2024 Theses Master's

Let every eye negotiate for itself and trust no agent: Engineered Ownership in Human Rights Photography

Baxley, Peyton

Photography (especially violent photographs capturing human rights abuses) is prevalent in the global community. These photographs are consequential beyond their documentarian nature. Human rights photographs have power; who that power is attributed to and how it is wielded is not incidental.

In this thesis, I make the subliminal indicators surrounding human rights photography apparent. Through case studies of the trauma memorial museum and the medium of photojournalism, I show that the interplay of genre, context, and time can either restore dignity to human rights subjects photographed or, alternatively, detract from those already facing deprivation.