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In 1984 the number of photographs taken by people in the U.K. broke the 1 million mark and 75% of all households had a camera. By the end of the millennium (1999) people in Britain spent over 1 billion on cameras, film and processing and the number of photographs taken had exceeded 3 billion.¹ There is little doubt that most people are familiar with cameras, and the majority will be engaged in forms of photographic practice as amateurs, that is as a “pastime” or hobby or as an adjunct to events, activities and leisure in their everyday lives.

Although photographs in sustainability reports are useful in conveying complex messages, they may also be used to manipulate the presentation of disclosures to exploit the limited cognitive processing capacity of humans. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the features of photographs aimed at capturing individuals’ attention through visual structures and evoking specific emotions through carefully chosen content. Furthermore, it examines whether such framing practice is explained by incentives for legitimizing behaviours and influencing reputation.

The authors conduct a content analysis of photographs in 154 sustainability reports published by US companies. The authors captured the nature of photographs, the context in which they are being used, their themes and emotional content and layout and interaction features to understand how photographs are used for attribute framing to influence information processing. Furthermore, the authors statistically examine the framing practice between companies with different characteristics to identify any patterns for the impression management use of photographs in sustainability reports.

Photographs are often large with a horizontal orientation to capture attention and show content viewed at eye level and in either medium or close-up shots to engage viewers. Furthermore, photographs are emotionally loaded with different themes such as depictions of people, technology and nature. These themes are used to predominately evoke positive emotions of awe, nurturance, pride, amusement and attachment. This practice is often used by companies in environmentally sensitive areas that have close consumer relationships or are covered controversially in the media.

The authors reveal reporting practices and identify photographic features that attract attention and convey emotions that go beyond aesthetic qualities. This is important because emotions conveyed through photographs can be potentially misleading and influence judgements subconsciously.

Evergon’s Manscapes, accompanied by titles that do not provide exact locations of the places he photographs, accord respect to these spaces and in doing so preserve their status as commonplace images. In documenting those locales where gay desire is enacted on a daily basis, the Manscapes speak to the theme of “the everyday.” These everyday photographs provide testimony, not, obviously, in the formal and legal sense of the term, but rather in fidelity to the archaic meaning of the word as indicating: “a solemn protest or declaration.”⁶ To gaze at these images is to be drawn into spaces of gay resistance, to vicariously inhabit beat and cruising ground space, to behold signs of resistance. For the Manscapes are profoundly allegorical. Upon viewing these images for the first time they appear unremarkable, almost mundane in their depiction of common scenes (parks, foreshores, secluded hinterlands and other public spaces). As the clues in the photographs are identified, the viewer imbues the photographs with an aura of desire.⁷ In their totality, the Manscapes testify to the existence of those everyday places that are subject to processions of desiring male bodies.

This chapter explores notions of authenticity in terms of the photographs taken by tourists while on holiday. Some tourists photograph attributes of the host’s culture that they perceive as “authentic”, while ignoring, editing, or erasing aspects that conflict with their “imagined” views. Drawing upon methods of participant-informed photo-ethnography used in a study of US tourists’ holiday photographs of Ireland, tourists will be resituated in this chapter as “editors” in their own photographic reproductions of place. Moreover, by focusing attention to how they confer meaning on destinations and the people who live in them, through the embodied performance of photography, this chapter explores tourists’ notions of authenticity.

There are several contenders for the title of being the “pioneer of photography,” of which in France, Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre (1787–1851) is the most internationally famous. In Britain, it is widely accepted that although William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877) was not the first to produce photographs, he had a major contribution to the development of photography.

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to review and categorize how photographs have been used in management research and to provide strategic management researchers with suggestions about how to use photographs to enhance their qualitative research methodologies.

Methodology/approach – We develop a typology of photographic uses in management research by reviewing several scholarly journals.

Findings – We identify two dimensions that differentiate how photographs have been used in management journals. First, photographs can be used to illustrate scenes from a field setting or they can be interpreted as data. Second, the role of field participants can be one of active collaboration or no involvement in the photographic aspect of the qualitative research project. For instance, field subjects can collaborate in research by aiding in the photo-documentation process and/or aiding in the photo-elicitation process. Choosing which of our four identified photographic approaches represents a critical decision for qualitative researchers interested in incorporating photographs in their research.

Practical implications – We suggest ideas for strategic management researchers related to use of photographs in their research. Also, we describe how specific strategic management research projects can be approached with photography, which we argue can lead to enhanced theoretical contributions.

Originality/value of paper – To date, little has been written in the strategic management field about the use of photography. This chapter provides a succinct review of photographic methods in management research. Moreover, this chapter provides suggestions for how strategy researchers, study participants, and interested readers of management research could benefit from incorporating photographs into research accounts.