Photojournalists have some of the highest standards of ethics
of any photographer. So when talking about street photography ethics,
I feel I need to address some common misperceptions
about photojournalists. Some people commented that street photographers
should not need to ask for consent
because photo journalists don’t ask for consent.
That’s wrong. They absolutely do.
When I worked for newspapers,
for most photos of most events,
if I took a photo of an individual or a small group,
I needed to get their names in,
talking to them,
telling them who I’m working for that we might publish the photo.
They’re providing their names and their consent.
Photo caption info is important and always needs to include the who,
what, where,
when, and why.
Without the who, we didn’t run the photo.
Now, sometimes
people didn’t want themselves or their kids in a photo in the paper,
and that meant that I didn’t publish the photo.
Breaking news, however,
is a different story. Photo journalists evaluate whether a situation
or photograph is newsworthy.
If people are in the streets protesting or fighting,
of course they’d mostly say no to having their photo published.
And besides, it’s usually too chaotic to even ask.
But newspapers publish them anyways
because it’s more important to the community
as a whole to cover a big story
than a certain individual’s request not to have their photo taken.
In photographing the everyday,
technically, nearly none of the photos taken by street photographers
would meet the Standard of being newsworthy,
as beautiful and universal as a candid moment can be.
Shout out to James Nachtwey.
Greatest a modern conflict photographers in my opinion.
He risks his life again and again
because he cares about the story above all else.
He’s not in it for the money and the fame,
because there is no money and fame.