The Program Works

Ethics and Responsibility

Photo ethics

Can you do that to a photo?

• Programs such as Photoshop make it easy to make major and minor changes to photographs

• That ability has caused photo ethics to dominate discussions among editors and photojournalists

Can you do that to a photo?

• Ethics become a slippery slope when the staff begins to think it’s OK to make small changes– “Flopping” or reversing a photo– Moving a ball into a sports shot– Adding a person to a crowd shot

Can you do that to a photo?

• The only things that a staff should do to alter a photo are those things that can be done in a darkroom with a single negative

Alterations that are acceptable.

• Cleaning lint, dirt or fingerprints from a print• Cropping out extraneous or distracting elements• Adding filters to enhance or reduce contrast• Dodging an overly dark area• Burning an area that is too light• Sharpening the image through an application such as

Photoshop• Correcting color problems

Alterations that are NOT acceptable.

• Removing an element from a photo• Adding an element to a photo• Reversing the direction of a photo• Moving an element to a different position after the photo was

taken• Changing a photo to give a different impression, such as making

an individual look criminal by putting the face in shadows• Combining photos or adding parts of one photo to another• Altering the colors so that they do not represent the truth of the

original situation

Provide a fair and accurate representation.

• Photographers should record what is happening in a particular place rather than directing people how to behave or pose

• Photographers should make sure the photos represent what really happened rather than providing untrue information through a photograph

• Photographers should understand their rights in public situations

Photo illustration vs. action photo.

• If a photo is posed or created for the purpose of illustration, then the caption should indicate that it is a photo illustration– A photo illustration is a visual way to show something that

couldn’t easily be photographed otherwise– An action photo captures the action as it is happening

without the photographer providing instruction to those in the photo

• Documentary journalism — photos that are taken to tell a story — cannot be altered in any way that deceives the public– Fair and accurate reporting is the criteria for judging what

may be done to a photograph

Exceptions to the rule.

• Often, a photo illustration is obviously a creation of the photographer– It is created to tell it’s own story– It is obvious to the reader that it is not real but rather has

been manipulated to tell a particular story• The professional media has had its share of error in judgment

– National Geographic’s cover in February 1982– TIME magazine’s rendition of the O. J. Simpson photo

Student Activity

Visit the Web site

http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/digitalphotoethics/

Divide the staff into groups of three or four and have each group

read an article on photo ethics and write a report recommending

ideas for a yearbook photo policy.

Student Activity

Visit the Web site http://www.spj.org/ethics_code.asp

Divide the staff into four groups and have them discuss each

section of the site and determine how these rules would apply

to photo ethics. Create a code for each of the SPJ sections that

would deal with photography.

Student Activity

Web sites to visit

– http://www.sree.net/teaching/photoethics.html

– http://www.journalism.indiana.edu/gallery/Ethics/#photos

– http://www.60-seconds.com/168_ethics.html

– http://www.dailycal.org/article.php?id=1121