Comments on: Does the public care about ethics? Pt 2 http://www.heraldleaderphoto.com/2007/05/04/does-the-public-care-about-ethics-pt-2/ From the staff of the Lexington Herald-Leader Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:54:07 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Karen http://www.heraldleaderphoto.com/2007/05/04/does-the-public-care-about-ethics-pt-2/comment-page-1/#comment-115 Karen Tue, 08 May 2007 21:40:48 +0000 http://www.heraldleaderphoto.com/wp/?p=169#comment-115 As a member of the general public, I would say, yes, the public does care about ethics. However, that might mean something totally different to someone not involved in actually taking the photo. Asking someone to recreate a “spontaneous moment” is definitely a gray area, as is creating such a moment. But I’m not sure the majority of the so-called “public” would classify it as unethical. I definitely consider it unprofessional. Unethical brings to mind things like manipulating the image in Photoshop by adding or subtracting elements, falsifying facts about a picture, or setting up photos and passing them off as unposed (much as the original photo at Keeneland that started this discussion and definitely in the case of someone creating a documentary). I don’t think anyone thinks that a person in the winner’s circle of an event is totally ignoring the camera, so I doubt the average person would actually label it unethical if a photographer instructed someone to turn a certain way. I personally do feel that it is wrong for a photographer supposedly practicing photojournalism to create a photo opportunity as I do expect news photos to be totally accurate, but I have several friends who are professional photojournalists so my general public viewpoint may be clouded a bit. I think it’s hard for the most people to understand why there are certain lines that shouldn’t be crossed when there’s also the question of why it’s okay to manipulate some things in a photo (with distorting lenses or slow shutter speeds) but not others … or why there’s a lot more leeway with feature photos. That’s what makes a professional photographer professional. As a member of the general public, I would say, yes, the public does care about ethics. However, that might mean something totally different to someone not involved in actually taking the photo. Asking someone to recreate a “spontaneous moment” is definitely a gray area, as is creating such a moment. But I’m not sure the majority of the so-called “public” would classify it as unethical. I definitely consider it unprofessional.

Unethical brings to mind things like manipulating the image in Photoshop by adding or subtracting elements, falsifying facts about a picture, or setting up photos and passing them off as unposed (much as the original photo at Keeneland that started this discussion and definitely in the case of someone creating a documentary). I don’t think anyone thinks that a person in the winner’s circle of an event is totally ignoring the camera, so I doubt the average person would actually label it unethical if a photographer instructed someone to turn a certain way.

I personally do feel that it is wrong for a photographer supposedly practicing photojournalism to create a photo opportunity as I do expect news photos to be totally accurate, but I have several friends who are professional photojournalists so my general public viewpoint may be clouded a bit. I think it’s hard for the most people to understand why there are certain lines that shouldn’t be crossed when there’s also the question of why it’s okay to manipulate some things in a photo (with distorting lenses or slow shutter speeds) but not others … or why there’s a lot more leeway with feature photos. That’s what makes a professional photographer professional.

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