When is it okay to take a photograph? When is it okay to take a photograph for the sake of journalism and "informing the world"? The ethics and privacy of photographing a person in a tragic situation, and when to step in to help them, has been the cause of much controversy for decades in the world of photojournalism.

 

There is a lot of good that comes from photojournalism. Its main purpose is to educate as well as relate the situation to engage audiences and help to spread the word effectively. But sometimes, photojournalism can expose people in disturbing and gruesome light.

 

A picture is worth a thousand words. However, especially in the name of journalism and media, a picture can be worth much more to audiences and the victims themselves. This is not always positive. Pictures can inflict lasting pain on victims of tragedy and grief. The ethical dilemmas photojournalists face when capturing such tormenting moments on their cameras reflects the lack of professional guidelines available to them. Photojournalists are becoming increasingly active in selling the news at anyone's expense. Some serve to exploit grief for a profit, entering not only the funeral home, but the casket as well, knocking down the walls of privacy that have traditionally and morally protected the right of all individuals to mourn in the privacy of their own emotions.

 

In this project, I seek to ask and address this main question: What is ethical? Who decides what is and is not? One person's definition of unethical is not another's. A moral is a shared set of values, while ethics is a set of principles of right conduct. Photojournalists' code of ethics includes accuracy, truthfulness, respect to privacy, objectivity, integrity, a sense of public interest and humanness. There are many issues in photojournalism, but I will discuss the unethical boundaries of what images are too gruesome, too tragic or a lack of assistance on the photographer's part.

 

Please note that the following images may contain gore, blood and offensive visuals.