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Drones, Camera Innovations and Conceptions of Human Rights

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Abstract

Choi-Fitzpatrick looks at the evolution of camera devices from camera obscura to satellites and drones to illustrate not only the different ways of seeing they generate but also the various imaginaries they sustain about what human rights are or could be. By questioning how the camera, as an object of inquiry in its own right, drives the forms, meanings and effects of human rights images, he cautions against technological determinism. New devices complement data-gathering and storytelling efforts, but they also strain existing laws and norms about transparency, accountability and surveillance. Drones pierce old arrangements and empower agents in the process.

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Choi-Fitzpatrick, A. (2018). Drones, Camera Innovations and Conceptions of Human Rights. In: Ristovska, S., Price, M. (eds) Visual Imagery and Human Rights Practice. Global Transformations in Media and Communication Research - A Palgrave and IAMCR Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75987-6_3

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