Ethics could be described as the principles of best practice that any photographer should adopt in carrying out their practice. The majority of these principles are based on common sense, goodwill, and morality rather than on laws and regulations. However, there are areas where the law may provide a framework in which the photographer has to operate, e.g. copyright, contract law, etc.; and, in some countries, privacy legislation.
Most professional bodies that represent photographers have a code of professional conduct that all members agree to be bound by, and which provides a standard of ethics to which they conform when working. It usually covers matters like confidentiality, exercising due skill and which provides a standard of ethics to which they conform when skill and care, the upholding of professional status, issues of corruption, and so on.
Although the UK does not have privacy laws, some countries do. These provide a legal framework in which the ethics of privacy reside. However, for those photographers not bound by legal constraints, it is in their interest not to misuse any photograph they have taken. Clearly paparazzi sail close to the wind in this regard, often acquiring images using long lenses and other devious means which can bring the profession into disrepute. The events leading to the death of Diana, princess of Wales, in Paris in September 1997 are a case in point.
Photojournalists or war photographers are regularly confronted with ethical issues of an extreme kind. In photographing identifiable victims of conflict or disaster, for example, they may have to consider whether they would wish themselves or their families to be shown in such circumstances. Or, in another kind of situation, the photographer may have the choice of intervening to protect life instead of taking pictures. A third type of predicament arises when a photographer suspects that, for publicity or propaganda reasons, an atrocity or other criminal act may be taking place in order to be photographed. Finally, the photographer must ensure that his or her pictures show what they purport to show, without staging, restaging, or manipulation in the darkroom or by digital means. In practice, all these issues involve difficult grey areas, and implicate editors and newspaper proprietors as well as photographers.
There are codes governing the use of people in advertisements. In the UK these are produced by the Committee of Advertising Practice and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which are also responsible for ensuring the code is applied in the public interest. Whilst the code does not have legal standing, it provides an ethical framework designed to protect both celebrities and the general public. The code requires, for example, that ‘Advertisers … seek written permission in advance if they portray or refer to individuals or their identifiable possessions in any advertisement’; and that ‘Advertisers who have not obtained prior permission from entertainers, politicians, sportsmen and others whose work gives them a high profile, should ensure that they are not portrayed in an offensive or adverse way.’ Whilst the codes are especially important to the advertising industry, photographers in general should be guided by them.
Those in professional practice will be aware of the need for client confidentiality if an ethical framework is to be established for their work. Whether it be the portrait photographer making small talk with a client, or someone working in corporate photography where industrial secrets may be acquired, or information received as a consequence of negotiation or discussion, there is a need for all practitioners to adopt a confidential approach in their dealings with clients. Such conduct is required by professional bodies representing photographers as a condition of membership; and it is part of what makes a photographer a professional. As is stated in the British publication Beyond the Lens, ‘If photographers do not respect the subjects of their photographs, or treat them fairly, then it is only to be expected that clients will insist on acquiring copyright and owning control of the photographs themselves.’
Passing off, whilst quite rare, arises when a practitioner uses misrepresentation to take advantage of the reputation and work of another. An example might be where one photographer puts images of another photographer in his or her portfolio, passing them off as their own work. This is both unethical and tantamount to fraud. Photographic assistants need to be especially careful here. Having collaborated on a shoot with a photographer it may be a short step to passing off the resultant image as one's own, especially if one has done most of the work to achieve the shot. However, it is important to realize that the client is the photographer's, and that the latter was responsible both for the creative solution and the costs of the shoot.
Plagiarism is often mistaken for passing off, but is quite different. Basing an image on the work of another photographer without reworking, or using text authored by someone else without giving credit, is plagiarism. This is not fraud, it is copyright infringement and comparable to theft. Care should always be exercised when receiving a brief for new work, especially if the example provided by the client is based on the work of another photographer. It is in the photographer's interest to point out to the client the difficulties of ‘copying’ the ideas of another. Both the photographer's and the client's reputation may be at stake, and legal action may also ensue.
Those who commission photography, whether it be an advertising agent or a mother wanting a photograph of her baby, are always looking for someone whom they can trust to take the photographs. Trust is acquired through a professional working attitude, integrity in the approach to managing the shoot, and the business side of the commission. Of course all clients want high-quality work. They also want to be assured that if things go wrong, the photographer will not hesitate to put things right. This working relationship is paramount for the long-term success of any business, and is the basis of a photographer's reputation.
The range and variety of photographic work is such that it is hard to generalize too broadly about standards of conduct. Someone running an average high-street business is likely, most of the time, to face different ethical issues from, for example, a paparazzo or a photojournalist covering a civil war. However, the ASA's stipulation about the ethical requirements of advertising work could apply equally well to the work of photographers: namely, that it be legal, decent, honest, and truthful; prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and society; and have regard for the principles of fair competition generally accepted in business.
— David Matthews
Bibliography
- Gross, L., Katz, J. S., and Ruby, J. (eds.), Image Ethics: The Moral Rights of Subjects in Photographs, Film, and Television (1988).
- Association of Photographers, Beyond the Lens (2000).
- Gross, L., Katz, J. S., and Ruby, J. (eds.), Image Ethics in the Digital Age (2003)
