How can imagery best reflect the diversity of reality? How can diversity be actively taken into account in visual communication? The APA breakout session, which took place on September 26th as part of this year’s Austrian Media Days at the Erste Campus in Vienna, was dedicated to these questions.
Luzia Strohmayer-Nacif, head of the APA visual desk, and the long-time APA photographer and photojournalist Roland Schlager discussed the challenges of visual stereotypes and the promotion of a more inclusive media landscape, moderated by Christian Kneil (Head of Content Business and deputy editor-in-chief of the APA). . The core of the discussion was the current APA project “Image of the Future: Capturing the Future,” funded by the Vienna Media Initiative. Visual storytelling for future topics”, which is intended to shed light on the topics of climate crisis and artificial intelligence off the beaten path.
“We want to address the well-known problem that photos often use clichés. “Heat waves were and are often depicted with subjects of outdoor swimming pools or sunglasses, and when it comes to AI, robot images are often used, and in the worst case, sexualized ones,” says Strohmayer-Nacif. The project aims to develop a trustworthy visual vocabulary for the once-in-a-lifetime topics of climate change and artificial intelligence, to produce contemporary images and to better reflect society in its diversity.
Break new paths
Concrete visual examples were shown in the breakout session in the areas of climate crisis and AI. The image of two seniors on a summer day served as an example of how imagery can raise awareness of the health burden on older people during heat waves. For the topic of AI, an image was presented that shows AI use in an operating room at the Vienna General Hospital and the creation of which involved some work. “I contacted the AKH in advance and spoke to a mathematician there who gave me information about where AI was used in the hospital. It took about three to four months to get the finished photo,” said APA photographer Schlager.
The “Image of the Future” project has been running since February 2024 and has already produced several images and image series that are about the Bildagentur APA-Picture Desk can be found under the keyword “Image of the future”. Strohmayer-Nacif: “Thematic images such as district cooling in parliament or new heat features are already being used very well.”
Reflecting on diversity
The second focus of the session was the topic of diversity in visual language. In addition to gender, “diversity” also includes numerous other characteristics such as family situation, age, worldview or educational background. It’s all about a mindset that resonates in every picture. Schlager summed up what this specifically means for photographers: “The central thing is to raise awareness. Our job is to be unbiased and objective, for this it is necessary to recognize our own bias and deal with it.”
As part of the project, the project team completed, among other things, a workshop in which the images from the past few years were critically analyzed and possibilities for improvement were developed. This process was important because there is often no time for it in everyday working life, says Strohmayer-Nacif. She concluded by summing up why it is important to be as unbiased as possible in visual communication and to reflect a large part of society: “The imagery of the media plays a significant role in how we see the world.”
More pictures in the APA-Fotogalerie