Beyond the obvious

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 photogr...

There's a perception that photojournalists are emotionally detached, fly on the wall observers, taking their pictures, high on the adrenaline of the moment. All they care about is getting the image at any cost. OK you can't heap everyone together in the same pile and yes there are photojournalists that seem detached, that would do virtually anything to get the shot. Paradoxically they're never really good in my experience. The photographers that rise above the rest, that produce images which define our perception of a historical event, the really great photojournalists are people that care passionately about life, justice and human rights. They are not detached but they do know how to deal with their emotions in the heat of the moment so that they can continue photographing. Over riding almost everything else is the need to tell the important stories around the world. The photojournalist holds a mirror up to our collective conscious and says with his/her images - this is...