Visual Trust is a multi-disciplinary, comparative and innovative project aimed at developing a general theory of (mis)trust in images in the contemporary world.
This project will develop an experimental investigation, both on-line and off-line, on how visual trust is crafted, conveyed and assessed. Complementarily, we set out to understand the mechanisms governing the production, perception and conceptualization of falsity in the field of images, proposing an “ethnography of visual forgery”. This project has been funded by the European Research Council (ERC-Consolidator Grant nº 101002897; PI: Roger Canals, University of Barcelona).
The project
Studying images through images
Visual Trust assumes a relational approach in the study of images: it aims at analysing how people from different socio-cultural milieu interact with and through images in terms of (mis)trust. Yet we consider that the study of images requires the active using of visual methods and the experimentation with new modes of visual writing and representation. This project will lead to a plurality of outcomes (articles, books, films, exhibitions), thus contributing to current efforts towards a multi-modal and public anthropology.
Outcomes
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Conferences
Knowledge in the making
In this section, you will find some of the drafts, notes, and “provisory outcomes” of this project. Far from being just “partial or unfinished works”, we consider that these documents permit to better understand how knowledge is generated. They also permit to engage a conversation with a public audience. These documents include: interviews, articles, visual essays and photographs, among others.
Outreach Activities
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Field Notes
The latest occurrences
In this section we will be announcing the activities that will be organised during the development of the project Visual Trust. These include: seminars and conferences, dissemination activities in press and publication of provisory results. Follow us on our Social Networks to keep updated about the unfolding of the project.
Farewell, Gaia! — Film Release
17 Dec 2025
The Empty Sign
04 May 2025
Contact
Visual Trust is an ERC project based at the University of Barcelona.
Address: Faculty of Geography and History, C/Montalegre 6, 08001, Barcelona, Spain.
Research Office: 3121
PI Office: 2012
Email: pr.visualtrust@ub.edu
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