Phillip Toledano, We Are at War. IMAGE GENERATED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
Reimagining History with Artificial Intelligence: A Conversation with Phillip Toledano
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We are committed to freedom of the press, advocate for journalists’ safety, and support individuals in vulnerable situations. We organize public conversations that promote independent reporting as a tool for civic engagement and social impact. Our regular online events and in-person presentations — as well as Dispatches, our Substack publication — probe the production and power of images and campaign for a diverse, secure, and viable profession, especially for freelancers worldwide. We do not endorse political parties or take partisan positions.

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Phillip Toledano, We Are at War. IMAGE GENERATED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
Event Image
Mar
27
2025

Reimagining History with Artificial Intelligence: A Conversation with Phillip Toledano

German Flores feeds the donkeys with carrots, at the Burrolandia sanctuary, in Otumba, Mexico State, on December 6, 2024. “They love carrots, it’s their favorite food, and they can’t resist it”, he says, as he drives his car around the fields while playing music: “When they listen to this song, they know food is coming”. © Sara Escobar.
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Mar
13
2025

Photo Stories from the Square Mile Initiative

When sea ice ages, the salt sinks into the ocean, leaving fresh, drinkable water on top. Charlotte Naqitaqvik collects a teapot of water at her familyÕs hunting camp in Nuvukutaak, near the community of Arctic Bay in northern Canada. © Acacia Johnson.
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Feb
27
2025

Visual Storytelling Techniques with Acacia Johnson

The Japanese Macaque, best known as the ‘snow monkey,’ is revered as a bridge between man and the gods, but it has become so habituated to humans in recent years that its population has increased tenfold. Now, the exploding monkey population in the countryside must raid crops to survive, and farmers are responding with homemade deterrents; meanwhile, macaques brought to the cities for the entertainment industry are a big hit with locals and tourists. © Jasper Doest.
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Feb
20
2025

Visual Storytelling for Positive Change in Wildlife Conservation, with Jasper Doest

Jalalabad, Nangarhar, Afghanistan, February 12, 2024. © Kiana Hayeri
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Jan
30
2025

Documenting Women’s Rights in Afghanistan, with Kiana Hayeri and Mélissa Cornet

Photographer Smita Sharma speaks during 'Session 2' at TEDWomen 2021: What Now? © Marla Aufmuth / TED
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Jan
23
2025

Present Your Work: Public Speaking Tips from Smita Sharma

Dispatches blog

Dispatches features the best writing on the role of images in our world, along with new and diverse visual stories from around the world. 

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Notre-Dame of Paris before the fire, 23 March 2017. Wet plate collodion photographic process. © Tomas van Houtryve / VII.
Notre-Dame of Paris before the fire, 23 March 2017. Wet plate collodion photographic process. © Tomas van Houtryve / VII.
When sea ice ages, the salt sinks into the ocean, leaving fresh, drinkable water on top. Charlotte Naqitaqvik collects a teapot of water at her familyÕs hunting camp in Nuvukutaak, near the community of Arctic Bay in northern Canada. © Acacia Johnson.
Event Image
Feb
27
2025

Visual Storytelling Techniques with Acacia Johnson

The Japanese Macaque, best known as the ‘snow monkey,’ is revered as a bridge between man and the gods, but it has become so habituated to humans in recent years that its population has increased tenfold. Now, the exploding monkey population in the countryside must raid crops to survive, and farmers are responding with homemade deterrents; meanwhile, macaques brought to the cities for the entertainment industry are a big hit with locals and tourists. © Jasper Doest.
Event Image
Feb
20
2025

Visual Storytelling for Positive Change in Wildlife Conservation, with Jasper Doest

Jalalabad, Nangarhar, Afghanistan, February 12, 2024. © Kiana Hayeri
Event Image
Jan
30
2025

Documenting Women’s Rights in Afghanistan, with Kiana Hayeri and Mélissa Cornet

Wilmarie Deetlefs, 24, together with her boyfriend, Zakithi Buthelezi, 27, on a night out in Johannesburg, South Africa on Nov. 1, 2018. They are both part of South Africa’s ‘born free generation,’ youngsters who were born around the ending of the racial segregation system, apartheid. Wilmarie Deetlefs, 24, together with her boyfriend, Zakithi Buthelezi, 27, on a night out in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Nov. 1, 2018. They are both part of South Africa’s ‘born free generation,’ youngsters who were born around the ending of the racial segregation system, apartheid. © Ilvy Njiokiktjien / VII.
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Sep
14
2024

Born Free: Generation of Hope

On Saturday, September 14, 2024, the Apartheid Museum opened Ilvy Njiokiktjien’s exhibition, "Born Free: Generation of Hope." We held a panel discussion with Ilvy and the curators of the show.
Journalism at Risk: Threats and Responses panel event during the Les Rencontres d'Arles Photo Festival 2024 opening week at The VII Foundation campus in Arles, France. © Camille Kirnidis for The VII Foundation.
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Jul
04
2024

Journalism at Risk: Threats and Responses

On Thursday, 4 July 2024, The VII Foundation organized a hybrid (in-person and online) event at the Alexandra Boulat Campus in Arles, France.

curated collection: ethics


Tatianna Lesnikova has fled from the USSR to the US. She was convinced that local officials were preparing to commit her to a mental hospital for anti-government views. They had already done so with her son Danil. Lesnikova traveled on a USSR passport and hoped to one day return to her son, but during her travels, her home country dissolved. Now, she is stuck. The US doesn’t want her to stay and is trying to deport her. Lesnikova is left in limbo, with no rights, protections, or a path to resolution. © Shaminder Dulai.
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Oct
17
2023

Lecture Series on Ethical Literacy, Part 3: Photography Ethics: Putting Ethics into Practice

In October 2023, VII Insider hosted a three-week public lecture series on ethical literacy. In the third and final session, we hear from Shaminder Dulai on putting ethics into practice.
Fresh graves of servicemen who died defending Ukraine from Russian invaders are seen at the cemetery of Bucha, Kyiv Region. © Franco Pagetti / VII.
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Oct
03
2023

Lecture Series on Ethical Literacy, Part 1: Photography Ethics–What Is It and Why Does It Matter?

In October 2023, VII Insider hosted a three-week public lecture series on ethical literacy. In the first session, Savannah Dodd introduced a principles-based approach to photography ethics.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko attends the military wedding of Lesya and Valeriy near the frontline in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 6, 2022. © Ron Haviv / VII.
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Mar
22
2022

Ethics in a Time of War

What ethical issues arise in the visual coverage of war? In this event, building on the topics discussed in an earlier event (Towards an agenda for ethics in documentary photography), and looking at recent visual examples, Savannah Dodd, the founder of the Photography Ethics Centre, is in conversation with David Campbell.