History of Photojournalism : Ch. 7- Ethics in Photojournalism

Every so often, we see photographs of people being killed and laying on the street not breathing. With controversial images, such as ones like these, there is a code set by NPPA that states that as a photographer or photojournalist, “you should treat all subjects with respect and dignity."

One photograph that ended up becoming controversial was of fifteen-year-old, Fabienne Cherisma from Port Au Prince who was shot down on the street by police officers for stealing. Many photographers surrounded around this girl’s dead body to capture this tragic event. None of the photographers thought their photographs would soon go viral in the moment as the photographers were all capturing their shots. Before capturing any type of photo, photographers and photojournalists must ask themselves if the photo they are about to take is ethical or unethical. Any type of photography that is involved in some type of tragedy is unethical. These photographs show lack of privacy and respect to the loved ones involved. For example, the parents of this fifteen-year-old girl were most likely upset when seeing this photograph go viral.

Although images like the one of Fabienne Charisma’s death come off as controversial, some viewers, including the photographers and photojournalists, think that people need to see these types of images. One photographer that shot the image of the young girl’s death was Paul Hansen. Hansen backed up his point of view on taking this photograph in saying “For me, Fabienne’s death and her story is a poignant reminder of the need for a society to have basic security – with or without a disaster.” If I was the photographer put in this type of situation and I saw this kind of tragic scene, I wouldn’t take the photo. Yes, it is any photographer’s job to capture any type of scene or any type of situation that comes their way, but when it comes to any type of tragic event, it is unethical to stop and take a picture. This article titled Is Photography Ethical or Unethical lists nine different tips on how to be an ethical photographer.

To have ethics basically means to have moral principles and values. Just to name a few, ethical values include kindness, respect, helpfulness, integrity, truthfulness. In my opinion, this photo of the fifteen-year-old girl taken by not one, but multiple photographers at once, was not at all ethical. These photographers did not show any respect to the young girl or to her parents, loved ones, and friends. Yes, these photographs do show the true everyday life that happens in Haiti and yes, it is always a good idea that people all around the world are aware of what goes on in other countries, but I still don’t think that it was appropriate nor necessary to take this photo.