Introduction Steve McCurry is an award winning photographer known for iconic images including that of Sharbat Gula, the Afghan Girl (1). McCurry’s work has also been at the center of controversy due to alterations made to some of his work (2). I will argue that I believe the altering of photographs using Photoshop by Mr. McCurry’s and his studio were indeed unethical. The reason for my stance is fairly straightforward. First, Mr. McCurry was acting as a photojournalist in the eyes of his audience and not as a story teller which means he was operating under a bearer of the public trust. That trust encompasses showing the world as it is and not an altered version of it. Altering images significantly as he did violates that trust. Second, …show more content…
The NPAA clearly highlights the importance of a photo journalist’s role in informing the public of what is going on in the world (5). The go on to highlight that photo journalists are “trustees” (5) of the public who help inform and capture human history. The NPAA also highlights the involvement of altering of photos as a key part of the code of ethics with the ruling that “Editing should maintain the integrity of the photographic images' content and context. Do not manipulate images or add or alter sound in any way that can mislead viewers or misrepresent subjects” (5). We see here yet again that the violation is not in the editing itself, but the breaking of the confidence and/or trust of the public. Lastly, the NPAA suggests photographers should “respect the integrity of the photographic moment” (5). Altering photos subverts that …show more content…
McCurry’s photos were not often dramatic in alteration, the outcry from the public clearly shows that trust was violated. McCurry went beyond simply touching up some photographs by creating significant alterations (2). Ethical lines are very clear around image alterations. While most bodies understand that there are occasions when slight alterations can be made, the editing, removal, or any alteration that harms the relationship between author and reader violates this code (9). Beyond simple ethical rules, we see that journalistic integrity is on trial today in America. Even with the freedom of the press enshrined in our Constitution, we see hostility toward media and journalists (7) where the main accusation lobbied at them is the willful promotion of bias and dishonesty from the media who are supposed to be trustworthy distributors of the truth. As photographers and journalist who are bearers of the public trust, it is critical that that trust be maintained or their work becomes subjective and open to interpretation. Often times, powerful people use any breach of that trust toward their own ends which only works if the public believes the ethics of journalist are in doubt. To summarize, while I believe that Mr. McCurry’s alterations of photographs are indeed trivial, I think the impact of public perception of his work by nature means that his actions were
Instead of telling readers what to think through words, readers can form their own point of view from a photo. A photograph that showed different interpretations was taken during WWII after the destruction of Iwo Jima in Japan of Americans soldiers raising an American flag in the ruins. Some viewers may perceive this act as patriotic, and others may have thought it was an act of terrorism and revenge. Either opinion could be argued and the photograph is the evidence. Since photographs can be unbiased, they can also hold truthful detail. For example, one photograph from the Vietnam war depicted a Vietnamese police officer shooting a Viet Cong in the streets. There are a lot of emotion in that photograph that words cannot describe all; which included the fear and hostility that was upheld during the time. Newspapers need to print more of these kinds of photographs to educate people the ugliness of war and death. Ephron pointed out, “throughout the Vietnam War, editors were reluctant to print atrocity pictures. . . That 's what that war was about.” War and its deaths are a part of history too, and history needs to be kept true and unbiased. As long as the photos are not altered nor used for propaganda, they can be
The messaging in both the Canadian Health Information Management Association (CHIMA) and Canada’s Health Informatics Association (COACH) Code of Ethics are very similar. They both discuss prioritizing privacy and security, set an expectation of maintaining a professional and collegial work ethic, encourage the continuing of education and building of one's knowledge base and both refer to a focus on the awareness of future developments/advancements within the industry. My initial preference was the CHIMA Code of Ethics as I preferred the phrasing and third person approach, however, upon further review I noticed that CHIMA’s used the word ‘strive’ instead of COACH’s approach of ‘I will’. This to me seems to have less impact then the COACH counterpart.
“The photograph both mirrors and creates a discourse with the world, and is never, despite its often passive way with things, a neutral representation”. On many bases, an individual’s interpretation is usually based on what they can visually see rather then the message behind what they see. What I believe Clarke meant by the following statement, is that it is vital to acknowledge an image by not just what it is representing or portraying but also the meaning it is delivering. The viewers who view this image, can see how the image is interpreted to show the dirty
The accounting system misallocated motors from the asset manufacturing equipment to inventory. There are issues of honesty, responsibility, and professional ethics.
The NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct was developed to uphold the application of core values, ideals, and principles to assist teachers’ decision-making about ethical issues. The Core Values of the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct is based on the foundation of the field's commitment to young children. It is noteworthy that all seven of the Code's Core Values directly address our commitment to children:
In 1998 a man named James Byrd was drug from a pickup truck in Texas and dismembered. Ashraf Rushdy wrote an essay to examine the moral authority of photography and the effect it has upon a population’s view of a tragedy. Rushdy’s argument is that in 1955 when Emmett Till was murdered his mother allowed photographs of her son’s mutilated corpse to be shown across the nation. These photographs had a significant effect upon the course of the civil rights movement. Rushdy asks why the photographs of James Byrd were never displayed to the public and provides a compelling answer to this question. He provides the answer through the use of persuasive appeals, diction, and the visual effects provided through the use of photographs throughout the essay.
An image has the explicit power of telling a story without saying any words, that’s the power behind a photo. A photo tends to comes with many sides to a story, it has the ability to manipulate and tell something differently. There is a tendency in America, where explicit photos of war or anything gruesome occurring in the world are censored for the public view. This censorship hides the reality of our world. In “The War Photo No One Would Publish” Torie DeGhett centers her argument on censorship, detailing the account of graphic Gulf War photo the American press refused to publish. (73) DeGhett argues that the American public shouldn’t be restrained from viewing graphic content of the war occurring around the world. She believes that incomplete
In 2005, the American Counseling Association (ACA) published a document titled the ACA Code of Ethics which was designed to aid counselors in the ethical decision making process and, in response, “expand the capacity of people to grow and develop” (p. 3). The ACA Code of Ethics provides regulatory guidelines for all counselors to follow in ethical decision-making and practice. Of a more specific nature, the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) has also published a document stating the ethical practices and procedures for the Christian counseling field. The two documents contain many similarities, but, due to differing goals and principals, also containing may differences. This paper compares these two documents and more specifically focuses on the similarities and differences in the areas of confidentiality, fees, and records.
...her and the more modern case of Brian Walski demonstrates the importance of ethics in the mass media. With the public dependent on photographers for images that will give an accurate and true representation of the facts, in some cases even leading to such important decisions as giving relief aid, waging war, or determining votes in an election, it is vitally important that journalistic images be true and unaltered likenesses of real persons and events. Even apparently innocent misrepresentations, designed to create a better image or better prove a point, can have serious consequences for the photographer, the subjects of the image, and the public. It is a reminder of the importance of honesty in all professions.
Which of the six principles in the AICPA Code of Conduct is most related to Article 1.5 of the California Accountancy Act? Explain your conclusion.
The modern world is full of photographs. They are used for ads, political campaigns, and magazines. However it can be hard to tell whether or not a photograph is real. Many are ‘doctored’ or altered in some way. These doctored photographs can be seemingly harmless, such as advertisements, but they can misrepresent a product or person. There is a fine line between what is ethical and what isn’t for doctored images. Photographs should never be altered in order to deceive individuals, damage someone’s reputation, or when they have a strong negative impact on self-esteem. However if doctored photographs are used for art or for minor touch-ups for advertisements that don’t misrepresent a product then
I have chosen the business profession topic of higher education administration. I am extremely familiar with this profession; as it is the job that I currently hold. There is a plethora of different activities and task that are dealt with on a daily basis within this profession. Some of these items consist of assisting both full and part time staff and faculty, maintaining order within budgets and finance, including all purchase orders and check requests, facilitating student awards, including scholarships, staffing and training within the department, as well as dealing with public policy and laws within the college. It is immensely obvious that this job would keep anyone busy. This alone is one of the reasons I love this profession so much. Each day brings something new, and important group of items to accomplish. Anyone who holds this job, would go into work everyday knowing that the tasks that they are about to perform, will create a difference to not only to the departments and its students, but will also make a difference within the entire college. This person alone has the responsibility of making ethical decisions every single day as well as watching out for others who may need help being pointed in the proper ethical direction based on their knowledge of the school’s ethics plans that have been put in place. If someone were unaware of the ethical standards in this profession, there is a lot of room for things to head in a corrupt direction rather quickly.
When using Photoshop on a person to “perfect” the image the editors get quite drastic; in a recent cover for Rolling Stone Katy Perry was shown sitting on a bed in just a bra and underwear, seems like the average cover right? Well yes it is like every other magazine except this one had its pre-photoshop cover leaked as well. In the above picture we can see that the editors of this photoshop slimmed Katy down, enhanced her breasts, removed moles, made her skin look glossy, and even removed the sock on her right leg. Its this nit picking that causes harm to our society and to our communities. It seems as though everyday we hear of another young girl committing suicide because she felt worthless.
Photography is a mindful medium of expression, perspective, interpretation and can sometimes be truth. The changes throughout the history of photography have changed how people see the image they're looking at. In the 19th century, they were no editing options or software of any kind. You just go through the process and take the photo and people could easily tell it was real. Of course it would a shock to see what was once a real life event in that time period, but then transferred on paper "capturing" the moment itself. The truth could easily been seen, now in the 21st century, most of that has changed. There are
Throughout the previous years, individuals view media for further entertainment rather then the actual message portrayed. We simply observe or recite if the news media is outrageous or affects to the lives of the icons presently in the interest. Currently, the image of privacy connected with individuals providing newscasts has entirely disappeared. In the news media the images have become more important than the message itself due to mass media. Audience and visual images have become more common because the brain reads the images rather then the words. We take caution about what we see; then what is essentially being shown throughout media. The newscast today is being more of entertainment purposes then the actual message shown. Nowadays what we see on display changes anything we recognize.