Running Head: Photography in Development
Photography in the Development Field: Challenging the Savior-Victim Binary
Michael Gill
Professor Rajesh Sampath Ethics, Rights, and Development
The Heller School for Social Policy and Management Brandeis University
October 21, 2017
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Introduction Looking into images surrounding the field of International Development will reveal a savior-victim binary that perpetuates Northern and Western affluence while casting Southern and Eastern individuals as victims reliant on international aid. These images come from two different communities of image makers: those within the field of development, such as the hired photographers, public relations staff, and field practitioners themselves, and from those outside the field of development, namely trained journalists and civilian journalists. The intent and destination for which these images are produced perpetuates the victim-savior binary in which images produced within the field of development tend to depict the positive effects and necessity of aid, glorifying the aid organization as a savior, while images from journalists and in mainstream media depict conditions of disparity and suffering that portray Southern and Eastern countries as victims reliant on aid. This binary is detrimental to the world of development, as it does not create room for Southern or Eastern individuals to view themselves or their communities as self-sufficient or capable of achieving development. However detrimental these images may be to Southern and Eastern communities, they do play a largely important role in ensuring that international aid can benefit these communities. This leads to an ethical dilemma for image makers and development practitioners, as one must consider to what extent and image of a starving child or an image of a white volunteer educator could benefit the continuity of aid, versus the damage that image can do to the self-image and autonomy of the subject. To understand how the image making process functions to further development or even contradict its very goals, this paper will examine the detriment these images may cause, sources of these images, and the contexts in which they a created and interpreted.
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Pornography of Poverty and the Politics of Pity The “Pornography of Poverty” is a widely discussed concept that questions why individuals are drawn to, and financially motivated by, images of disparity and suffering. It is used to describe ad campaigns run by some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that, most commonly, aim to garner funds for child sponsorship or educational development (Plewes & Stuart, 2007). These ad campaigns often rely disproportionately on images of women and children, who are malnourished, physically weak, and under-protected from the elements. As Plewes and Stuart describe, “these images portray people as helpless victims, dependent, and unable to take action; they convey a sense that development problems can only be solved by Northern charity” (Plewes & Stuart, 2007, p. 24). These images often undermine the intent behind the campaigns, as they perpetuate a dynamic of dependency and do not address the global structures that contribute to extreme poverty. Furthermore, these images diminish the self-image and autonomy of the subjects they portray, through the perpetuation of their livelihoods and capabilities as less-than in comparison to Western and Northern cultures. This also leads to individuals in Western and Northern countries having biased views on Southern and Eastern cultures. Research conducted by VSO in the United Kingdom found that “80% of the British public strongly associate the developing world with doom-laden images of famine, disaster and Western aid” (Voluntary Service Overseas, 2002). Beyond a fixation on poverty within the development field there is a perverseness in image making in photojournalism that perpetuates the cultural distance between developed and underdeveloped countries. Wendy Kozol, a professor and researcher in visual culture writes about the effects of Marco Di Lauro’s photograph of two burkas in an Afghani prison cell,
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saying, “In key ways, the hanging burkas photograph exemplifies critical entanglements between Western news media, women’s human rights advocacy, and U.S. militarism. Feminists activists and scholars have extensively critiqued these entanglements for producing a politics of pity about distant suffering” (Kozol, 2014). Kozol describes the notion of politics of pity, which hints at the ways in which photojournalism separates the Western viewer from the Eastern subject. This separation is created because of the curation of images before publication in Western media tends to favor images that create a separation between the viewer and the subject, in the case of tragic or negative stories. Photo editors, when faced with a story about death, are far more likely, and sometimes legally obligated to choose images that do not directly picture the deceased, although it is very likely that the photojournalist has taken that picture (Fishman, 2003). Fishman’s rationale behind this is that “[s]tories about death don’t force you to visualize anything but photographs of the corpse don’t provide the viewer a choice: Your sight is forced,” the inability to decide what you see while flipping through the paper or watching the news furthers Fishman’s thought, to which she adds, “the denial of a choice to avoid pain is quite the definition of victimization. [When the photo] is framed in these terms, it becomes the responsibility of the photographer or editor to protect the public from such images” (Fishman, 2003, pp. 65–66). The victimization of the viewer, as Fishman argues, justifies why images such as Di Lauro’s burka photograph are published, over images that might depict actual suffering and tragedy. This plays into the politics of pity, as it separates the viewer from the reality of distant situations, and permits media producers to limit exposure to distant happenings. A study conducted by the Department for International Development (DFID) found “a marked imbalance in the way developing countries are portrayed, especially on news where coverage was generally
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limited to disasters, bizarre events, or visits by prominent westerners” (Department for International Development, 2000). In regard to development, this plays into disaster relief, conflict resolution, acts of war, and extreme poverty in the sense that Eastern photojournalistic images published in Western media most often depict these subjects, which perpetuates the savior-victim binary of developed and underdeveloped countries. The binary traps developing countries into the role of victim, constantly seeking pity and aid from developed countries while simultaneously not being able to share their culture, knowledge, and successes with the average media consumer in developed countries, ‘othering’ the subjects of these images in a self-perpetuating system that favors Western media and economic dominance.
Importance of Photography Inside Development Within the field of development images are used to demonstrate the necessity for, and success or progress of, development projects. The content of these images varies greatly depending on the size and mission of the organization producing them, smaller organizations are more likely to rely on positive images and photographs documenting their work, while larger organizations are more prone to falling into the pornography of poverty and politics of pity traps. As discussed earlier, we often see this with organizations focusing on disaster relief, child sponsorship, and education development (Plewes & Stuart, 2007). Plewes and Stuart speak directly to why these organizations fall into these traps, saying, “[t]hey tell us that these images of misery and passive victimization generate much more in donations than alternatives they have tested and that it is vital to raise large amounts of money to be able to carry out their relief and development work” (Plewes & Stuart, 2007, p. 30). My previous research has lead me to
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conclude that these shocking images are so effective at raising funds because it creates vulnerability within the viewer and displays the vulnerability of the subject, leading to a empathic connection and inciting the viewer to act (Gill, 2016). However, Plewes and Stuart put this much more concisely, saying “it is the heartstrings that traditionally open pocketbooks” (Plewes & Stuart, 2007, p. 31). Positively, many organizations have moved to focus on images that instead depict smiling faces, successful projects, and health individuals, but these images too can communicate a reliance on Western aid (Plewes & Stuart, 2007). Reviewing the stories pages on websites for large development and advocacy organizations such as USAID, Peace Corps, Greenpeace, and Oxfam one can find countless images displaying individuals that appear reliant on aid in one way or another, often a white volunteer teaching a classroom or distributing goods (Greenpeace USA, 2017; Oxfam International, 2017; Peace Corps, 2017; USAID, 2017). The messages conveyed from these images directly link the health, happiness, and wellbeing of the subject with the success of the associated development project. This excludes notions of autonomy and selfsufficiency in the community and perpetuates the notion that the North must be the savior for the South, the developed a savior for the underdeveloped.
Importance of Photography Outside Development Outside of the Development field the most important role of Photography is as a communication tool. While photography’s use as an artistic medium is undoubtedly crucial to our personal enjoyment and culture, the ability of the camera to reproduce reality has fascinated mankind since its invention. This fascination quickly established the camera as an essential tool for journalists, and as it became smaller and more accessible we became more and more
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dependent on photographs to tell our stories. The camera became a tool for professionals to communicate visual facts with people around the world and this played a large role in the globalization and interconnectedness of quite literally, everything. Photographs helped to create the context in which we interpret our world, what we should do to be responsible and ethical in our world, and it informed us of the injustices occurring all over the globe. This content was controlled, and largely still is today, by Western and Northern media organizations and wire agencies such as the Associated Press and Reuters. However, the advent of the cell phone camera, in tandem with the rise of social media, meant that a new category of image makers and journalists could arise: the citizen journalist. This has shifted the content we consume and has enabled for new voices to be heard on a global scale (Gill, 2016). The voices we hear and the images we see directly impact the context in which individuals view the field of development. The average individual who only comes across development projects when interacting at the fundraising level is likely to have more exposure to Western journalistic media relating to the context of the project, such as the country or culture of the people effected, than they are content directly related to the project that doesn’t fall into the pornography of poverty or politics of pity traps. A shift in either images produced within the field of development or outside the field would enable the viewer to have a new perspective on the project, and this is where we often see citizen journalists leading the pack.
Northern Perspective and Gatekeeping Neville Gabriel, a critic of pornography of poverty images describes “’extractive relationships’ in which African organizations get funds and Northern organizations ‘extract’ stories and information to sustain themselves,” and how this leads to the “reinforcing [of]
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African people’s negative self-image” (Neville Gabriel, as cited in Plewes & Stuart, 2007). Gabriel points to the destructive, and unethical ways, in which Northern affluence and dominance is perpetuated through photojournalism and photography in developing countries. The presence of Northern journalists and Northern development organizations means that the majority of the images coming out of developing countries are from the northern perspective, either documenting the pornographic poverty or focusing on the roles of the Northern organizations in Gabriel’s extractive process (Plewes & Stuart, 2007). Interestingly, there are few journalists assigned to cover Africa, Asia, or Latin America, this leads to a lack of local representation, and an inability to focus in any depth on issues that are large enough to make it to mainstream media in developed countries (Plewes & Stuart, 2007). What is photographed and published is produced quickly, plays into Northern perspectives of underdeveloped countries, and cannot provide a broad enough context to accurately represent Southern or Eastern perspectives. Even the ethical roots of photojournalism are troubled in relation to international development, as Wendy Kozol notes, “[t]his ethical imperative remains indebted to European Enlightenment concepts of the human and humanitarianism that have operated in tandem with Western imperial expansion” (Kozol, 2014, p. 65). The very nature of photojournalism has benefited from imperial expansion, the “othering” of Southern and Eastern cultures, and has excluded new voices from emerging to maintain this benefit. While we are experiencing some changes in who produces images for publication, through the rising prominence of social media, wire services still dominate the field. They are “crucial gatekeepers who typically represent international conflicts through a Western imaginary in which the global South exists solely as locations of poverty, crisis, and chaos” (Kozol, 2014,
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pp. 73–74). These wire services also are headquartered in and run predominately by Western citizens with Western education and training, furthering the gap between Eastern or Southern subject matter, and Western or Northern image makers and publishers.
Ethical Considerations in Summary In summary, the use of photographs, as they pertain to the field of International Development, is complicated by Northern bias in production and publishing preferences regarding photographic content. The development field is littered with images that perpetuate negative stereotypes about the global South and East. These images diminish the quality of life of their subjects, both through the lessening of their self-esteem and self-image, but also through the detriment to the long-term development of their communities. Images produced by development organizations and photojournalists perpetuate a savior-victim binary, that challenges the very goals of development itself. This ethical dilemma, where one must consider if the ability of an image to advocate for or fundraise for a development project is worth the possible detriment and victimization of the subject is difficult to answer. However, an initial step for the development practitioners to take would be to encourage and publish images from photographers who come from a Southern or Eastern context, who are stakeholders in a project, and who are not bound by the constraints of the formalities of the development practice. If we are able to remove or reduce the Northern bias and Northern gatekeeping power, underdeveloped countries would be closer to a realization of their ability to self-advocate, develop, and break free from the savior-victim binary that the practice of development has created, and perpetuated through its visual imagery.
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Photography in Development References Department for International Development. (2000). Viewing the World: a study of British television coverage of developing countries. London: Department for International Development. Retrieved from https://celebrityanddevelopment.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/2000viewing-the-worlddfid.pdf
Fishman, J. M. (2003). News norms and emotions: Pictures of pain and metaphors of distress. In Image ethics in the digital age (pp. 53–69). Gill, M. (2016). Citizen Activism: The Camera and Social Change. Cazenovia College, Cazenovia, NY. Greenpeace USA. (2017). Stories & Victories. Retrieved October 22, 2017, from http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/stories-victories/ Kozol, W. (2014). Human Rights, Visual Rhetoric: Photojournalism and the War in Afghanistan. In Distant Wars Visible (pp. 61–94). University of Minnesota Press. Oxfam International. (2017). General blog channel. Retrieved October 22, 2017, from https://blogs.oxfam.org/en/blogs/1860 Peace Corps. (2017). Stories. Retrieved October 22, 2017, from https://www.peacecorps.gov/stories/ Plewes, B., & Stuart, R. (2007). The pornography of poverty: A cautionary fundraising tale. In Ethics in action. The ethical challenges of international human rights nongovernmental organisations (pp. 23–37). USAID. (2017). USAID - Extreme Possibilities. Retrieved October 22, 2017, from https://stories.usaid.gov/stories/
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Voluntary Service Overseas. (2002). The Live Aid Legacy: The developing world through British eyes - A research report. Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). Retrieved from http://www.eldis.org/vfile/upload/1/document/0708/DOC1830.pdf