Visual Trust was a multidisciplinary, comparative, and innovative research project that developed a general theory of (mis)trust in images in the contemporary world. The project combined online and offline experimental research to investigate how visual trust was produced, communicated, and assessed. It also explored the mechanisms underlying the production, perception, and conceptualization of falsity in images, advancing the concept of an "ethnography of visual forgery." Visual Trust was funded by the European Research Council (ERC Consolidator Grant No. 101002897) and was led by Roger Canals at the University of Barcelona.
The project
Studying images through images
Visual Trust adopted a relational approach to the study of images, examining how people from different socio-cultural contexts interacted with and through images in terms of (mis)trust. The project combined this perspective with the use of visual methods and experimentation with new forms of visual writing and representation. The project generated a wide range of outputs, including academic articles, books, documentary films, and exhibitions, contributing to ongoing debates on multimodal and public anthropology.
Outcomes
A Multimodal Legacy
Over five years, Visual Trust explored new ways of researching, understanding, and sharing knowledge about images, with a particular focus on the production, perception, and conceptualization of falsity. The project combined academic research with audiovisual production and public engagement, creating a diverse collection of resources that are available on this website. These include 20 international seminars, 13 video interviews with leading scholars and practitioners, more than 45 conference presentations, 13 peer-reviewed publications, 16 outreach articles, 13 documentary films, and 14 short films.
Conferences
Interdisciplinary Image Dialogues
As part of its commitment to interdisciplinary dialogue, Visual Trust organized three international conferences that brought together scholars, practitioners, photographers, and artists from around the world to explore the production, meaning, and trustworthiness of images across various contexts, including religious, scientific, medical, and social domains. The conferences: Image-Making (2023), Image-Intensification (2024), and On Image-Assessment (2025), fostered collaboration and the exchange of ideas across disciplines. This website provides open access to more than 45 recorded presentations from these events.
Outreach Activities
Bringing Research to Everyone
Beyond its academic outputs, Visual Trust was committed to making research on images accessible, participatory, and socially engaged. Through a wide range of outreach activities, the project sought to broaden the impact of its findings, foster visual literacy, encourage critical engagement with images, and strengthen dialogue between researchers, cultural institutions, social organizations, and the wider public.
Field Notes
Knowledge in the making
This section documents the research process as it unfolded, bringing together fieldnotes, working materials, and provisional outcomes produced throughout the project. Rather than presenting only final results, these materials reveal the dialogical, collaborative, and processual nature of ethnographic research, offering insight into how knowledge was developed through fieldwork and ongoing reflection. The collection includes interviews, visual essays, photographs, research notes, and other materials that invite visitors to engage with the project as it evolved.
Farewell, Gaia! — Film Release
17 Dec 2025
The Empty Sign
04 May 2025
Contact
Visual Trust is an ERC project based at the University of Barcelona.
Address: Faculty of Geography and History, C/Montalegre 6, 08001, Barcelona, Spain.
Research Office: 3121
PI Office: 2012
Email: pr.visualtrust@ub.edu
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