Photography has existed since the late 1830s. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce a French pioneer used a portable camera obscura. Camera obscura translates to "dark room." In practice, it is an image projection system in which light enters a darkened area by passing through a small aperture, ultimately creating a rudimentary image. Heckmann, C. (2022) When was photography invented - A quick history lesson, StudioBinder. This was the first recorded image that didn’t fade quickly. This successful outcome then led to several other experiments that lead to photography rapidly progressing.
Centuries later from black and white film to colour, to polaroids to digital cameras, trillions of photos have been taken and shared across the world. It is estimated that 1.72 trillion photos are taken worldwide every year! Broz, M. (2022) How many photos are there? (2022).
Photos have caught history and will continue capturing it as the majority of people have a camera. Billions of people use and consume photography every day. This amount of photography can bring multiple benefits as well as issues to society. It is a form of art that can educate and inspire people, but can also be manipulated and spread, creating fake news, and causing moral panic. Overediting photos, creating unrealistic beauty standards and photos being taken and shared without consent, where is the line drawn? In this essay I will discuss the ethics and issues within photography and whether it is worth going against society’s morals for art.
Introduction
Consent In Photography
Photography has a range of genres to be explored. From portraits to sports candid and staged photography are used in most genres. Photographers have more control over staged photography as they can control how they want their subject and the surroundings of their picture this is very popular within wedding photography or portraits. Candid photography spontaneously captures the genuine, unposed moments of a subject. Although photographers don’t have control over their subjects in candid, it captures the realness of the photo. Candid is very popular in street photography it captures people in their natural state and tells stories within the picture. For the picture to be candid the subject usually is not looking directly at the camera. This can mean sometimes that the subject is not aware that their picture is being taken.
Legally if in a public space, it is not against any laws to take photos of people “There is no law preventing people from taking photographs in public. This includes taking photos of other people’s children.” Report someone taking photographs in a public place (2022) Avon and Somerset Police.
Although taking pictures of children isn’t Illegal in public, I still feel this is not socially acceptable and can be very much misinterpreted in society. I also don’t think it is morally right to upload a picture of a minor onto social media, especially without the parent or guardians’ permission. However, some photographers take pictures of children safely and acceptably. Helen Levitt (1913-2009) was an American street photographer who captured pictures of children and families who lived on the lower east side of New York.
No rules are being broken with candid photography a lot of members of the public feel uncomfortable with having their picture taken in public, especially without permission. The issue for photographers is that asking permission before a candid photograph can change the whole aspect of the photograph making the moment not as real and more staged.
"
It is your right as a photographer to take a photo of whatever subject you like, providing your subject is not in a place where they might reasonably expect privacy [in their own home for example]. There is always a way to work around prohibitive laws though, and that's to get creative in how you photograph people.” Rusyn, Polly (n.d.) The law and ethics of street photography [2022]
There are lines that some photographers cross such as taking pictures in people’s homes and invading their private space. If permission isn’t asked of the subject candid photography should be kept fully in the public eye. I believe the photographer must respect their subjects so even if they are caught taking pictures and asked to delete the photo, kindly do so and move on. Pictures don’t always need permission as long as the photography is used for positive artistic reasons and not used to mock anyone or spread hateful messages.
As a photographer, it is important to research before photographing in public. Laws can be different and cultures should be respected across the world. For example, North Korea will not allow pictures of anything military-related or sacred places. Taking pictures in North Korea: KTG® Tours: Rules & Regulations (no date) north Korea travel.
In some cultures in Mexico, they perceive photographs as “something that steals their souls.” Mansurov, N. (2022) The importance of ethics in Photography, Photography Life.)
Local laws, rules, and norms should always be respected as taking this ethical approach to photography increases awareness of the impact on the world through the images produced, and we are better able to focus our impact in a meaningful way. Dodd, S. (2022) Photography ethics and why they matter, Photography Ethics Centre. Photography Ethics Centre
Lone Man In India, a photograph taken by Amber Walker
It’s not just street photography that makes photographers and their audiences question their ethics and morals. When photographers are sent to difficult conditions such as wars and natural disasters, they are expected to just do their job and not intervene. However, sometimes it is difficult to ignore human instinct and some people argue that it is morally wrong to just stand and capture the moment rather than not help the people.
Some images can have so much emotional impact on the audience as well as the photographer. Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Photograph of the vulture and the little girl also known as “the struggling girl” is a photo of a Sudanese starving child and a vulture waiting for the girl to die in the background. It first appeared in the New York Times in 1993 and shocked the public. The picture was so powerful "It was being used in posters for raising funds for aid organisations. Papers and magazines around the world had published it, and the immediate public reaction was to send money to any humanitarian organisation that had an operation in Sudan.” Silva, M. & (2022) The Vulture and the little girl [online]. Although the photo did its job by raising awareness and money it sparked a lot of controversies. Hundreds of people contacted the newspaper to ask whether the child had survived, leading the newspaper to run a special editor’s note saying, “the girl had enough strength to walk away from the vulture, but that her ultimate fate was unknown.” Because of this, Carter was bombarded with questions about why he did not help the girl and only used her to take a photograph. Carter came under criticism for this shot as well as his other pieces of work. The St. Petersburg Times in Florida wrote: “The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of her suffering, might just as well be a predator, another vulture on the scene”.Rhp (2021) The Vulture and the little girl
Cater expressed regret that he had not done anything to help the girl, even though there was not much that he could have done. In 1994, Kevin Carter won the Pulitzer prize for the photo but 4 months later, Kevin Carter committed suicide
Should Photographers Intervene?
Photojournalists dare not turn a blind eye. Someone’s got to do that job or nobody would be aware of the horrors that go on in other places of the world. Someone must capture awful moments to spread awareness and get people out of their own self-obsessed lives, even if that means pretending to be invisible and not helping. Carter was working at a time when photojournalists were told not to touch famine victims for fear of spreading disease. Carter is the tragic example of the toll photographing such suffering can take on a person. He did his job well, he created an impact through an image.
When capturing sensitive moments, it is important to think about the power of the image to evoke and persuade audiences. Whether it’s symbolising an event, spreading a message or for propaganda purposes, one should consider the role of the image for different purposes. The power of the picture: Should photographers intervene? (2022) Oxbridge Applications
These sorts of photographs are so powerful and can have so much impact on the issue in the photo. It speaks for those who are silenced by conflict. The issues themselves are unethical but I don’t believe the photographer themselves is unethical as they are only doing their part in bringing its immorality to light.
How Much Should A Photo Be Manipulated?
Photographers have been altering images long before photoshop but in the world of digital, it’s difficult to know what is fake and what is real. Photo editing has become so advanced now. With the rise of adobe photoshop and lightroom, beautiful pieces of art have been created using tools to adjust colour in pictures or remove any unwanted objects. However, these sorts of tools have been used to manipulate photos and can be claimed to be something that doesn’t exist.
I believe it is okay for photographers to use lighting to set a mood and highlight the important parts of the image by making it stand out more but even this can be taken out of context. TIME used a powerful picture of OJ Simpson cover in 1994. It featured a mugshot of the subject weirdly darkened to evoke a "dramatic tone," as TIME’s photo illustrator Matt Mahurin later explained this was done to capture the reader’s attention however it may have been an error in judgement given the racially charged environment surrounding the murder. Mallonee, L. (2015) Infamously altered photos, before and after their edits.
Media shown to the public can shape opinions and potentially even influence future decisions. A photograph can be used as any form of propaganda to lie about the actual facts. Even a small change to a photo like cropping can be so significant as it can cut out an important detail in the photograph. As a photojournalist, it is so important to follow the code of ethics which states that “pictures must always tell the truth.” Anon (2017) Code of ethics.
Although there are strict rules in place to avoid the spread of fake news or the cause of moral panic, some photojournalists still break the rules. An example of this is the pictures British Soldier in Barsa, these pictures of a British soldier gesturing to a crowd of Iraq civilians were taken by LA times photographer Brian Walski Anon (2022) British soldier in Basra. [online] Museum of Hoaxes who later got fired from his job because he had created a composite out of his two images. Walski broke the rules and paid the consequences however there will be plenty of other photographers out there who create and manipulate content to make the world see what they want them to see.
Photo manipulation is also massively misused in marketing. To sell a product they make models or food look flawless. Some would argue that this is false advertising. An example of this is airbrushing models on skin care adverts to make their skin flawless so customers think that the product will make their skin look that good and therefore buy the products. Society falls for photo manipulation every day and it is having a big impact on the way we consume capitalism and view ourselves as individuals. The manipulation of photography has created so many issues around beauty standards. Many pictures are circulating which make models look thinner. This has caused eating disorders and mental health issues as it has made girls think that’s what their bodies should look like.
Should all Photography Be Shared?
With the power of TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest and so much more. Photos are being constantly shared. Each day 95 million photos and videos are shared on Instagram. Marr, B.(2021) How much data do we create every day? The mind-blowing stats everyone should read. [online] With this much data online how do we keep track of the important ethics and morals?
Going back to my first blog about candid photography, a lot of this work is posted online for the whole world to see. A stranger may not want their face all over the internet and wish to remain anonymous. Nowadays it seems to be normal to take a picture and just upload it without even thinking about the consequences.
Sharing photography has got much easier. You can share it on social media platforms or even save the image but this rises issues of copyright. Work can be stolen or manipulated when it has easy access to social media. Big cooperate companies steal ideas from small businesses and claim them as their own. Other artists print other people’s photography and sell the for thousands of dollars. Richard Princes Gallery is an example of this where he compromised people's Instagram images and sold them without permission. This could benefit some artists as it gives them more recognition when their work is sold however the original source is not getting enough credit and I believe a true artist should adapt their own ideas to other people's work rather than just steal them.
There is also the problem of Instagram owning your photos Instagram claims it does not take ownership of its users’ content. But the terms state that the user grants Instagram a “non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to use their content”. Bosher, H. (2018, September 12). Ten things you should know about Instagram’s terms of use.
Photographers must be aware of this because if they sell an image under an exclusive licence, posting the image on their Instagram would breach that licence.
With the rise of influencers, social media has proven to be quite dangerous for causing a lot of issues. Photography can be very set up to a point where candid may look candid but chances are it is staged. An Instagram model can post a picture of herself in a bikini, showing off her flat stomach, holding up a weight loss tea supplement. Her caption reveals that said supplement is the secret to her physique. When in reality she has never tried that tea before. This alone sends a very dangerous message to millions of her followers, the majority of whom are impressionable young women. An influencer's job is just to look perfect and with the technical advances in photography and editing, that is, unfortunately, easily done. I think people with that much influence should be spreading real messages about the world rather than profiting from the insecurities of people.
Ethically and manipulated photo should be clearly stated if it has been edited or not so the audience knows that it is not reality.
Conclusion
Photography is a beautiful art form that has so much influence on society. It brings people together, it creates emotion, it creates change. But it also has the power to cause fear, dread, and panic. As photographers, I think it is important to always think about the ethics and morals of a picture and everything that it can affect after distribution on social media.It is is important not to steal each other's work and protect the vulnerability of our subject. Most of all I think it is important to keep photography as real as possible. In a world of fake social media accounts, lying politicians, and constant advertisements it is important to keep art real something that motivates and inspires rather than the opposite.