Classes Delve into Photography Ethics
As digital photography radically democratizes the medium, taking it out of the provenance of a once-elite group of imagemakers and gatekeepers, the subject of ethics in photography has come to the fore. Long overdue, we can finally begin to confront issues of bias, morality, and principle that have long infiltrated the medium by many of its most prominent practitioners.
On commission for the New York Times, Soth says he had “no knowledge” of the the long-term project by the Chicago resident and documentary photographer
The Atlantic tried to artistically show gender dysphoria on its cover. Instead it damaged the trust of transgender readers.
Brewer was 22 at the time, used they/them pronouns (but goes by he/him pronouns now), and had no idea he was even being considered for the cover.
I’m writing to you following the statement that you made after the Magnum Photos archive was taken offline as a result of allegations that Magnum have been selling indecent images of children. First reported by Andy Day on August 6th and followed up here and here.
If Magnum really represents the best that photojournalism has to offer, it’s no longer enough to just demonstrate that photographically, it also has to demonstrate it in terms of it’s structures, practices and ethics.
In a shocking photo industry development, the renowned Magnum Photos agency has officially suspended prominent photojournalist David Alan Harvey while it investigates “a confidential complaint” that claims Harvey harassed a female colleague.
Magnum Photos Will Reexamine Its Archive Following Outcry Against Child Exploitation Images
A photographic series by Magnum photographer David Alan Harvey includes photos of a partially undressed minor, featuring the tags “Prostitute,” “Breast,” and “Teenage girl – 13 to 18 years.”
Earlier today, Magnum Photos announced that it would be conducting a thorough internal review of its entire archive. The decision comes one week after a series of photos from 1989 depicting teenage sex workers were unearthed in the archive, raising concerns about how they were captured and the legality of licensing such imagery.
A freelance photographer who has been working with the NBA for several years has been kicked out of the league’s Orlando “bubble” after he was called out for re-sharing an offensive meme about Joe Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris on his Facebook page.
Magnum Photos and prominent photojournalist David Alan Harvey are under scrutiny online today after some of Harvey’s photographs labeled as ‘Teenage’ ‘Thai Prostitutes’ from 1989 surfaced in the Magnum archives, where users could purchase the images or share them online.
The Photo Bill of Rights
Recently I had the opportunity to virtually sit down with three of the co-authors of the Bill: Jai Lennard, photographer and founder of Color Positive; Jovelle Tamayo, photojournalist and founding member of Authority Collective; and fellow Authority Collective co-Founder, visual journalist and media scholar Tara Pixley to discuss the Bill.
Initiated by Canon with agency Uncle Grey Copenhagen, it allows photographers to upload images together with the stories and contexts behind them, aiming to curtail misappropriation.
David Burnett: Letter to the NPPA on Ethics
Editor’s note: Photojournalist David Burnett recently penned a letter to the National Press Photographers Association in response to the discussion around photographic ethics and the publication of the Photo Bill of Rights. With his permission, we are republishing it in its entirety.
Fox News published digitally altered and misleading photos on stories about Seattle’s Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) in what photojournalism experts called a clear violation of ethical standards for news organizations.
Podcast: Photojournalists Have a Heated Ethics Debate & Black Photographers Create the VogueChallenge
As photographers responded to the controversial Poynter article entitled “Photographers are being called on to stop showing protesters’ face. Should they?” PhotoShelter co-founder Allen Murabayashi published a series of pieces that intensified the conversation around the First Amendment and the well-being of protesters and vulnerable populations.
On Ethics, The First Amendment, and Photographing Protestors’ Faces
A vigorous, sometimes vitriolic debate has erupted in photography circles around whether to photograph protestors’ faces. As someone who’s written about the topic, I’m struck by the clumping together of disparate concepts and issues, which has made discussion difficult. People are arguing, but they are often arguing about different concepts simultaneously.
Yunghi Kim: “Is agreeing NOT to show a person’s face against the ethics of journalism?”
A journalist’s job is to report and inform, not report and withhold or alter. People in a public space have no expectation of privacy nor should they. Nor should we as photojournalists get into the murkiness of negotiating or agreeing to shield IDs in a public space.
No, Photojournalists Aren’t Advocating the Blurring of Faces at Protests
In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah Jacobs and Allen Murabayashi discuss the ethics of showing protestor faces, the 17-year old who filmed the killing of George Floyd, John Edwin Mason’s essay on protest photos, the controversy at the Pittsburgh-Gazette and more!
Photographers are being called on to stop showing protesters’ faces. Should they?
Legally, there’s no question — when protesters are in public spaces engaged in newsworthy activity, visual journalists are well within their rights to document them. But protesters fear potential retaliation when images become public.
Documenting a Protest Has Never Been More Challenging
In a recent Facebook post, New York Times writer David Gonzalez confronted photojournalists who make photographs of protests. “Fotogs: What do you value?” he asked. “Now is not a good time to start handicapping which image of Black suffering will get a Pulitzer. Especially when your POC [people of color] colleagues are worried about their families, lives and community.” Veteran photographer Joseph Rodriguez suggested in response to the post that photographers are making the “same ol’ same ol’ images of death, disease, poverty, violence. It is the DNA of several news photo contests.”
