Lines of Engagement:
How Technology, Ethics and Trust Shape Photojournalism Today
18th and 19th Sept. 2025
‘Show a group of photojournalists with cameras, wearing army helmets, photographing a burning tank in a destroyed city with drones flying overhead. In a seperate part of the picture show civilians with iphones photographing the tank.’ Image created by midjourney AI
Conference Synopsis:
Photojournalistic images traditionally serve as a record of events, evidence of abuses of power, carriers of memory and powerful agents for change. But documenting the present is no longer the sole preserve of professional photojournalists from established media organisations. New technologies are continually changing the ways in which images are produced and disseminated.
Photojournalism sits within a complex tapestry of media content, platforms and agendas, continually challenged by misinformation and disinformation, digital disruption and attacks on press freedom. Artificial Intelligence can create realistic images of events that did not happen, or at which no camera was present. This has the potential to undermine trust in all photographic images, as well as opening up unprecedented avenues of possibility.
News reports frequently include other forms of imagery, for example satellite and drone footage, changing the distances and perspectives from which we see. Organisations like Amnesty International and Forensic Architecture have developed advanced image verification and visualisation tools that enable them to take vast amounts of open-source imagery and create compelling stories from them, expanding the way we think of the role of a photojournalist.
This conference considers how these developments impact the role that photojournalism plays in shaping public perception, and documenting history. It will explore where ideas of truth, impartiality and trust now sit within the contemporary media landscape. At London College of Communication, where we are working with the next generation of image makers, reporters and advocates for social justice and change, we know how urgent these conversations are.
The conference will pose critical questions about what contemporary photojournalism practice is, what photojournalism education should seek to teach students and what in turn students might ask from a media that is fighting to stay relevant in the increasingly fraught attention economy.
Following a series of expert panel discussions addressing the most pressing questions facing the photojournalism industry, the event will culminate in the production of an online and physical publication capturing the ideas shared and proposing a manifesto for photojournalism education. The publications will equip educators, students and industry professionals for positive change
Thursday 18th Sept. 09.00 - 17.30
1 - Technologies of Image Creation
This panel will explore the expanding ways in which images are created and the impact this has on the speed of reporting, the economies of reporting, and the way in which stories are told. We will explore different ways that images are captured and transmitted from the field and how technologies such as satellites, camera phones, photogrammetry, live-streaming, drones and even encrypted messaging apps have shifted visual perspectives and the distances from which images are created. 2 -
2 - The Attention Economy
This panel will explore how news is disseminated and engaged with, and how the platforms through which people engage with news influence their understanding of events. We will explore how mainstream media organizations are adapting their platforms for contemporary audiences. We will also explore the dissemination of news on social media and the impact of algorithms on what users see. LCC students will discuss how they and others from their generation engage with news. The panel will explore how the attention economy changes the way stories are told.
3 - Open source Investigations and Verification
This panel will explore reporting that uses open source imagery and data to tell stories and provide evidence of events. Three investigators who use similar workflow, but in different contexts, will discuss methods of image verification, visualisation and storytelling.
Friday 19th Sept. 09.00 - 17.30
4 – AI: Visibility and Trust
This panel will explore the perceived threats and opportunities presented by generative AI, as it simultaneously threatens public trust in photojournalistic imagery and also enables the visualisation of events and places that have been previously unphotographable, for logistical or ethical reasons. AI has already permeated the photojournalistic ecosystem: this panel looks closely at its positive and negative effects.
5 – Contemporary modes of war photography
This final panel brings together photojournalists to discuss their work in relation to many of the preceding themes, examining issues of technology, ethics and representation in the context of contemporary war reporting, where stakes are high, lives are directly affected, and where misinformation and disinformation carry profound consequences.
6 - Partnership Models of Photojournalism
This panel will explore different models of relationship between those who make photojournalistic images and those to appear in them. The voices and input of ‘the people in the pictures’ are increasingly important alongside official media representations and stories, especially in locations where professionalised photojournalists cannot or choose not to work. Outside of ‘participatory practice’, and ‘citizen journalism’, this work is often not subject to the same editorial processes as traditional photojournalism, but can be seen as a new model with its own distinctive challenges and affordances.
6pm - 8pm - Book Launch
In the Moment: 40 Years of Reuters Photojournalism
Edited by Alexia Singh
Published by Thames and Hudson
Discussion groups: Pedagogies of photojournalism. What should we be teaching, how and why?
Throughout the conference and in panel specific discussions groups, students and attendees will have been synchronously compiling a record of the key questions, concepts, skills and priorities for contemporary photojournalism practice and photojournalism education. A physical and digital publication will then present the outcome of these activities, alongside transcripts of the conference presentations, and a collaboratively produced manifesto for photojournalism education.
Lines of Engagement: How Technology, Ethics and Trust Shape Photojournalism Today
Conference Dates: Thursday 18th and Friday 19th September 2025
Conference Times: 09.00 - 17.30
Mode: Hybrid
In person venue: London College of Communication, Elephant and Castle, SE1 6SB
£10 per day in person or £10 for two days online.
Current LCC Staff and Students can book free tickets which are valid with your ID cards.