The Associated Press said that they cut Vanessa Nakate from the image ‘purely on composition grounds’
Appeared on the net 27.01.2020
Nakate has also spoken out against her removal from the photograph on Twitter. “We don’t deserve this. Africa is the least emitter of carbons, but we are the most affected by the climate crisis,” she said in a video that has since gone viral. “You erasing our voices won’t change anything. You erasing our stories won’t change anything,” She also added that for the first time in her life she now understood “the definition of the word racism”.
According to The Guardian, the AP’s director of photography, David Ake, said the photographer “cropped it purely on composition grounds”. Ake added that “he thought the building in the background was distracting”.
After cries of outrage from supporters and fellow climate activists, the AP has since replaced the cropped photo with its original, claiming “no ill intent”.