-Often your own ethical beliefs will conflict with your job as a professional photojournalist. How much should your conscience be your guide?
-Your ethical beliefs may also conflict with your editor's or publisher's beliefs. How will you deal with this?
-How much should you alter an image, if at all?
-Controversial images, what should be published?
-When to make pictures and when to stop and help at a scene of distress
-What are the foundations of ethical decision making?
Paparazzi vs. photojournalism
-The purpose of the two jobs sets them apart:
1. Paparazzi are there to entertain the public
2. Photojournalists are there to inform the public
-Sometimes they both photograph celebrities
-Photojournalists generally do not do stakeouts
How to photograph a tragedy
-Be sensitive and compassionate
-Stake out of the way of police and medical workers
-Look for images that will not offend the public
-Wear your appropriate clothing, you may need to run for cover yourself or may be standing in the sun for a long period of time.
-If you get a change to talk to the police or person in authority they may give you info
-The law does give you the right to be there, but you do have a 'RESPONSIBILITY NOT TO INFLICT GREATER SUFFERING THAN NECESSARY ON SURVIVORS OF A TRAGEDTY' Kobre
Funerals
-As the family if you can go or let them know your coming
-Dress appropriately
-Don't walk around in front of the grieving family.
-Be discreet
-No flash
-Try to limit continuous firing, too noisy
-Move slowly and quietly
-Be respectful
When to shoot and when to help
-When do you lay down your camera
-The photographer is a witness. your images may to do more good overall than stopping to help one person in a situation. This is your ethical and professional choice. Are you being employed to photograph this scene? Or do you just happen to be there and have no direct obligation.
-journalism as a whole takes the utilitarian approach
-ethical boundaries are overstepped when photojournalists 'set up' images. photographers have been setting up images since world war 1 for example, Edward Keating and Mike Meadows. "what meadows did not understand is that even a suggestion to a subject in a news situation is a form of interference'
Ethics and other styles of photography
-Should these ethics be applied to all styles of photography?
-at which point should you intervene?
-think about how you label your images if you have intervened such as manipulations
continuum of control according to Kobre
1. hidden cameras = no control
2. sports photo. almost no control except your position you choose to shoot from
3.Hard news- almost no control, except your position you choose to shoot from. some photographers may interfere but this is not ethical by most codes.
4. feature pictures = various arguments about when to observe and when you intervene
5.portraits-generally need to be directed. some will be candid, but you still have more control over the result
6. photo illustrations/montages - full control
Subtle editing can change the viewers whole perception. Martin Bryant photo editing.
Brian Walski- put two photos together to make his photo better.
Do we need to see shocking images?
Susan Sontag says no we don't in this image saturated world
Is it in the public interest?
My response: The reality is that what people will do to each other is shocking in itself. The images reflect the condition of the globe. Nobody loves s to see shocking images, but as long as humanitarian atrocities exist, photojournalists will continue to share the truth with the world- and hopefully stir positive action.
Nudity
-more a matter of taste than ethics
-it usually comes down to readers tastes and what they will react to
Law
-If you are in a public place or in public view you can photograph anyone or anything, except if the government has stipulated otherwise or you are in aboriginal lands or in other countries tribal lands (since the intervention into the NT you need to get permission to film or photograph on aboriginal communities in NT)
-You cannot enter schools to take/make pictures
-You have the right to photograph children even in a public place as long as the images are not for commercial use
-If your going to use a photo on your website of someone, you need permission because its for your own gain.
-Taking pictures in your own time not on assignment means your own copyright even if they end up in the paper
-if you have sold a photograph you have taken and there was no arrangement sent in place at the time then you retain copyright
How to protect copyright?
-in Australia there is not need to register your images for copyright they immediately belong to you once you take them, but you can add your name to the website and such with a copyright symbol before your name for extra protection.
No comments:
Post a Comment