ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the epistemological, aesthetic and ethical principles of poverty journalism. It examines visual representations of forced migration, acknowledging the fundamental power imbalance between the (often) non-precarious viewer and the precarious subject. It suggests that deprivation and vulnerability must, and can, be efficaciously represented. The comparison of two iconic photos, Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother (1936) with Nilüfer Demir’s Syrian Boy on the Beach (2015), shows, in spite of their many differences, that images can alert the public and instigate immediate political action. Both symbolize the wretchedness of migration by illustrating the heinous dialectics of economic precarity and human frailty, what philosopher Judith Butler calls precariousness.
The underlying question of what makes a portrait of precarity efficacious and the thorny issue of voyeurism — victimizing the vulnerable — are at the core of this exploration of precarious photojournalism. This branch of journalism, which refuses to objectify the precarious subject, foregrounds precariousness by adding the disturbing effect of visual ambiguity. An analysis of the political controversy surrounding these two images provides the necessary context to better understand what precarious photojournalism is and what it does to the viewer.
