ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author examines images used by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It draws from the landmark publication Images of Exile as well as from current campaigns and online photo galleries. The chapter traces broad trends in visual representation, reflecting upon how the changes in images correspond with changes in policy in Western countries. Images of refugees changed as politics shifted from the Cold War to economic protectionism and then to a preoccupation with security. As a result of these shifts, refugees have become less welcome. The international refugee regime was established in the context of the Cold War and the conflict between two superpowers. Its shift to the global South, however, was conditioned by the pervasive power relations between North and South and the continuing legacies of colonialism. In the UNHCR online galleries, the pictures from the 1960s onwards are dominated by images that show a massive number of refugees from Africa and Asia.
