The photographer argues that he was using his flash to warn the driver. He argues that he could have done nothing to help the man. But many blame him. Still others blame the newspaper editors.
Would you have taken the photograph? Do you think the newspaper should have printed it?
The Guardian newspaper in the UK has run an article on the topic, in which other famous photographs are mentioned. One is that of a photographer who snapped a vulture apparently preying on a starving African child.
The Guardian suggests that the photographer ultimately commited suicide, unable to live with the guilt of taking the photograph rather than helping the boy. Interestingly, the real story behind the picture and the suicide is more complex - but no less tragic.
There are photographers who go out of their way to help the subject of their photographs. Nick Ut both photographed the young girl burned by napalm in Vietnam and helped her get medical treatment. (See the my model of the lyrics project in your creative writing pack for more details.)
Are photographers morally obliged to lay down their camera and help? Or should they simply 'do their job'?
The idea of taking a photograph in which other people around you are about to die, in moments of danger and despair, without doubt is morally incorrect. Taking a picture in those situations clearly reflect the personality of the photographer, interested in ´capturing the moment´ and reaching media and fame, instead of saving a person´s life and helping the community. As a witness said in the death of the subway track, “It was apparent there was not much I could do -- but you can’t not do something, you have to try” and exclaimed she reached for the body on the track and tried to save his life by performing rescue breathing. On the other hand, if the argument of the photographer in this case which is that he tried to warn the driver with the camera flash is true, we can see he definitely had a good intention to help.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, most of the time photographers explain that taking pictures is their day to day job, their profession, and by having the more rare and extravagant photographs they can win more money. However, that doesn’t give them permission to do their job without helping. The most appropriate actions in these situations would be maybe taking the pictures, but also helping the people who are involved and in extreme need, and that way photographers can take magnificent pictures but they can also be a wonderful help for the society. The only thing is that if they seem obligated to choose between doing their job and helping, it is extremely obvious that the right decision would be to save a life.
Furthermore, the guy that took the photograph of the African child starving to death clearly did not take the correct decision. As we can see, he felt guilty by not helping the poor kid and ended committing suicide because he could not deal with the thought that he could have saved that little child. Photographers should start taking consciousness and realize that the idea of having that profession is not taking the most painful photographs that will obviously make more money, but instead take the best pictures and always have in mind that it is better to be a good person, than to be good in work.