Visual Ethics and Community Consent
This mini case study is designed to help undergraduate students critically reflect on the complex, real-world challenges they may encounter during community engaged experiences of various kinds. After reviewing the focus themes and objectives, students should carefully read the scenario and then engage with the discussion questions. Prompts to guide discussion, along with facilitator notes, are included.
Summary
Examining visual ethics in photography or videography and its relationship to community consent.
Learning Objectives
- Explore the boundaries and requirements of visual ethics in immersive experiences.
- Identify strategies for managing dual roles, such as researcher and collaborator.
- Explore strategies for conflict resolution when tension has been introduced.
- Examine the need for boundaries, trust, and an understanding of positionality in immersive settings.
- Reflect on ways to re-establish trust and collaboration when the impact has not matched the intent.
Scenario
Luis is a junior anthropology student. During the summer after his junior year, his professor offers him an opportunity to participate in an immersive research experience. Luis will spend 6 weeks working alongside a community agriculture organization. At the same time, he will conduct community-based research in conjunction with his professor’s research agenda. The research deliverables require him to photograph parts of his experience. The organization has assured him that they have collected photo consent from the participants of their programming, most of whom are local laborers.
During the first few weeks, Luis takes photos of participants working in the fields, selling produce at the market, and participating in workshops. In his fourth week, as he pauses to take another photo, a man approaches him and says, “A few of us have been talking, and we wanted you to know that we are not comfortable being photographed like this. It makes us feel like animals at a zoo, to be shown off once you’re back home.” Luis is taken aback and embarrassed. He later realizes that he never discussed his photography with any of the participants. His research instructions require him to document his experience, and his faculty mentor has been praising his work so far. But he does not want to offend anyone or contribute to the perpetuation of stereotypes. Luis feels uncertain of his next steps.
Discussion Questions
- How do you think Luis feels in this situation? How might you interpret the community member’s response?
- How might you feel if you were in the participants’ position?
- How might Luis go about reflecting on the situation? Who else might you contact to think this through?
- Do you see a power dynamic or elements of positionality present in this scenario? How might this impact the way the participants are feeling? How is this scenario different from being a photographer or photo journalist? What makes it different?
- How might Luis think or act creatively to fulfill both their course requirement and address the participants’ concerns? What specific practices might he adopt?
- What are some visual ethics guidelines that might have helped in this situation?
- How does this situation challenge or affirm the importance of community consent?
- What suggestions might you have for students who need to navigate dual roles in a community?
- How might boundaries or expectations be set to help rectify this situation?
- How might Luis go about re-establishing trust with the community members who have been offended?
Facilitator Consideration
- OUTLINE THE TENSION. For Notre Dame students, not that consent must be obtained separately, per university guidelines. Help them to question the assumptions above. How was consent obtained? Was it obtained from everyone? Do participants have the right to remove their consent at any time? What responsibilities do students have in these situations? For Notre Dame students and affiliated projects, consent obtained from another agency does not extend automatically. Notre Dame students must obtain consent via this form, from each adult included in photos. Children cannot sign the consent form and their faces should not be included in photos.
- FOSTER CREATIVITY. Students should be challenged to think creatively about how to respond within complex scenarios. For example, they can be coached on how to take meaningful photos of an experience without including people, or how to reach out directly to individuals to get direct consent. Students should feel empowered to resolve conflicts and seek creative solutions.
- STRATEGIZE TOGETHER. Guide students in thinking through the steps and potential challenges as they move from reflecting on to determining responses to the situation.
Closing Questions
- What’s one thing you learned or thought about differently during this discussion?
- Photos are not the only way to document or remember an experience. How might you document or remember your experiences—both in immersive experiences and throughout your life—in other ways?