Posing Questions of Photographic Ethics

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 19:20:29 -0400

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/posing-questions-of-photographic-ethics/?WT.mc_id=2015-KWP-AUD_DEV&WT.mc_ev=click&ad-keywords=AUDDEVREMARK&kwp_0=20768&kwp_4=138306&kwp_1=158936&_r=0#

Crossed my feed, and I thought the implications of "media manipulation" would interest the community.

To save articles or get newsletters, alerts or recommendations – all free.

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Aug 10 at 2015 8:33 PM

LTC Stephen C. — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 20:33:43 -0400

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS, I like Michael Kamber's statements on the subject and his exhibit. “I think there will be some unhappy people. That’s good. If people would stop faking photos, then they wouldn’t have to be worried about being called out.
I’ve lost friends who put their lives on the line to get it right, and then you have people faking it. It’s a betrayal. Just get it right. Don’t change things, don’t direct your subjects, don’t lie in your captions, don’t move pixels. Get it right. That’s what we’re here to do.”

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Aug 10 at 2015 8:46 PM

COL Mikel J. Burroughs — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 20:46:01 -0400

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS This is a great post. I love it when people like this exhibit controversial images that bring out the truth. Yea, he'll probably set some real popular photographers and news agencies reeling or back a few notches into reality. Good stuff

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 11 at 2015 1:22 AM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 01:22:30 -0400

'Yellow Journalism' is alive and well throughout the world, ethics and integrity once a sought after and valued quality by media employers pretty much went out the window when Pulitzer and Hearst went head to head during the Cuba issue. Pulitzer sold out to 'Yellow Journalism' to keep his business afloat against Hearst, who was the 'King of Yellow Journalism', (this was a sad thing - Pulitzer was the only one dead set against falsifying information). Ever since, the world has been subjected to multitudes of erroneous reporting and falsified and/or altered pictures just to generate headlines and revenue.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 11 at 2015 7:35 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 07:35:33 -0400

This issue is near and dear to my heart - I teach ethics in photojournalism for the combat camera students. People these days are so focused on presenting a pretty picture rather than the truth and that destroys the reputation of photojournalists as honest storytellers.

It takes more effort to doctor the photo after the fact and keep up with the lie.

Response by COL Ted Mc made Aug 11 at 2015 1:53 PM

COL Ted Mc — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 13:53:08 -0400

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS Just a totally useless piece of trivia, but the last picture in the slide show is the "altered" one. Fenton's first picture showed no cannonballs on the road and the presumption is that he thought that it would make a more "dramatic statement" if the road was also littered with cannonballs so he had them picked up and scattered on the roadway. (Unfortunately we can't ask him if the presumption is true or not.

Response by LT Jessica Kellogg made Aug 11 at 2015 7:52 PM

LT Jessica Kellogg — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 19:52:50 -0400

I would love to see the exhibit.
But, I do think there should be a higher standard of photographic ethics.