Ethics of Photojournalism and Documentary Photography

Birmingham, Alabama – Charles Moore (1963)

Charles Moore photographed this image during the Civil Rights Movement between the 1954 and 1968 throughout America, where black residents and allies clashed with white power during the struggle to end segregation. Moore a photographer for Montgomery Advertiser and Life found himself part of these conflicts when in Birmingham in Alabama which was one of the most high-conflicted area. He captured many images on the movement but is was the this photo that opened peoples eyes to the brutal violence which was considered routine and casual during the day, it was published in Life magazine which allowed the world to see the reality of segregation. The Civil Rights Act passed a heart later, abolishing segregation.

Behind Closed Doors – Donna Ferrato (1982)

Donna Ferrato was photographing Elizabeth and Bengt for her Wealthy Swingers project, following their lifestyle as swingers and the parties they held at their house where she witnessed alcohol, cocaine and domestic violence later on. One night Donna saw them arguing in the bathroom because Elizabeth hid their cocaine which made Bengt furious and in response he raised his arm to hit Elizabeth, Donna captured it hoping he would stop but he didn't. Her project then took on women's shelters and shadowing the police to capture incidents and victims where her images were the first published images of domestic violence bring the issue out of the shadows. Policymakers where forced to confront the issue which resulted in the Violence Against Women Act, penalties against offenders increased and police were trained to treat the issue as a serious crime.

First Woman to Officially Run the Boston Marathon – Boston Herald (1967)

Kathrine Switzer was 20 years old when she decided to run the Boston Marathon officially which at the time it was an all-male race, to cut suspicion she signed the necessary paperwork with her initials. Camera crews and photographers from a press bus spotted and photographed her extensively alongside her trainer Arnie Briggs and her then boyfriend Tom Miller. Jock Semple, the race manager, ran after her and tried to rip off her number and before he could pull her out of the race Tom shoulder blocked him away, he fell onto the side of the road as the idea of women running in the marathon was still one of the most controversial topic. She finished the race knowing that if she stopped it would look like a publicity stunt, five years later women were given the right to run the marathon.

White Skates – Sally Mann (1990)

Sally Mann “America’s Best Photographer” named by Time Magazine in 2001, is best known for her third collection of images named ‘Immediate Family’, the photos depicted intimate pictures of her children where some were nudes showing the discrepancy of power between artist and subject. Criticism surrounded these images by questioning the line between pornography fine art and objectification, controversial for breaking into a family’s intimacy and the children’s innocence is on display for the world to see. Sally wanted to wait for her children to become older so they could acknowledge the images and give their consent, however they wanted their mother to publish the images immediately. The project was first shown in 1990 at Edwynn Houk Gallery, Chicago and is still a hot topic debate, showing how we second guess art or documentary projects as others could find them, sick, disturbing or vulgar.