AnuragBhateja.com Blog

Ethics in photography? Where is the line?

I am fed up of the comments on my photographs or my fellow photographers’ photographs who have ever clicked a photograph of a poor and publish it on public domain. First of all I want to point out what I heard during a lecture of Mr.Raghu Rai. A person from public asked Raghu ji that isn’t this a bad side of photographer to click during riots or epidemic or earth quake etc. rather than help the victims? He answered that we are photographers and clicking photographs is our work. If there are people to help then we should concentrate on our work.

I want to know if I were a professional photographer and got an assignment to click some shots of poor people around my city, should I yell for ethics and sentiments? I don’t think so. I should do what I asked to. I do not understand why people do comment on other person’s work if they can not digest the work done on poor or people in pain?

As per my thoughts when you are clicking something you should keep your emotions in a suitcase, lock it and throw it in sea. There are so many fields in photography where you have to kill your emotions to complete the assignment. There are some lines though. Clicking a burning national flag, Holy books or figures, currency note or nude shot without his/her knowledge or some situations like this should not be clicked in any case.

Why a photograph clicked by some well known photograph is always a good photograph no matter it is of rich or poor but if same is clicked by a amateur it is against “ethics”?

If we are in this field just to click rich and happening places then we should open a studio and click “Marriage Photographs” and should be happy.

I know I am rude but this is a truth that to be a photographer you have to pinch your emotions a lot of time. So stop yelling for ethics and enjoy every mood. Remember we all feel proud on winning “OSCAR FOR SLUMDOG”!!