The Gaze
A critical concept describing how looking is structured by power, and how images position their subjects and viewers.
In depth
Developed in film theory and extended to photography, the idea holds that the camera's viewpoint is never neutral — it assigns roles of observer and observed. It underpins questions about who is photographed, on whose terms, for whose consumption, and it applies as much to documentary and travel work as to portraiture.
Examples in practice
Asking whether a subject is presented as a person or as a spectacle is an analysis of the gaze.