In this episode, we talk with Santiago Lyon about trusting what we see. Discussing his own work with the Content Authenticity Initiative, he stresses the need for provenance information to be available to consumers. Santiago highlights the importance of clarifying the differences between photojournalism and stock photography as they entail differing ethical considerations. He also explores the influence of context, usage and intent in relation to ethics. Santiago invites photographers to embrace AI while also discussing the difficulty it poses to intellectual property.What you’ll find inside: “For me the whole career aspect of journalism was more of a vocation and more of a calling than a sort of 9-5 job. And with that vocation comes the responsibility to adhere to those codes of ethics and to be truthful and transparent and not to mislead people and to be sure that all the work that you’re doing is a faithful recording of what’s going on around you.” (7.03)“A stock photograph has all sorts of ethical issues from the photojournalistic standpoint, the way it was edited, what might have been taken out of it for stock photo purposes et cetera. And the fact that the captions in stock photography are very different from the captions in new photography. So, the context becomes very important, you know context in news photography is everything.” (15.46)“Customers know based on the source whether it’s AP or Reuters or AFP that it’s a trustworthy reliable image. So, the basic commodity that they’re dealing with in that world and in journalism at large is the notion of trust, and it’s hugely important.” (19.03)“We like to think about it like a digital national label… for news content it’s important that people have access to this provenance information so that they can make better informed decisions about what to trust and what not to trust.” (20.50)“It’s a question of whether you can embrace the power of technology and still be true to your values wherever they may lie. Whether it’s in the journalism world or the creative world or anything else for that matter.” (37.01)What does photography ethics mean to Santiago? “I mean to me photography ethics is really about veracity and transparency and accuracy and context and when someone looks at a picture that they have all of that information at their disposal and can trust the image that they’re looking at…. For me it really means photographing things as they are and describing them as they are. Having that level of transparency while at the same time allowing for layers of creativity that can interpret the scene in a way that renders it compelling to the viewer without compromising the authenticity of the scene.” (44.11)Links:Content Authenticity Initiative Associated PressReutersAFPHave I Been Trained
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47:47
Aida Muluneh: On authenticity
In this episode we will talk with Aida Muluneh about authenticity. Aida discusses the use of festivals to manage perceptions of Africa and to globally share different imaginings of Africa through the continent’s own visual language. She stresses the need for a global discourse surrounding ethically photographing the Global South, which is rooted in awareness and respect for the country being represented. Aida’s own work also aims to foster a global discourse while reflecting her own heritage and culture. Aida explains how authenticity has shaped her own career choices as well as how it is balanced with impartiality in photojournalism. What you’ll find inside: “Photographers in Africa have been doing work for a very long time, it’s just a matter of opportunities and you know having also in the international media having sort of diversity within discourse. So right now, for most of us in the continent there’s a level of urgency of trying to balance these cliches that we still see going out and the perceptions as well as it relates to what is Africa.” (5.36)“My goal has always been to authentically present my thoughts, my ideas and my experiences without having to pretend to be somebody else. So, my work is really a reflection of who I am and this is I think, when we speak about art and creativity that’s the most important thing that we have to focus on.” (9.45)“For us in the global south we have to educate ourselves to do better than what’s been done before, it’s not just about representation but it’s talking about rights… photographers come to Africa and feel that it’s ok to take photos of kids on the street you know, which they would never do in their own country. So, these kinds of things can only change when we have a global discussion as it relates to the direction of photography, that is not only led by the Global North but it also encompasses the challenges that we face in the Global South.” (11.47)“As artists we can only present our own truths, this is the key thing. And that truth means whatever is in front of us how we are authentically reacting to it. It’s dangerous when artists come with an answer. So, for me I’m just provoking the questions and these are the things that I focus on; is the questioning part and also my curiosity and the exploration of what I think about certain things. But within it is just to know more and to also get people who are viewing it to go on that journey with me as well, to be curious just as I am.” (20.32)“Right now, you can open any media outlet any of that and you’ll see sort of a one-sided approach to things, but what we need to be questioning is what is the other side as well. This is sort of the balance that needs to exist you know and to really not be almost like a servant to the industry, a servant to the market. That’s the only way that we’re going to change things.” (28.32)“Whatever style you choose whatever you wanted to do, just make sure that you live a life of purpose. This is always my goal, this is sort of my contribution to my continent…everything that I do is with the hopes that someone else will carry on what I started.” (35.11)What does photography ethics mean to Aida?“The basis of it is about respect in whatever form that you want to talk about it, however you want to look about it. And that respect comes from also having a common understanding that the ethics of photography is not different because the location has changed. We need to all be together on this. So if we’re using the same tools and approaching the same things and we’re fighting for the same things I think that there needs to be a better understanding and there needs to be a global conversation as it relates to that. That the ethical rules are not different because one nation is more developed than another.” (37.34)Links:“With Paint And A Camera, She's Forging A New Artistic Vision Of Africa” by Natalie Jacewicz for NPRAfrica Foto FairAddis Foto FestSimon Njami
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39:29
Bonus: Eight Lessons from The Photo Ethics Podcast
Each year since 2020, the Photography Ethics Centre has interviewed 12 photographers, asking them: “What does photography ethics mean to you?” After four years and 48 interviews, we have distilled eight key lessons that we have learned about what it means to be an ethical photographer. These lessons - ranging from the language we use to the intentions we have - can help photographers, filmmakers, and visual storytellers to reflect on their process, develop their practice, and help to build a more equitable industry. This resource was developed through a thematic analysis of 48 episodes of The Photo Ethics Podcast, Seasons 1-4. This research was led by Dr Savannah Dodd, founder and director of the Photography Ethics Centre, during her Practitioner’s Appointment within the Centre for Creative Ethnography at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) in 2024. It was supported by the Photography Ethics Centre’s advisory team and by Luke Strong. It was funded by the QUB Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA). Thank you to all of the photographers who have contributed to this research by sharing their experiences through The Photo Ethics Podcast. Special thanks to Anthony Luvera, Justin Carey, Rehab Eldalil, and Mallika Vora who also contributed photographs to illustrate this report. You can download a PDF version of this report in six different languages at https://www.photoethics.org/articles
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Melanie King: On leaning into collaboration
In this episode, we talk with Melanie King about leaning into collaboration. She talks about her transition from research-informed practice to practice-informed research. She also explores the collaborative nature of sustainable photography and how she has built her own network within the community of researchers and practitioners. Throughout, she comments on her journey of becoming a sustainable photographer, gaining greater confidence in these methods.What does photography ethics mean to Melanie? “The first word that jumped into my mind was care. So, I think it makes me think does my artwork, does my photography, cause harm to anyone? Does it cause harm to the environment? Is there a way that my practice or my work can contribute to the care of others, to the care of the environment? … Just to make sure that the work that we’re doing does not cause harm in any way.” (29:48)Links:London Alternative Photography CollectiveSustainable DarkroomThe Photo Ethics Podcast interview with Hannah FletcherThe Photo Ethics Podcast interview with Nilupa YasminAndy GoldsworthyDavid NashBrian CoxRoyal College of Art Working Class CollectiveThe White Pube Funding Library
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31:11
Mohammad Alnobani: On reducing bias in imagery
In this episode, we talk with Mohammad Alnobani on reducing bias in imagery. He discusses his experiences founding an Arab stock imagery website and how his role has allowed him to better understand photographers’ concerns. He also explores AI tools like image generation, describing how he has tried to maintain his own ethics through the use of these tools. What does photography ethics mean to Mohammad? “I would answer with two angles towards this. Basically the ownership of the image, unfortunately, not only in our region, but I found out that in many, many regions, ownership of images is taken very lightly. Like, oh if I take this photo out of Google and use it as a social media post on my personal page, it doesn’t harm anybody because I’m not really benefitting out of it. But, no, you are, and you did take something away from somebody who owns this photo at a certain point. And, on the other end, I would say with the photographer’s point of view, when you take a photo, what’s ethical, what’s not when you take a photo of a model and you upload it somewhere. Just make sure that you treat it rightly, and this is what we’ve been pushing our photographers to do. In certain situations it’s quite impossible to carry your model release around and ask people to sign it and explain why they’re signing it, but at least record a view with that person–just have some sort of content that verifies that person was okay with you taking their photo. So, this is a very broad topic, but it has a lot of angles and now with AI, there’s way more details to get into.” (40:35)
This podcast is all about the ethics of photography. Each week we will hear from an accomplished photographer about what ethics means in their practice. We will talk about how these photographers have handled challenging situations, we will hear how their different experiences have shaped the way that they use their camera, and we will ask the big questions to find out why they photograph what they photograph. We will cover topics like consent, dignity, power, responsibility, impact, and collaboration. This podcast is hosted by Savannah Dodd, founder of the Photography Ethics Centre.
Ireland