Photo and image guidelines

Using photos and images in publications and on websites can help to get a message across. However, care is needed to ensure we are getting the 'right' message across. There are many stereotypes about the developing and the developed world, the groups and cultures and subcultures within them, and the individual people themselves, and many of these stereotypes do not reflect reality.

Permission - photos

· Permission must be asked of the subjects.

· Do not take/use photos of sacred sites or ceremonies without consent.

· Has permission been given from the owner of the photo (if not publicly accessible)?

· Has the photographer and/or owner of the photo been credited?

· Have photos been used mainly from organisations with similar values as ours? If not and the source of the image is given, have the implications been considered?

· If an issue such as poverty is being demonstrated, then are the people represented with dignity (e.g. shown doing something vs. Begging)? A good reason is necessary for using an image that shows a person without dignity.

· How are 'developed' and 'developing countries' visually represented? Are they accurate or do they reinforce stereotypes of developing countries being made up of 'poor, helpless' people, and developed countries being made up of nasty rich people who work for multinational corporations? Are they showing the diverse range of groups within those countries?

Gender

· Is there a balance of male and female representation in pictures when this is appropriate?

· Are the pictures of women balanced between action shots and passive shots?

· Are there pictures of men balanced between action shots and passive shots?

· Are there pictures of women looking at the camera?

· Are there complete pictures of men and women, as well as bust shots and headshots? Are the images manipulated to objectify a person's body or body part? If this is the case, the image should not be used.

Ethnicity

· Is there a mix of ethnicities visually represented?

· Are indigenous people and people of colour represented positively?

· Has the photo been represented and/or captioned in such a way that the individual(s) are reflected, not the entire culture (stereotyping)?

· Have cultural beliefs been respected? Some cultures do not like to be photographed. If this is the case, then best not to use a photo, which was taken without the persons' permission and against their wishes.

· Have responsibilities to the treaty been taken into account (e.g. images of tapu things, or taonga; dead people's remains)?

Age and disability

· Have people of a range of ages been represented where appropriate?

· Does the image show disabled people as an integral part of the community? Are they excluded from the text or photograph?

· Have young people been portrayed positively (avoiding stereotypes of rebellious teens, e.g.) and older people as capable in the ways that they are?

· Has the use of children's names been changed (or omitted) especially on Internet accessible photos (including in pdfs)?

Religion

· If images reflect specific religious beliefs, do the images respect those religions, rather than denigrating them or associating them with negative stereotypes? For example, non-Christian images are sometimes used to imply that non-Christian believers are fanatical, primitive, dangerous, exotic, 'other', or 'weird'.

· Do images that reflect religion also accurately reflect cultural or ethnic associations? Not all white Europeans are Christian; not all Arabs are Muslim; not all women in purdah are necessarily downtrodden and oppressed, and so on.

· Do you know if it is acceptable to use images of religious beliefs, especially when the religion in question is not your own? This refers to sacred sites, religious personages (e.g. nuns, monks, tohunga, etc), ceremonies, taonga, icons, etc.

· Do you have permission to use images of religious beliefs?

General points to consider

· What is the purpose of using the photo – is the rationale clear? Is the image in context and relevant? Do the images encourage , empower or enable ?

· Does the photograph reflect the reality of the situation in the overall context?

· Does the photo challenge stereotypes rather than reinforce them?

· Where possible, have the people photographed (or whose personal images were used) been given copies of the publication when it's published?

· Are people named, when possible and when this is appropriate (nb: children's names must never be used on the internet)? Have the people been consulted during the process?

· Would you like to be the person in the photo in terms of how they are represented?

· Is the image appropriate for your audience?

· Has a caption been used? Is the information appropriate and accurate, with names included when this is possible?