Project description
Uncovering bias, power and justice in a visual world
Images are central to justice. They expose violence, mobilise the public and serve as evidence in courts. However, what images show – and conceal – depends on the design of cameras, and this has profound implications for justice. The ERC-funded Before the Image project asks: what goes into the making of images for legal and social justice before they are taken or seen? The project will develop a political ontology of image-making and an innovative methodological approach to ethnographically exploring novel image technologies and their impact. In this way, it will improve stakeholders’ ability to address biases and ensure justice. Before the Image will conduct cross-disciplinary, collaborative ethnographic studies on the making and use of images for legal and social justice.
Objective
Image-capturing devices are in our hands and pockets, attached to buildings, vehicles, and bodies, and above us in the sky. They document violence, war crimes, and human rights abuses in images that are used in trials and for social justice. Despite their promise of truth, images are also recognised as biased, partial, and positioned. However, this has mainly been explored by studying images – or people engaged with taking or viewing them. To understand images for legal and social justice, we must study how biases, partialities, and positionalities of images are produced, not only in relation to taking and viewing images, but also in processes of designing image technologies and developing camera and visual literacy skills – what this project terms before the image. The project works ethnographically, cross-disciplinarily, and collaboratively. It subcontracts civil society actors to explore what goes into the making of images for legal and social justice before they are taken or seen.
The objectives are to:
- Develop a political ontology of image-making that expands conceptualisations of how, when, and by whom images are made. By looking beyond the situations immediately around the capturing and viewing of images, the project broadens understandings of the time, places, and actors involved in image-making.
- Develop and test an innovative methodological approach to ‘studying the future’. By subcontracting and collaborating with key image actors to develop sites for ethnographic exploration, the project gains unique access to the development of emerging image technologies.
- Enhance the capacity of stakeholders to address biases and promote justice. By providing actionable insight into the preconditions of image production, the project empowers civil society organisations, legal institutions, and tech developers to navigate the ethical and practical challenges associated with image making, supporting their work to make images less unjust and more useful for justice.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1165 KOBENHAVN
Denmark
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.