Framing the migration: A study of news photographs showing people fleeing war and persecution

Abstract

Human migration due to political upheaval is rapidly accelerating, yet scholarly attention to refugees' visual news representations has lagged. Using a visual analysis informed by the transnational writings of Yuval-Davis related to the politics of belonging and the peace/conflict frame literature, 811 images primarily depicting migration from Turkey into Europe in 2015 and submitted to the Pictures of the Year International competition were examined. Analysis determined that, despite billions of dollars in aid and millions of migrants who have benefited from food assistance and other development opportunities, the photographers overwhelmingly highlighted the migrants' transitory nature, vulnerability and differences while minimizing any attempt to depict the shared connections or integrations that were occurring. As media are orienting devices, this has profound implications for how migrants are regarded on both the individual as well as the collective levels.