Images and visual storytelling have the power to shape how we understand people, communities, and global health challenges— but whose stories are being told, who gets to tell them, and at what cost? Drawing on experiences in documentary photography and global health, this discussion explores the ethical dimensions of visual storytelling, including representation, informed consent, power, and the potential risks of reinforcing harmful stereotypes. Through practical examples and reflective questions, participants will consider how to co-create and share images more ethically, centering the dignity, agency, and privacy of the people and communities represented, while telling global health stories with greater complexity, care, and accountability. 
Bio:Dr. Hy V. Huynh is an Assistant Professor of the Practice in Global Health and Public Policy at Duke University, a community psychologist by training, a global mental health researcher and practitioner, and a self-described “accidental ethicist”. With nearly two decades of community-engaged global health experience across 11 countries, their work is grounded in a longstanding commitment to promoting and advancing global health equity, community well-being, and social justice alongside marginalized and minoritized communities experiencing the greatest mental health inequities. These experiences have largely informed several courses they teach on Ethics in global health and public policy, connecting ethical inquiry and frameworks to real-world questions of power, equity, and responsibility. Their earlier work as a documentary photographer and visual storyteller for humanitarian community-based organizations, alongside their more recent contributions to global health research communications, informs their deepening interest in the ethics of representation, consent, and power, and in global health storytelling that honors people’s dignity, agency, and complexity.