Category: Ethics & Legal

November 16, 2016

NPPA Voting Opens

It’s time to vote for openings on the National Press Photographers Association’s board of directors and a couple of regional chairs. I started reading through the bios for all the candidates this morning – there are some phenomenally good people running this year, choosing just two for the board will be brutal. Think deeply about what you want our of...

Categories Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism

September 21, 2016

Image Theft for Political Gain

Let the copyright violation season begin – though usually it’s not the high level candidates who do this.

Categories Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism

August 23, 2016

Photo Editors Please, or At Least Visual Awareness (Updated)

It seems that I am on a multi-year rant about my local news organization. I pay my subscription, I read it every day online, spend time with the delivered Sunday edition and I truly appreciate that they are severely understaffed. That the depth of their coverage has suffered is sad and I do not find fault with the individual journalists...

Categories Ethics & Legal/Journalism/Photojournalism/Tech Talk/Thoughts & Theory

August 18, 2016

Why We Need Photo Editors, Olympic Second Edition

Chances that there was not a photo editor working on this page are pretty high. You can’t be an authority on anything if you can’t get facts right – and this is, at its core, a fact error. (Thanks to Steve Fox for the link.)

Categories Advice & Learning/At Work/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism

August 5, 2016

Getty Images Sued, Again

Can a photo agency license public domain works? That’s the question that will come up in a copyright claim case that Carol Highsmith is filing against Getty Images, claiming they have pulled images she holds the copyright to but put in the public domain (through the Library of Congress) and has been charging fees on.

Categories Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism

August 3, 2016

Grace and Power

I suspect there will be a lot of discussions in my classes about Jonathan Bachman’s image of two Baton Rouge police officers approaching a woman to arrest her. Allen Murabayashi has a nice compilation of commentary over at PhotoShelter, a good starting point.

Categories Ethics & Legal/Good Work/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

June 5, 2016

Not Trusting Our Viewers

There has been a lot written about the images of Steve McCurry being altered – whether is was his staff, his staff under his direction or the man himself doesn’t really matter. The images were altered and a photographer who has been held highly for decades for his journalism work is not rebranding himself as a “visual storyteller.” Which is...

Categories Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

May 1, 2016

Where the Press Isn’t Free

The New York Times has an interesting piece up about photojournalist Maya Vidon-White who photographed a dying victim of the November terrorist attacks in Paris and is now being sued for doing so. The story talks about the ethical challenges of covering conflicts, but it’s really about the legal challenges – in France, you can’t photograph the victims of terrorism...

Categories Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism

April 5, 2016

Defending McCurry

There’s been a bit of a storm brewing over a New York Times piece by Teju Cole about the work of Steve McCurry, one of the legendary National Geographic photojournalists. I … don’t agree with his assessment but don’t feel qualified to take it on. Allen Murabayashi from PhotoShelter, though, has completely encapsulated my thoughts on the matter. Having an...

Categories Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism/Tech Talk/Thoughts & Theory

February 29, 2016

Secret Service Agent Throws Photojournalist to the Ground at Trump Event

A United States Secret Service agent choked and threw photojournalist Christopher Morris to the ground at a Donald Trump event in Virginia. It is unclear what provoked this response at this point in time, but it is phenomenally disturbing. Mr. Morris has spent more than 40 years covering conflicts internationally and is a highly regarded photojournalist who was on assignment...

Categories At Work/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism