Download Hand-out: Checklist portraits

Hand-out: Checklist portraits
This checklist about portraits can be used to link the pictures you use to the real
story.

Is the person in the image someone taking part in the project itself?
You can always buy stock photos, but the story becomes closer and more real when the
person in the picture is someone from the project itself. That way, after publishing, you will
be able to give follow-up information about the project and the person, and you could
involve this person in the communication, for instance by giving him/ her the opportunity to
post an update each month on Facebook about the project or about improvements in their
situation. Of course, it is not always possible to take pictures of your own, but here are a
number of options:
o Ask the organisation if they know any good photographers in their country to take
the pictures. An opportunity that is close at hand, yet little used! Agree on who pays
for the photos and which other costs are involved.
o Africa Interactive is a media production company with worldwide contacts:
http://www.africa-interactive.com/
o http://www.opmeerreports.nl/: social entrepreneurs who travel around the world to
take portraits, videos and make reports on sustainable development, which show
power and energy. These are licensed photos.

Has the person portrayed, or their parent/ guardian, given you permission to make and use
the photo?
o There are no international agreements on portrait rights, though most countries have
their own law. Nonetheless, there are international covenants to protect children’s
rights and shield them from stigmatisation as “orphan, poor, uneducated, HIVpositive, or abused” (source: International Child Policy, 2012). Try to set up a policy
for your charity in which the ethical aspects of portrait rights are guaranteed.
Possible example of a policy text:
“We will protect the confidentiality of children by not identifying their
specific location (address) , their actual date of birth (although the age can
be stated, such as ‘a baby’ or ‘a 9-year old’, etc.) and will rather give a
pseudo name than using actual names. Photos can be of activities of
children or photos that do not identify the child with full frontal pictures.”
See also the Child Protection Policy of the International Child Campaign.
o It is not always possible to retrieve the contact details of persons portrayed, yet
there are a number of things you could arrange in advance:
 Develop and take along forms on which people can indicate their permission
on the spot to take their photo and allow its use.
 Create policy, in cooperation with partner organisations, about portrait rights
and capture every employee’s (non-)permission to have their image
published.

Have the names of people been mentioned alongside the picture?
Stating people’s names allows them to move out of anonymity. For this, people will have to
give permission for the publication. When a photo is concerned that reinforces a certain
stereotype (poor, HIV-positive) it sometimes is better not to mention a name, or to give a
fictitious name.

Are the people portrayed in a respectful manner? Are any stereotypes being reinforced?
o A good check is to always answer this one questions: would I allow myself to be
portrayed in this way?
o Erik Lieshout carried out research into the historical context of racism and has found
a number of stereotypical images which are often used to distinguish persons with a
darker skin colour from persons with white skin. Try to avoid these stereotypical
images in photos of people with dark skin:
Black
Nature
Instinct
Emotion
Lack of civilised institutions
No sexual inhibitions
Rituals
White
Culture
Reason
Knowledge
Civilised institutions
Control over sexual emotions
Law and Government
o Also look at the country and culture. Not all Kenyans are Masaï, not every women in
India wears a sari, not every Dutchman wears wooden shoes.
o In which roles women and men are portrayed in the photo? Could you perhaps break
through a stereotypical image and do justice to the reality?
o There appears to be a contrary movement to the “pity images” that have dominated
fundraising for decennia. From sad faces, we seem to be moving towards radiantly
smiling people. Neither are a representative depiction of reality. It is a challenge to
evoke an emotion in the reader, without showing an overly sad or happy person.