The Ethics of Photojournalism

Questions have begun to raise debate in regards to professional photojournalism, of photographs that have been accused of being fabricated, manifested and post-processed. According the New York Times, images submitted to this years Press Photo competition, were disqualified due to a certain degree of alteration and manipulation. 

Contests, especially in a professional environment have the pressure on those involved to be the best of the best.  “We are pressured to do more and push the envelope-not so much for our vision but for our business model.”

World Press had a set of ethics that were very controlled and straight forward for all contestants to review and understand.  Technology has opened new doors for those to edit and assess their digital files.  But in other cases, many have used programs such as Photoshop to alter their photos, blurring their images of reality, skewing the actual meaning or originality. 

“Taking something out of the soda can while leaving the background clean is not cool.  But neither is cropping.  That is- for all intentions- the same thing, ethically.  And on that level- why is it O.K. to use flash and basically bring portable sun?  That is not “real” light.” 

An example of an image disqualified from the competition. Image Source: http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com/2010/03/world-press-photo-disqualification-of.html

A photographer has the ability to adjust photographs with filters and other visual aesthetic techniques.  As a photojournalist, it is in the job description to highlight reality and life events to have the ability to tell stories individually.  “I believe that many of us adopted certain techniques, not to change the truth of what we are attempting to articulate,but to make our images stand out from the crowd.”

Is photography true? Is the work of a photojournalist, and some in particular, risk their lives to achieve, a fabrication?  Having the ability to create a different version of an image doesn’t necessarily make it a false interpretation, but yet just a new analytical interpretation of the world we all live in. Honesty and understanding are important ethical qualities that I can relate too with photojournalists.

Lars Boering, managing director of World Press Photo explained, “there is no indication that the rules are unclear to the participating photographers.”

An experienced photojournalist, who wished to remain anonymous, was disqualified from the competition last year due to a tampering of contrast in his photographs.   The images shadowing was too deep and the shadows were darkened, giving the quality a false representation. 

Landscape Photographer of the Year 2012 winner David Byrne, comparing EXIF data and gif animations of Byrne’s and determines the images have been heavily manipulated (with lighting tools). Image Source: http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/11/02/landscape-photographer-of-the-year-2012-winner-disqualified/

“To be honest, I don’t think I broke the rules.  In the end it’s all in the hands of the judges and their sensitive’s and proclivities.”

My Own Personal Set of Ethics

by Megen Navone

 

   

M9 - Women Photojournalists - Trials and Triumphs

Louise Rosskman was a women photojournalist that was renowned for her photos of the great depression era.  She originally began working for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and Standard Oil Company during the mid 20th century.  Louis worked closely with her husband, Edwin, as they both documented life during the Great Depression.  Between 1935 and 1944 Rosskman was president of the FSA, which happened to be the tie period known to be the "Golden Age of Documentary Photography."

As professor Nordell Introduced this chapter.. "Some may argue that there be no need to classify photojournalists by race or gender, but I believe that women photojournalists along with women and many different professions have encountered barriers unlike any of their male counterparts have endured."  Is this something that is true when it comes to seeing women in the photojournalist world?

Photo Source:
http://www.georgetowner.com/articles/2011/nov/21/re-vewing-documentary-photographic-life-louise-rosskam/ 
Year: UNKNOWN
Principle 1:  Use of Shadows:  The shadowing affect of both Louise and her Husband really added to the feel of the photograph, also adding to the contrasting makeup.
Principle 2:  Subjects expression:  They obviously seem professional, yet poised and the expression of her husband left me with the question, what was he so focused on?
Principle 3:  Use of Lines:  It was interesting to see how the lines all came together in this photograph.  How both are  sitting on the edge of the wall, and the lines from the brick are acting almost as a center of attention surrounding the subject.  I thought it was unique how each brick outline had a different line makeup to them, in addition to different coloring.
I chose this picture because Louise is seen here with her husband, whom she spent most of her career with, as well as the picture itself.  I love old pictures and this photograph really had the entire style you would expect from the 1930-1940 time era.

Rosskman expanded her career through her experiences with the FSA, the Office of War Information, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, the Puerto Rico Office of Information, and the New Jersey Department of Education. Her photographs that she took of the  agencies can now be found in the Library of Congress. Her photographs are simple, yet intriguing when it comes to understanding the life during and around the time of the Great Depression.

Photo by: Louise Rosskman
source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15866752
Year: 1945
Principle 1:  Subjects Expression: As you can see the subjects emotion was clearly displayed, creating a powerful connection with the viewers.
Principle 2:  Use of Light:  Although this principle may be contradicting, I see the light from the background really amplifying the main focus of the women, it clearly reflects off her face and eyes bringing them to focus.
Principle 3:  In or Out of Focus:  Thinking off of what I originally said above in principle 2, the foreground of the photo with the main focus on the woman's expression was clear and crisp in focus- the other woman with the trees and lights in the background are out of focus; drawing the eye in the main train of attention.
I choose this photograph becuase I'm a strong believer in emotion, and with photographs that have a story behind it.  The powerful image of this woman began to make me think just what the underlying story is, or may be.  Any photograph that has the power to make you think is the photograph that has the power to connect with people.

In 1937, Louise traveled to Puerto Rico to cover the nationalist movement and Harvard-educated leader, Pedro Albizu Campos.  This massacre was gruesome and bloody, police open fired on peaceful protesters which killed 18 innocent people.  "Nothing they saw in the states compared with what they saw in 1937 and 1938 on the island," said Laura Katzman, an associate professor of art history at James Madison University.  "They had seen unemployment and poverty, but not like this.  It was one of the most shocking encounters with poverty and the United States relations to one of the territories.  They were absolutely shocked.  i feel it sealed their commitment to the island, certainly their commitment to photography and documentary photography in the service of social reform."
Like many photojournalists at this time, her career faced discrimination around the means of gender.  Perhaps this may be why history claims Luise paired up with her husband, Edwin, for moments in her career, becoming the 'Rosskman duo.' Although this has never been clarified, through my research and after reading about her experiences while in Puerto Rico, her emotional tug was something that was difficult to handle on her own.

Just as Lynsey Addario explained in her reasoning as to why women reporting in areas of violence can be difficult, "It was an abusive throughout, both psychologically and physically. It was very chaotic and very aggressive."

SHULMANS MARKET
Photo by: Louise Rosskman
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Rosskam
Year:  1941
Principle 1:  Rule of Thirds:  Immediately my eyes were drawn to the middle of the photograph, the main subjects are clearly placed in the center of the photo that makes the appearance much more easier to interpret.
Principle 2:  Background Compliments Composition:  The building in the background really compliments this photograph, the Shulman's market sign, and coloring really brings out the photograph and the entire makeup of the composition.
Principle 3:  Texture:  I thought this principle was unique because there was so much texture going on in this picture.  The texture from the ground, the building, the windows, the architectural design, etc. and I think it really all comes together perfectly.
I choose this photograph because of the coloring initially, the colors of the building along with the clothing that the people are wearing really tied together and was eye catching.  The time period being around 1940-45 tells you a little about the era in history the U.S was in and I think captures, in a subtle way, just what was witnessed during that time. 

Workplace inequality has been faced by millions of women and discrimination in the work force seems to be an issue.  According to a study done almost a fifth of women surveyed say that their careers have suffered because managers fail to promote their positions.  According to Daisy Sands, policy and campaign manager at the Fawcett Society said, "Today’s findings present a stark reminder of the raft of deep inequalities that women continue to face in the labor market, well into the 21st century. Women continue to dominate in low-paid and undervalued work – two-thirds of those in minimum-wage jobs are women.”

As Paul Mercher described in his blog Why is a Photojournalists Gender Relevant in Their Work? He mentioned, "I’ve never been able to identify a photojournalist’s gender from the photos she takes. Have you?  When Margaret Bourke-White photographed the Nazi death camps for Life magazine, no one cared if she was a woman or not. Her images told the story and that was that."

So maybe this topic may strictly lie in the controversial ideas of those who strive to dictate the sole reasoning behind just what it's like to be a women photojournalist; or maybe it be just a thought that can be freely argued between those it matters most too.  Regardless of the reasoning behind it, there has been sold facts behind the truth of it all.

 A recent controversial argument remains in gender pay, according to EUC Secretary Frances O'Grady, "The battle for equality in the workplace is far from over. The gender pay gap got worse this year for the first time in many years, and spending cuts have hit women hard as many work in the public sector." 

Hopefully in years to come, we no longer see discrimination based on gender or sex, hopefully we are able to see one person striving to achieve the same goals as everyone else.  And hopefully the world will be able to see that woman are just as capable to be just as strong as man are in anything they put their mind too. 

A Technology Timeline: Photojournalism

Photography has developed, transformed and adapted to the technology that is defined by each generation.

Photojournalism, as Professor Nordell first coined it, is the convergence of both journalism and photography.  The world has seen incredible diversity with a multitude of facinating and creative photojournlaists.  Beginning with Mathew Brady, his knowledge of the Wet Plate Collodion process is where our historical timeline begins.

Brady executed a process of capturing photographs with mixing chemicals into solutions that  improved the way the world saw photography.   During the Civil War period of the 1850s, Brady captured battle field action by mixing nitrate collodion to create a solution combined with ether and alcoholic chemicals.  The solution would be put on a sheet of glass to be developed into a negative.

As photojournalists began to realize the process of photography needed to be simplified, a less complicated experiment with gravure printing developed in the early 1900's.  Rotogravure was characterized by halftone reproductions of events.  Gravure printing would be produced from etched metal cylinders that would become to be known as rotogravure.  New York Times was thef irst agencie to publish a rotogravure photograph.

The world first began to see an evolution in technology around 1929 with the Speed Graphic Cameras, first devloped by the Graflex company.  The Speed Graphic Camera became a strict "press" camera that was used in commercial photography, primarily newspapers.  A well known photographer who used the camera was Arthur Fellig (commonly known as Weegee).  Weegee is famous today for his retrospect Marilyn Monroe photographs.

In 1935 the U.S. was entering a war era.  World War I was beginning to invade newspaper headlines all over the country.  At this time the 35 mm single lens reflex camera was introduced.  With a built in rangefinder, the SLR was now known as the "next big thing" to hit photojournalism.  The first camera released for purchase was the Leica Ploot Camera.

Shortly after the release of the SLR, Kodachrome color was now available for camera rolls in the late 30's.  The first multi-layered color film was useful in developing negatives.  This revolution in color photography was produced by renown artists, Margaret Bourke-White, Robert Capa and Eugene Smith.  Capa had been the man behind the camera in the famous D-Day photograph.

Approaching the run of a century, new technology developed with the conclusion of World War I and II.  in 1987, Canon released the first EOS System.  Also known as the Electronic Lens Optical System, a new generation in photography has been established.  In the 80's photojournalists began to experiment with a new invention, an ultrasonic motor.  Most importantly with the EOS, the camera was able to produce auto focus, and exposure sensitivity when capturing photographs.

in 1999, Nikon became a popular name in the photography career.  Nikon announced the development of the first DSLR D1.  The Digital-Single Lens Reflex camera became one of the most notable brands that has ever entered into the market; in turn creating high competition with manufacturers.  The D1 provided compact flash, digital screen viewfinder, interchangeable lens and 2.74 megapixel photographs.

There is no doubt about it that when we look back centuries ago, technology has developed.  Today, photojournalists have the ability to use high tech cameras (such as the Nikon D5300) with 24.2 megapixel clarity, producing clearer and visually pleasing photographs.  The D5300 was the first camera to enable wi-fi.  Making it incredibly easier to send photos from camera to laptops in the matter of minutes.  The ability to shoot 1080/60p video has landed plenty of opportunities for photojournalists.