and support services to
troops in order to minimize dissension and loss of morale in the ranks.
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We can contrast Haviv’s enabling of the war makers and arms dealers with one of
the only better-known war correspondents, James Nachtwey. Nachtwey and Haviv are
actually partners in the founding of the progressive crisis photography agency called
VII.
213
Nachtwey’s photography is off-limits to corporate advertising and he has said
many times, “if you make an honest picture of war, it will be an antiwar photograph”
(Frei, 2003; Fussman, 2005, p. 206).
214
His commitment is to ending war, and his
photographs serve that mission as opposed to the missions of militaries and corporate war
makers the world, over.
Sometimes NGOs and other groups have the funds to hire not only photographers
like Haviv and Nachtwey, but major advertising companies in order to help them market
themselves and their causes. Some popular ad companies include England’s Saatchi &
Saatchi,
215
which has done work for the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières
(Doctors Without Borders/MSF); Spain’s McCann-Erickson, which has also worked with
MSF; China’s Itect, a company that has worked with the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC); Chicago’s DraftFCB
216
which has produced work for the
International Rescue Committee (IRC); DDB in Hungary & Publicis of Sweden, both of
which work with Amnesty International; Scholz & Friends of Germany which has
worked with the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR); and Ogilvy & Mather,
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213
VII is pronounced “seven,” named for the seven photographers who founded the agency.
214
He has varied the exact formulation from time to time when speaking at events or discussing his
work—e.g. “honest war photography is anti-war”—but the message is consistent.
215
Saatchi & Saatchi is world famous for advertising. They win awards for their campaigns every year,
and frequently take home trophies in categories such as “non-profit,” “charity,” “public interest,” “pro bono
and social marketing,” and so on. They do print, digital, and video commercials, and place their ads
everywhere, from newspapers to mass transit centers to airports, worldwide.
216
As of 2014 they are known simply as FCB; the change came after they combined three, once-
separate, ad agencies Foote, Cone, and Belding.
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which boasts four “market” headquarters
217
and over 450 individual offices around the
world enabling it to work with Amnesty International, MSF, People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA), the queer rights organization Tous Unis Pour l'Egalité,
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the ICRC, and countless others. There are many ad
agencies retained by civil society organizations, but the major ones listed above are often
chosen because of their reach and reputation.
218

Social justice groups, particularly the large ones with huge membership and
mailing lists, able to produce large fundraisers and draw celebrity guests and patrons,
regularly funnel millions of raised dollars into advertising campaigns and ad agencies.
This is problematic in at least two ways: the images used, and the resources put into
corporations instead of communities. First, the images. Organizations spend money on
ads which frequently feature photographs, some ghastly and grim, others pleasant and
hopeful, but the photo-selection and larger messaging is left to huge ad agencies whose
priority is to sell, not to be ethical and considerate social justice advocates.
Unfortunately, most social justice groups have been unable to take the time and money to
investigate, and thus, feel more comfortable outsourcing their advertising to agencies that
know how to sell and what sells. These organizations desperately need the revenue that
slick advertising can provide, even if the messaging and delivery may be at odds with the
principles of social justice. Going forward, this is something that groups will have to
reconsider and actively resist. Image messaging must be in line with the long term goals
of progress and we must work conscientiously to “walk the walk.” So even if it means
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217
The four markets are Asia Pacific; Europe, Africa, Middle East; Latin & South America; and North
America.
218
An expansive set of advertisements produced by large advertising agencies for domestic and
international social justice groups is on file with the author.
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not making as much money on a given fundraiser or appeal letter, we consider the future,
and acknowledge that it is not worth using deceptive, sensational, stereotypical, or
overly-simplistic images in our quest for money.
Now to discuss the resources funneled into the ad agencies in exchange for their
photo-based campaign work. The money organizations pay for the production and
placement of major media campaigns is in the millions of U.S. dollars, annually. These
corporations exist to drive consumption and global capitalism—they make
advertisements—and as has been noted, their role in society is at odds with the principles
of social justice. They also provide their services to others whose roles in society are at
odds with social justice advocacy, such as military contractors like Northrop Grumman,
Lockheed, and Boeing, and multinational corporations that exploit workers and pollute
communities around the world to extract petrol, minerals, metals, and foodstuffs,
companies like Chevron, Texaco, Monsanto, Dole, and Chiquita. Some ad agencies have
even served at the pleasure of ruthlessly homicidal, despotic regimes, such as the agency,
Burson-Marsteller (B-M), which ran the Argentine dictatorship’s self-promotion
campaign. As it conducted the Dirty War, B-M was distributing stickers and buttons and
banners proclaiming, “los argentinos somos derechos y humanos.” With its explicit play
on the words “human rights”/“derechos humanos,” the ad was interpreted to mean, “we
Argentines are right and human/humane,” and “we Argentines are the embodiment of
human rights” (Burson-Marsteller & Harguindeguy, 1979; Kaiser, 2000; Seoane, 2006, p.
224). They also did promotional disinformation work for Romania's despot, Nicolae
Ceauşescu, for Indonesia as it massacred and occupied East Timor, for Exxon after their
Alaskan oil spill, for Union-Carbide (Dow Chemical) after their factory gas leak
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devastated Bhopal, India, and for dozens of other corporations that needed quick-acting,
effective public relations work after the public found out they violated people’s rights and
committed crimes on a mass scale (Beckett, 1997; Cooney, 1979; Livesey, 1996;
Ravindran, 2002). Do we want what few resources we have going to corporations who
care not at all about rights and justice? Long ago, when ad agencies were found to be
propping up repressive regimes and accepting huge paychecks, to boot, they went on
record saying things like, “Whom you work for is a business decision, not a moral one,”
and that there is “nothing to feel guilty about” (Cooney, 1979, p. 1). Surely those abused
by the regimes may feel otherwise—as should social justice advocates. The same ethos
continues to hold, putting advertising agencies in direct opposition to social justice work,
so even if their services may be of some use to us we should reject the urge to retain
them.
Some will argue that we in advocacy cannot control everything, cannot help if
some of our money goes toward groups that do not share our goals, and the services
rendered and the funds raised by the advertisers are worth the potential drawbacks, but
this is not advocacy with vision and commitment, it is well-meaning but half-hearted.
We absolutely can control our messaging and where we spend our resources, and it is
imperative that we do so as part of modeling the world we are working to realize. Even
“mere” affiliation with those who pollute, exploit, make war, and worse, is an affiliation
social justice advocates should not tolerate.
Instead, we can make our own campaign work, as we always have, or at least turn
to photographic marketing groups in our own circle, such as imMEDIAteJustice (IMJ),
The Sparrow Project, Riptide Communications, and PROOF. Sometimes it is difficult to
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know if a firm is committed to social justice or simply using the correct buzzwords. For
example, Emerson, Wajdowicz Studios (EWS) plays up its “social responsibility,” “vast
international experience working on projects related to social injustice,” touts itself as a
“leading practitioner of socially responsible, issue-driven visual design,” and does
legitimately terrific work for the United Nations and MSF, among others. However, they
turn around and quietly do work for Time Warner, Fortune Magazine, Pepsi, banking and
credit companies, keeping it somewhat under wraps, possibly because they want to corner
the niche social justice market rather than attempt to compete with multinational
heavyweights like Ogilvy and Saatchi & Saatchi. This makes it problematic to support
an agency like EWS. Similarly, there are marketing groups that started out intending to
do social justice work, exclusively, but quietly expanded because they needed the capital
to stay afloat and campaigns for major corporations provide that security (LuxDigital;
Pro-Media; Voices of Hope Productions).
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We social justice advocates need to do our
research if we are going to spend resources on photographic marketing. When we deem
it necessary to look beyond our own ranks for image-based content and marketing, we
should at least remain within the advocacy community, among those who share our
values and will both make work that reflects social justice principles and reinvest the
resources received in related endeavors.
Social justice workers will probably always need to produce compelling images
and campaigns; the issue is how we go about it. Considering that we as advocates and
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Links to the websites of these groups in the order mentioned (current as of January 2015):
imMEDIAteJustice (IMJ), CA: immediatejusticeproductions.org; The Sparrow Project, NY:
sparrowmedia.net; Riptide Communications, NY: riptidecommunications.com; PROOF, NY: proof.org;
EWS, NY: designews.com; LuxDigital, NY: luxdigital.com; Pro-Media, NY/CA: promediacomm.com;
Voices of Hope Productions, voicesofhope.tv.
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organizations are not doing the “market research” to test campaigns for effectiveness,
there is little basis outside of faith in “experts” to continue working with major ad
agencies. We have no proof that their work has been stronger than our own. Think of
grassroots campaigns encouraging consumer boycotts against Lufthansa in response to
their part in immigrant deportation (Eckert, 2000), which was sometimes just a stark
photo of a human cage in an airport cargo area with facts below or superimposed. Other
groups, from the globally-recognized Amnesty International
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to the hyper-local U.S.-
based group, ACORN,
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have produced their own image-based campaigns, manifesting
in flyers, posters, postcards, email campaigns, appeal letters, banners, and more. New
York’s Picture the Homeless and Boston’s nonprofit Ads Against Apartheid (AAA)
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named themselves for the very kind of in-house photo-campaigning that they do. AAA is
exclusively committed to making bold, photo-based public statements about Israel’s
crimes against Palestinians. The images are large, graphic, and spread throughout the
mass transit system, providing the general public with facts and statistics about the
conflict—including citations to U.N. reports—and point viewers to opportunities to
become involved. Picture the Homeless focuses on urban housing and poverty, and
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For example, the 2007 “Tear Down Guantánamo” campaign, featuring stark black and white images
of bound and hooded prisoners lined up on the floor, backs against a wall, being watched by a faceless
guard. Originally hosted at tearitdown.org, people could sign a petition, join a local event, request more
information, or tour the site and read more about conditions at Guantánamo. After the campaign ended,
tearitdown.org began to redirect to amnestyusa.org/our-work/campaigns/security-with-human-rights,
Amnesty International’s launch page for campaigns regarding the “War on Terror.”
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ACORN stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. It was founded in
1970 and forced to close after unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud and misuse of federal funds
became a national scandal, destroying their reputation, and scuttling the entire enterprise (Brooks, 2013;
Dreier & Atlas, 2008; Dreier & Martin, 2010). Reports from the Government Accounting Office (GAO) &
Congressional Research Service (CRS) vindicated ACORN (Doyle, Jefferson, Peterson, Taylor, & Thomas,
2009; Larence, 2010, 2011) but came too late. Their voting rights campaigns used images from the Civil
Rights Movement that stirred recollections of violent voter intimidation, poll taxes, and literacy tests.
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AAA’s mission statement: “No more long-winded articles no one reads. No more silence. We will
advertise atrocities against the Palestinian people everywhere.” More here, adsagainstapartheid.com
(2014).
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melds photographic campaigning with direct action. These internally designed
campaigns, and ones like them, have collected millions of petition signatures, churned
out millions of advocacy letters, turned out millions of protestors to rallies, raised
awareness within international social networks, and likely also resulted in significant
financial support from those who could not participate in more direct action. But most
importantly, they have brought countless people to social justice causes that work from
the ground, up, advancing on principles of action and unity. Partners In Health (PIH) did
their own advertising to raise awareness around collapsed infrastructure and the spread of
disease following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The photographs were honest if
occasionally bleak, and the “ads,” if you could call them that, were plain—a picture, a
logo, a bold font—hosted on a website they set up dedicated to their relief work,
StandWithHaiti.org. The campaign was shared by millions of people online, and any
money raised went toward their organizational efforts as opposed to ad agencies.
Supporters of PIH even made their own ads for them and shared those. Articles in the
Chronicle of Philanthropy and elsewhere even highlighted the Haiti campaign and
included it in studies on effective appeals (Adelman, 2011; Barton & West, 2011; Lieu,
2011).
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We can do our own photography and campaign design, which also means we
keep control of our resources and stay true to our politics.
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223
The study cited revealed a huge uptick in donations to Partners in Health:
Dollars raised in 2009: $2,920,000
Dollars raised in 2010: $28,000,000
Percent increase: 858.9%
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Ernest C. Withers (1968). “I Am A Man, Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, TN, March 28, 1968.”

The I AM A MAN campaign was self-developed by striking Memphis sanitation
workers and became one of the most iconic of the Civil Rights Movement (M. Berger,
2010; Estes, 2000). The strike campaign achieved its goals (Caldwell, 1968), but the fact
that over fifty years later their images still circulate tells us the campaign imagery was
successful, as well. The message and composition were direct, consisting of over a
thousand African Americans holding signs with a simple phrase, composing photographs
for themselves and for the press. Despite the “plain” nature of the campaign, its effect
was moving and powerful, and continues to be. This campaign was posters, people, and
photographs—no ad agency necessary. People may question whether such a campaign
could attract attention and be as successful, but recall the many viral campaigns that

L to R: U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, education activist and Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Malala Yousafzai, journalist Christiane Amanpour, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron
join the #bringbackourgirls viral campaign against Boko Haram, a religious fundamentalist
group, that kidnapped more than 200 Nigerian girls enrolled in school (2014).

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mimic this tactic: people posing for photographs of themselves, holding up a piece of
paper with a blunt sentence or simple hashtag phrase—“bring back our girls,” “NO H8,”
“myNYPD,” or “I am a Primate for Progress.”
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This is I AM A MAN for the twenty-
first century set; today’s tweeters are cribbing from the Civil Rights grassroots media
playbook. It is proof that our campaigns need not be slick, sensational, expensive, or
outsourced.
The progressive community would be well-served to engage only in major
corporate advertising on a limited basis, if at all, so as to avoid both sending mixed
messages with images and putting money into companies that explicitly serve interests at
odds with social justice.
Hell is empty
And all the devils are here.
—The Tempest
225

The concept of human rights
“All the devils are here,” indeed. Because of humans, the world can be an
absolutely, unrelentingly horrible place—we cause immense suffering. But just as there
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224
In order, the campaign slogans here reference: the more than 200 Nigerian girls kidnapped by
religious fundamentalists to prevent them from getting an education, #bringbackourgirls; the gay rights
campaign in California against Proposition 8, a law to prohibit same-sex marriage, #noh8; a photo-
campaign waged on social media that turned an NYPD self-promotion scheme back against the NYPD,
where New Yorkers shared photographs of police officers beating people in public, for example during
Occupy Wall Street, instead of nice photos posing with members of the NYPD as the department had
hoped, #myNYPD; and an anti-vivisection campaign against public universities using tax-payer dollars to
perform live experiments on monkeys #primateforprogress. These campaigns have the potential to quickly
go international because of social media. Some may criticize these campaigns as hollow, as “hashtag
activism” for famous people (Sisto, 2014), but we must not forget that they began as grassroots efforts.
Only after success at the grassroots level did they attract the attention of high-powered journalists and
politicians, which leads to greater awareness and strategizing among social justice groups about how to
bring the unaffiliated into the activist fold. This is successful advocacy, not pointless or wrong-headed,
even if, as I do, one tends to dismiss celebrity engagement and endorsements as hollow and trendy. On this
point, and on the point of these campaigns in general, Stanford sociologist and professor, Susan Olzak told
NPR, “[t]here's evidence that particular signs—as well as other visual symbols—diffuse across locations,
regions, countries and movements. People believe they're useful, and they probably are” (Katz, 2014).
225
Ariel to Prospero, Act 1, Scene 2, Lines 215-216 (Shakespeare, 1611).
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are humans committing terrible wrongs against their fellow man and the natural
environment, there are humans working every day, in every place, to enshrine and
promote human rights, and protect our planet and ourselves from total destruction. It is
argued that every culture on earth has some concept of human rights
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(An-Na’im, 1995;
Panikkar, 1984; Panikkar & Sharma, 2007; Renteln, 1990), but the West, with the United
Nations it created, countless international treaties, and human rights organizations, has a
rather rigidly defined sense of human rights and a corresponding regime. It is this regime
that collides with groups and nations that have different notions of and ways of realizing
human rights (An-Na’im, 2010; Mutua, 2001, 2002).
227
The fact that there are
disagreements about universalism and whose tenets should reign, worldwide, undermines
the West’s preference for exporting, even forcing, its norms on other countries. This
preference becomes more questionable given that one of the tenets of Western human
rights philosophy is that we are all equal, all free, free to make their own decisions, and
that all cultures are valid and valuable, even if we are uncomfortable with certain
practices within.
228

It is unjust that the West frequently imposes its standards, and sometimes
violently enforces them while preaching non-violence; it could be argued that this
tendency, itself, is a human rights violation. All nations and cultures should work
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226
These generally incorporate concepts of both environmental rights and environmental stewardship
(Padhy, 2008; D. Shelton, 1991; E. B. Weiss, 1990).
227
These norms tend to privilege the world’s white and wealthier populations, however the situation
appears to be improving with greater attention being paid to the concerns of people who are minorities,
especially the indigenous and disability rights communities.
228
I am not saying I take this position, but the West should say they do not actually believe all cultures
are equal and valid, because that is not at all how the West behaves. The West ought to more publicly
proclaim that the principles of national autonomy, self-determination, and sovereignty are, in its opinion, to
be subjugated to other human rights, namely those of the individuals in countries that do not fully subscribe
to Western notions of human rights. Until then, the hypocrisy undermines Western attempts to encourage
greater rights adoption.
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together on the matter of universal human rights and deciding what they are, whether
there should be a hierarchy of them, and when and how they should be enforced. A
powerful clique shaped the current human rights system’s rules and enforcement options
with insufficient participation from marginalized states and groups, therein. There is also
the matter of a “hierarchy of rights,” which rights are considered more important and take
precedence. While the West tends to favor the “first generation” rights—civil and
political freedoms such as voting and due process—many other countries would prefer to
first secure the rights to things like food, shelter, education, and health. With Western
domination of the rights regime, the “first generation” rights have enjoyed a privileged
status, even as the West does not always fulfill these commitments.
Questions regarding full participation and enforcement acquire a sharper edge
when one considers the regular commission of human rights violations by the West,
violations too often committed with impunity. From illegally conducted international
wars, invasions, incursions, and interventions,
229
to routine, illegal domestic abuse of
citizens and non-citizens,
230
I would argue that the West is not in a position to
legitimately impose its human rights norms on others. The West violates its own norms
daily—and then restricts journalists and photographers from exposing these violations,
even imprisoning whistleblowers and activists, lengthening their stays behind bars with
charges of terrorism.
If given the chance, photography can help us think about human rights and social
justice issues; it can show us what is happening, expose hypocrisies, highlight solutions,
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229
Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Panama, Afghanistan, Iraq, others.
230
Immigration raids, secret rendition, torture, police brutality, solitary confinement, prison crowding,
homelessness, racial profiling, Western genocides, indefinite detention, capital punishment, others.
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and help us make decisions about how to advance our global community. It would be
ideal if photographers are given unfettered access to difficult situations, their images are
allowed to reach the public, and afforded the chance to be part of the march for social
progress. The question remains regarding whether or not enough of the public will
embrace these images and insist the West live up to its human rights commitments, but a
new photographic approach should be given a chance. Its ability to show us things we
cannot personally observe but in which we nonetheless have personal and political
interest, means it could potentially move us towards truly international cooperation and
the development of fair human rights norms and enforcement mechanisms. Our current
system is imbalanced and unjust, but social justice advocates—including the activists and
photographers who, every day, make the road by walking—are already working on this
front. They struggle against difficult, sometimes deadly,
231
governments and unjust laws,
trying to make a world that is more safe and fair for all of us. They strive to show us
difficult truths and invite us to walk alongside them in the effort to expand rights,
opportunity, and security for all. Human rights are not only for those in the privileged
West, and are not only those rights preferred by those governments (that is, the “first
generation” rights). Social justice photographers work to realize rights for all of us. The
concept of human rights is incorporated into how they go about their work, how they
work with people to become familiar with issues and communities and then go on to
visually capture and disseminated the above with great care and respect, avoiding
exoticism. The concept of human rights motivates their work from start to finish,
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
231
War correspondents like Tim Hetherington, Anja Niedringhaus, and James Foley, regularly die in
conflict areas, but so do reporters subjected to police violence in their own comparatively quiet Western
communities.
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meaning they are always striving to make deep, participatory work, not exploitative,
where a photographer nabs the money-shot and runs. Photographers for social justice
think about all of the issues discussed above—ownership, representation, aesthetics,
responsibilities to community, mainstream media engagement, and so on—and make
work in a way that aligns with core rights and principles.
Keeping in mind key working principles, we can move through the photographic
process and think about how to bear out those principles in similar situations that may
arise.
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For social justice photographers, it is important to reach beyond a simple notion
of consent and strive for collaboration and participation. Those being photographed
ought to be given the opportunity to be involved in the production of photographs of and
about themselves. Of course, matters of taste and artistic eye are central for
photographers, but composing a good photograph need not come at the expense of the
agency and identity of those being depicted. We can encourage photographers to invite
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232
As a more general matter, the case may be instructive and provide future research agendas for those
interested in norm diffusion. We know little about how indigenous groups come to embrace international
human rights norms (Checkel, 1997; J. W. Davis & Cortell, 2000; Keck & Sikkink, 1998; Khagram, Riker,
& Sikkink, 2002; Merry, 2006; Pettenger, 2007; R. Price, 1998; Risse-Kappen, Ropp, & Sikkink, 1999;
Risse & Sikkink, 1999; Simmons, 2009) particularly because indigenous groups are generally not
participants in the development and formalization of the norms and treaties—even some that are allegedly
designed to promote their interests (J. Atkinson & Scurrah, 2009; Blaser, de Costa, McGregor, & Coleman,
2010; Blaser, Feit, & McRae, 2004; Ermine, Sinclair, & Jeffrey, 2004; Fitz Gibbon, 2005; Hokowhitu et
al., 2010; Howard, 2003; Ivison, 2000; Jentoft, Minde, & Nilsen, 2003; Nafziger & Nicgorski, 2009;
Nafziger et al., 2010; Spivak, 1988; Tuhiwai Smith, 1998). Putting aside the problematic nature of that
fact, itself, perhaps there are greater lessons to be taken from this local triumph. For instance: how does
norm diffusion come to pass among disenfranchised and disconnected groups? How can indigenous
peoples and other marginalized groups use these norms successfully? We know little about how human
rights norms diffuse, and less still about how they reach and serve the populations they are intended to, and
future research could explore this territory. Still another possibility for future research would explore how
the lessons learned from this case study may be applied to other indigenous struggles against other Western
cultures and markets—for example, intellectual property claims against pharmaceutical companies that
have patented indigenous remedies, or against corporations which have trademarked native symbols for
branding purposes. No doubt there are other known cases, and there will be more to come as our worlds
continue to collide. Exploring this case and its attendant issues will be productive because not much is
known about the process of norm diffusion and the local or domestic impact of “high” human rights. The
bulk of completed and in-progress studies focus on diffusion of rights among states, or states and
international bodies—be it a treaty body, NGO, or IGO. Local diffusion is important, too.
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their subjects’ preferences regarding how they see themselves or would like to be
portrayed as opposed to how the photographers, as outsiders, would like to portray them.
This may not always work—there may not be a “more favorable” way to portray the
subject, or the subject may not have a preference or even a desire to participate, but
giving people the option treats them as individuals, acknowledging that they have a stake
in the photographs being taken and the cause the photographs are meant to bolster.

A new social justice photography
There exists a wide range of viewpoints regarding the use of photography in the
human rights context. Some feel that all scenes, regardless of how “inflammatory,”
potentially degrading or disturbing they are, must be photographed and made public.
Photographers are tasked with showing the world “as it is” and current events as they
happen (Panzer & Caujolle, 2007; Strauss, 2005), and this is a task that exists
independent of how uncomfortable the viewer may feel in response. Some in human
rights advocacy feel the same way, but their rationale tends to focus on the potential to
motivate people—the more dire the circumstances depicted, the more likely people are to
be shocked into action—or so the belief goes (Jasper & Poulsen, 1995). Some in ethics
and cultural studies, however, suggest that deliberate care must be observed in selecting
which photographs are shown to the world (Strauss, 2005), if that same care is not taken
by the photographer as they do their work. The phenomenon of “compassion fatigue”
remains a popular idea (Cohen, 2001; Moeller, 1999), and coupled with issues of
representation and colonialism, many a photographer interested in doing the right the
thing finds herself at a loss. Maybe photography cannot influence world events and
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inspire activism as it once did; perhaps, as many political scientists suggest, pressure and
visual shaming are of no use because it is regime-type that dictates human rights practices
(Lutz & Sikkink, 2001; Moravcsik, 1995; Zanger, 2000).
To have the best possible discussion regarding human rights practices, I think it is
important to know what is meant by “practices,” particularly because these have real
world effects on individuals and widespread policy implications. To illustrate, in a
Washington Post/ABC News poll completed in July 2009,
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almost half of respondents
stated that they support using torture, against terrorism suspects if deemed “necessary”
(not convicts, but suspects). But what does torture mean?
234
It is unclear whether the
respondents know what torture entails or what it looks like. Odds are they do not. If
shown photographs of someone who has endured or died from torture, would the survey
respondent still support its use? How can citizens make such important judgments
without quite knowing what the words mean? I firmly believe that knowing what torture
“looks like” would make many, if not all, change their minds about its use.
235
The vague
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233
Below are the poll question and its results. Note I refer to the most recent results from use of this
question, as phrased, from the poll released in late June 2009:

31. Obama has said that under his administration the United States will not use torture as part of the
U.S. campaign against terrorism, no matter what the circumstance. Do you support this position
not to use torture, or do you think there are cases in which the United States should consider
torture against terrorism suspects?

Poll date Support not using torture There are cases to consider torture No opinion
6/21/09 50 46 3
4/24/09 49 48 2
1/16/09 58 40 2

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postpoll_062209.html?sid=ST2009062304056 (TNS
Intersearch, 2009).!
234
Also, what does “necessary” mean? Who decides what is “necessary?”
235
This is similar to the what became known as the Marshall Hypothesis, named for U.S. Supreme
Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and his assertion that the death penalty would be abolished if the public
knew precisely what it entailed. See Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972). Photography is not allowed
at executions, and only under very limited, strictly controlled circumstances are photographs allowed in
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vocabulary of torture so widely employed—“enhanced interrogation technique,” “stress
position,” “sleep deprivation,” “waterboarding”—purposely obfuscates our understanding
of torture. I do not think that even the most detailed descriptions can convey all of the
processes and effects of torture as well as the lives it destroys. Images can help us do
that. Survivors of injustice deserve to make their claims heard and an opportunity to hold
their perpetrators accountable.
The ultimate goal of this research is to help devise guidelines that build a new
photography, one to be used by both those suffering rights abuses and those seeking to
support those in strife. Because of the way photographs still function as evidence of
crimes, we need to empower people—be it survivors, journalists, activists, or
humanitarian workers—to holistically document these matters, however difficult.
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I
want to maximize their use of photography, increase the effectiveness of their campaigns
for justice, and help them navigate the complicated web of media and government
controls to help them reach people around the world and effect lasting change.
Photography has proven to be a powerful political tool and it can continue to be.
To that end, let us begin to discuss what principles and practices will be embodied
by a new social justice photography. First, this new photography—photography for
social justice—is prefigurative. To be prefigurative means that we, right now, make and
live the world we want in the future. We are models for that future today. We take the
process to be as important as the destination; the “means” and the “ends” are equally
important. If we claim to want a world where equality and justice are the rule, we cannot
subjugate, oppress, and exploit people en route to or in the name of securing that world—
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jails and prisons.
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“Difficult” on multiple levels.
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we cannot allow ourselves to use each other because we think it might help us more
quickly achieve our goal. In short, to live prefiguratively is another way to say, “be the
change you want to see in the world.” It is living that change, now; it is living as though
we exist in that future world, now. And for photographers interested in making social
justice more of a reality in the future, it means modeling our conduct—our photographic
approach and visual style—in a manner consistent with social justice.
This prefigurative approach takes on added significance when we recall that
images frame and shape our understandings of the world around us, including both
conflict and conflict resolution. Photography can expand our notions regarding what is
possible, to see new options or rethink traditional rules, change our perceptions of
situations and other persons, help us to understand one another, to identify with one
another, to consider how similar issues have been approached, and motivate us to
consider the points of view of those we may consider adversaries. Change can be
difficult, meaning we often prefer the status quo to an unknown, but photography can
help show us options we never thought could exist. Photography can make us more open
to thinking about progressive ways forward as opposed to simply “having our way.”
The new social justice photography will concretely differ from much of the past’s
advocacy work in the way it is done, who does it, and what it shows us. Regarding the
production process, photographers and activists will prioritize collaboration, not
appearing where they are not wanted, imposing themselves, and taking photographs
surreptitiously, by force, or otherwise without some permission. They will invite
communities to participate in image production, to document injustices in their own
societies and crimes committed against them. This approach is meant to result in more
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co-ownership of images and in the campaigns for change that the images are meant to
bolster. We should be making an effort to treat others as we would like to be treated,
respecting people’s needs and privacy, working in a way that is honest, sensitive, and
conveys a solidarity of spirit and purpose. We must think critically about how we would
want to tell the stories of our own poverty or physical violation, and ask others how they
would want to tell theirs. We would not want to feel as though we are some object on
display, we want to be acknowledged and regarded as a human being. Employing this
approach may solidify relationships and ensure greater access, particularly for long-term
struggles. Ideally, this will result in “better” images—ones that make it obvious that the
photographer and photographed have a connection, that there is trust, and they are
working together to reach people elsewhere and invite them to join their struggle. There
will be some graphic photographs, there will be some syrupy sweet photographs, and
there will be many in between; each case will call for different imagery. The constant
term across cases will be that the communities concerned have some say in photographic
representations of themselves and their struggles.
Fortunately, the matter of self-representation can be partially addressed by the fact
that many who practice the new photography will be from the communities suffering
injustice. For too long, advocacy work has existed as a trade and industry dominated by
wealthy Westerners. As has been mentioned, the model involves outsiders who swoop
in, take some photographs for appeals, presentations, and merchandise, and then leave the
scene. By design, these images often reflect and cater to Western sensibilities as well as
the outsiders’ limited understandings of the needs and circumstances of those being
photographed. But in the new social justice photography, increasingly those being
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photographed and those doing the photographing will be of the same community. Future
efforts will enable communities to do and share their own imaging efforts, allowing them
to communicate directly with future allies. With greater agency and without as many
intermediaries, outsiders may better comprehend local struggles and how to get involved.
This will be the practical embodiment of the activist chorus, “nothing about us without
us.”
Finally, the matter of what the new social justice photography will show us, what
it will look like. As was discussed in the section on aesthetics, many advocacy efforts
portray situations as extremely dire or overly rosy—there is misery, there is promise, and
there is little in between. Going forward, social justice photographers will seek balance.
They will not simply take a few shots, but they will make galleries of work that
incorporate straight documentary and artistic tactics. In order to holistically convey
multiple aspects of conflicts and their effects daily life, more images will be necessary.
Those who have been killed at war or at work may not only be depicted as a nameless
dead body, but as an individual who is now absent. The loss of their life to be shown by
their personal ephemera, their clothes, their homes, their family, friends, and neighbors
left behind, and more. How does life go on without this person? Or if there is some
environmental catastrophe, how does the world—human, animal, local, global—change
and continue? The new social justice photography will endeavor to show us what the
land now looks like, where and how people are relocated, if medical interventions are
necessary, the people, corporations, and governments involved, and more. We need this
holistic approach to illustrate to those far away the meaning of each person’s death, the
downstream effects of disasters, how losses radiate through a community, and so on, as
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opposed to these things being mere facts and statistics (Small et al., 2007) in a newspaper
article. The purpose of providing the broadest visualization possible is to help audiences
see both cause and effect and consider how they are related. Realizing how truly terrible
the effect is, while simultaneously being provided with images that highlight causes,
gives them an opportunity to respond concretely in the real world. Driven by emotion
and armed with information, they can think about what they may be able to do to improve
the situation before them. The collections of images will aim to connect viewers to
opportunities for involvement, and to resources for learning more. The new social justice
photography will work to encourage people to help create the conditions necessary to
ensure that the future is not so dire, there are social norms and systems in place working
to prevent instances of rape, war, and torture, and the conditions of poverty, isolation, and
hopelessness. In other words, photography for social justice will be about much more
than the photographs, it will be about turning bystanders into actors.

CONCLUSION
Much long range research will be needed to see if not only this reformed approach
has any effect, but also the effectiveness of the other ways organizations conduct their
visual marketing campaigns. It is a critical issue that remains tragically under-
researched. Because social change takes time, researching the effects of new
photographic modes will be a long project. The goal of social justice photography is to
transform the way we look at one another, how we think about social problems and their
solutions, and even how we produce and consume media in order to effect real change—
all of which will be time-consuming and labor intensive. Creating a new photography
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will require much collaboration, and studying it will be a challenging, multi-disciplinary
effort. However, given that rights work and discourses are increasingly popular, and we
live in a “visual society,” the time is right to create a mode of photography that is
cognizant of past mistakes, takes great care with composition and representation, and
critically engages political issues. This photography will help to envision and then create
a global society that puts people before power, property, or profit. Photographs can
continue to be grand tools for recruiting people to social movements, and improving the
way we do this photography may be a key step in launching and sustaining future
movements.
To this end, researchers can support advocates—and even be advocates
themselves—by finding which photographs mobilize and which anaesthetize, which
perhaps go “too far” and how to judge, and finally, how to most effectively and ethically
deploy these motivational images. There is scant literature to guide activists and
organizations as they make choices about the types of photographs to make and use as
part of their work and outreach. In the next chapter, I use a few campaigns and the
images they use in order to discuss ways we may, and may not, judge the impact they
have had on society and their respective causes. We do not yet know what works best in
mobilizing for social justice, and I look at how what kind of data we may need to help us
answer these questions, as opposed to intuiting what is effective as many a social
movement group has done thus far.

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CHAPTER FOUR

An Approach to Image Impact Analysis:
Accountability for Police Brutality

Knowing that photographs can be a fantastic tool when doing social justice work,
that we have the right to take almost any photograph we please, but understanding we
should take great ethical care in exercising that right, we proceed to the issue of image
impact. Taking the issue of police brutality, I use three cases to discuss the images
related to each and to parse the issues of image selection, dissemination, and the effects
images may have.
The issue of police brutality presents a range of cases to evaluate in terms of
image use and impact. The ranges involve the level and type of misconduct—sometimes
the police violence comes in the form of failures to act and corruption as opposed to
outright murder, the type of brutality that typically comes to mind. Cases also range
when it comes to the number of people involved, from victims to perpetrators to
supporting figures, and all of their identities in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, age, class,
authority status, and so on. Finally, the type of images associated with the event may
vary, and can be anything from direct evidence of the incident to contemporaneous
photographs of the victims or perpetrators.
While videos, not photographs, are often the evidence of police brutality, it is the
moments frozen in time—the video stills—that much of the public readily consumes.
Video is paused for examination in courtrooms; stills are circulated on flyers, posters, and
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banners at public demonstrations; and are made to float alongside the talking heads of
morning, evening, and 24-hour news shows. Frequently, the images used to discuss

In addition to being added to posters, newspapers, pamphlets and other non-interactive forms of
media, stills are used in films and news broadcasts, even when moving images could be used.

particular incidents are the same, whether on the news, in the newspaper, or featured in
activist ephemera. The repetition of particular stills makes the event even more
memorable. Furthermore, viewing images is a different sensory experience than viewing
still images—a fixed image, a static and unified whole, can linger longer. While video
images “disappear almost as quickly as the time it takes to view them,” they flash before
our very eyes, whereas photographs and video stills “stop[] time” (Hirsch, 2003, p. 72)
and “create spaces of contemplation” (Murray, 2013, p. 101). Still images give us time to
look, to think about what we are seeing, and then to make decisions about whether the
actions captured for perpetuity make a moral demand of the viewer. Images used in the
three cases I present here differ from one another, allowing us to explore a range of
photo-deployment practices within the activist fight against police brutality.

Case Selection
The unfortunate truth is that there are thousands upon thousands of examples of
police brutality in the United States, a great many of which are associated with some
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form of visual record. Because of this, it would be somewhat easy to conduct an
evaluation of U.S. cases, alone, however I deliberately selected three cases from three
separate countries—one case from South Africa, one from England, and one from the
United States. The police violence reviewed in this chapter shocks the conscience, and
when images of the incidents surfaced, they rocked their respective societies. Somehow,
this incomprehensible barbarity occurred in democratic, so-called “civilized” societies,
three countries where rule of law is trumpeted as a fundamental condition of the state.
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The cases are linked across borders because, in each instance, young men were horribly
brutalized by state agents in societies that tout due process and respect for human rights
as basic values. While these three countries claim to protect and take rights seriously,
often invoking identical language and phrases, we still have these horrible instances of
brutality. Another reason for selecting key cases from South Africa, England, and the
United States is that these states are discussed in other sections of this dissertation
because of their formal and informal policies concerning rights and photography.
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It is worth noting that in many other countries that purport to hold these values, police violence is, in
fact, extremely rare. While in the United States it is quite normal for individuals to be gunned down by
police while they are prone, surrendering, or even while held down and handcuffed, police in other
countries often appear to show greater restraint. For example, a 2012 report of Germany’s police indicates
that they discharged only 85 bullets in all of 2011. Police in the United States trounced that figure: during
just the month April 2012, Los Angeles police fired over 90 bullets at one high-speed chase suspect
(Blankstein & Curwen, 2012), and New York police fired over 80 rounds at one murder suspect (Clinton,
2012). Despite the fact that, unlike many other countries, the United States does not have a comprehensive
national database or rudimentary record of police shootings, the general consensus is that shots fired by
police at individuals in the United States tend to connect and kill or seriously injure—as they are intended
(Balko, 2013; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 2014; Lowery, 2014; Staff writer, 2014b; Wagner,
2014). Alternatively, upon examination of the German report, shots are generally not meant to do either:
49 of the 85 fired shots were warning signals; six people were ultimately killed by police bullets that year
(Staff reporter, 2012a). Meanwhile, even further away from the U.S. norm is Iceland: it was not until the
end of 2013 that police killed someone, and afterward, the whole country mourned. A news editor for the
National Broadcasting Service remarked, “The nation was in shock. This does not happen in our country.”
As of August 2014, not a single additional shot had been fired by any of Iceland’s police officers (Tong,
2013). All of these countries claim due process is paramount and violence discouraged, but if actions speak
louder than words, the actions under review here suggest some countries are less committed to these values
than they admit.
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Finally, these cases are the iconic ones, the ones that have lingered in the public
imagination. When people in these different countries are approached and asked about
police brutality, about the case that made police brutality an “issue” in their country, they
almost invariably mention the same ones. The cases they mention are the cases I review
here: Hector Pieterson of South Africa, Stephen Lawrence of England, and Rodney
King
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of the United States.
In the end, each case left profound and indelible marks on the social and policy
landscapes of their respective countries. The images of the brutality they faced raised
awareness from the local the international level, launched social movements, and led to
gradual changes
239
and improvements concerning the scourge of police violence.
240

These images and these effects are reviewed here. Having discussed in earlier chapters
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238
Also worth noting with respect to these cases, especially Rodney King, is that when subsequent
incidents occur bearing any similarity—namely, when young men are gunned down by police—these cases
resurface and become part of the conversation about those subsequent incidents. Community leaders
discussing the shooting deaths of black youth invariably go back to Rodney King’s beating as a way to
highlight that this is not a new or isolated phenomenon (Nolan, 2014). Some might view this as unfair,
unsubstantiated conflation of completely different situations, but the communities directly affected strongly
disagree. These iconic cases continue to deeply affect the way people interpret and react to police violence.
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William Yeomans, professor of law and a former federal prosecutor, argues that the images make all
of the difference to the Justice Department, and perhaps others with the power to indict police officers.
Even if there is not a conviction in response to an instance of police brutality—an extremely rare
occurrence regardless of the circumstances or evidence—having images of the incident can mean there is at
least an investigation. Otherwise, incidents are swept under the rug, forgotten by everyone but the victims
and their immediate family and friends. When asked about the difference in cases that are dismissed versus
one that was about to proceed, Yeomans remarked, “[w]e have a powerful witness, and that is the video”
(Williams & Williams, 2014).
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There are many, many other cases of images of police brutality being part of campaigns for social
change, and even have been shown to, themselves, had an impact. For example, the images of police
assaulting clearly non-violent, non-resisting journalists and participants of Occupy Wall Street are
associated with shifts in public opinion in favor of the protesters. Whereas the majority of the U.S.
population initially opposed the camps and the movement, in general, repeated instances of shocking police
violence—for example, the pepper spraying of seated students at UC Davis, and journalists and other non-
violent demonstrators being punched, kicked, dragged, and fired upon—led many to sympathize with the
injured and wider cause (DiCamillo & Field, 2011; Kohut, Doherty, Dimock, & Keeter, 2011; Public
Policy Polling, 2011). However, these images and incidents did not play out in the public eye over a great
length of time, did not feature indictments and court battles, and were not accompanied by major social
justice campaigns that focused on them, in particular. Such features are central to the police brutality
visited on Pieterson, Lawrence, and King, and thus, make them more appropriate for thorough review, here.
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the importance of images in social justice efforts, in this chapter I review my three critical
cases of image deployment in response to police misconduct, and follow with a general
discussion of image impact assessment.

Hector Pieterson
Hector Pieterson was barely thirteen years old when he was gunned down by
police at a public gathering in broad daylight. Because of a photograph, his shooting
death was international news the morning after it occurred. The scourge of Apartheid
had been ravaging South Africa for decades and opponents, particularly students and
people who were poor, began organizing demonstrations to undo the brutal caste system.
It was at one of these early demonstrations that police murdered young Hector.
That day, though young and not previously involved in the protests, Hector decided to
join older family members and friends involved in the anti-Apartheid movement. He was
among those near the front of the group as the government ordered the police to
“disperse” the crowds in Soweto. Witnesses reported that as the shots rang out, people
scattered, and those who had been hit simply crumpled to the ground.
Hector, fatally wounded, was scooped up by an older acquaintance, Mbuyisa Makhubo,
who then ran to seek assistance; Hector’s sister, Antoinette, keeps pace alongside,
screaming. The anguish of his friend and the depth of his sister’s wail are more than
apparent in the photograph that made headlines. They rush to find someone to help,
while a lifeless Hector hangs from another young boy’s arms. In the only way that it
could, the photograph became an extension of their cry for help. In fresh newsprint, the
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trio pled with the international community. The photograph cried out for Hector, and
called for the end of Apartheid.

Sam Nzima (16 June 1976). “Hector Pieterson being carried by Mbuyisa Makhubo after being shot by
South African police. His sister, Antoinette Sithole, runs beside them.” The World.

The photojournalist who captured the police shooting on film had marched with
the students earlier in the day. His name is Sam Nzima, and his image almost did not
make it to the front page. Police who must have recognized the power of images
accosted Nzima and confiscated all of his film—or so they thought. The roll with
Hector’s images was hidden in Nzima’s sock, and made it back to the headquarters of his
employer, The World.
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Journalistic freedom was far from guaranteed under Apartheid,
and Nzima and his editors were afraid about publishing the photograph (Jadoo, 2014;
Molosankwe, 2013). In this case, the police and government would know everyone
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241
Founded in 1937 as The Bantu World, the newspaper’s name was changed to The World in the late
1950s (Couzens, 1976). Until it was shut down by the Apartheid regime, The World was the preeminent
black daily newspaper of Johannesburg, with its front page proclaiming it was “South Africa's Only
National Bantu Newspaper.”
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involved, from those depicted to those in publishing, and retaliation could be easy and
swift. Defiantly, they published the image. Nzima’s editor, Tselito Percy Qoboza, was
imprisoned, The World was banned from publishing, and Nzima fled, never to take
another photograph as a journalist (Peffer, 2009, p. 56). But if the police were trying to
cover up what they had done, it was too late. While no “justice” would ever be done for
Hector, the image was in circulation and the global community was enraged.
The photograph was one with which people around the world could immediately
identify. Young children in distress almost always move viewers. The image also
immediately resonated because it bore a striking resemblance to Michelangelo’s Pietà, an
iconic sculpture in the Catholic Christian tradition,
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housed in St. Peter’s Basilica. This
particular composition of figures is one that has been repeated for centuries in the visual
arts, and for good reason. In the same way that “sight words” are readily recognized and
processed by the brain (Dolch & Bloomster, 1937; Ehri, 1995), the composition of the
Pietà is now one that automatically confers a specific meaning to viewers—namely, an
innocent has died and we are grieving. The “phonics” to be read in the rest of the image,
are the emotions and physical strain evident in their faces, the blurred silver halide
resulting from the haste with which they raced away from the police and their gunfire.
The image communicates the pain, terror, and confusion that police senselessly, illegally,
and viciously foisted on these three youths.
The world grieved in two ways after encountering the image of Hector and his
friends: first the immobilizing grief of sadness, then the active grieving of protest. The
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242
Another bit of Catholic iconography may be found in the photograph within the presence of the three
figures. One may see a “holy trinity,” or alternatively, the three who were crucified together, Jesus Christ
and the two “thieves,” or “rebels,” who met their fates to Christ’s left and his right (The Bible, Catholic
Good News Version, 2005, Mark 15:27, Matthew 27:38).
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police brutality in Soweto was on display for everyone to see, and when they did, they
reacted. Demonstrations were organized throughout South Africa, but they also took
shape in countries half a world away: the United States, UK, India, Brazil, and more.
The “Boycott and Divest” movement
243
exploded, with people around the globe refusing
to purchase goods from South Africa, or invest in businesses there. The people of South
Africa and elsewhere had long been denouncing Apartheid, but after the photograph, the
demonstrations quickly became a daily phenomena, engulfing everywhere from
universities to shops to sporting events to houses of government. People around the
world made lifestyle changes, big and small, and risked their own personal safety to
protest Apartheid South Africa, and eventually it worked. Journalists frequently
approached protestors and asked about their reasons for joining the anti-Apartheid
movement. A common response was, essentially, “that boy, that picture” (Ka, 2010;
Kraft, 1991; Magaziner, 2007; Mathiason, 2004; Whitaker, 2006). They were talking
about Hector Pieterson and the unvarnished cruelty revealed in Nzima’s photograph. The
police murder of Hector Pieterson was caught on camera and spread around the world in
a matter of days, galvanizing publics everywhere, uniting people in the fight to end the
brutal regime of Apartheid that authorized and encouraged summary executions by “law
enforcement.”
This image, regarded by activists and scholars alike as “the single most important
photograph to emerge from the struggle against Apartheid” (Simbao, 2007, p. 52) is
considered the “mortal wound” to the system (Wines, 2006, p. 25) because it “rallied
others to fight Apartheid” (Associated Press, 2006, p. A29). It is an image that
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243
Sometimes abbreviated as BD, or BDS for boycott/divest/sanction, a primarily economic tactic used
to pressure countries, and sometimes corporations, to change policy and practice.
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unequivocally indicts the police, and led global citizens to rise up and demand change—
change that eventually did come to South Africa. It did not, of course, end all police
brutality. However, as a flashpoint event and photograph, one repeatedly credited as
what drove them to say “no more” and join the movement, it is incredibly significant. So
significant, the people of South Africa built a monument and memorial museum to
Hector.
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The memorial honors him and the photograph that rocked the world. Hector’s
death, a police murder captured on film, changed the course of history.
As a closing note, it is important to mention what became of Mbuyisa Makhubo,
the photograph’s Madonna figure, the boy who tried to deliver Hector to safety: no one
knows. Makhubo went missing after the image was published. Many presumed he was
disappeared by the police and Apartheid regime, but in 2013, some began to wonder if he
escaped before that could happen.
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That Makhubo felt he had no choice but to flee—or
that he may have, in fact, been murdered by the police for simply being captured on film
attempting to save someone’s life—is further testimony to the existence of rampant,
wanton police violence. It is also a testament to the power images may wield in our quest
to hold police accountable.

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244
The Hector Pieterson Memorial Museum is located mere blocks from where Hector was felled by
police bullets. It features several sculptures, life-size renderings of Nzima’s photograph, daily tours, open
grounds for independent exploring, and both on- and off-site public programming, year-round. The
Memorial is the product of years of community organizing and over 23 million South African Rand (more
than roughly 2 million USD in 2014) (Mashabane Rose Associates Architects, Hattingh, & Maponyane,
2002). Perhaps predictably, this memorial is regularly vandalized, sometimes with overtly racist markings.
245
Reportedly DNA tests will be performed in Canada on a man going by the name Victor Vinnetou.
Canadian officials with the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) are holding him in regards to
immigration violations. Makhubo’s family believes the detained man is, in fact, their kin, and therefore the
person who attempted to save Hector’s life and then disappeared (Sosibo, 2014).
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Stephen Lawrence
The night that Stephen Lawrence was killed should have been uneventful; he was
heading home after a day of school and visiting family and friends at his uncle’s house.
The son of Black Caribbean
246
immigrants, studying to become an architect, Stephen was
repeatedly stabbed by white supremacists as he waited for a bus on April 22, 1993. He
tried to run for help, but quickly collapsed, the blades having severed major arteries and
punctured his lungs, leaving him audibly gasping for air and choking on blood
(Macpherson, 1999). An off-duty policeman who came upon Stephen covered him with
a blanket instead of taking him to the hospital—a gross violation of policy as, according
to the Metropolitan Police, “[o]nce he came to the scene he was effectively on duty since
Police Constables have to take action in accordance with their position, even if they are
technically off duty” (Macpherson, 1999, p. 76). An ambulance arrived some time later,
but it was much too late: Stephen was dead. Stephen Lawrence suffered a violent, racist
attack and expired on the street without a soul administering aid—including police sworn
to serve and protect. Stephen was just 18 years old.
What happened next demonstrates that police misconduct must not be
conceptually limited to outright murder and physical violence.
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In the following days
and weeks, numerous witnesses—some on the record, some only leaving anonymous
notes out of fear for their lives
248
—offered testimony about the attackers. The police
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246
Stephen was laid to rest in his Jamaica. His parents worried a grave in England would be
“desecrated” (Staff writer, 2012a, p. 50).
247
It is important to note that this is especially so in the context of international human rights—states,
and by extension their executives and police, are expected to respect, protect, and enhance the lives of
people in their borders. It is not strictly the direct commission of violence that is illegal and punishable
under the human rights regime, but failures to act, particularly when coupled with acts of corruption that
violate recognized rights and liberties, are not to be tolerated.
248
For evidence regarding the community’s widespread knowledge of the perpetrators, see Chapter 7 of
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generally refused to follow up, ignoring witnesses entirely, or labeling them unreliable.
The investigation faltered despite evidence pointing to a particular group of young white
men known to violently target people of color. No suspects were officially identified and
pursued, but witnesses, activists, and family of Stephen were smeared and spied on by
police (Cameron, 2013; DTRTP, 2013; Evans & Lewis, 2013a, 2013b; Grover, 2014). In
fact, the first people investigated by the police in connection with the murder were
Stephen’s family members. Officers reasoned that, being black, Stephen’s family must
have been involved in gangs and related illegal activities (Staff writer, 2009). Six years
later, there were still no convictions despite the fact that witnesses and most everyone
else in the neighborhood knew who the suspects should have been (E. E. Jones, 2014):
they were the same suspects who committed racially-motivated stabbings in the months
leading up to and following their murder of Stephen.
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The initial “investigation” was such a complete disaster, it could be no accident.
The incomprehensible series of missteps was soon viewed as deliberate indifference and
obstruction by police, which led to a state investigation of the police investigation. This
became the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry of 1999, headed by Sir William Macpherson. The
Macpherson Report became the definitive account of widespread police corruption and
“normalized incompetence” (McLaughlin & Murji, 1999, p. 374), and is repeatedly cited
as the critical turning point in British police procedures (McLaughlin & Murji, 1999;
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the Macpherson Report. For more information concerning the anonymous notes and phone messages left
by fearful witnesses, including photographs of the notes, see Chapter 13 and the report’s image appendix.
249
At the time, residents and the press generally referred to these as a “spate of racist stabbings” and a
“horrific string of racist attacks,” and they did not stop with Stephen’s murder. There was no question in
anyone’s mind that a gang of white supremacists was attacking people and that it was because of race. So
certain was the public and the press, that Paul Dacre, the chief editor of the conservative, risk averse Daily
Mail, ran an incredibly controversial headline over pictures of the five white men in question: “Murderers:
The Mail accuses these men of killing. If we are wrong, let them sue us.” In the end, these men were
officially identified, investigated, arrested, and tried (Dacre, 1997; Halliday, 2012).
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Travis, 2013). Condemning the police and the legal system as “institutionally racist”
(Macpherson, 1999, pp. 41–55)—a truly groundbreaking characterization and public
indictment—the Lawrence Inquiry validated what people of color and their allies had
been fighting against for years.
The formation of the Inquiry and its resulting report did not come easy, and
importantly, many involved with the justice campaign claim the official effort would not
have come to pass at all but for the galvanizing power of a single image of Stephen
(Phillips, 1999). Hundreds of thousands of people across the UK, including celebrities
and politicians, turned out for events dedicated to Stephen, his cause, and the call for
justice. In addition to regular mass demonstrations, televised benefit concerts,
scholarship memorials, potluck fundraisers, film screenings, and more, were organized
around the country.
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The unifying element, from the postcards, flyers, t-shirts, and
banners to massive screen projections, was the photograph of Stephen that had become
synonymous with outrage at the police and justice system (DTRTP, 2013; Enoch, 2012;
Ferdinand, 2013; Stephen Lawrence Centre, 2014; Unity Concert & Stephen Lawrence
Centre, 2013). It was a photograph carefully selected by his mother, Doreen, cropped
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250
As in Hector Pieterson’s case, a plaque was placed and a memorial built to honor Stephen. Also as in
Hector’s case, these sites are frequently vandalized by racists eager to “send a message” and antagonize the
family, friends, and activists fighting for change in Stephen’s memory (Brough & Parry, 2008, p. 15).
Located within a fifteen-minute drive of the neighborhood streets where Stephen was murdered, London’s
Stephen Lawrence Centre is a community space that focuses on empowerment and education, particularly
for youth and young adults.
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Stephen Lawrence (1993). Lawrence Family file photo [cropped].

close to remove someone else in the full frame, and perhaps to downplay Stephen’s
leaning, crossed-arm, awkward, tough-teenager posture (Lawrence & Lawrence Family,
1993a, 1993b; K. Marks, 1999; Phillips, 1999). Instead of a school photo secured by a
journalist, or a headshot pulled from government ID files, Stephen’s parents were able to
control the image—and thus the narrative—around their son and his life. Stephen was
not a random person: he was a beloved and innocent youth, murdered by racists, and in
death he continued to be brutalized by a racist system refusing to even investigate on his
behalf.
Several generations now associate Stephen’s image as the one that leveled the
Metropolitan Police and forced a grand, unprecedented restructuring and retraining of
personnel. Insisting that the Met could not accomplish necessary changes on its own, the
Stephen Lawrence Family Campaign, Monitoring Group, Amnesty International, and the
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights stood together on
several occasions under banners bearing Stephen’s image, proclaiming that they would be
involved in the reform effort.
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Even Nelson Mandela heard about the incident and
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251
Other major organizations that participated in the process include Runnymede, Campaign Against
Racism and Fascism (CARF), Race Equality Foundation, Institute of Race Relations, and the Racist
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made it a point to visit the Lawrences in the UK, later urging the government to correct
the various missteps in the case and push reform. As one might expect, this was not well
received by the Met, and several individuals and organizations were infiltrated and spied
on by police (Davenport, 2014; Evans, 2014; Evans & Lewis, 2013b). They surveilled
journalists,
252
too, all while they were supposed to be accepting and implementing policy
changes that would preclude precisely these activities.
253
As late as 2006, the
Independent Police Complaints Commission was addressing new allegations that the
police actively endeavored to hid and protect Stephen’s killers (IPCC Staff, 2007)—
allegations resulting in another investigation six years later because they were
unsatisfactorily investigated the first time (Davies, 2012). Once these further acts of
police misconduct were exposed, the campaigns only gained strength, and calls for justice
only grew louder, reaching a new generation of Britons.
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Attacks Monitoring Unit (RAMU) (Burnett, 2012; Kimber, 2002; Rollock, 2009) .
252
In November 2014, six British journalists filed a lawsuit against the Metropolitan police for the
spying activities. Some police named in the suit are still on the force in 2014 despite their decades of
illegal surveillance being well-known to the Met. Police confirmed to have spied on journalists and the
family and supporters of Stephen Lawrence in the 1990s and early 2000s have not been removed and have
continued to spy on journalists and others who report on and encourage police reform (Burrell, 2014). It is
unclear whether this lawsuit may ultimately lead to their dismissals.
253
Additional significant policy changes implemented because of the success of the Stephen Lawrence
campaign concern reform of double-jeopardy rules; race crime (and other hate crime) sensitivity practices;
warrant procurement and execution; pre-arrest, arrest, and custodial practices; witness handling; evidence
preservation; and the imposition of rigid requirements in police reporting, documentation, and investigation
protocols.
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After over two decades, the image of Stephen carefully selected and released by his parents,
continues to unify the campaign for police accountability and anti-racism. Reproduced
for (clockwise from L to R) a projection at a celebrity benefit, a concert poster,
event advertisement, newspaper article, donation bucket, and children’s book.

Over twenty years later, this one image of Stephen—young, slightly leaning,
slightly smiling—remains the one used by the media, as well as the family and other
activists when organizing events in his name. The image is reprinted on pamphlets and
post cards, enlarged to wheat-paste buildings and billboards, stenciled as political graffiti
in both private and public spaces. It also accompanies news stories in print and on
television when related events are reported.
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This image is immediately associated with
gross police misconduct and aggressive, necessary transformation of the Metropolitan
Police in the name of racial justice. Stephen’s photograph continues to motivate and
inspire family, activists, and allies fighting for social change, and stands as England’s
unrivaled symbol of momentous police reform.
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254
One might think the case would be closed after twenty years but a second official inquiry was
initiated in 2014 because of unresolved issues (Davenport, 2014; Dodd, 2014; Evans, 2014).
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Rodney King
Rodney King was a flawed man. Some believe he was so flawed that they
unreservedly blame him, and him alone, for the brutal beating he received at the hands of
Los Angeles police officers on March 4, 1991. Even the dispatcher who requested a
rescue ambulance for King is recorded saying that people like him “should know better
than run, they are going to pay a price when they do that” (Christopher et al., 1991, p.
15). After a night of watching basketball and drinking, King hopped behind the wheel
and drove off with two friends. According to blood alcohol levels taken later that night,
it is almost a medical certainty that he was very drunk when he did that. His driving
attracted the attention of California Highway Patrol, so they instructed him to pull over
and alerted on-duty officers to the situation. Already on parole for robbery (Cannon,
1999), King made a calculated decision to run instead of submit to a traffic stop, leading
police on a wild chase through the Los Angeles valley. When it was over, four
policemen were ordered by their commanding officer to subdue King, and when he did
not submit immediately, they used a TASER
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to disable him, and then proceeded to
pummel him. Seventeen other officers, including the commander, stood by: some simply
watched, some cheered, some flung vile racial epithets (Cannon, 1999; Holliday, 1991).
Across the street, a bystander flipped on his camcorder and filmed almost the entire
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255
TASER stands for Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle—the name of a children’s book (Appleton, 1911)
about a boy’s imaginary weapon similar to what would be later be invented by NASA scientist, Jack Cover.
TASERs resemble boxy, oversized handguns, and when “fired” they extrude wires that pierce clothing and
hook into skin which then deliver a concentrated stream of electric current. The wires themselves leave
deep puncture wounds and large burns, and the electrocution causes temporary full-body paralysis, extreme
pain, nerve damage, and sometimes death (Nystrom, 2012; Pasquier, Carron, Vallotton, & Yersin, 2011;
Stratbucker, 2009; Truscott, 2008).
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beating.
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This tape transformed a potentially forgettable “he-said/they-said,” into an
international incident that would captivate the world for decades.

LAPD officers beat Rodney King (March 4, 1991). Still image from
the official amateur video by George Holliday.

The images of police relentlessly kicking, dragging, punching a prone and
unarmed man, were so shocking that when the perpetrators were acquitted the entire
country—not only Los Angeles—was engulfed in outrage. People speak of the “L.A.
riots,” but they forget that other cities experienced civil unrest after the verdict was read.
Large cities like Chicago, Cleveland, Kansas City, New York, San Francisco, and
Tuscaloosa, as well as sleepy towns like Eugene, Oregon and Eureka, California, all
experienced significant outbursts of rage and disobedience in response to the
acquittals.
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Popular reaction to the brutal beating was not swift and reckless as some
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256
The bystander, George Holliday, could not capture the beating in its entirety: some of it had already
begun, causing him to reach for the camera in the first place. The tape is not missing the beginning because
it was secretly edited, the video starts late because Holliday had not yet activated the camera when the
onslaught began (Holliday, 1991; Holliday & Massarotto, 2015).
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These cities and more are named in a song penned about the King beating, the L.A. riots, and the
tinder-box like cultural context of the time. The song, “April 29, 1992,” was written by a mostly white
band from Southern California, and in part talks about the acts they committed as riot participants while on
the other side of the country in Miami, Florida, when the verdict was announced. They justify their own
acts and those of others by citing both the outrageousness of the images of the beating, the long-simmering
racial tensions, and outright oppression experienced by people of color in Los Angeles (Sublime, 1996).
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misremember. Immediately following the incident, people “remained calm” to “let the
justice system to do its work.” But when the officers were acquitted, that is when the
country erupted. How could this happen? Almost everyone in the world knew what
these four officers had done—having seen the pictures, grappled with the savagery on
display, people everywhere had come to expect nothing less than a guilty verdict to be
delivered by jurors who had seen the same visuals. That justice could still be so
thoroughly denied was too much to accept. Even conservative commentator, Chuck
Todd, called the acquittal “perhaps the lowest point in recent memory” in terms of
ignoring police brutality—so low, it “tore apart Los Angeles and the nation” (Todd, 2014,
at 3:40).
The images required all viewers to acknowledge the human rights abuses on
camera and to take action. The images demanded a response—a singular, particular
response—and when that was not delivered, they gave us the power to revolt. If the legal
system would not provide justice, the people would chase it, in whatever way they felt
they could. This was the uprising of 1992: a physical, occasionally destructive, collective
expression of agony and release by people assaulted, violated, and mocked far too many
times, for far too long.
The acquittal and its aftermath meant that local law enforcement and politicians
had to do something, but the images are what that forced their hands. Without the
images, there would not have been such a profound international outcry, nor would there
be the changes that came to Los Angeles and other departments around the country that
felt compelled to follow suit. As with the images associated with the deaths of Hector
Pieterson and Stephen Lawrence, the images of the King incident led to a prime example
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of the mobilization of shame (Keenan, 2004; MCLI, 2012). The [Warren] Christopher
Commission was called to directly address issues arising from the beating of Rodney
King. Other reporting bodies and investigations were already formed and underway
within the LAPD, but Mayor Tom Bradley argued the King incident required something
new, and far more grand and intensive. The Commission did not limit itself to excessive
force, but worked to root out problematic practices in training, recruitment,
investigations, reporting, discipline, community relations, and citizen complaints. They
also forced Police Chief, Daryl Gates, to take a 60-days leave-of-office. When the report
was released, much to the chagrin of the LAPD, Mayor Bradley used the national press to
send a message: “to those who would block the road to change: stand aside or we will
leave you behind. We cannot, we will not, rest until the Christopher Commission has
changed the way we police our city” (Wire service, 1991). The Rodney King beating
was so shockingly brutal, that even police allies were demanding dramatic changes to the
make-up and entire culture of the department; they would not be satisfied by the
adjustment of a few procedures (Beane, 2000; Christopher et al., 1991). In the end,
progressive changes came to the department’s excessive force policy, recruitment
protocols, the handling of racism and bias, community policing efforts, training norms,
supervision, personnel standards, and internal complaint practices. Disciplinary
procedures concerning these were augmented and made uniform. It took years to
implement these changes, primarily because the department resisted every step, but at
regular reviews required by the Christopher Commission, improvements were noted
(Bobb, Epstein, Miller, & Abascal, 1996; A. Collins & Human Rights Watch, 1998; U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights, 1999).
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While these changes are significant in and of themselves, it would be a mistake to
think department reforms ended with the Commission’s explicit recommendations.
These reforms created the space for proper, thorough investigations going forward, and
thus made a significant difference when evaluating the Rampart Scandal, gang
injunctions, racial profiling, sexual misconduct, and other ongoing illegal activities
within the department. The highly detailed volumes of damaging evidence ultimately led
to the 2001 Consent Decree
258
which placed the department under heightened federal
scrutiny until 2009. This Decree drove further internal change, rooting out rogue police
officers and loosening the grip of the “thin blue line” or “code of silence”—the pressure
individuals feel to not report even in gross cases of police misconduct. In fact, not only
would officers personally committing illegal acts be subject to discipline and dismissal,
but officers who said or did nothing to prevent such acts would be, as well. The “new
standard of accountability” required that “whether or not they personally participate”
(Christopher et al., 1991, p. iv) officers aware of misconduct would be culpable, also.
Without the King incident and the Christopher Commission, the internal reporting
procedures and whistleblower protections would not have been bolstered, making it
incredibly unlikely that the later investigations into police misconduct would have been
so fruitful for the city of L.A. and her residents.
Amnesty International had received allegations of police abuse before the King
beating, but the egregiousness of the beating, made plain by the images, led it to conduct
its first fact-finding mission in September 1991. The team spent over a year investigating
and the results were damning: at times the behavior of the LAPD and Sheriffs amounted
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258
A 1981 Consent Decree was used to increase the hiring of people (Christopher et al., 1991, p. xiii).
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to torture, and too often led to serious injuries and/or death (Amnesty International,
1992). In addition to Amnesty International, the California State Senate formed the
“Special Task Force on a New Los Angeles” (1992) to help with recommendations and
implementation, and Human Rights Watch, the ACLU, NAACP, and other civil society
organizations inserted themselves in the investigation and reform process. These groups
have remained involved in various capacities, and incorporated more grassroots entities
to support the reform efforts, namely with the tasks of oversight and facilitation of
civilian complaints (Chevigny, 1991; A. Collins & Human Rights Watch, 1998; Glasser,
1997; Hoffman, 1993). Since the 1990s, municipal police departments around the world
have come under greater official civilian scrutiny,
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due in large part to incidents like
those of Pieterson, Lawrence, and King. The Rodney King beating, alone, was cited as
the reason over ten major cities launched their own investigatory commissions and
reform boards within a year of the beating (Christopher et al., 1991, p. i), and still more
followed suit after the uprising. Even Los Angeles Police Chief, Charlie Beck, has been
forced to acknowledge that significant, necessary changes have improved his department
because of the pressure put on them by the outrageousness of the King beating, saying,
“[w]hat happened on that cool March night over two decades ago forever changed me
and the organization I love. His legacy should not be the struggles and troubles of his
personal life but the immensely positive change his existence wrought on this city and its
police department” (Mozingo & Willon, 2012, p. A1).
While impressive, the legal and procedural changes spurred on by the brutal
image of Rodney King being beaten are not the only changes that came to society.
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259
Around the world, common names of such formal oversight groups include Ombudsman, Civilian
(Complaints) Review Board, and Police Complaints Authority.
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Because the police brutality was captured on film, the images reached around the world
and led to legal and political changes as well as socio-cultural responses. In the
imagination of people everywhere, the Rodney King incident now encompasses the
beating we all vicariously witnessed, the trial, verdict, the civil unrest, and all of the
formal and informal shifts that morphed the city. The community conversation around
race progressed from black/white to multiracial.
260
Powerful reconciliation efforts began
between ethnic groups living side by side in L.A. riots territory, and community groups
and churches regularly cross cultural barriers to meet and keep relations strong. Other
cultural productions centered on the King incident and its aftermath, including songs,
theater productions, novels, poems, films, gallery exhibits, political cartoons, and even
children’s books.
261
Teachers around the world came to incorporate the Holliday video
and other assorted artifacts into lesson plans, and organizers fighting against police
violence reproduce the video images of King when they produce their own banners and
flyers. These cultural products live on, and continue to influence future generations,
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260
King, himself, is considered to have played a role in this when he famously said, “can we all get
along?” Whites often interpreted this to mean, “can we all just move on? Forget all of this?,” whereas
people of color tended to read it as, “can’t the authorities just leave us alone? Or at least, treat us equally
and legally?” That said, not all Blacks favorably interpreted King’s comments, some going so far as to call
him a sellout, and others wishing him dead for appearing to offer an olive branch to whites and police
(Willie D, 1992).
261
There are some especially famous cultural productions that are the direct result of the Rodney King
incident, but perhaps the most famous is the documentary play, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. The author
felt it was important for audiences to know its origins, so at the outset of the text she writes,
This play is based on interviews conducted by Anna Deavere Smith soon after the race
riots in Los Angeles of 1992. All words were spoken by real people and are verbatim
from those interviews (A. D. Smith, 1993, p. 18).
Dozens of mainstream films incorporate images from the beating of Rodney King, or feature characters
who discuss the incident, from historic biopics like Malcolm X to futuristic dramas like The Matrix
Reloaded (Bigelow, 1995; Kaye, 1998; S. Lee, 1992; R. Shelton, 2002; Stone, 1994; Wachowski &
Wachowski, 2003). Also, many songs were written specifically about the Rodney King beating, though
countless others, especially in rap and hip-hop communities, were aimed more generally at ongoing police
misconduct, from illegal surveillance to racial profiling to physical violence (Bad Religion, 1993; Cypress
Hill, 1992; Dr. Dre, 1992; Ice Cube, 1992; Public Enemy, 1992; Sieving, 1998; Skankin’ Pickle, 1997).
For example, Ben Harper’s song, “Like A King” (1993), is explicitly about the King incident, while Tupac
Shakur’s hard-hitting 1991 missive, “Trapped,” is about all of these things (2Pac, 1991; Nisker, 2007).
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inspiring more activism, and thus, encouraging more policy reform. In all of these cases,
the images drove significant societal changes, and even after decades have passed, they
continue to carry great social significance and affect the socio-political landscape.

Measuring Impact, Moving Forward
In the three cases of police misconduct presented herein, images are credited with
driving the social changes and policy reforms that came to their respective countries. The
images led to visceral reactions in the wider population and drove people to join social
movements and support changing the ways of their police forces. The images, and of
course the stories behind them, were brutal, but also empowering: they gave us the power
to create change. However, some may question how so many can be so confident that it
was the images that made all of the difference and not some other factor. This is fair
skepticism. “Correlation is not causation,” they sing. How can we prove the resultant
changes were the work of the images?
It is a difficult task to prove a clear, direct, causal link between any two things
(Miguel & Kremer, 2001; R. B. Morton & Williams, 2010; Niiniluoto, 1993; Reagan,
2006; Sniderman & Grob, 1996), let alone between two things as complex and
multifaceted as imagery and social change (Ball & Smith, 1992; M. Banks, 2001; King,
Keohane, & Verba, 1994; Merriam, 2009). Because people interpret images differently,
we are likely to respond to them differently. In addition, based on our identities and
personal experiences, each of us has a widely varied tolerance for depictions of graphic
violence, or may feel different levels and types of emotions in response to what a
photograph shows. We also have different personal-political orientations and levels of
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risk aversion and investment when it comes to public policy and activism; an image may
drive one person to direct action, another to vote more carefully in the future, and still
another to do nothing at all in response to an image. It is worth nothing that proving a
particular “media moment” drove—and delivered—social change is equally difficult (P.
K. Manning, 1996).
Understanding and explaining the effect of particular images and media moments
is both interesting and useful, especially for those concerned with social change. If we
can manage to draw credible inferences concerning such things, the next item of
particular relevance to activists is the possibility to predict which images and moments
might drive social change. Predicting how the general public overall will respond to an
image may be impossible—societies are not monoliths—but perhaps somewhat reliable
predictions can be made with respect to groups within society. As with understanding or
explaining which images and moments led to social change, there may be identity
markers that could help partially or imperfectly predict how certain sectors are likely to
respond. This would be a terrific reason for movement groups and experienced
researchers, particularly researchers from these groups, to study these questions.
Undertaking several projects and using a variety of populations in a mixed-methods
format would be most strategic given there are multiple angles that need to be examined
to begin approaching correct answers.
Opportunities exist to explore these questions and learn about what kinds of
images are most effective for impact and mobilization purposes. The methodological
frameworks of Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR) and Community Based
Research (CBR) lend themselves most readily because they stem from collaborative
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paradigms where researchers and grassroots invested in the same issues come together to
address social problems (Deutsch & Steil, 1988; Freire, 1982; Greenwood, Whyte, &
Harkavy, 1993; Lewin, 1948).
262
We can use this approach to test particular types of
images—as well as theories we may have about types of images—and how people
respond to them. Interviews, focus groups, surveys, interactive games, and digital and
field experiments, all may be undertaken within this paradigm. Content analyses and
meta-studies can help round out these designs, by adding information about media
coverage, popularity, and what researchers in other fields—for example, psychology or
neuroscience—may be learning about issues related to image perception, group
dynamics, and political power.
The studies conducted can illuminate which images are more likely to encourage
various forms of social action. Designs that directly test image effects may incorporate
images from history and historical campaigns, or create new ones that will test particular
image-aspects or even the exact images that groups are considering for future campaigns.
An increasingly popular way to test image effects is found in neuroscience, where
researchers are using biological parameters and medical imaging to see how our bodies
involuntarily respond to visual stimuli. These studies reveal where the eyes are focusing,
if we start to sweat or our heart-rates quicken, and which centers of the brain begin to fire
(Barry, 1997; Bernhardt & Singer, 2012; Brader, 2006; Forgiarini, Gallucci, & Maravita,
2011; Lockwood, 2013; Neuman et al., 2007; Verplaetse, Schrijver, Vanneste, &
Braeckman, 2009), revealing useful information about our emotional-intellectual
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This research is necessarily rooted in the community, as opposed to having outsiders enter and
perform studies on or about the peoples and problems in question (Du Bois, 1898, 1978; Lewin, 1946;
Tuck, 2009; Tuhiwai Smith, 1998)—an academic habit sometimes called “parachuting” (Bastida, Tseng,
McKeever, & Jack, 2010; Blodgett et al., 2010).
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processing. When this information is coupled with our individual predispositions, we can
deduce “action tendencies,” a well-established aspect of human social psychology
research that predicts real-world actions that people may take when they experience
certain emotions (Goodwin et al., 2001; Lazarus, 1991; Lazarus & Lazarus, 1994; M.
Lewis et al., 2010).
Studies can also illuminate if there is response variation within or across certain
populations. It would be wise to vary the way participants are selected and the sample
pools from which they are chosen, using random and representative methods at some
turns, and purposeful, targeted sampling methods at others. Activists may want to know
how their image-campaigns are received by certain groups and overall, therefore
researchers should select study participants from both the general public and from
populations predetermined to have particular socio-political backgrounds, orientations,
interests, or memberships (Corning & Myers, 2002; Edwards & McCarthy, 2007;
McAdam, 1986; Schussman & Soule, 2005; Snow & Rochford, Jr., 1983). Further
studies can drill further into certain sectors, testing and re-testing images, or using new
ones to confirm or refine inferences.
Focus groups and interviews can fill in substantive gaps left by primarily
quantitative studies. For example, we may learn from surveys or experimental designs
that particular images do not spark a reaction, or the reaction that is caused is unexpected.
We may also find out the kinds of actions, if any, that people say they are willing to take
when confronted by certain images. Asking open-ended follow-up questions—in
comfortable, culturally appropriate settings and languages—can help the groups
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understand how the images are functioning, what they are communicating,
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and
therefore, how to refine their campaign efforts.
No one method can suffice for such a complicated research question. One
experiment can involve responses to images in email campaigns and on websites, and
includes people who both subscribe and do not subscribe to particular organizations’
materials and commitments. Another field experiment may involve the use of direct mail
with image-based messages, also sent to both subscribers and non-subscribers. This may
allow us to note if there are meaningful differences with respect to those who are already
attuned to or interested in and supportive of particular organizations and issues, as
opposed to members of the general public. Depending on the design, it can also help us
know how “far” people will go in response to the images: visit a website? Sign a
petition? Attend a meeting? Help organize a demonstration? Commit acts of civil
disobedience that may lead to arrest? These acts fall on a spectrum of involvement, from
very light to rather heavy, and it would be important to know if some images appear to
compel deeper engagement than others. Knowing how images speak to people of all
sorts will help organizers design their campaigns. The findings will not be absolute, but
they can help activists make informed decisions about which image-based campaigns are
likely to succeed—a critical step in protecting and allocating precious resources.
These sets of research designs can be applied to innumerable socio-political
issues: abortion, disability, war, poverty, discrimination, prisons, policing, animal
welfare, environmental protection, and more. Their implementation would be
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It may also reveal if something about the images is considered offensive, insensitive, whether
generally or to particular groups. The organizers can then make an informed decision about the risks of
using such images—it may be that the offense was intentional, but it could also be that they were
completely unaware of how the image would be interpreted.
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undoubtedly complex and costly, but the costs could be shared by organizations,
researchers, and academic institutions, and the findings may be of unquantifiable use by
social justice groups. Pair that with the fact that such research may be seen as providing
a service to society—the findings inform campaigns that help transform our world for the
better—and the effort becomes even more worth undertaking.
Once the efforts above are used to design and implement image-based campaigns,
we can begin to follow real-world metrics
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: do we have new policies emerging? Have
institutional practices changed? Has public opinion shifted or begun to shift? Has the
troublesome activity ceased?
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Have public officials responsible for wrongdoing been
removed from their posts or otherwise disciplined? Recall from chapter three some of the
measures of success that organizations and advertisers use to determine if a campaign has
been “effective”: are organizations growing in terms of official membership, budgets,
attendance at meetings or demonstrations, and the like? Are public figures, from
government to celebrities to community opinion leaders, familiar with the image and
taking up the cause? Have the images “gone viral,” been widely shared via social media
in a positive way,
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and are more mainstream outlets picking up the story and adopting
the organizations’ visual narrative as the dominant one? Are the websites of
campaigning groups receiving unusually high traffic and response to email solicitations?
Many of these are newer metrics for organizations to monitor, but can be as critical as
broadcast news coverage.
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This will involve consistent monitoring tracking of the media and public institutions, as well as the
regular use of surveys on the general public and other relevant populations.
265
Whether the “troublesome activity” is outright illegal, unconstitutional, discriminatory, or otherwise
problematic.
266
Social media success is generally accounted for via “hits,” “likes,” “retweets,” “reshares,” and “hot-
linking” and “hyper-linking” across websites and platforms.
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Also important to recall is that social justice organizations are financially-strapped
and under-staffed—a defining characteristic, many would say—and therefore they cannot
monitor image-impact in-house, nor can they pay to outsource these services.
Furthermore, the systematic monitoring that would be necessary to measure success is
difficult and complicated, even for specialists, meaning organizations probably could not
perform this task in-house even if they had the money, technology, and employees.
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This is another reason why partnerships with funded researchers may be critical to
learning more about these issues. Without fiscal sponsors, the research may never be
fully, properly completed. Social justice groups are doing their best with their own staff
and technologies, but will admit that while their image-based campaign efforts are well-
intentioned and carefully executed, they are not scientifically sound. This research, while
complex and resource-intensive, could be the breakthrough for which social justice
advocates have been reaching for decades.

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A popular tactic of activist groups is to solicit interns and volunteers with certain skillsets to perform
discrete tasks such as these, but it is well-documented that this often goes awry. From broken
confidentiality agreements, to people who leave early or in fact do not have the skills that were requested,
volunteers and interns can be a poor choice (H. W. Johnson, 1988; Rabin, 1976; Rooks & Rael, 2013).
Also, given that organizations often resort to unpaid interns as a money-saving tactic, many question if this
is wrong and exploitative, especially in the context of social justice work which often advocates for fair
labor practices, living wages, and the like. Still others claim the practice violates labor laws (Glatt, et al. v.
Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc., 2013; Greenhouse, 2010, 2013; U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour
Division, 2010).
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CHAPTER FIVE
Conclusion

Photographs can be powerful. While an image, alone, will neither topple a
dictator nor write a new law, the people who see troubling, provocative, mobilizing
images can make these critical changes. Because photographs can play central role in
society—they keep citizens informed, the authorities in check, and democracy robust and
flourishing—the right to photograph must be protected as a human right. This study
advocates for this recognition. The oversight function it performs on everyone from
police to politicians to patrons of corporate enterprise is reason enough to elevate
photography from a hobby and profession to the heights it belongs. In the twenty-first
century, all of us have the ability to watch the watchers, and be guardians of our
democracies. Enshrining the right to photograph as a human right is a novel, necessary
approach to helping ensure images of wrongdoing are captured and circulated. Across
the globe, governmental efforts to restrict our ability to take photographs are evidence
that authorities are threatened by picture-taking; they fear being caught lying or
committing vile and violent crimes, betraying their duties to society. To have the right to
photograph is to have the right to know; it is the right to be informed and to make the best
decisions possible in a democracy. It also allows us to know what is going on elsewhere,
and to make informed decisions about how best to support struggles for rights and
freedoms where injustice is being done. Photography provides every individual a unique
opportunity to speak truth to power, to shine a light on those who would sacrifice the rest
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of us for their own personal or political gains. Thus, the right to photograph must be
unfettered.
To complete this work, I delved into disparate, voluminous literatures that bear on
the issues of law, photography, and social movements, but I synthesized it to carve the
way for photography to be regarded as a human right, and to encourage social justice
advocates to examine and amend their image-based campaign work. Something worth
noting about the literatures is that for a very long time, they have been highly polarized:
authors proclaim the image makes all the difference or the image makes no difference at
all. We should pursue photographs at all cost,
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or we should forget about images
because we are over-saturated and numb to them. The compassion fatigue thesis only
encourages resignation, and plays into the hands of the powerful who seek to maintain
their status and control over society. They would be happy to have us put down our
cameras and leave them to what they like. What we need is action, and work that
encourage people to refuse to accept things as they are and instead consider ways to
overcome hopelessness. This study fills a gap by interrogating the space in between
these ideas about the potential of photography. While I acknowledge that images can be
overwhelming in number and problematic in substance, we do have evidence that they
are effective tools for mobilizing people to push for social change. And to reiterate, part
of that proof is that governments are increasingly trying to criminalize our ability to take
photographs, particularly those that would check their unsavory activities.
This work also serves to remind us that the still image continues to deserve our
attention. Video, film, and viral media are au currant, leaving photographs to fade from
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For example, regardless of the cost to someone’s privacy, dignity, health, well-being, and so on.
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both popular and scholarly consideration. However, even when viewing moving images,
we tend to recall still ones, frames frozen in time, still slices of a moving whole.
Photographs stick with us, and are all around, from newspapers to news broadcasts to
new media. We must persist in our efforts to learn how still images function.
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The
more we learn about how we consume them, and why we embrace or reject them, the
better able we will be to create image campaigns that inspire action, not apathy.
Photographs will continue to pepper our daily lives and be part of social justice work. It
is worth investigating how still images operate, both as evidence and as mobilizing tools,
and spending time contemplating how to do it better.
Part of doing this work better, involves strategic deployment of the right to
photograph as well as ethical decision-making. Possessing the right to photograph is not
the same as full license to always take and disseminate every photograph, to capture and
share every moment. It is to be wielded with care. In the case of checking authority,
recall that the goal of social justice advocates is not simply to catch people, but to change
people. We want to encourage those in power to do the right thing, just as in our
everyday lives we want people do the right thing. Photographs play a unique and
significant role in exposing gross misconduct, but it is what comes next that is critical,
and we must take care to not focus entirely on only the front end of the equation. We are
ultimately trying to change people, and that takes organizing and community building.
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Undertaking new research on how we consume still images may be more important in the early
twenty-first century because of the monumental changes that have occurred in media, and therefore, in our
media consumption patterns. We may have to significantly adjust our image-campaigns because of the
contemporary shifts in media, but without research, we cannot know for sure. We must continue doing
research in order to understand what would be the best courses of action.
238!
We must use the right to photography not only as a “gotcha” tool, but as part of a larger
strategy designed to create the potential for change.
This larger strategy acknowledges that the right to photograph is one we all have,
but it is one to be wielded responsibly—particularly by those who work for social justice.
As noted in the forgoing chapters, some of the most memorable, compelling images have
been problematic. Cause photographers and organizers must resist the temptation to “get
the shot” which may be exploitative simply because they believe it will draw support—
members, donations, celebrity endorsements, and the like. When we are forced to make a
decision betweens means and ends, we must keep in mind our higher purpose and always
favor the means. We must concern ourselves not only with short-term outcomes, but
with our long-term goal: creating an more just society. Visually exploiting one another
for immediate gains delegitimizes our work and undermines our ability to reach our
ultimate destination.
I set out to uncover best practices in social justice organizing that involved photo-
based campaigns, but I learned that community groups and NGOs are not strategically
planning their campaigns, nor are they tracking their campaigns’ effectiveness.
Organizations that should be doing this work, are not. Their campaign files—when they
keep them—are often disorganized. If they are neatly boxed, they are uncatalogued; the
contents are anyone’s guess. Even when they have mounds of material, they like the
time, staff, expertise, and funds to systematically and scientifically analyze the
information in their midst. Ever chasing the next campaign or producing reports for
foundations, image impact is not being measured, and demonstrable changes in public
opinion and policy are not being noted and tied to organizational efforts. This is the next
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step for organizers and researchers. A series of collaborations between rights groups and
those with expertise in photography, social movements, psychology, politics, law, even
neuroscience and others, could result in helpful findings concerning the types of images
most effective for mobilizing people. The data collected could reveal useful information
about how image response differs along the lines of age, culture, ethnicity and more, and
it could help us predict the actions people may be willing to take when confronted with
certain images. This information would help organizations tailor their photographic work
and image-based campaigns, making them more effective. Surprisingly little work has
been attempted, leaving the field wide open for exploration.
It would be pure reverie to expect overnight change from the photographs that hit
the headlines and populate our social justice campaigns. Social change is more akin to a
slow burn than a conflagration; it is more of a marathon than a sprint. Still, photographs
have the power to stir us, to unsettle our worldviews, to force us to acknowledge difficult
truths and resolve to do something about them. Without the right to photograph, we will
lose these critical opportunities to reach people and make social change. We need the
right to photograph, as well as the cause artists, advocates, analysts, and activists with the
heads—and the hearts—to make that change happen.
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APPENDIX
Appendix A: How major disciplines discuss human rights, photography, and activism
Appendix B: Protecting The Right to Photograph: A Brief Guide
241!
Appendix A: How major disciplines discuss human rights, photography, and activism

DISCIPLINE COMMON FOCUS
Anthropology Images in activist culture; strategies for creating and maintaining activist
communities; languages, customs, dress, and symbols employed by
activist groups; how group identity is formed and marketed.
Arts
(documentary,
studio, conceptual
photography)
Aesthetic and theoretical aspects of photography and the photographs in
question; form and content are analyzed within a fine art context; subject
depicted is discussed as it relates to previous genres and artists; how
photographs function as “art” (ill-defined) or document; occasional
discussion of how the image may function in the “real world;” some
overlap with journalism work in documentary.
Film
(documentary,
dramatic,
conceptual)
Similar to that of the arts—analyzes form and content, largely by genre;
addresses potential “real world” implications; overlaps with journalism
work in documentary.
Law Photographs as evidence of human rights law violations; definitions of
human rights law, international humanitarian law, and other applicable
laws; discussion of what constitutes a violation and any enforcement
mechanisms; cameras in courtrooms and the influence of photographs and
other images on juries; First Amendment or ‘right to know’ statutes;
journalists’ freedoms and protections in domestic, international contexts.
Media,
Communications
Reporting or journalistic aspect of the photographs; how journalism can
serve society; role of media—new, traditional; visual, audial—in creating
a public more aware of human rights abuse; notions of objectivity,
realism, context, and the attendant “story;” some discussion of which
stories are or are not featured (e.g. the if it bleeds, it ledes/leads
phenomenon); related, somewhat standard questions of media ethics.
Philosophy;
Critical Theory
Discussions of the origins and current conceptions of human rights; how
images of suffering, and the ethical questions raised when we watch or
become aware of the suffering of others; the concept and purpose of
suffering; discussion of form and content of photos as base for discussing
what one feels or thinks when presented with difficult images; the
meaning of arts, photography, media, and their places in our lives.
Political Science Regime type and media freedom; human rights and humanitarian law;
photographs as evidence of human rights violations; facts regarding a
political situation depicted in the photograph(s) as accompaniment to
political discussions; activist politics; pressure groups; interest groups.
Psychology Somewhat similar to the discussions in Philosophy and Critical Theory,
but continues into psychoanalysis—how images may permanently affect
us; how viewers deal with moral shocks, from denial to outrage; how
images may awaken suppressed feelings or memories; how images may
cause trauma or stress in observers and how these are relieved, from
therapy to “acting out.”
Sociology Core social problem depicted, often with goal of formulating a response;
responses discussed range from policy reform, to examinations of
structural inequalities that cause the core problem, to how communities
rather than governments or officials can work to resolve the problem.

242!
Appendix B: Protecting The Right to Photograph: A Brief Guide

For those interested in preserving and advancing the right to photograph as a
human right—namely activists, photographers, and social justice groups—I propose the
following course of action:
A. Know your rights
B. Bring challenges
C. Work on overuse of QI in police departments and the justice system

A. Know your rights
As was mentioned earlier, rights-awareness is key. Knowing the law, knowing
what actions are permissible as a recorder, what police legally can and cannot do,
knowing how to engage police who are attempting to abridge one’s rights—these are
necessary. In surveying the nation, it is clear that the overwhelming majority of cases, in
addition to official support from the U.S. government, conclude the right to photograph
exists. Civil liberties organizations, law firms, community action groups, and even
courses in photography/videography or journalism from primary to tertiary school can
benefit from sharing resources and taking part in know your rights trainings. These can
help us understand the scope of the right to photograph and how best to assert it—
perhaps to a hostile public official unaccustomed to being challenged or who is simply
misinformed about the law. Incidents continue to occur on a regular basis, and police
appear unwilling to change their behavior and respect the public’s right to photograph.
This means we must be prepared to engage the police, reminding them the right exists,
243!
and then work with them if necessary to stand our ground and continue recording if they
prefer we move—or “move along,” entirely.
Recall that the case law occasionally gives police discretion regarding the time,
place, and manner of the photographing, so some negotiation may be necessary. Training
and awareness can help individuals navigate tricky police encounters—for example, tips
regarding personal space, tone of voice, demeanor, fast movements, gestures, and phrases
that can escalate or de-escalate a situation. They also inform individuals as to which
steps they ought to take once an encounter is over. The moments during and immediately
following an altercation with police are critical if a challenge is to be brought or if the
record of the incident will be shared and discussed.
As was mentioned, some organizations—including the National Lawyers Guild,
ACLU, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Cato Institute, and CopWatch chapters across
the country—have, or are currently producing, materials along the lines of KYR trainings
and self-help manuals. These organizations should be contacted by individuals and
community groups hoping to host a training, start their own workshop group, or simply
acquire useful brochures and pocket guides. Since I began working on these issues in
2005, my efforts have resulted in several workshops, conference presentations, trainings,
as well as the development of some handy crib sheets and “one-pagers” meant to guide
people through law enforcement encounters.
270

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
270
Copies on file with author.
244!
B. Bring challenges
If the authorities have prevented someone from making images, images are
deleted, a device is destroyed, or someone has been arrested for their attempt to commit
photography in public space, the next step that must be taken is to challenge the actions
of the authority figure. A common line among activists is, “you can beat the wrap, but
you can’t beat the ride.” This means that everyone knows that the arrestee will be set
free—they did nothing wrong, they were arrested on trumped up grounds, and they will
be immediately released without so much as a ticket—but they cannot stop the arrest or
avoid the ride to the police station for pre-processing. The fact that someone will be
vindicated shortly is not consolation—the right to photograph was subverted; the ability
to document actions in real-time, interrupted; and sometimes data and devices are
“accidentally” lost or damaged. Even immediate release does not return the person to the
moment from which they were snatched so they can continue to capture that exact
situation on film, nor would it return their lost images
271
or broken devices. Lastly, even
if a detention or arrest only happens once and even if it is quite brief, the experience
alone may frighten someone, chilling free speech
272
and legal First Amendment activity,
discouraging this person and perhaps others in the vicinity or those they speak to about
their experience, from exercising and asserting their constitutional rights.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
271
—or images that never were
272
For more on this concept, see generally, Editorial board (1969), “The Chilling Effect in
Constitutional Law,” Columbia Law Review, 69(5), 808–842; Dane E. Johnson (2007), “Cages, Clinics,
and Consequences: The Chilling Problems of Controlling Special-Interest Extremism,” Oregon Law
Review, 86(1), 249–293, Frederick Schauer (1978), “Fear, Risk and the First Amendment: Unraveling the
Chilling Effect,” Boston University Law Review, 58(5), 685–732, and the case that did much to establish
the notion of “chilling,” Wieman v. Updegraff, 344 U.S. 183 (1952). When police arrest people who film
them, it also has a chilling effect: it smacks of “reprisal” and “intimidation,” police hitting back at those
who challenge their authority or refuse to follow police orders when exercising their constitutional rights
(VanHemert, 2010).
245!
Authority figures, namely the police, continue to misbehave because they are not
held accountable; we “lump it” (Felstiner, Abel, & Sarat, 1980, p. 649; Galanter, 1974,
pp. 124–126, 134, 1988, pp. 18, 22). It is far too expensive, in terms of time, money, and
energy, to pursue what many would see as a “minor” case. We do not all have the legal
experience, expertise, or connections to follow through with a lawsuit. But with so much
law on the side of the photographer and videographer now, and with the alternative being
that still more people’s constitutional rights will be violated, those who can bring these
challenges, should. Constitutional violations do not come cheap to perpetrators, and
previous lawsuits regarding patterns of abuse have resulted in reform, if, as-of-yet, it has
been slow and incomplete to realize. Financial loss has proven to be a great motivator for
policy change at the organizational level and for behavioral adjustment on the part of
individuals, and this trend also applies to state actors.
Deciding to sue at all also means deciding who—or sometimes what—to sue, and
on what grounds. In right to photograph cases, a public official or police officer is
typically the target, though in the corporate context it may be a company, branch,
franchise, board, or individual. Unfortunately, in the private context, there are different
rules, and in the public context, public officials often have immunity in exercising their
duties. In these cases against public officials, it is sometimes necessary to sue the
local/municipal agencies for which they work. These groups tend to be covered by
massive and all-encompassing insurance policies, so payouts for rights violations are not
directly coming from an agent’s or organization’s own budget. Everyone considering a
lawsuit for the right to photograph should consult with their lawyer(s) about the best
options, particularly because, depending on where the violation took place, there are key
246!
differences regarding immunity laws and norms as well as insurance policies. When it
comes to which types of claims to pursue, that is also a strategy question best posed to
one’s lawyer, however it is usually wise to pursue as many bites at the apple as possible
depending on the specific facts and actors involved. Use Section 1983. The First,
Fourth, Fifth, Fourteenth amendment are also obvious options, but do not forget options
like false arrest and malicious prosecution. It is possible that some claims will be thrown
out, but unlikely that all of them will. The suit itself and claims asserted will still have an
impact. Much the same as arrests may chill speech activity, law suits may make bad
actors think twice next time.

C. Work on overuse of QI in police departments and the justice system
Qualified Immunity has become an exceedingly high hurdle to overcome as a
plaintiff fighting public officials. After Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194 (2001), a two-step
test was established so that it was first decided whether or not there was a violation of the
law, and then, as a separate question, whether the violators could be held liable because
they knew at the time what they were doing was illegal. This meant that even if the
public official in this case would be excused from liability—they have qualified
immunity—the rule would still be established and officials could no longer claim
ignorance.
Enter Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223 (2009), and the courts have done away
with that test. Now, if the judge in a case concludes the public official in question
deserves qualified immunity, the judge no longer has to make any determination
regarding the rule, itself, and whether the official violated it. This means the unclear
247!
rules never become clear, are never become “clearly established” and disseminated, and
plaintiffs have less of a chance of prevailing because officials can continue to hide behind
QI, claiming they did not know. This leads to situations where there may be rights, but
there are no remedies, because no one can be held accountable, and even moral
victories—i.e., where someone challenges a rule in order to set good precedent, nothing
more—cannot occur.
This all has a chilling effect on people’s willingness to bring claims—even strong
ones. When courts ignore the merits using QI—whether to escape a difficult decision or
simply avoid the work of researching and writing a proper and thorough ruling—people
are discouraged from pursuing rightful lawsuits. Why sue if the court will not even
address the issue? Why sue if you might prevail on merits in a footnote, but the qualified
immunity of an official becomes the focus of the ruling and the plaintiff never receives a
favorable ruling, let alone a dime?
In a very short time, qualified immunity gutted many legitimate lawsuits,
including those with strong facts on the merits. This means plaintiffs attorneys, no matter
the issue, must go after the notion of qualified immunity whenever possible. Concerted
efforts must be made to overwhelm QI claims in individual lawsuits and to erode the
precedent of Pearson (2009), with an eye toward restricting QI to only the most narrowly
tailored, highly restricted set of circumstances. As regards the right to photograph, QI
should be less of an issue going forward from ACLU v. Alvarez (2012), but again, we
know incidents continue to occur, so it remains to be seen if officials will be able to
continue to claim privilege.
248!
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Abstract (if available)

Abstract It is almost a cliché to say we live in a visual culture. Photographs are all around us, used by corporations, governments, legal institutions, and social movement groups. While there is much research on photography and on politics, there is relatively little at their intersection, and still less literature to guide activists interested in harnessing the power of the image. What are some of the problems that arise in using photographs to communicate about social justice issues? How does law—constitutional rights

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