Framing Migration
Funded by the esrc. Lead researcher Anna gormley.
Through this project the researcher investigates how the production of photography for humanitarian purposes can be reimagined to open the possibility for a new ‘ethics of seeing’ (Linfield, 2010, p60) as regards depictions of migration experiences.
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The project focuses on the process of image-making in the space of migration. It has been designed to investigate how NGOs create, curate and convey imagery to represent refugee and people seeking asylum’s experience of migration. It was designed to understand (from various viewpoints) how NGOs create imagery to represent the experience of migration to bridge a perceived gap in literature in this area.
The research design employed three qualitative mixed methods; semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation. Through these methods it asks questions such as: what types of images are being made, the experience of staff and refugees in creating these images, and alternative ideas for how they could be made differently. It also considered how the production of photography for humanitarian purposes can be reimagined to open the possibility for a new ‘ethics of seeing’ (Linfield, 2010, p60) images of migration.
Research was carried out through two case studies; the first, focused on the border in Northern France, with communication staff of NGOs working in the field. The second, looked at how images are being made to represent migration in the UK, with refugees and people seeking asylum supported by the British Red Cross. Through these case studies the project draws important insights into how images are being made and demonstrates how the controls placed on what is and is not pictured in Calais and the UK ultimately mean that the images produced are not effective outside of the humanitarian framework (Azoulay, 2014). This means that the final visualisations created do not activate in the viewer an understanding of the complexity of the individuals, their situation or the wider political context. The parallel themes outlined through the research point to critical areas that need reconsideration to move forward and beyond the humanitarian framework that even more creative, collaborative attempts at visualising migration have failed to do.
The project contributes to this critical area of study by offering first hand evidence, and practical and theoretical outputs. It makes the case for an urgent rethinking of approaches to image making in this area.
Outcomes include:
Visual installations of research process across multi disciplinary spaces
Findings reports have been created and distributed with invested stakeholders in the UK and Calais to improve image gathering and sharing processes.
Report and presentations of UK case study shared with The British Red Cross UK media and story gathering teams and the Stories Network.
Academic chapters in forthcoming: 'Relearning Photojournalism’, Allan, S and Gormley, A, The Routledge Companion to Journalism Education, edited by Karen Fowler-Watt. July 2026 - https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Journalism-Education/Fowler-Watt/p/book/9781032640938
The Framing Migration Network has been set up: a group of academics, researchers, image makers, NGO communication staff and people with lived experience.
Two international symposiums focused on issues of framing migration with multidisciplinary participants funded by the ESRC and The Paul Mellon Centre.