We live in the age of images – never have so many images been produced and shared as now. 

Images have in many ways become the most important driver in interpersonal global communication. Visual competence – the ability to read, understand and investigate images – has become important for everybody engaged in media production. 

The diversity of media ensures that essential information becomes known. Free expression can be a critical corrective to abuse of power, corruption, lack of transparency, fake news and a culture of secrecy. Visual journalism can highlight human rights violations.

The photojournalism department at OsloMet started in 1995, when the press photography school moved from the Norwegian Institute of Journalism. The department has always had an international orientation, and was in touch with  Pathshala South Asian Media Institute in Bangladesh before the turn of the millennium. 

From 2003, the collaboration and exchange with photojournalistic educational institutions in Asia began – and in the following years hundreds of students in several countries have gained experience in international cooperation; in the south and in the north. 

In 2021, Pathshala, photo.circle in Nepal and the photojournalism department at OsloMet will collaborate about the production of a website, book and exhibition – as they have done for many years. Due to the pandemic, the work is decentralized and virtual and all the visual storytellers have to stay in their own country.