Ethics In Digital Photojournalism

The instant we pick up a camera, the image has already been edited and the credibility of the photojournalist is already on the line. The ability and practice of people to be able to edit what goes into the composition of a photograph begins when they pick up a camera and even possibly when they decide to take a photograph of something. The work of a photojournalist is to relay images to the public via news sources in a way that gives people as much information about a topic as possible in the most neutral way possible. While no human being can be entirely objective about a given scenario it is the prerogative of the photojournalist to provide images that evoke the heart of a story without being manipulative to the viewer. This means that the photojournalist is responsible for the images he or she chooses and should be aware and sensitive to the effects that their image might have on those who view it. Of this issue of photographic ethics and credibility there are several key elements that should be acknowledged and considered. The first is the consideration and choice of the moment captured, another is the choice of framing and emphasis made on certain elements within the frame and the final involves the choices made in the process of editing.

Beginning with the first of the considerations, one of the first ways that a photojournalist edits an image is by choosing what to include and what not to include in the frame. In essence, this is simply the decision that is made about where to point the camera. This is a choice of calculated exclusion and inclusion related to the literal frame and what it contains or what the photojournalist thinks the frame should contain. Just by making this one decision, which is really many decision,...

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...ting a version of the truth it is all the more important to offer what is most fair in that situation and this is a judgment call that must be made by each individual with a camera. Our credibility at the end of the day, whether we are photojournalists or not lies in our ability to evaluate these scenes and present them in a way that will offer the most good to the people who will see them as well as the subject matter. Without these considerations ethics falls by the wayside and the credibility and expectations of all is lowered or diminished to our detriment.

Works Cited

Long, John. “Ethics in the Age of Digital Photography”. Seeing & Writing 4 (4th edition). Boston and New York, USA: Bedford/St. Martin’s (2010)

Postrel, Virginia. “The Politics of the Retouched Headshot” . Seeing & Writing 4 (4th edition). Boston and New York, USA: Bedford/St. Martin’s (2010)