Jon O'Brien
(K=11321) - Comment Date 3/7/2004
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PS - as it happens, no one was hurt, but I didn't know it at the time.
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John Orban
(K=725) - Comment Date 3/8/2004
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You're in Florida...In Miami, to be exact... There is great chaos going on around you, caused by a hurricane and severe floods... there are huge masses of water all over you...You are a photographer and you are in the middle of this great disaster. The situation is nearly hopeless. You're trying to shoot very impressive photos. There are houses and people floating around you, disappearing into the water. Nature is showing all its destroying power and is ripping everything away with it. Suddenly you see a man in the water, he is fighting for his life, trying not to be taken away by the masses of water and mud. You move closer.
Somehow the man looks familiar.
Suddenly you know who it is - it's George W. Bush!
At the same time you notice that the raging waters are about to take him away, forever.
You have two options. You can save him or you can take the best photo of your life.
So you can save the life of George W. Bush, or you can shoot a Pulitzer Prize winning photo. A unique photo displaying of one of the world's most powerful men.
And here's the question: (Please give an honest answer)
Would you select color film, or rather go with the simplicity of black and white?
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Michael Kramer
(K=566) - Comment Date 3/8/2004
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If the purpose of a photo is for nothing more than your enjoyment then I do believe it would be wrong to intrude on the situation. However, photojournalism is another matter. So the answer to the question is in your point of view at that moment in time. You made the right call, as the shot would have been for enjoyment not to tell a story.
As to the Bush question: Well I know some would say that they are obligated to record events and not to interfere with them. Frankly that is BS. If you can lend a hand do it. If you cant then I?d go for the b&w film.
Take care,
Mike
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Jon O'Brien
(K=11321) - Comment Date 3/8/2004
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Thank you, Michael, for your considered response. As for GWB - I think one would be best off using whatever film was in the camera at the time.
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Robert Stokes
(K=4509) - Comment Date 3/9/2004
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I think this is an instance, maybe the only one, where I can speak with real authority on a question here. So let me give you my take on this as a Paramedic/Firefighter.
I see nothing wrong with someone who is not a journalist taking such photos so long as they understand the legal and moral consequences, which for me overlap in this case. The actual taking of a photo in this case is not of concern so must as the use of the photo. If it is to be used in a private collection then there really is no restriction of what can be depicted in the image. I think the real moral and legal problems come when the image is displayed to the public for whatever reason, be it journalism, education and certainly for commercial use.
Sometimes, when I go to a scene off duty and there is already plenty of help there (very rare by the way) I will get the camera out and take some shots of my guys and gals at work, both for my and their personal enjoyment. I understand that my situation is different but I personally have no problem with someone photographing at a scene. Let me warn you however that you should only do this from a distance and to be prepared for distraught bystanders or even rescuers who may not understand why you are doing this. It's just human nature for emotions to run high at some incidents. Never get yourself or your vehicle in the way.
One of the best images I have seen hangs in the office for a local helicopter flight crew and was probably taken by a journalist but I don't know for sure. Close up in the foreground are three people hugging, crying, obviously distraught. In the background, with just the right DOF is the helicopter taking off, likely carrying a family member of the people. The photo is for the enjoyment of the flight crew and other EMS crews who view it. Maybe tomorrow you will take such an image, for yourself, for me or even for a family, but not if you don't press that little button.
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Robert Stokes
(K=4509) - Comment Date 3/9/2004
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John, the job of keeping W safe falls to the Secret Service, not you or even me. Besides, he is so full of hot air that he should float pretty well. So I am probably going with color film and a possible b/w conversion later in PS.
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Zoe Wiseman
(K=822) - Comment Date 3/9/2004
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GW... well. as much as i would like to let him drift away never to return and get the shot of a lifetime... my morals wouldn't let me do that. show kindness to your enemy every now and then. i wish he would.
anyway... on to the topic at hand.
i'm not a big fan of papparattzi photography.. and this kind of falls into that realm for me. i guess if you are just showing the wreck and not the injured or dead, yeah... but as soon as someone is taking photos of the dead like this morality comes into play for me and i always think... why do they have to disrespect the dead like that.
now on the other front... a war photographer. war photography is extremely important! showing the results of war to an audience has a tremendous impact on preventing more war. there was a photographer... last name smith, forgetting his first name at the moment, think it started with a "g". but he went to japan and documented the effects of polluting the waters with mercury. he photographed children whose bodies had mutated because of mercury pollution. then he sent his photographs to life magazine and his photographs were the main reason that the factories were shut down and made to pay the families for pain and suffering... millions, still not enough for what they went through. the photographer was beaten and left for dead when they found out what he was photographing... but he recovered and sent off the film to show the world of the autrocity.
so i guess it depends of the result of the photos that you are taking. if they are doing good for the public by showing them... then yes. if they are just exploitative... really think about what is good in life.
zoe
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Jeroen Wenting
(K=25317) - Comment Date 3/9/2004
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Your reasoning is precisely why I could never be a PJ (or a lawyer :))...
The intrusion upon others, predation on misery and privacy of people in order to get a shot in are for me impossible to comprehend.
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Dai Hunter
(K=2028) - Comment Date 3/10/2004
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What it takes to be a PJ - a mindset that says to you:
"...I wanna see the blood, the gore...the heaped dead burrrring bodies..."
[A line from the movie Alice's Restaurant]
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Raoul Endres
(K=2676) - Comment Date 3/11/2004
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True story:
My brother and his girlfriend (she, sometime freelancer) taking photos at a "Birdman Ralley", where contestants jump off a bridge in their self-built flying contraptions.
During the day, there was an accident with one participant hitting his noggin and bleeding somewhat from his forehead.
All the PJ's there didn't shoot the blood/rescue out of respect, yet the injured pilot was quite pleased when my brother took some shots - he was quite excited by the whole incident!
He got a nice picture of the guy sitting on a stretcher, blood running down his head with a big smile and a thumbs up! :)
(This was in Australia, we are all slightly crazy)
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Dai Hunter
(K=2028) - Comment Date 3/11/2004
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Raoul Endres ...(This was in Australia, we are all slightly crazy)
Right! Worked with some of your lot in Vietnam in the 60's - never to be forgotten times.
Hunter
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FatCatDesign UK
(K=64) - Comment Date 3/26/2004
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Photographers can stop time,record and keep for future generations.Not Photographing something like this doesnt stop it from happening .Record the event and you might find later that your photos are usefull and informative.
Unless one actually takes the shot out of ghoulishness and enjoys the shoot ,then i dont see the problem with taking a snapshot of time and recording the event imo :)
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Jerzy Bartkowski
(K=3768) - Comment Date 3/26/2004
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Dear Jon,
You are photographer so make dramatic photo and then help the victim.
Rgds
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