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Ethics of photojournalism
Ethics of photojournalism
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When I considered at first to discuss the role of photography and frame as evidence and their limitations, keeping in mind Butler’s argument regarding the visual modes of regulation of reality, the first problem that came up before me was: would it be something futile and an imposition of meaning on something which is by nature to be seen? But Butler’s claim regarding the way suffering is presented to us through the framing of reality in a certain way – for example, “embedded reporting” and our ethical response to it – prompted me to address certain questions involving the frame and its role in establishing or not establishing legal, political and ethical responsibility.
Since the beginning of civilisation the question can art have the capacity to transform the world politically and morally has invariably haunted the philosophers and social scientists alike. This paper makes an attempt to address two different but interrelated questions in the light of photography by primarily focusing on Abu Ghraib pictures. First, I intend to look critically at Butler’s claim that framing of reality in a certain way imposes constraints on what can be heard, seen and read during the times of war. And second, I propose to consider the various ways in which the relationship between photography and ethical responsiveness can be explored by invoking the idea of face propounded by Levinas in one of his interviews.
Butler in “Torture and the Ethics of Photography” is largely concerned with how our understanding of perceptible reality and our response to the suffering of others are controlled by military and governmental authorities, who by allowing “embedded reporting”, that is, to allow the journalists and photographers to report only from the persp...
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...s At The College De France: 1975-76. Eds. Mauro Bertani and Alessandro Fontana. Trans. David Macy. Intro. Arnold I. Davidson. New York: Picador P, 2003. Print.
(6) Macherey, Pierre. A Theory of Literary Production. London: Routledge, 1966. Print.
(7) Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York: Rosetta Books LLC, 1973, 4. Print.
(8) Sontag, Susan. “Regarding the Torture of Others”. New York Times, May 23, 2004. Web.
(9) Sontag, Susan. Regarding the pain of others. New York: Picador, 2003, 89. Print.
(10) Standard Operating Procedure. Dir. Eroll Morris. Sony Pictures Classics, 2008. Film.
(11) Unthinkable. Dir. Gregor Jordon. Perf. Michael Sheen. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2010. Film.
(12) Wright, Tamra. Trans. Benjamin, Andrew and Right Tamara. The Provocation of Levinas. “The Paradox of Morality: an interview with Levinas. London: Routledge, 1988. Print.
Spielberg and Benigni exhibit the significance of perspective in visual rhetoric. By analyzing their two differing depictions of the same event it is clear to see their arguments based on their perspectives. Through a simple yet effective image, Spielberg accentuates the immense tragedy of the Holocaust and commenting on the importance of recognizing the suffering of individual human beings. Benigni uses a completely different image to show the importance of love and family, the one thing that can never be stripped away from a human being. Spielberg’s image mainly appeals to the viewer’s logic while Benigni’s poster appeals to emotion as the main rhetorical appeal. Each was effective in their own way, delivering differing arguments and representations of the
George Gittoes (b.1949) creates works that that communicate the issue of the graphic horror of war. A social realist painter, photographer and filmmaker, his approach to art is that ‘he layers and accumulates material until, out of apparent chaos, there is a synthesis of idea, passion and image’ (Mendelssohn, 2014). As an eyewitness to the world's war zones, Gittoes clearly uses his work as a means of communication to society.
Having such an image before our eyes, often we fail to recognize the message it is trying to display from a certain point of view. Through Clark’s statement, it is evident that a photograph holds a graphic message, which mirrors the representation of our way of thinking with the world sights, which therefore engages other
Camera Lucida was Roland Barthes’ last written piece, published posthumously in 1980. This book deals with the topic of photography and the death of Barthes’ mother in 1977. The role of photography is questioned; he asks what about photography makes it a valid media? We read about the operator (the photographer), spectrum (the subject) and spectator (the viewer), also about the studium (what we see in the photograph) and the punctum (the unclassifiable, the thing that makes the photograph important to the viewer). According to Barthes the photograph is an adventure for the viewer, but it is ultimately death, the recording of something that will be dead after the picture is taken. This idea is the main focus of Barthes’ writing, the photograph “that-has-been”, in Latin “interfuit: what I see has been here, in this place which extends between infinity and the subject; it has been here, and yet immediately separated; it has been absolutely, irref...
Baker, Charles A. “Review: Two Views of Vichy France, ” The French Review, Vol.51, No. 5, American Association of Teachers of French, (April 1978), pp. 763-764
In an age where the news is dominated by visual media and wars, there is a constant stream of images portraying the horrors of these conflicts are more prevalent than ever. Members of society are constantly bombarded with images of death, genocide, terrorist attacks and other acts of violence as brave amateurs and journalists attempt to document the horrors individuals endure. In 2012, scholar Alisa Lebow wrote, “Shooting with Intent: Framing Conflict,” an essay where she analyzed the role of the camera, detailed Gunsight POV and Barrel POV, the two primary perspectives used when filming wars, highlighted the analogous relationship between the camera and gun. Lebow
Wolf, Susan. "Moral Saints." Gendler, Tamar Szabo, Susanna Siegel and Steven M. Cahn. The Elements of Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. 220-232.
The Civil War was the first major conflict to be documented by photography. At the time of the Civil War, it was vital to have public support on both the North and the South side of the dispute. It is also said that if war efforts do not have complete support of its’ citizens that it will not result to any benefits. Photography was one way that was almost guaranteeing support of citizens on the homefront. Photographers had power within their photographs, toying with the pathos of the civilians, and causing them to feel whatever the photographers wanted them to. This power was abused at time by manipulating people’s opinions towards the war. There were pictures coming back from the warfront one after the other which made it impossible for people to feel an emotional connection to the soldiers at war. These photographs allowed events happening miles away to feel like they were closer to home causing people to support the war efforts more heavily. Instead of people having their own opinions during the war, photographers used manipulative
In this paper I used outside sources such as Hurley’s book, Gawthrop’s, Jacobson and Moakley articles to clarify and develop deeper thinking about Coles’ ideas in “The Tradition: Fact and Fiction,” with focal points being: human actuality, the interiority of a photograph, and the emotional impact of cropping. Throughout Coles’ essay he portrays a documentarian as one who creates their work to meet their own standards based on personal opinion, values, interest and their audience. He also shows, in correlation to the title, that there is no line between fact or fiction in documentary work; they are loosely mingled, overlapping and only seen separately from a biased standpoint.
Arthur, John, and Scalet, Steven, eds. Morality and Moral Controversies: Readings in Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Eighth Edition, 2009.
Newton, Julianne H. The Burden of Visual Truth: The Role of Photojournalism in Mediating Reality. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001. Print.
The. Pettit, Philip. The. “Consequentialism.” A Companion to Ethics. Ed. Peter Singer.
Johnson, Douglas. “A Concise History of France”. New York, NY: The Viking Press, Inc., 1971. Print.
SCHECHTER, Danny (2001). "Covering Violence: How Should Media Handle Conflict?" mediachannel.org. Online at: http://www.mediachannel.org/views/dissector/coveringviolence.shtml, consulted on March 27, 2004.
When considering morality, worthy to note first is that similar to Christian ethics, morality also embodies a specifically Christian distinction. Studying a master theologian such as St. Thomas Aquinas and gathering modern perspectives from James Keenan, S. J. and David Cloutier serve to build a foundation of the high goal of Christian morality. Morality is a primary goal of the faith community, because it is the vehicle for reaching human fulfillment and happiness. Therefore, great value can be placed on foundations of Christian morality such as the breakdown of law from Aquinas, the cultivation of virtues, the role of conscience in achieving morality, and the subject of sin described by Keenan.