Thread by @Marthinolly

@Reuters shared a photo of a health worker
with a person infected with #Covid19 at the back, laying down on bed naked. The comments were so interesting to read. "He has families, can we respect that?" "unethical" "please delete" & some lectures on ethics.
1/

It is still fascinating that the narrative we have of Italy at this time of emergency is people singing, dancing, visiting each other. The only documentation available online. 2/

Our bodies are represented, understood and documented depending on our identity and class. The vulnerability of those being documented decided based on who they are & where they come from. 3/

Looking at documentations on war & emergency crisis like ebola, photographers & photojournalists fail to acknowledge their privilege big time. And western media continues to feed their ego by "othering" bodies & twisting narratives. 4/

It is almost impossible for us to imagine a portrait of a white girl being on a news paper with a child marriage story. Impossible for us to imagine a picture of a white man, naked & chained at a mental health center. It's as if they don't even exist.
5/

To make it worse,images of black people on crisis continue to win awards in different platforms & are published in big mag covers. We fail the people in the photographs by remaining silent or not seeing the damage. 5/

We need to cut the double standard. The selective outrage of what's unethical in documentation. We need to stop being hypocrites & start speaking against unethical documentation for ALL people.
6/End