Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/04/19

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Subject: [Leica] Photojournalists and permission
From: mail at gpsy.com (Karen Nakamura)
Date: Tue Apr 19 17:35:25 2005
References: <00c101c544fd$f7e0d9d0$6501a8c0@ccapr.com> <42658E9D.3050705@cox.net><a0600102dbe8b44827604@gpsy.com> <42659B44.5040502@cox.net>

This will be my final post, since there's no progress in this discussion.

I think we would all agree that we should ask doctors, nurses, and 
patients in a hospital (public or privately funded) whether we can 
take their photograph if we're doing a project on them. We can't just 
go around public waiting rooms and take people's photographs or go to 
the maternity ward and take all the photographs we want to of all of 
the cute babies without asking the parents' permission. If you barged 
in and claimed that you had a RIGHT to take photographs because you 
were a photojournalist, you'd get immediately thrown out.

We'd also agree that we'd feel uncomfortable if our company hired a 
photographer to come by all of our offices and take our photographs 
without our permission and without telling us how the company is 
going to use the photos. Especially if the photographer insisted that 
we should not pose and wanted to follow us around all day long to get 
us in our natural condition. I think we would agree that  we have a 
certain right to privacy even in the workplace.

If we have that right (many lawyers would call it a moral right to 
our own image), then what gives us the authority to claim that 
homeless -- because of their circumstance -- have given up all moral 
rights to the use of their own image and privacy?  Because they are 
poor? Because they are living on the street?

To me, this is class exploitation and a double-standard applied to 
one class of people (rich people) and another (poor people). If you 
are happy with that, fine.  This is my own feeling and why I try as 
hard as possible to make sure that I have the consent of the people I 
photograph, especially those in dire economic straits. Like HCB, I 
don't like to be photographed myself, I do want to control how my 
image is used, and I think other people should have that right too.

Come up with your own standards and be happy with them. There are 
variations depending on your profession. Fine art photography is one 
thing, documentary is another, photojournalism is another. But each 
profession does have its own best practices doctrine which you should 
understand.  If you don't belong to a professional association that 
has an ethics standard, come up with your own and be happy with it. 
Just don't complain  if you are asked to defend it.

Happy snaps as they say!

Karen


Karen Nakamura
http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/
http://www.photoethnography.com/blog/

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Replies: Reply from bdcolen at earthlink.net (B. D. Colen) ([Leica] Photojournalists and permission)
Reply from robertmeier at usjet.net (Robert Meier) ([Leica] Photojournalists and permission)
Reply from tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant) ([Leica] Photojournalists and permission)
In reply to: Message from bdcolen at earthlink.net (B. D. Colen) ([Leica] Photojournalists and permission)
Message from kididdoc at cox.net (Steve Barbour) ([Leica] Photojournalists and permission)
Message from mail at gpsy.com (Karen Nakamura) ([Leica] Photojournalists and permission)
Message from kididdoc at cox.net (Steve Barbour) ([Leica] Photojournalists and permission)