Episodes
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In this episode, we talk with Fred Ritchin about photography for a better world. Fred offers a thoughtful reflection on image-making practices and their evolutions over the fifty years that he has been involved in the photography industry. He speaks about the power of images, and how this power relates to the importance of contextualisation and transparency about the image-making process. Finally, he touches on the shifts that are happening with regard to synthetic imagery generated by AI technologies and what this means for the future of photography.
What does photography ethics mean to Fred?
“The purpose of photography is not to make more images. It’s not to be celebrated as the greatest photographer. It’s not to be picked as the picture of the year. The ethics of it is that you’re a citizen of the world, and you’re using photography to make the world a better place – whether as a witness, as an advocate, as a family photographer … you’re using it in such a way to be useful, be helpful in the world. And this sort of disconnect – like the photo festivals where there’s great photos, other photographers see them, and then we say ‘photography is flourishing!’ – well, but my question is: but what’s its impact on the world outside of the bubble of other photographers? And to me that’s what photo ethics is. You know, I used to start many of my lectures: ‘I don’t care about photography, I care about the world.’ And if we could use the photography to make it a better world, that’s the ethics of it.” (41:35)
Links:
Susan Meiselas
Gilles Peress
Bosnia: Uncertain paths to peace
Four Corners Project
Writing with Light
Statement of Ethics Campaign
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In this episode, we talk with Brent Lewis about becoming the story. He describes the importance of not becoming the story by incentivising people to participate in being photographed, but he also explains that we are, ultimately, part of the stories that we tell with the camera. Brent spends some time debunking some other “J School” ideas that can sometimes perpetuate unhelpful myths about photojournalism, including affirming that the photographs we take impact us in long lasting ways.
What does photography ethics mean to Brent?
“Photography ethics to me means to just bear witness. Let’s not changing anything. Don’t have ideas of what things are going to be or what it is. Just show what life is. That’s the beauty of what we do. … I want to see that person next door lives like, and how that communicates to me and how I see what they are going through that make me understand life that so much better. I want to see the person that is 20,000 miles away and what their life looks like, and how, at the end of the day, we both want the same thing. We both want to be happy, we both want love, we both want compassion, we both want that freedom, that ability to breathe and to live. So photography ethics at the end of the day means to just show me that reality. Show me what’s happening in the world and do just that. Do not harm, go no above and beyond. Just give it to me straight.” (46:23)
Links:
Diversify.Photo
“Photography is a superpower” tops and totes
World Press Photo Award 2023 Jury
Miranda Barns
Gordon Parks
Evgeniy Maloletka
Article about Lyndsey Addario “Photographing the Reality of War” by Emmett Lindner
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Missing episodes?
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In this episode, we talk with Margaret Mitchell about connection and sincerity. She describes some of the projects she has undertaken which look at the experiences of homelessness and of end of life care. She explains how she gained her understanding of ethics and representation through photographing her own family members. Finally, Margaret offers a description of what she believes that true collaboration or collaborative practice entails.
What does photography ethics mean to Margaret?
“It’s very much about the very substance of what it is to be human, you know, how do we approach others in life and treat them? And that’s across all that we do, not just around photography, every interaction. But I really see photography as just being – being a photographer – as just a continuation of that approach, you know, about treating other people with a level of decency. … I’m really, really clear with people when I start a project, exactly who I am and what I’m doing. And I think, ethically, you have to do that.” (35:43)
Links:
An Ordinary Eden
Finding Home: Photography and Representation
In This Place
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In this episode we talk with Shaminder Dulai about troublemaking. He describes how he navigates ethical considerations, both as a photo editor and as a photojournalist. He defines the difference between a “picture taker” and a “picture maker,” he discusses media literacy, and he describes the responsibilities that come with image making. Shaminder advocates for a kind of “troublemaking” by speaking up when you have questions or concerns.
What does photography ethics mean to Shaminder?
“I think for me the answer is: at the end of the day are you proud to put your name on this? Do you feel like you did right that day? Ethics is like, kind of like objectivity, it’s not a binary and its always changing, it’s always evolving, it’s a living creature in a lot of ways. Ethics today are very different than what they were 20 years ago, same as objectivity, same as our norms in the newsroom. And I think ethics, it’s that higher purpose, like, okay: are you doing right by the responsibility of the journalism? Have you done your due diligence? Have you avoided perpetuating harm? Have you avoided stereotypes? Have you made time for the people you are working with to fully understand what the story is? Have you advocated when you felt like you should have? Did you not stay silent because you were afraid of making waves? I think ethics are all part of that. It’s like character. It’s like at the end of the day, all that comes together and your byline is on it.” (44:33)
Links:
Environmental Photographer of the Year Award
“Photography Ethics: Putting Ethics into Practice” by Shaminder Dulai at VII Insider
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In this episode we talk with Stephanie Lloyd and Erica Belli from Photovoice Worldwide about expanding the frame. They each explain how their distinct career trajectories led them to photovoice, and they describe why they find this research method valuable. They explore the ethical challenges that come with photovoice, and they also talk about the ethical challenges that photovoice aims to solve.
What does photography ethics mean to Erica?
“Photography ethics means so many things to me. I think the first thing that comes to mind is the idea that you have this tool in your hands, or you’re given this tool in your hands when it comes to photovoice, and you have to be responsible about it. It’s a bit about going into things with blinders or not. And deciding that you are going to think about the implications of a photo, you’re going to think not only of you taking this picture, but where is this pictures going to showcased, who is in this picture, what are the consequences for the person who is photographed, and where can this picture make change. There’s so many questions around photo ethics.” (41:57)
What does photography ethics mean to Stephanie?
“When I think about photovoice, I think about it as a social justice issue, so really through photography wanting to strive for diversity and equal representation involving groups that aren’t typically asked to share their opinions, and creating these opportunities for participants to share their voice and advocate for themselves and share what’s most important. … Photos are powerful tools, so making sure that through our photography that there is a piece of consideration here… While it can be such an important tool and something that can really uplift and share the power, making sure that we’re doing that in a way that’s respectful and that’s representative of groups and what they want to share.” (43:21)
Links:
Paulo Freire
“When Everything is Photovoice: Moving the conversation forward” by Daniela Miranda
“Taking an Anticolonial Approach to Photovoice: An interview with Dr. Jen Fricas”
Laura Lorenz
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In this episode we talk with Morwenna Kearsley about ethics as comfort. She describes both her personal projects and her projects working with participants, focusing on ownership and control over the images that are produced. She discusses her choice to focus on making portraits of objects instead of making portraits of people, and she shares the ethical responsibilities she feels as a photographer in the age of the internet.
What does photography ethics mean to Morwenna?
“Well I think it is an ongoing conversation that you have with yourself and your practice, whatever form that practice takes. So for me it’s a conversation between myself, the materials that I use, the technologies that I use, and how that relates to the people that I’m working with and the places that I’m working within. It’s not something fixed … as the technologies of photography change and the applications of photography change, photography ethics must and does change with it. … For me, it’s just trying to be as aware as possible about what you’re doing, and, for me, to not make work that I’m uncomfortable making, not to put anybody else in a situation that I would not be comfortable in…“ (39:47)
Links:
Creative Scotland
Street Level Photoworks
Sally Mann’s At Twelve
Source (magazine)
William Henry Fox Talbots’ Articles of Glass
Citizen Kane (film)
Jorge Luis Borges (writer)
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In this episode we talk with Nilupa Yasmin about unconscious bias. Nilupa describes the conversations that have shaped her thinking around unconscious bias, accessibility, and representation. She explains why she makes work, how weaving has become an integral part of her practice, and how craft can be a form of activism. She goes on to discuss her approach to participatory work with communities, and she encourages artists to undertake training to ensure that they are well-equipped to take on their safeguarding responsibilities in that setting.
What does photography ethics mean to Nilupa?
“For me, ethics is having that common ground of understanding with the people that you are working with, or the subject that you’re working with, it doesn’t necessarily have to be people. But its also understanding that there is a lot of power in the camera, and while you’re the one that’s pointing it, you need to have that understanding in who they are and what they are comfortable sharing with you. … So I think it’s just being conscious at different varying points, and always understanding that these are real people that you’re working with. And like Anthony Luvera said, ‘be conscious of your unconscious bias.’” (40:09)
Links:
Anthony Luvera: On collaborative representation
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In this episode we talk with Daniel Regan about (self) care. Daniel discusses how he approaches collaborative work with others and personal work about his own lived experience. He describes how he works with participants in collaborative projects to ensure that they are comfortable sharing their work, and how he makes decisions about sharing personal work about himself. Daniel explains that caring for one’s self is an important part of the process, and he describes the steps that he takes to care for himself during photographic projects.
What does photography ethics mean to Daniel?
“For me it’s about considering the impact that our images have on ourselves and on others. It’s not about going through the world just making because I want something, I need something, this is all about me. When we work with others, in particular, it’s about considering how other people that engage in our work feel. … So for me when I think about ethics, I think about how we care for the people that we work with and photograph, and we really think about what kind of experience do we want them to have?” (43:30)
Links:
Justin Carey: On solitude and collaboration
Threshold
Thread on the meta analysis on trigger warnings
Arts and Health Hub
Subjects (film)
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In this episode we talk with Jack Moyse about understanding disability. Jack describes the therapeutic benefits that he has found through photographic self-portraiture and the ways that he has integrated performance art into his practice. He discusses ableism, both within the photography industry and in wider society, and articulates the impacts that he hopes to have through his work.
What does photography ethics mean to Jack?
“For me it’s something that is gotten to the point now, where it’s like, it’s just mandatory, to consider the ethics behind the types of images that you’re making, to consider the ethical effect that might be had on your subject, to consider what might happen to these subjects after the camera is no longer pointed at them. … it’s so valuable and should be engrained at every level of the image making process.” (44:45)
Links:
Francis Alÿs
What it’s like (being me)
Dr Kim Charnley
Susan Sontag
Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord
Looking for Alice by Sian Davies
The Other: On class in the industry (with Jo Coates)
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In this episode we talk with Salgu Wissmath about queering photography. They describe how there are certain expectations about ethics that are specific to different genres, and they explain how their work tries to push back on some of these expectations in order to promote change in the industry. They highlight the importance of ethical transparency, especially when taking an ethical approach that is not standard according to the genre.
What does photography ethics mean to Salgu?
“I think ethics are going to be different for different people. So, the ethics that you hold for news coverage, for example, versus a commercial project, are going to be different. And so it depends who your client is and the genre of photography you are doing, but I think everyone has to know what their own lines are that they won’t cross and why. … And it is important to be transparent if you are going to do things slightly different from what is considered ‘the norm’.” (36:25)
Links:
Documenting Dysphoria
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In this episode we talk with Robin Hammond about balancing impact. He explains how ideas of impact fuelled his motivation for starting Witness Change, an organisation dedicated to advancing human rights through visual storytelling. Robin describes some of the difficult ethical decisions he made as a photographer, and he emphasises the importance of talking with local people and people with experiences from the communities he is photographing in order to navigate such ethical decisions.
What does photography ethics mean to Robin?
“Ethics makes me think of truth, and I know that that’s such a wobbly term in the world of journalism, but I think it’s like trying to be authentic to the folks whose lives you’re documenting. I feel like, also in the process and the way that we document, I feel very strongly that we need to be making it clear about our process as storytellers in that we need the audience to know whether an image is constructed or not … I think it’s about respecting the people and the communities whose lives we’re documenting.” (32:55)
Links:
Witness Change
Peter Singer
Eugene Richards
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In this episode we talk with Rehab Eldalil about relinquishing ownership. She describes different ways that she has used collaboration in her projects, and she unpacks what this means for the ownership of the work. She distinguishes between relinquishing ownership and abdicating responsibility, asserting the responsibilities that she has to the protagonists that she works with.
What does photography ethics mean to Rehab?
“I believed that, first, your ethics depends on you as a person, as a human, as a photographer, but also on the project and the people that you’re working with. … The whole idea of ethics is very fluid because it all depends on all of these different variables, but it’s something that you need to always think about, just like when you’re thinking about budgeting for your work, about shooting plans, travel itinerary, whatever - you still need to have this ethical column that you need to fill in and it all depends on these different variables.” (40:50)
Links:
Tanya Habjouqa
The Longing of the Stranger Whose Path Has Been Broken
Traces of What Remains
Fred Ritchin
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In this episode we talk with Annie Tritt about intentions and impact. Annie explains their personal journey with photography ethics as a young photographer starting out in their career. They explore their initial misunderstanding that closeness to an individual gives you the right to photograph them, and the responsibility photographers have to the people they photograph. Annie describes being asked to work on a piece about detransitioning, and argues against the need to always show two sides to every story. They also talk about the difference in ethics and transparency between editorial and commercial work, and how portraiture can be a collaborative process.
What you’ll find inside:
‘A lot of people would probably disagree with me. They think the larger topic is more important but, to me, the people in the photos are my number one concern.’ (8.43)
‘She used drugs, she was abused, they became homeless many times. None of that was my experience, and I hadn’t studied it. Just because I could go to her house, and the kids came over my house, and we liked each other. Like what am I going to illuminate about that?’ (10.53)
‘I was in grad school when Katrina happened and I ran there. I had no business being there, I have zero business being there. And the professors at school told me that, and I didn’t listen.’ (14.40)
‘The media feels like it needs to give both side. Kind of like during the Trump administration, there’s not two sides. I feel like during the Holocaust, there aren’t two sides. In the effort to be fair we’ve been told we have to show both sides but there isn’t both sides.’ (16.40)
‘If I’m selling iPhones, I’m not pretending I’m doing anything but selling something and there’s something really transparent about that. Whereas the transparency in editorial is the so dicey.’ (19.30)
‘With portraits, for me, it’s very collaborative. Like where do you want to be? And I can explain I know you love being here but the sun is bad. I can explain visually why I can’t do it but I can say we can come back here later, but is there somewhere else? It becomes, for me, way more collaborative so it’s something we’re doing together.’ (25.24)
‘When I came into doing the trans project, so many people said no because they were like people in the media have burned us and were not trusting again.’ (29.40)
‘Is talking about poverty important? Yeah. Is talking about how it happened? Yeah. Do you photograph someone’s kid naked that you don’t know? No.’ (30.23)
What does photography ethics mean to Annie?
‘I think about ethics a lot in everything. I think ethics to me are something that I revisit a lot in interactions in my daily life. Ethics are about having a baseline of ethics of your life. How do I impact the people around me? How do I impact the environment? What are my big intentions? What are my small intentions? And revisiting tht. Having dialogue with the people in the photos, with yourself - the people that you work for it harder - but having dialogue as a community.’ (31.29)
Links:
Transcending Self
Catchlight fellowship grant
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In this episode, we talk with Fati Abubakar about changing the narrative. Fati explains her motivations for countering misrepresentation and creating new narratives. She explores the ethical issues that can arise when photographers fly in to a country without a deep awareness of cultural nuances and the resulting repercussions. Fati describes her connection to the people she photographs and how invested she becomes in their stories. She also talks about her experience with managing work life balance, and how she took a break from conflict zones and attended therapy to address this. Fati details her approach to teaching photography and why it is important to teach them about photography ethics.
What you’ll find inside:
‘There’s always this backdrop of tragedy. And I didn’t like how we were always unhappy in coverage in mainstream media. Do we ever have weddings? Do we give birth to children? Are there naming ceremonies? Are we in school? Do we go to the market to buy groceries? What is the day to day in a conflict zone?’ (4.41)
‘I didn’t like how we were showing people online or on television, and talking about this girl was raped by a terrorist or this girl was a sex slave for a terrorist knowing there would be repercussions. So there wasn’t a lot of attention on the cultural differences that we had and also on ensuring that person had the safety that they needed.’ (7.45)
‘I wonder would I want to be in a book? Would I want to be in someone’s home, in a frame from a photo they bought? Would I want to be in a gallery? A lot of these questions are personal for me, at the same time being an ethical, and moral dilemma.’ (12.50)
‘The closer you are, the more of a burden it becomes because you start to feel personally responsible for anything that happens to that person. And then you become emotionally attached to a point where you’re very protective of however the content is being used.’ (17.18)
‘I have a tendency to get so absorbed to a point where I want to see where they go, where the story leads, how they end up, and I still want to communicate and I always want to link them to other organisations that may help them. For me it becomes a personal issue.’ (24.00)
On going to therapy and work life balance: ‘I cried at her for teaching me boundaries. I was easily accessible, I was available to everyone but myself.’ (27.45)
‘I came into teaching knowing that I didn’t want to teach young, impressionable people photography without making them aware of not only the historical colonial gaze in many different continents, but also moving forward how to represent their own communities.’ (29.50)
‘I think that a lot of people go in with the camera first. I think that for me is a problem. Sometimes you have to spend a lot of time without the camera to understand people, to understand society.’ (37.16)
What does photography ethics mean to Fati?
‘For me, approaching a story ethically, means that… I always say that I want to photograph people the way I would like to be photographed. And it means that I want someone to take a photo of me where I would be happy with the image, and how I would be represented. And always to show me what the image looks like, to show me how they portrayed me. To show me how they will tell my story, to ask me if I like how my story is being told, to ask me if this captures the essence of my story. So it’s always for me how would you take this photograph if this was someone in your family or if this was you and your self portrait? Are you happy with what this looks like? Is this something you want to present to the world?’ (40.11)
Links:
Bits of Borno
Tales by Light
B&H
National Geographic
TED
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In this episode, we talk with Arpita Shah about representing identity. Arpita talks about the process of working with participants on their own representation and how the photographer and participant may see the same photograph differently. She discusses her experience photographing her ill grandmother, the ethical considerations that involved, and the importance of transparency and dialogue with participants on the way they are represented. Arpita also describes how she explored the use of audio for a project and how participants responded differently to the medium. Lastly, she reflects on how her own background helps her to form a connection with the people she is photographing.
What you’ll find inside:
‘I think it’s something I’m learning from every time, and it changes. I think sometimes when you look back at work, there’s certain images of my grandmother that I really love as an artist and I know curators really like the image, but as an elderly South Asian woman I know she might not be comfortable with that image being shown. So just trying to navigate and learn around that.’ (4.40)
On photographing an ill family member: ‘I was using metaphors of fragile flowers, or photographs that were crumbling. That’s how I worked around it but I absolutely understand. It’s difficult to approach it through the lens and so you have to be a little more creative and have more conversations around it.’ (7.23)
‘I’m very fortunate but a lot of the time, the people I work with and photograph, because we’re exploring cultural identity and the meaning of home, I can identify a lot with that and they really know what my work’s about.’ (10.35)
‘Being able to hear those sounds and drink tea, all these senses about home and displacement were being sparked up when you were listening. The photographs didn’t work at that point so I ended up doing something very different.’ (14.26)
‘It’s something I’ve learnt from, and am still learning - what I’ve found is a lot of the time as a photograph when I take a photoshoot of somebody, the photograph they’re going to pick is always going to be very different to the one I’m going to pick.’ (15.28)
‘I think it’s very important ethically to be very transparent and clear on your role as a photographer but also always be open to input and feedback that the person you photograph had.’ (17.30)
‘With the themes I explore in my work, there’s a shared experience and this kind of understanding that really helps me and the people I photograph connect.’ (22.16)
‘I think it’s really hard because I’ve made work in the past that I really thought was a small project and it can end up, 15 years later, on a billboard somewhere and you just don’t know these things. You just have to think about protection all the time, protecting yourself as well, protecting the people you photograph and being really transparent.’ (24.03)
What does photography ethics mean to Arpita?
‘To be an ethical photographer is to accept your learning from experiences, that you’re learning and there isn’t a straight guide to how to be ethical. It’s based so much on what kind of genre you work in, what kind of photography you are, what your own methodologies are as a practitioner. But crucially it’s about being aware of the power you have as a photographer, being responsible and accountable for that trust that people are giving you when they allow you to photograph them, respecting that agreement, respecting them.’ (25.16)
Links:
Light Work and Autograph ABP Artist-in-residence programme
Fòcas Scotland
Street Level Photoworks
Nalini
In Sickness and in Health by Colin Gray
Creative Scotland
Portraits of Home
An Lanntair
Copan Chai
Purdah - The Sacred Cloth
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In this episode, we talk with Anthony Luvera about collaborative representation. He provides an insight into his approach to collaborative work, what collaboration means to him, and the interplay between collaboration and representation. Anthony explores his early roots in collaborative photography and how they led him to the socially-engaged work he does today. In particular, he describes his work with people experiencing homelessness and how he has formulated ethical processes to aid collaboration. Anthony also dives into his thoughts on ethical issues such as paying participants and participant consent.
What you’ll find inside:
‘I’m really interested in using photography in a way where I’m able to involve or invite participants to co-create the work that I’m making with and about them.’ (2.00)
‘This idea of consent is a dialogue. And just because a participant may say yes, it doesn’t preclude them from having the capacity or right to say no and to withdraw that consent.’ (10.26)
‘What’s more important is not necessarily the duration that one has to work within, but rather is the clarity of the invitation and the sharing of information with the participants.’ (15.39)
‘I think the thing to remember, for me, is that it’s not about someone taking part in a project. More importantly, it’s about a relationship with a person and keeping the value of what you’re doing in check - particularly when I’m working with people who are experiencing homelessness.’ (18.40)
On his photography workshop with people experiencing homelessness: ‘People came with all kinds of questions… why are you doing this? What’s in it for me? What will I get out of this? Are you making money out of this? How can I make money out of this? What is this for?’ (21.55)
‘I can see now that my earliest experiences of photography have been about enabling other people’s knowledge of photography and generating enthusiasm for photography.’ (24.02)
On the ethical considerations of paying participants: ‘Often the participants that I work with are on benefits, and any kind of formal payments to them would adversely affect their capacity to continue to receive those benefits. So thinking creatively about how one [pays a participant ethically], whether that’s through gift vouchers or whether that’s cash in hand.’ (28.58)
‘I think it’s also important to be really open about your intentions and to be really willing and flexible about adjusting your intentions to really take on board the feedback from participants.’ (33.20)
What does photo ethics mean to Anthony?
‘For me, photography ethics - ethics in general - is a continual questioning of is this the best possible way to use photography? Are there other ways we can use photography? And in doing so, what kinds of challenges might that present? I often think about the work of Martha Rosler - the writing of Martha Rosler as much as her photographic practise - and in particular, a statement that she wrote in her essay Post-Documentary Post-Photography? where she speaks about representational responsibility, and the kind of responsibility that is incumbent upon a photographer or any kind of cultural producer. To really take into consideration the information they convey through their practise and how they go about taking in hand the decisions they make in relation to disseminating the work, in relation to speaking about the work, as well as how the work itself is created and what it depicts. I think it’s about keeping your intentions in check, it’s about considering the context in which you disseminate the work, it’s about how you create that work.’
Links
Art on the Underground
Construct (project with GRAIN and SIFA Fireside)
In Conversation
Not Going Shopping
Gravitas
Mermaids UK
Crisis
The Bowery in two inadequate descriptive systems by Martha Rosler
Residency
Photography for Whom magazine
Post-Documentary, Post-Photography? by Martha Rosler
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In this episode, we talk with Sebah Chaudhry about diversity and inclusion. Sebah emphasises the need for diversity across organisations and educational institutions, and the impact this can have. She explains the importance of mentorship in order to help photographers understand their worth, and the problematic ways in which organisations can take advantage of photographers of colour. Discussing her own experience, Sebah recounts her process for deciding whether to work with an organisation or individual. Sebah stresses the need for organisations to be held accountable.
What you’ll find inside:
‘I’ve worked with really great organisations and they all do have great values but, of course, we have to always question those and we have to make sure that they are being held accountable.’ (5.50)
‘For her not to get paid, even if it’s a nominal fee, I think that’s just really terrible. I feel like if they were photographers who were white, and male, and middle-aged, they would have been paid.’ (8.50)
‘I have worked on projects before where there have been all white photographers and I have challenged this, or tried to work out why that is. If there’s an application, for example, why are only white photographers applying for this? And what can we do to make it different?’ (16.18)
‘I feel like it’s really important for every single person, organisation to have a statement of ethics and why has this not been done before? We should have these statements and make ourselves accountable.’ (19.35)
‘If we don’t represent those artists, then how will we achieve equality? How will there be more inclusion? We have to include these photographers, we have to show their work, we have to give them commissions, and we have to support them.’ (23.42)
‘You need to have people of colour on boards of organisations, but you also need to have them in leadership roles.’ (25.37)
‘We need allies. We need support, and it can’t just be something that black people do or brown people do. It needs to be everybody.’ (27.25)
‘Why aren’t lecturers, why aren’t heads of universities making these changes? Maybe if they don’t have as many students of colour, why is that? Is it because it’s not reflected in the teaching staff?’ (35.04)
What does photo ethics mean to Sebah?
‘To me, it’s about being fair and holding myself accountable for the decisions that I make, which includes who I work with and why I work with them. And also holding others accountable.’ (35.20)
Links:
ReFramed
Picturing High Streets
Peer to Peer: UK/HK
AIS Open 2022
Redeye
Redeye graduate mentoring scheme
Format Festival
Street Level Photoworks
Stills
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In this episode, we talk with Anne Nwakalor about reading and research. Anne discusses what motivated her to start No! Wahala, a magazine dedicated to showing work by African creatives, in the midst of the pandemic. She explains the need for a narrative shift in the way that Africa is depicted, and the impact that colonialism and white saviorism has had on this narrative. Anne highlights the need for respect within photography, and how foreign photographers can engage with local photographers in an ethical way. Anne also emphasises the need for photographers to continue learning in order to engage with the ever evolving nature of ethics.
What you’ll find inside:
‘One thing that really propelled me to start it is because living in Nigeria surrounded by so many amazing photographers, photojournalists and one thing that we saw a lot is that for stories and features a lot of photographers from the West are being flown in.’ (4.30)
‘Even though the intention was to get local photographers seen by industry professionals, it became so much more. It became like an educational platform, it became a resource.’ (5.20)
‘There’s been a lot of issues going on with a lot of photographers presenting people that they photographed in a certain way, and it’s out of context and it causes a lot of issues. So in my full time job, when I’m putting something out there, I need to make sure that the context is correct.’ (8.35)
‘Basically what I narrowed it down to was, not just getting the African photographers seen internationally but reshaping the narrative of the continent as a whole, because so much damage has been done with centuries of white saviorism and colonial gaze.’ (9.45)
On asking local photographers for their advice: ‘I recommend you reach out to them and just talk through your ideas, talk through what it is that you want to achieve and also ask them if it’s feasible and if there’s a way that it can be done respectfully’ (13.00)
‘Doing your research will help you to be specific, and will help you to narrow down what it is you want to accomplish, what it is that you stand for.’ (18.02)
‘I feel like the photography industry transforms so many times. One moment something is ethical, the next thing it’s not. So that’s why it’s so important to be updating yourself and researching.’ (20.25)
‘Because ethics is changing, you will make mistakes and there will be things you need to unlearn. And I think you need to position yourself in a way where you’re open to unlearning.’ (23.09)
What does photo ethics mean to Anne?
‘In one word, respect. That’s what it means to me. Being respectful, being respectful of the person you’re photographing, being respectful of who that person represents, being respectful of where you’re photographing it, you know what I mean, it’s just respect. And I feel like if us photographers go into what we’re doing with respect in our minds, we’ll be able to counteract a lot of the ethical issues that are going on right now.’ (29.28)
Links:
No! Wahala magazine
The Safe place issue
African Photojournalism Database
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In this episode, we talk with Tara Todras-Whitehill about becoming a storyteller. She shares how she first became a photographer, and the ethical situations she has found herself in since. Tara describes her current role training NGOs on how to tell stories powerfully and ethically, while explaining the different ethical contexts between journalism and NGO photography. She discusses the importance of going beyond a basic approach to consent, to ensure that the participant is well-informed. Tara also talks about how becoming a mother has altered the way she thinks and acts about photo ethics.
What you’ll find inside:
‘I quit after four years because I wasn’t really getting what I wanted out of it and people thought I was crazy because I was quitting a staff job, and who quits a staff job? And I was like, but this wasn’t what I signed up for. So then I went back to doing more in depth storytelling for social impact.’ (10.18)
‘NGOs vs journalism have very different decisions about what is correct for them. I always take the journalist ethics to the organisations I’m working for, but you always have to figure out how to balance those things because they’re working in a different context.’ (14.18)
‘If you do the down-trodden thing and like woe is me and whatever, they don’t come back, because people might donate, but they’re not interested in it because it makes them feel bad.’ (19.10)
‘You want to make sure you’re telling the story that’s accurate, but you also recognise that they are working within confines. If you’re working with the government, there’s things that they can’t say and how do you tell the story accurately so that your own ethics are being met?’ (22.44)
‘We are synced for stories, and we are synced for connection.’ (26.15)
‘As a mother, I also feel like I’m more vulnerable to seeing things - in a good way. Like more emotionally attached whereas before I would have said my camera in front of my face is like a barrier.’ (27.30)
On photographing a story about a child’s circumcision: ‘I sent a message and I said you really need to explain in a lot more detail to the family, even though they gave consent, about what this means.’ (29.20)
‘I’ve been advocating for better consent forms where people can retract consent and understand their consent doesn’t mean anything about whether they’re going to get more or less services.’ (33.05)
What does photo ethics mean to Tara?
‘I mean to me it’s just humanity. You’re being allowed to take a picture of someone and their life, and that’s an honour, to be able to do that. And I think about that all the time, about the things I’ve been able to do and how amazing it’s been and how people let me into their homes with a camera. To me, it’s not photo ethics, it’s just how you want to be treated. That is just human.’ (39.35)
Links:
Portraits: I had an abortion
Ethicalstorytelling.com
Dignified Storytelling
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In this episode, we talk with Michèle Pearson Clarke about vulnerability. She talks about the ethical considerations of presenting other people’s vulnerabilities within a gallery space and the responsibility she feels towards the communities she works with. She describes the process she took to be vulnerable herself in her self-portraits. As an artist and a teacher, Michèle explains the impact different mediums and methods of presentation can have. And as a photo laureate, she describes her ambition to build the public’s understanding of visual literacy as they create and engage with photographs everyday.
What you’ll find inside:
‘Photographs are part of systems of power, photographs get used to communicate certain things, to hide certain things.’ (4.35)
‘Ethics no longer just applies to professional photographers right? We’re all publishers, we’re all broadcasters, we’re all making and disseminating photographs now.’ (5.06)
‘A lot of what we do is ego work as artists... It’s really okay to think that maybe your photograph is only going to do not that much in the world. Particularly when it comes to ethics, I think often there’s an overinflation of what we think our photographs will do or can do. And that often gets held up as justification for showing an image that people question.’ (8.10)
‘Especially given the history of making black people’s pain a spectacle for consumption, what does it mean to, not just ask people to be vulnerable, but what does it mean to show that in a gallery? What does it mean to present and display black and queer vulnerability and pain in the gallery space?’ (12.25)
On creating a website to aid informed consent: ‘For every project I build a project website that allows me a lot of space to be able to say who I am, why I’m making what I’m making, where it will show. I just put all the information I can about what I’m doing… so people can read that on their own time before deciding yes I would like to participate.’ (14.50)
On her self portrait series: ‘I’ve been reflecting on what does it mean to be read as moving from a young black boy to being read as a black middle aged man? And for some people a black man is a very threatening thing.’ (25.35)
‘The self portrait series is intentionally photographic because on the one hand when I’m out walking down the street I don’t want you staring at me, trying to figure out if I’m a man or a woman... but in the gallery I’ve intentionally decided, you can look as long as you want.’ (29.46)
‘Audiences too have responsibilities, and I think it’s something that often galleries shy away from. I think it’s okay to ask the audience to do some work.’ (32.15)
What does photo ethics mean to Michèle?
‘I think photography ethics… it foregrounds to me that I see myself less as an individual with rights and more as part of a community to whom I have responsibilities. And so it is a way of working, and not just in the making of the photograph, everything. It is a way of addressing people in emails, it's a way of working with galleries, it's everything that I do. It's the way that I teach, how I treat my students, how I build my lesson plans. It’s foregrounding the responsibilities that I have as part of a community and thinking about… as I said, power is embedded in all of those positions I hold - artist, teacher, photo laureate - I hold a certain amount of power. So it means how do I leverage that power… I mean it’s hard because ethics always equates morals. And for me it's not so much about good and bad but it's about harm reduction almost. One of the things humans are really good at is we hurt each other. Sometimes intentionally, most times unintentionally. And so how do I make decisions? How do I set up processes that hopefully minimise harm as I pursue the things that I’m drawn to pursue.’ (41.50)
Links:
Quantum Choir
The Animal Seems to Be Moving
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