Ethics in Photography and Photojournalism

Good Morning and Happy Sunday! Today I wanted to touch base on a few things that I had to research in my last class which was Intro to Photojournalism. This will be a slightly longer blog than usual, but I think that it touches on some very good points.

The subject of ethics in photography has been a long standing issue; there have been instances of fraud that have been documented back to when Lincoln was President.  In the last decade, with the introduction of Photoshop and other photo editing programs this has become an easier task for people who want to bend the truth and give a totally distorted view on a certain event or situation.

The first documented case of fraud occurred around 1860, with a photograph of President Lincoln. “This nearly iconic portrait (in the form of a lithograph) of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is a composite of Lincoln’s head and the Southern politician John Calhoun’s body.”  (Four & Six). This is just one example.

Then there is another example is of General Ulysses S. Grant, this photo composite was apparently done circa, 1864. “This print (Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division) appears to be of General Ulysses S. Grant in front of his troops at City Point, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Some very nice detective work by researchers at the Library of Congress revealed that this print is a composite of three separate prints: (1) the head in this photo is taken from a portrait of Grant; (2) the horse and body are those of Major General Alexander M. McCook; and (3) the background is of Confederate prisoners captured at the battle of Fisher’s Hill, VA.” (Four and six).

But in recent years the news services all over the world have been caught printing and circulating fraudulent photos. Ethics and morals go hand in hand, when a news agency enhances or uses a photo out of context it constitutes fraud. Reuters has come under fire with others like U.S New and World Report for misrepresenting images.

“The recent discovery that the Reuters news agency released a digitally manipulated photograph as an authentic image of the bombing in Beirut has drawn attention to the important topic of bias in the media. But lost in the frenzy over one particular image is an even more devastating fact: that over the last week Reuters has been caught red-handed in an astonishing variety of journalistic frauds in the photo coverage of the war in Lebanon.” (Zombietime.com)  In the images s how by this blog, Reuters used the same woman in different areas, on different dates claiming devastation to her home.  When the truth came out, the images were just recirculated with a new caption, this is fraud and creates mistrust in the people that are printing or circulating the images.  Below are a few of the images of the same woman.

      

Again if you have any comments or questions please feel free to ask.

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

References:

Four and Six, . "Photo Tampering throughout History." www.fourandsix.com. Four and Six.com, n.d. Web. 5 Sep 2013. <http://www.fourandsix.com/photo-tampering-history/>.

Four and Six, . "Photo Tampering throughout History." www.fourandsix.com. Four and Six.com, n.d. Web. 5 Sep 2013. <http://www.fourandsix.com/storage/photo-tampering-history/c1860-Lincoln.jpg>.

Four and Six, . "Photo Tampering throughout History." www.fourandsix.com. Four and Six.com, n.d. Web. 5 Sep 2013. <http://www.fourandsix.com/storage/photo-tampering-history/c1864-Grant.jpg>.

Zombietime.com, . "The Reuters Photo Scandal: A taxonomy of Fraud." Zombietime.com. Zombietime.com, 2006. Web. 5 Sep. 2013. <http://www.zombietime.com/reuters_photo_fraud/>.

I Never Planned To Be A Photojournalist!

Over the past two weeks I have had an abundance of photojournalism jobs. During the photojournalism classes I took at AIPOD, I kept thinking, I will never use this kind of photography in my wedding and portrait business. I never expected my business to take in business event coverage. You see, these jobs have not been for newspapers or magazines, but rather for Inforum, A Women’s Business Alliance, one of my commercial clients. I covered three lunch events where a moderator had a conversation on the place of women in business today with the special guest. These guests were: in Lansing: Governor Richard Snyder;

in Detroit: Dan Akerson, Chairman of General Motors; and in Grand Rapids: Doug DeVos, President of Amway Corporation. At the meetings with Governor Snyder and Dan Akerson,which were on consecutive days, there was an abundance of press, and I had to take advantage of my role as official photographer for Inforum to get images I wanted. At the first event, I saw the way the press acted, knew I could never be so rude, and quickly adapted so that I could get the images I wanted without being rude. (I asked the governor’s press secretary to let me get a photo after the press conference ended and she kept the governor there just long enough for me to snap a photo of him in front of the banners. I had to make sure that one quick shot counted!) I learned from this what I needed to do to get the shots I wanted. The lunch meeting with Dan Akerson was extremely large, with over 1,000 in attendance and camera and newspeople from every major source. I had my zoom lens, so I got down on the floor with the cameramen in front of the tables for some great shots. And knowing those in charge of Inforum, I was ready at the end of the luncheon to grab a more formal shot with Dan Akerson as they came off the stage. As soon as I was finished, the camera/newspeople were moving in. The lighting in both images was flat, but at least I got the images.

A week passed between the Detroit and the Grand Rapids meetings. Inforum may have limited who could come from the press on this meeting. There were only two other cameras there, and only one shooting during the meeting. I knew exactly where I needed to be to get great images. After the meeting, I had press people from the local paper and media people three other places asking if they could get images from me. I now have contacts with the local newspaper (who already got a photo from me) and the publisher of a local women’s magazine. The newspaper needed a horizontal image. Amway’s media department will be more interested in an image that “puts a good light” on their company president. Which photo do you think Amway will prefer?

Suddenly, today, after this experience, I was glad for the times I was forced to think like a photojournalist. Those classes prepared me to not only cover an event, but do it artistically.

So, the moral of the story, learn every genre the best you can. It will pay off someday.                                          Have a great Thursday!

Thoughts on Creating a Series and Presentation.

Good Morning and Happy Sunday... I have had a busy week with my current class and life in general. This Sunday I just wanted to touch base on a subject that I am currently dealing with, the subject is a photographic series. Im sure that many of you have seen these before. I know I have some are very interesting and others.. well, others not so much. Now the questions is why were they not so successful, I don't really have an answer, but the one thing that has been weighing on my mind is how the series is presented to the viewing audience. Does that series have that "WOW or SHOCK VALUE" factor. If they do then I would assume that they would be rather successful vs. the series that doesn't give the viewing audience something to think about or draw them in.

I have been working on my own series. Its the Post-Apocalyptic Gas Mask Series. Over the past few weeks I have photographed for this series, it part of my final project for class,but they will all fall into place when the project is done. The one thing I have noticed is that all the subjects I have photographed have one thing in common... The Gas Mask, they all have some "Shock Value", but Its missing something.. This weekend I figured out what it is, so I am on a quest to fulfill the missing aspect of my series. Until I get that done, I still have the task of figuring out how to present it. I thought of it as if it were a book. You have the title then all the chapters. I am in the process of working out the details, but if any reader has any suggestions or comments please feel free to comment,leave suggestions or opinions.. I love opinions. Again its been a busy week, sorry for a short blog today. Below are a few of the photographs from my current series.

 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat

 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat

 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat

 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat

 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat

 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat

All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat

Again if you have any comments or questions please feel free to ask.

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

Location.. Location.. Location...

Good Morning Everyone and Happy Sunday... These weeks seem to be flying by especially when you are in a class that you really enjoy. This week I wanted to touch on a topic that came into play for a current assignment in Photographic Design. The topic is Location.... Now depending on what you're planning on photographing will depend on the Location... but not every location is the right fit.  Sometimes the studio is the best place to create your magic. The one assignment that comes to mind was from this past week was Audio Interpretation—Storytelling.  

 We are all students and we are all still learning, but sometimes you need to think outside the box for your assignments.   I chose a song by R.E.M: “it’s the end of the world as we know it” (but I feel fine).  There are so many different views on how a photographer could shoot this, but you have to incorporate everything about the song into one image. This isn't easy. I had scouted a few places and I ended up back at a place where I have photographed before. It’s called the Philadelphia Coal Pier; it’s been abandoned for years and has graffiti all over the remaining walls. This was the best place; I got all my ducks in a row and set up my shoot.  The challenge for this type of assignment is that you really need use symbolism to get the message across and not be so literal about it. Again thinking outside the box this was the direction I decided to go. I could have chosen several different locations.

Some really cool locations came to mind and they will be done, but for this assignment and for the "shock value", this location worked the best for me. If I had done this in a playground or in a studio I don’t feel that the impact or the message would have gotten across.  I don’t mean to be long winded today, but I have so many ideas and well my… ADD is kicking in… so just remember when you’re planning a photo shoot, take your time and choose the best location that will give the viewer the best possible vision of what you want your images to portray, this way you will create a long lasting memory in that persons mind and they will remember you and your work. 

Below are a few photos that I took for this assignment:

 Photos by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photos by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photos by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photos by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

Photos by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

Again if you have any comments or questions please feel free to ask.

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

Current Project...

Happy Sunday Everyone! I hope you had a great and productive week. Today's blog wont be a long one, I just wanted to talk briefly about personal projects. Many photographers have a personal project that they choose to do for their own reasons, many are unsolicited.

I had mentioned in a previous blog post about the current class that I have Digital Image Illustration. The final assignment is to produce a surreal image for a fake company that is "Green" and what could happen if we abuse our natural resources. While initially it was just a school assignment, it put so many different ideas in my head, which lead to my personal project.

My personal project I think can and will speak for itself, but the reality is... we could end up in this situation if we don't step up and take action. My personal project has me photographing then doing so radical edits to images of people in different settings wearing gas masks.

This is a work in progress below are some of the newer images I have created this past week.

 Photos By Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

  Photo By Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photo By Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

  Photo By Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

  Photo By Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

  Photo By Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photo By Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

Sorry for such a short blog this week, life has been a bit crazy

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

Photographing Children is never an easy task.....

Good Morning and Happy Sunday!!  I hope everyone had a great week. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of photographing a friends 3 year old son. This wasn't the first time I have photographed kids before, I have two of my own kids and a niece and nephew and have done several other children’s sessions prior.  So I wasn't as surprised when we got of to a very rocky start.

I went to the session with my business partner, and he had never been to Valley Forge Park before so he met us at around 9:30 AM to start the session. I have met Hunter (my friends son) many times before, but he was never the subject of a photo session, needless to say, what happened next really didn't surprise me or Harry (my business partner).

Since Hunter had never met Harry before so he was a bit stand offish. After about an hour Hunter finally calmed down and crying stopped. Hunter is a very energetic 3 year old, who show tons of love especially to his mom. Finally we were able to get the shots we were looking to get and it did take some time, a lot more time than the scheduled session was planned for. 

By the end of the day, a 1 hour session turned into a 3 hour session. Hunter became Harry’s best friend, and we used that to our advantage to get some amazing photos of him. Photographing children is never easy, it takes patience and someone who has the love for photography to capture the images that are envisioned. I love photographing children in an environmental setting, it allows them to be themselves and allows me to capture those special photos that would never be taken in a studio setting. It also helps create memories of the moment for everyone involved, which I find difficult to achieve in a studio setting.

 Photos by Wayne Salat and Harry Fish of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photos by Wayne Salat and Harry Fish of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photos by Wayne Salat and Harry Fish of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photos by Wayne Salat and Harry Fish of Flash Mob Photography Network

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

Lighting Class

Happy Sunday Everyone!!  I hope you enjoyed the past week. Today I wanted to talk a little about lighting. In the past I was always afraid to use studio lighting, I found it intimidating and difficult to do. Over the years I have tried and tried to figure out studio lighting. I just never seemed to be able to get it right. So when I saw what my next class was that was coming up I was really excited. The class was PH136 Lighting class.  As I went through the course outline, I looked to see who my instructor was going to be. I found out that my instructor was Reuben Njaa, so I did what we all do nowadays, I “Googled” him. What I found was someone who was amazing with painting with light, and he appeared to have so much knowledge and this really excited me. I looked over his personal website http://www.reubennjaaphotography.com/ for hours, looking at all of his amazing work.

When shooting portraits remember that there are many different types of lighting. Each will give you a different result.(Hurter)

Split Lighting – is used when the key light illuminates only half the face. It is an ideal slimming light. It can be used to narrow a wide face or nose.(Hurter)

Rembrandt Lighting - is characterized by a small, triangular highlight on the shadowed cheek of the subject. This type of lighting is dramatic.(Hurter)

Butterfly Lighting - lighting pattern that produces a symmetrical, butterfly-like shadow beneath the subject’s nose. It tends to emphasize high cheekbones and good skin.(Hurter)

Rim Lighting - is used when the subject’s head is turned 90 degrees from the camera lens. It is a dramatic style of lighting used to accent elegant features. It is used less frequently now than in the past, but it still produces a stylish portrait.(Hurter)

Loop Lighting - This is one of the more commonly used lighting setups and is ideal for people with average, oval-shaped faces.  (Hurter)

One of the things that I remember that stands out the most is one of my first interactions with him. Our first assignment we had to post a Bio, and as the comments flowed, I had told him” I want to be just as good as you are!” His reply not only surprised me but has to this day inspired me. Reuben Njaa said this” Don’t try to be as good as me, try to be better than me”.  I keep that in the back of my head each and every time I shoot.  Thanks Reuben you have been a true inspiration.

Below are a few of the photographs I took during PH136 with Reuben Njaa

 Photos by Wayne Salat

  Photos by Wayne Salat

  Photos by Wayne Salat

  Photos by Wayne Salat

 Photos by Wayne Salat

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

Hurter, Bill. "The Five Basic Portrait-Lighting Setups." Sekonic Control Light. Sekonic, n.d. Web. 23 Jul 2013. <http://www.sekonic.com/whatisyourspecialty/photographer/articles/the-five-basic-portrait-lighting-setups.asp&xgt;.