“The world is better viewed through the lens of a camera. No matter how simple an object is, one click is all it needs to be appreciated. The lens captures the beauty that the naked eye usually cannot see.” – Jasmine Romero, reporter (ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol)
As I sat down with Ms. Jasmine Romero (former DZMM anchor and now a correspondent in ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol), I showed her a couple of photos that I found on the Internet as we began our talk. There were three sets of pictures.
- A picture of Fifteen year-old Fabienne Cherisma was shot dead by police at approximately 4pm, January 19th, 2010. Photo: Paul Hanse
- A picture of a photographer sabove looking like vultures– all trying to get the best version of the image and exploiting this horrible crime. Photo: Nathan Weber
- DPWH floating officials
- Newsweek giving a tooth job to mother of Septulets, Kenny McCaughey
As I was about to ask my first question, she interrupted me and asked the same question that I had in mind, “What do you think of these photos?” I thought hard. Not wanting to embarrass myself as I know little about image ethics. And tried to answer as considerately as I could. In the first set of photos of the fifteen year old who was shot dead, the photo on the left was most definitely a newsworthy shot as it would catch the attention of the public if it were disseminated widely. A heartbreaking shot, to be honest. And for the second photo, it was an awkward angle to the story. Indeed the photographers looked like vultures to the dead girl’s body. An unethical shot. For the second set of photos: first thing I had in mind was: CHEAT. They cheated the public as those DPWH officials faked their so-called visit to Roxas Blvd. after Typhoon Pedring. And for the third photo: well, it’s for beauty’s sake. If I were to be a cover of a magazine, I would love to have edited teeth as well. (I’m not very comfortable with my smile you see). And she set aside the photos and we started our short conversation and I got a few important pointers that Ms. Jasmine shared with me.
Image ethics cannot be understood fully as one’s ethics to images may vary. It would depend on the person looking at the photo, whether they would judge a picture as ethical or not. But as media people giving news to the public, it is only about the TRUTH and nothing but the TRUTH. Yes, you can enhance the color, the hue, sharpness, saturation and brightness of the photo, for appreciation’s sake. But that is all. Changing the shape, appearance, color, position and adding or withdrawing something from a photo, that is a NO-NO as you are already changing the story and reality of the event. Some people might think a photo taken is too strong for their eyes, or too revealing, or too exploitative. But a photojournalist cannot change what’s in reality. He/she should reveal the truth, or else, one’s credibility is at stake.
And yes, I agree with Ms. Jasmine. I believe that each person has their own perception. One might think a picture of a naked body with tattoo is beautiful, one may think it is too vulgar. One person might think a photo of a body mangled with animal bites is too unethical to see, and one might think that picture is a warning to everyone to be extra careful in the woods as to not have the same end as the dead person in the picture. Many will critique the photos taken by news people. However, the decision to take the shot is still within the photographer. Is the picture newsworthy? Will the people remember me for this shot? And most importantly: To shoot or not? That is the question.
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