ABSTRACT
This chapter presents interviews with representatives from three of the world’s leading human rights and humanitarian organizations: Doctors Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, and United Nations Children’s Fund. Given the increasing influence of these agencies in the global political arena, it is crucial to understand the role that photography plays in human rights and humanitarian domains, particularly in image-saturated time. Social media, for one, is redefining the stakes of representation and presenting new opportunities—and dilemmas—in service of humanitarian goals. The perpetuation of deleterious stereotypes is dangerous, and has been the basis for assorted critiques of humanitarian-related and conflict- and crisis-oriented photography. Photojournalism often does not require the consent of the subjects in the photo. By contrast, the interviewees place emphasis on either obtaining consent (and the difficulties involved), or on ensuring that images protect a subject’s identity.
