Crowdsourcing images on authority in Lebanon and Jordan

As part of the Public Authority and Legitimacy Making (PALM) project in urban Lebanon and Jordan, the team has launched a call for communities to share images to show how authority is exercised by 30 May 2019.

These images will contribute to the wider project and research on host-refugee relations in Lebanon and Jordan and could potentially be shown at the end of the project in an exhibition. The images are neighbourhood-specific, they could include objects, events or artwork and can respond to:

Which key people and organisations shape important aspects of life in your neighbourhood?
In what ways are people living in the neighbourhood represented in dealings with the municipality?
Which key people or organisations provide welfare or relief to needy people?
Which public authority resolves disputes between people living in the neighbourhood?
What language, artwork or other objects are used to show or challenge authority?
In what ways do people and organisations use the urban built environment to demonstrate presence and influence in the neighbourhood?

Dr Wissam Mansour, CEO, Occlude (project partner) leading the initiative explains “images capture and convey lucidly inhabitants’ understanding of public authority making and legitimation processes, leading to a better evaluation of the role these authorities play in urban communities. This may involve supporting wellbeing outcomes and facilitating community development. Insights towards this ultimately help policymakers to better engage public authorities.”

The image crowdsourcing will complement the broader  research by gathering visual stories of communities’ perception of the public authorities within their neighbourhoods, to appreciate their effects on everyday life in densely populated urban neighbourhoods.

How to contribute

Images can be shared in the following ways:

Instagram – @PalmIMAGERY using #NeighbourhoodAuthority
Facebook – @PalmIMAGERY using #NeighbourhoodAuthority
Email – [email protected]

When sharing your images, please ensure you tell us where they are from and use an identifiable hashtag alongside #NeighbourhoodAuthority

For Lebanon image contributions use the #NeighbourhoodAuthority hashtag and one of the following:

#BeirutSabraArea #BeirutSaidGhawash #BeirutMarEliasCamp #BeirutDaouk #TripoliWadiElNahle #TripoliBeddawi #TripoliBebElTebbeneh #TripoliQobbe #TripoliAbouAliRiverMarketArea

For Jordan image contributions use the #NeighbourhoodAuthority hashtag and one of the following:

#Amman #Irbid

Image criteria

Landscape (Facebook); square (Instagram)
Accompanied with a 50-word caption that describes what the contributor is seeing, and possibly their own reflection and thoughts about what this means in response to the call. Maximum 1 or 2 sentences.
For consideration to be included in the final exhibition, the resolution of images need to be at least 1640 pixels by 720 pixels (Facebook) or 1080 pixels by 1080 pixels (Instagram) (300 dpi).

Privacy policy

The project partners take privacy very seriously and understand that while some people may wish to share images, they will not want the image to be shared. If this is the case, they invite images to be shared via email and state if images should not be shared. Otherwise, we have an explicit privacy policy:

All images shall protect the identity of photographed subjects (be they community members or public authorities) whenever this is requested upon submitting the image. Abbreviating the name or blurring faces techniques shall be used in such cases.
All Geo-tags/locations shall be removed from image submissions before publishing unless if explicitly pre-authorised by public authorities.
When contributors request to remain anonymous the anonymity of their identity shall be respected
When the photographed subjects are children or showcasing vulnerability their consent shall be requested verbally or through a written consent following the IDS Audio, Film and Visual Images guidelines prior to capturing their photo.
All photo submissions to show respect to the community, to represent the context and subjects faithfully, and to promote a good cause and avoid harming subjects appearing in them.

Terms of use

All images that will be used in any dissemination channel shall adhere to the PALM-PICS image criteria and its terms and policies, including the IDS Audio, Film and Visual Images guidelines
Unless explicitly stated otherwise, by submitting an image on Instagram, Facebook or email contributors understand that the images may be used to communicate the findings from the research project
A balance of images shall be used to describe the realities of the communities as faithfully as possible
No editing shall be performed on images except that in line with the privacy policy. If this editing should alter the reality of the image and render the image message misleading the image shall be dropped from the pool of useful images.
All images shall be used ethically and truthfully
No image portraying armed personnel, military or other security-sensitive facility shall be submitted or used by the project
All images used to disseminate shall consider the wide audience that may see these images including children.
Image contributions shall be credited except when the contributor prefers his identity to remain anonymous.