The production of a contemporary famine image: the image economy, indigenous photographers and the case of Mekanic Philipos

This paper discusses the photographic representation of disaster in the minority world. It argues that the international image economy has a strong influence on the content of the images produced; this is demonstrated through the analysis of Mekanic Philipos's image as published in the UK at the end of May 2003. The paper critically analyses images of a recent trip by Bob Geldof to Ethiopia in relation to the trade of photographs of the majority world in the international image economy, the photographer's ethnicity, issues of power, ethics and style and a particular public face of development.