No other photographer in southern Africa has documented war in the way that John Liebenberg did. He captured the life and the conflict of both sides in his body of work.
Images without context or presented with text that misrepresents what they show can be a powerful tool of misinformation, especially since photos make statements seem more believable.
Cherine Fahd, University of Technology Sydney et Sara Oscar, University of Technology Sydney
Instagram bushfire images cut through our news fatigue. This developing brand of photojournalism brings authenticity and a different sense of proximity.
Each day, readers are bombarded with shocking, inspiring and informative images. In their overwhelming volume, they can be easily forgotten. Nonetheless, some do rise to the top.
From depictions of slavery to colonial massacres to contemporary portraits of refugees, photography is a powerful tool in evoking ideas of shared humanity.
Images of famine or poverty are often used by human rights groups to galvanize support. And they often do. The ethics of these images is a more complex story.
Images move us to act – as last week’s episode of Four Corners has shown. Our government has gone to great lengths to suppress photos that humanise asylum seekers – but when they seep out, empathy is aroused.