Photography & Consent Policy
Last updated: [Month Year]
Photographs are an important part of how GFTH documents its work. They help show where activities take place, what was delivered, how people participated and what communities experienced. At the same time, photographs can affect people's privacy, dignity and safety.
This policy sets out the principles GFTH follows when taking, selecting, storing and publishing photographs connected to its programmes, activities, staff, partners and communities.
Our approach to photography
GFTH uses photographs to document real work rather than to create an exaggerated picture of impact. Images published by GFTH should therefore reflect the activity honestly and, wherever possible, show people participating in the work rather than simply being presented as recipients of assistance.
Photography must always be approached with respect for the people being photographed. The purpose of documenting an activity does not override a person's privacy, dignity or right to make an informed decision about being photographed.
Consent comes before publication
No photograph will be published by GFTH without documented consent where consent is required.
Consent should be obtained in a manner that allows the person being photographed to understand what the photograph is for and how it may be used. Consent should not be treated as automatic simply because a person is participating in a GFTH activity.
Where an activity involves children or adolescents, additional safeguarding requirements apply. Photographs of minors will not be published without written consent from an appropriate parent or legal guardian.
Children and adolescents
GFTH takes particular care when photographing children and adolescents. Their safety, dignity and privacy take priority over the value of any photograph for communication purposes.
No identifiable photograph of a minor will be published without written guardian consent. Where a photograph can communicate the activity without identifying a child, GFTH may choose a composition that protects the person's identity.
Photographs should never place a child in an unsafe, humiliating, exploitative or otherwise inappropriate situation for the purpose of creating stronger communications material.
Health-related photography
Health activities require particular care because photographs may reveal sensitive personal information or create situations in which a person's privacy is compromised.
GFTH will not publish photographs showing a patient while they are undergoing medical examination.
Photographs from medical activities should focus on appropriate programme context, such as a wider view of the camp, staff preparing materials, community engagement or other non-sensitive aspects of the activity.
A person's medical condition, treatment or consultation should not be made visible merely for documentary or promotional purposes.
Dignity and representation
GFTH will not publish an identifiable photograph of a person receiving relief in a posture or situation that is degrading.
People affected by poverty, disaster, illness or other difficult circumstances should not be represented in ways that reduce them to their vulnerability. Photographs should preserve dignity and show people as participants in their communities rather than as objects of sympathy.
GFTH will avoid photographs that unnecessarily expose private, distressing or humiliating circumstances, even where the photograph could demonstrate the scale of a programme.
Choosing photographs for publication
When documenting an activity, GFTH aims to maintain a balanced visual record. Where appropriate, this may include a wide establishing photograph, an interaction photograph, a detail photograph and a group or context photograph.
Every published image should carry a caption that explains what is shown, where the activity took place and when it occurred.
Captions should be factual and should not exaggerate the significance of the image or make claims that the photograph itself cannot support.
Privacy and identifying information
A photograph can reveal more information than the image itself. Names, locations, school details, medical information and other identifying information may create additional privacy risks when combined with a photograph.
GFTH therefore considers the wider context in which an image will be published. Identifying information should only be included where there is a legitimate reason to do so and where the relevant consent and safeguarding requirements have been met.
Consent for photographers and programme teams
Staff, photographers, volunteers and programme partners working on behalf of GFTH are expected to follow this policy when taking photographs connected to GFTH activities.
Programme teams should ensure that consent requirements are understood before photography begins and that documentation of consent is retained where required.
The absence of a formal complaint does not mean that a photograph can be published without consent. Responsibility for appropriate photography and publication remains with the people managing the activity and the publication process.
Photographs supplied by partners
Photographs submitted to GFTH by partners, training providers, photographers or other organisations must also comply with this policy.
GFTH may request confirmation that the appropriate consent has been obtained before accepting a photograph for publication. A photograph may be rejected where consent cannot be adequately established or where its publication could compromise privacy, safeguarding or dignity.
Withdrawal of consent
Where practicable and appropriate, a person may request that a photograph containing them be removed from GFTH's website or other GFTH-controlled communication channels.
Requests will be reviewed in light of the circumstances, the original consent, any applicable legal or safeguarding considerations and whether the photograph remains necessary for an accountability or archival purpose.
Where a photograph presents a safeguarding or privacy concern, GFTH will treat the request with particular attention.
Photo gallery and field reports
Photographs published in GFTH's Photo Gallery and Field Reports form part of the organisation's public record of its work.
The publication of an image in these areas does not reduce the consent or safeguarding requirements that apply to it. Every photograph must meet the same basic standards before publication.
GFTH's photo documentation approach requires every image to be captioned with what, where and when, and activities should generally be represented through a small number of meaningful images rather than unnecessary volume. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
What GFTH will not publish
GFTH will not publish:
- photographs without the required documented consent;
- identifiable photographs of minors without written guardian consent;
- photographs of patients while they are undergoing examination;
- identifiable photographs of people receiving relief in a degrading posture; or
- photographs that create an avoidable risk to a person's privacy, safety or dignity.
Questions or concerns about a photograph
If you believe that a photograph published by GFTH has been used without appropriate consent, contains identifying information that should not have been published, or otherwise raises a privacy, safeguarding or dignity concern, please contact GFTH.
General contact: info@gfthbd.org
Policy review
GFTH may review and update this policy as its programmes, safeguarding systems, photography practices and organisational requirements develop.
The latest version will be published on this page with the date of the most recent update.