That was the exchange between myself and an upset relative about a photo of an event that I covered over the week. The relative is upset about an image that I (and the event organizer posted) to show our coverage of the event. My rebuttal to the relative’s argument is as civil as it can be considering how I am.
Abuse for situations like this or what is deemed as “volatile” is not uncommon. There are many instances such as…
(images from MediaBistro and NY Daily News)
Mind you, the three situations above are FAR worse than my situation, still though, respect and responsibility are necessary.
Respect from both sides and an understanding that the responsibility of the photojournalist is to tell the story of an event through visuals. Sometimes, these visuals are disturbing and yet are taken because they tell the story. Sometimes, others believe the images offensive because of the light that is cast. Sometimes the visuals uncover information that others don’t want told and folks do what they can to suppress the images which includes abuse. Regardless, the story will be told and folks need to brace themselves on both sides.
As a photojournalist, I understand that there will be days where abuse of this nature will be dished out at myself or whoever the client/employer utilizing the image (still/video) is. However, I want to be clear in that when we get our visuals, we are doing our jobs.
I have to admit, I do have some disdain for those who do it in questionable/unethical manners (some of the stalkerazzi/paparazzi for instance) but in general we do our best to capture the story in the most ethical/respectful way possible.
With that being said, remember it is a two-way street. Photogs respect the subject and indirect subjects and subject (and indirect subject aka friends, family, enemies or whatever) respect the photog. We are just doing our jobs!
P.s I realize that posting on Facebook is another can of worms. We’ll save that for another day 
Filed under: Photography, Social Responsibility
