Skip to main content

Sensitivity and respect in your comments

Many photographers upload pictures of people for comment on photo sharing websites. I think it is important to point out that comments made on a picture are often read by the person in the picture.

On the whole I think that most people commenting on a picture do show respect and awareness of the subject's feelings and emotions. However sometimes a comment is made that reveals a lack of regard for the person in the image.


Classic examples are comments which turn an attractive woman or man into a sexual object, or mock, trivialise or patronise the subject.

Even if the person in the photograph will almost certainly never see the comments made on their image, I believe it is of fundamental importance that comments are respectful and that you only say what you would be prepared to say looking that person straight in the eye.


The internet is vast and people on your screen can appear somewhat abstract and removed from the real human being, but each person you see in a photograph has a life, aspirations, hopes, fears, relationships, experiences and feelings just like you or I.


Of course the respect for a person's feelings and dignity does not only apply to commenting on pictures of people, it is also fundamental to the ethics of photography. When we lift our cameras to take a picture of another person we have to be aware of their humanity, the ethics of what we are doing and our subject's right to dignity and respect.


I'm sure the people reading this share my feelings and as usual I'm preaching to the converted, but hope that you will appreciate me putting the focus on this subject, which is not often touched upon in blogs and articles.


Cheers,

Paul

indigo 2 photography

Labels:

Comments

Beau A.C. Harbin said…
I could not agree more with your comment. Sometimes I post images of family members to my blog because I am proud of the technique used or how they came out. I would be quite unhappy if someone made fun of a loved one. Maybe I should not post them to avoid the issue, but on the other hand, I am open to critique of the shot itself. Anyway, good to remember our manners in all things.
19:05
Anonymous said…
OBVIOUSLY! But then if you are gonna critique a piece of art, you should refrain from any snarkyness, period.
22:45
Unknown said…
That's the curse of the internet - the anonymity allows people to be cruel when they (probably/hopefully) would not be like that in real life.

Put some people behind the steering wheel of a car and they turn into monsters and all the frustrations of their life manifests itself in road rage. For those without a steering wheel and car, the keyboard and computer screen does just fine!

Alan
19:19
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Overcoming creative block and self doubt

Every photographer, for that matter every creative, I've ever met comes to a point when they're not happy with the work they're producing. The pendulum between creative highs and dry spells swings continuously. For some the cycle is long and the bouts are quite mild for others the feeling of doubt about their work can be a crushing experience which returns all to frequently. It's actually quite healthy to have these periods of doubt because it can often be the beginning of something new and interesting which takes you further than you thought possible. Creatives in the commercial world have to always perform and although they may agree looking back that they've had a few patches where their work was less good, they always seem to bounce back. A very few creative geniuses deliver such high quality work that their poorest attempts still surpass the rest of us. But I have never heard of anyone, from tortured soul of Van Gogh to the supreme showman and genius, Salvador ...
22 comments
Read more

What You Photograph Reveals How You Think

  Photography is often described as a way of seeing. Less often do we talk about it as a way of thinking. What you choose to photograph, and just as importantly what you ignore, quietly mirrors how your mind works. Some photographers are drawn to faces, micro-expressions, emotional spikes. Others chase atmosphere, light, mood. Then there are those who gravitate towards structure, systems, order, the invisible logic holding a scene together. None of this is accidental. The camera becomes a sorting tool. It reveals what your brain prioritises. Where others see chaos, you might see alignment. Where some look for drama, you look for balance. Geometry, repetition, flow, layers, these aren’t just visual preferences, they’re cognitive ones. Strong graphic images tend to come from people who think spatially. Who notice how things relate before they notice what they mean. Lines before labels. Structure before story. And yet, the best images rarely stop there. They gain depth when human pres...
1 comment
Read more

Is professional photography still a viable career?

I am not against amateurs and semi-professionals selling their photography. It's a great way to earn some extra cash. However I am concerned about the level of high quality published work and the standards that clients and the public accept these days. It seems that just about everyone is a photographer. The line between amateur enthusiast and professional is fuzzy to say the least. Photography enthusiasts are selling their images through stock libraries and microstock websites, directly to magazines or through their own and third party sites. They're accepting commissions to shoot weddings, being hired to shoot for magazines and selling fine art prints from their websites. They're teaching photography on the weekend and guiding photographic holidays and safaris. Photography became accessible to the masses with the first non-expert cameras and the famous Kodak slogan"You press the button, we do the rest." The digital camera age has taken the whole thing to a ne...
14 comments
Read more