The Ethics of Photojournalism

Tonight at Columbia University School of Social Work, the Open Society Institute sponsored a panel discussion Witness: Photographers, Journalists and Social Workers Respond to Tragedy. The aspect that interested me most centered on the photojournalism work of Donna DeCesare. Her work is the opposite of sensational. It is deep, profoundly moving, and collaborative with her subjects.

The discussion was connected to "Moving Walls 12," an exhibition that includes DeCesare's work called "Shared Secrets: Children's Portraits Exposing Stigma" at the School of Social Work. Click here to view the images. Be prepared: they are powerful without being exploitative. The discussion tonight explored why when viewing these images we don't feel voyeuristic.

With the images of Mumbai still fresh in our minds, the discussion of collaboration between the photojournalist and the subject was intriguing. There was no time for collaboration, of course, as the attacks in Mumbai unfolded. However, as you recall, throughout the seige at the hotels, CNN and the other cable news shows were showing the same bloody images over and over again, without any time context. There was no way to really understand if the worst was over yet, how individuals were faring, or even to get a coherent story from the visuals.

That isn't the kind of work that DeCesare does. She works with communities of people; the Shared Secrets exhibit is centered in Latin America, in Guatemala and Colombia, where because she speaks Spanish, although not as a first language, she gets to know the subjects she wants to shoot, so that the eventual images are contrived to protect the wounds or even the identity of these individuals while still conveying their vulnerability and persona. As she went through the images, she explained how she shot one young girl who had lost part of her leg fighting in Colombia through the veil of her own hair. How another young man had asked her to shoot him through a curtain to preserve his anonymity.

These are not "set up" shots meant to convey a false sense of reality. They are narrative in nature and with each, DeCesare has an accompanying story. How is this different from the shots of a war correspondent? How is this different from the recent Mumbai coverage? It's not meant to shock. It's meant to connect--human to human.