Seeing in Context: Reflecting on Ethical Use of Sensitive Photographs in Media Practices

PIs: dr. Lise Zurné, dr. Charlotte Bruns (Erasmus University Rotterdam). Co-applicants: Dr. Seyed Abolfazl Shobeiri (Leiden University), Dr. Rafael Ramírez Eudave (TU Delft)

Abstract: This pilot project explores how professionals in media and heritage engage with historical images, with the aim of identifying needs and challenges around ethical photographs and their use. While photos are widely used across advertising, journalism, and education to communicate complex social issues, they frequently reproduce unequal power relations by reducing subjects to stereotypes and stripping them of context, hence this project foregrounds the principle of “seeing in context.”