Photography Ethics Symposium: Online Panel – Representation & Responsibility

 

The 2026 Photography Ethics Symposium was jointly organised by Photography Ethics Centre and photographies. The online panels were hosted by The VII Foundation.

As part of the 2026 Photography Ethics Symposium, this online panel brought together three scholars to examine responsibility and representation in contemporary photographic practice. Focusing on contexts shaped by conflict, migration, and militarism, the speakers question how images both document and produce social realities.

Jay S. Dash reconsiders the photographic event through the lens of Danish Siddiqui’s Anti Citizen Amendment Act images. Dr Gwendolyne Cressman explores how the language of “crisis” shapes visual narratives of border crossing in North America, calling for an ethics of care that challenges reductive and dehumanizing representations. Seung Won Choi examines the intimacy and violence in photographs of Camptown women in South Korea, situating them within U.S. militarism.

Hosted by Jess Crombie, the panelists highlight the ethical work of witnessing, framing, and circulating images, asking what responsibilities photographers, subjects, and viewers have. This session invites participants to rethink how photography can both reinforce and resist dominant narratives in moments of social and political urgency.

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