The Politics of Photography: Visual Depictions of Syrian Refugees in U.K. Online Media

Abstract

Research indicates that news images of refugees have become increasingly negative, often portraying them as either innocent victims, who lack political agency, or as security threats, with the potential to threaten the host country's national security and identity. This article explores how Syrian refugees have been visually portrayed in the U.K. online media by employing a visual quantitative content analysis of 299 photographs of Syrian refugees in The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The Independent. It looks at photographs published after images of Alan Kurdi, a young Syrian boy who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, made global headlines. The findings suggest that Syrian refugees are regularly securitized and cast by the media as “Others” who exist in the state of exception.