What photo ethics mean to me
For me, ethics are the bases for any descent documentary photographer because so many lives depend on your decisions if and how you take a picture. That’s the reason why they are also something very personal and always depend on your background, experience, and capability too empathy. But ethics aren’t only influenced by your understanding of them there are also different ethical codes depending on where you are, with which social class you work, how your subject’s community values are, and so on. In short, there isn’t one guideline to which one can stick to safely navigate all ethical decisions but there are sure then questions that help me. Before I get into these I just want to give some context on how I work because with such different ways of working in the photojournalistic field there are also many different ethical dilemmas that you encounter. I have the privilege that I mainly work on private stories and with that also can take my time for each story.
One major point which is very important to me is an awareness of hierarchy. In social interaction, there is always a hierarchy and the special thing is when you have a camera you are most of the time the person who is in power even though you're depending on other people’s stories. So, for me, it’s very important to create spaces and find ways to work with people where they feel safe to express their feelings, especially their concerns. That can mean having a meeting bevor hand without a camera present or letting them choose a location where they feel convertible but also checking in bevor during and after a shoot how we both are feeling. This point also plays in with another major aspect and that is consent. I think hierarchies and convertibility also play a big part in giving consent and by reducing the stress that a person feels during a shoot I feel safer that they really are okay with what we agreed on.
Another really important point is getting the story right. There isn’t a worse thing for people that let you into their private life to see afterward that you got their story wrong. So, for my research is a key part of any projects that I do. It’s also a way to show respect to the subject and it can help them to open up when they notice that you are already familiar with the topic. Further, it can help you to find different angles if you’re not able to continue with a story as planned.
Also, essential for me is to try not to re-traumatize people with my pictures. When I work on a project for a long time I forget how horrible a story can be, even if I didn’t include the most tragic pictures, for a person who sees it for the first time or sees things that they didn’t want to see again. So, one way to prevent that is to let friends/coworkers have a look through a story prior to publishing it and to give context to a story.
But when it comes to one specific picture a rule that helped me is to ask myself if I would want the picture to be published if the subject is someone close to me. Because there is a big difference between what is legally right and what is ethically right and this question helped me out if I’m not sure how I feel about a picture.
To conclude: Even do there is no one clear guideline for ethics in photojournalism especially because it is such a diverse field with many sub-genres and very little consensus I think it’s a question of integrity that all of us think, discuss with others and never stop learning new things about ethics.