Ethics in Photography

In this lecture we were discussing ethics in photography. We looked at a very controversial photograph taken in 1991 during the Gulf war. The photo showed an Iraqi soldier burnt alive whilst trying to climb out of his vehicle. The photo was taken by Ken Jareke. Jareke was quoted saying “If i don’t photograph this, people like my mom will think war is what they see on TV”. 

Below is the photograph. 

We were asked whether or not we thought that this photo was ethically right to take. Personally i feel that the photograph had a job to do and that job was to document the Gulf War. A lot of bombing happened in the Gulf War and this photo shows us the result of that bombing. I believe this photograph had such an impact on the world because photos like this were not being taken during the Gulf War. The photographer were all under strict rules by the military and only allowed to photograph from certain places. The government and the military wanted people to think that this war was very clean, quick and efficient. When this photo got released and published by one company it showed the nation that this war was any thing but clean and quick. 

Many questions arose arguing that the image was to graphic for people to see but in some situations you need to shock society and this was one of those times. People went from cheering about the bombings to feeling rather disgusted with themselves. 

Ethics within photography is all down to your own opinion and thats the only opinion which counts. If you feel it right to photograph something (if it's legal) then do it. If we tried to adhere to what everyone thinks is ethically right then nothing would get photographed.