Photo captured amid the heat of protests in Los Angeles on 14 June 2025. Credit: Larissa Puro via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

26 June 2025

By Duncan Mercieca

A moment that stops us

Just days ago, amid the heat of protests in Los Angeles, a photograph captured the world’s attention. A woman stands, her face intense, unwavering and resolute. Before her, a Sheriff deputy, anonymous behind helmet and mask, forms a wall of state power. Her face is visible; his is not. This image, shared across social media and news outlets, became more than a moment; it became a lens through which power, vulnerability and resistance came into focus.

Here, I consider how such images challenge dominant narratives of vulnerability and resistance, and how they can be used in education to foster critical, ethical and feminist engagement with the world. This is central to my own research with children with special educational needs and disabilities, their families and their teachers, in which we question existing structures, systems and practices, finding ways for marginalised learners to flourish in more just and inclusive societies.

Seeing as an ethical act

Ethical responsibility often begins with the face of another person. To truly see someone, to encounter their vulnerability, their humanity, is to be called into a relationship of care and accountability. For me, the Los Angeles protest image exemplifies this: the woman’s face is exposed, expressive and humanising, while the state’s authority is masked and anonymous. Her visibility becomes a site of ethical encounter; theirs, a performance of censorship and control.

Especially so in today’s media-saturated world, who gets to be seen, and how, is shaped by power. As such, photographs like this one do not merely document events. They shape perception. They determine who is recognised, who is mourned and who remains invisible. Even when taken by independent observers, such images circulate within broader visual cultures shaped by power. These visual frames can reinforce or resist dominant narratives, ultimately influencing whose lives are deemed to have value.

Framing the frame: visual resistance

Media images are never neutral. They are framed, both literally and ideologically, by those who produce and circulate them. Yet even within these constraints, images can resist. They can draw attention to the very structures that govern what is seen and what is hidden. Again, the Los Angeles image arguably does just that. It invites viewers to look again, not just at the woman, but at the framing itself. Why is her face visible? Why are others’ faces not? What does this say about power, vulnerability and recognition? Looking-again is a form of critique that begins with seeing differently, with refusing to accept the dominant visual order as natural or complete. Some call this a ‘disobedient act of seeing’: a way of looking that challenges the norms of visibility and power.

A feminist ethics of visibility

The image also demands a feminist reading. Feminist theory has long challenged the framing of women as passive or in need of protection. The woman here is not passive. She is an active participant and witness. Her strong, resolute presence disrupts visual codes that equate vulnerability with weakness. She is not only seen, but she is seeing – and acting. In doing so, she asserts ethical and political agency. Her visibility becomes a form of resistance, challenging the binary between vulnerability and strength. This invites us to rethink the relationship between gender, power and space.

Implications for education

What does this mean for education?

It calls for a pedagogy that cultivates visual literacy and a critical, resistant gaze. Students must be challenged to not merely look, but to see: to interrogate what is shown, how it is framed, and what ideologies shape the image. In a world saturated with visual media, this is not a technical skill; it is an ethical and political practice. Learners must be able to resist passive consumption and engage in visual dissent. A way of seeing that challenges dominant narratives and opens space for reimagining the world. Teaching, in this context, is never neutral. Every act of interpretation carries histories, hierarchies and assumptions. When students are encouraged to see with intention and awareness, they begin to question inherited narratives and imagine new possibilities. That is the work of justice in education.