This study examines how Western global news agencies portray Syrian and Ukrainian refugees differently, focusing on how photographic attributes contribute to the construction of ‘the Others’ rooted in the enduring colonial logic of othering non-Western refugees. Drawing on postcolonial theory and intersectionality, this study uses visual framing and content analysis of 1,619 news photographs from Reuters and AFP to identify racialized and gendered biases in refugee representation. The results show that Syrian refugees are often depicted from a distance and confined to camp settings, reinforcing colonial stereotypes of victimhood or threat, while Ukrainian refugees are framed as culturally proximate individuals with agency through symbolic markers. These visual patterns reflect a reconfiguration of colonial othering dynamics, in which the ‘us/them’ binary is reproduced through the interplay of photographic representation and Western hegemonic discourse.
Woochul Kim (Tue,) studied this question.