Presenting Power Online

One of the things I have always loved about the United Nations is how it brings the whole world together – representatives from literally every country in the world gather under one roof to discuss the future of the planet.

I have been working as a photographer within this space, tracking and documenting the global negotiation process on issues relating to the environment and development. It’s an interesting space to be – not only because the topics are so important and relevant, but also because the negotiations are so high-level, often involving presidents, heads of state, ministers and government officials. It is a space where power lives and shows itself regularly.

For the past six years I have physically been in this space, on-site at many meeting to document and capture decisions made and processes followed. But COVID-19 changed all of that. With global travel grounded to a halt and most countries in varying levels of lockdown for more than a year, it became impossible for the UN to meet. We, like everyone else, moved online using meeting and streaming platforms to bring the world together again, connecting us during these strange times.

But what does power look like virtually? What symbols denote power and how do political leaders choose to represent themselves and their countries? The UN General Assembly offered some interesting perspectives.

For starters, there are a lot of flags. This makes sense – the easiest way to represent an entire nation is through the national flag and these were present in abundance. But it turns out there were a whole number of different ways that people chose to represent their power.