The Rise of Humanitarian Consumption

The rise of humanitarian consumption has given birth to a new type of image, one which places product first and pleasantries second leaving the cause it seeks to support as an afterthought. Presently, the only consistent remaining comparison between visual representations used by humanitarian consumption and its predecessor humanitarian activism is the means by which they communicate their respective messages, that being humanitarian photography and video. Humanitarian photography is defined as “The mobilization of photography in service of humanitarian initiatives across state boundaries”. This equates to mostly charitable and investigative pursuits led primarily with newspapers and NGOs, the latter coming into prominence primarily during the beginning of humanitarian consumption. What these “movements” intend to display with such imagery is the topic of investigation, and my hope is that by the end, one will come to understand the greater significance humanitarian consumption holds in today’s society. Before speaking directly on the photographic and cultural impact of the transition between humanitarian activism to humanitarian consumption, it is first important to establish their individual roots, as well as the supreme relevance of neoliberalism on the latter. 

Humanitarian activism began as a widely journalistic and charitable pursuit used to highlight international and global crises. Photography has always played a crucial role in this endeavor as it provided a visceral way to create impact and promote storytelling. Arguably, impactful imagery is the defining feature of humanitarian activism. Beyond all of photography’s artistic notions lays its ability to communicate powerful, oftentimes unforgettable messages, all in an instant. The first example of such imagery was in 1851 with Henry Mayhew’s series London labor and the London poor, documenting the brutal labor conditions of the London working class during the time. Historians credit Mayhew with the construction of the embankment to stop the flooding of the Thames river which periodically would devastate the lives of the poor who live along its banks. It wasn’t until the late 1890s that humanitarian activism became an impactful force for international relief campaigns, a practice that later would become the norm. Julian Hawthornes 1897 series done for the Cosmapolatin Magazine marked this monumental shift, capturing the heartbreaking food scarcity occurring in India. Hawthorne describes the images captured as one of the “saddest and grimmest spectacles known to modern times.” Displayed was the utter truth of the matter at hand, human suffering due to extreme starvation, something which no honest photograph can hide or make “consumer-friendly”.

 For decades humanitarian activism and photography continued with this brutally honest approach, shown through iconic images such as Kevin Carter’s “The vulture and the little girl” and Nick Ut’s “Terror of War”. These photos are disturbing, crude, violent, horrid, and heartbreaking –- that’s the point of them. In order to create awareness for something, which for a primarily western audience, is thousands of miles away, you make it so the viewer has no option but to look and be terrified at what they see. One of the most tangible and well-documented examples of such an effect occurred in 1985 during the famine relief mega-concert Live Aid. Formed by pop singer Bob Geldof, Live Aid was a charity concert held in the UK, featuring the world’s most famous musicians including Queen, David Bowie, and U2. Estimates of funds raised vary, with some sources claiming up to 150 million pounds, all collected over the concert’s 16 hours run time. Accounting for a large portion of this donation was a video depicting Ethiopia’s horrifying hunger crisis, a video that would be viewed by over 1.5 billion people worldwide, making it the most televised viewing of suffering to date. The attitude of the crowd and its celebrity cohosts changed immediately, with tears and looks of horror sweeping the thousands of attendees, assumingly this grief reached the mass watching through their televisions. Just as in the images discussed above the video was both brutally honest and heartbreaking, intending to bring about true human empathy and compassion to captivate its audiences. Whether this is good practice is of course very subjective. What is not subjective however is the reason we rarely see humanitarian activism or photography anymore, which is arguably due to the rise of global neoliberalism. 

Since the 1970’s it has become clear that business and profit are king and consumerism their means of domination. Everything within our society has seemingly become a product, even ourselves, and everyone is a potential buyer. Naturally, under the grips of neoliberalism, the way in which individuals promote social change is primarily by purchasing products rather than donating. Humanitarian consumption encapsulates this change expertly. Product Red, which one could consider the poster child for the movement, utilizes imagery that is focused primarily on product and brand recognition. The AIDS crisis, which it was created to support, is used merely as a marketing tool, and because product and profit come first the images used to sell them must be consumer-friendly. Take for example one Product Red advertisement depicting musician John Legend standing with a group of children, all presumably from somewhere in Africa, all adorned in Product Red t-shirts. Smiles hang on each of their faces and at the center of all the joy is of course celebrity John Legend, who stands there as yet another product to entice the viewer’s eye. 

Humanitarian consumption is possibly most ubiquitous within the imagery of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), which like product red, aim their sights at smiling children, and thriving communities, even though they exist to provide aid towards starvation, poverty, and other inhumane treatment. Consumer-friendly imagery has become the standard, if not the only visual representation available to these organizations. Effectively advertising to the modern consumer relies on treating its target audience as children, unable to see reality, and only able to support a cause with a pleasant smile on its face. Organizations like The Hunger Project, UNICEF, BRAC, and Save the Children all present almost identical visual advertising, removing all possibility of impact, and providing next to zero visual information of the crises they claim to represent. This advertisement-friendly attitude has produced a permanent pacification upon many international development initiatives that have adopted similar more light-hearted imagery to promote their causes.

Largely gone are the honest and devastating images of the past, and instead are images that only foreshadow the true nature of causes they try to represent. Today’s humanitarian photography has taken the role of advertisement at the cost of all ability to contain narrative. No longer are the issues of starvation, war, poverty, persecution, and barbaric treatment shown in their true forms and we all suffer because of this. We are all worse off because of this. The cost of removing reality is that we lose understanding and empathy for those who truly need as much genuine care as humanly possible. The reigns of neoliberalism show itself in every corner of culture, and its emphasis on selling products is equally omnipresent. Humanitarian consumption is yet another reflection of the truly dulled consumerist world we live within. 

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Mehling, Jordan. “A Brief History of Humanitarian Photography.” Penda Photo Tours, 6 Dec. 2020, https://www.pendaphototours.com/a-brief-history-of-humanitarian-photography/. 

“Live Aid, against all odds.” BBC.

Fehrenbach, H., & Rodogno, D. (2016). Humanitarian Photography: A History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bogre, M. (2017). Photography As Activism: Images for Social Change. London: Routledge.