There was an actual case that someone had been fired just because he had edited out a pair of legs as shown on the photo. A man named Allan Detrich who worked for Toledo Blade resigns for having the photo altered. Detrich stated "It should never have been done. I apologize to everyone that I've hurt. I'm going to pursue things for myself now. I hope that the people that I've met and known over the years are still friends, no matter what happens, and I appreciate all the friendships that I've formed in the community and all the eMails that people have sent me." However I believe the legs that had been edited did not compromise the story.

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http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2007/04/toledo03.html

After researching on various press companies such as The New York Times, Globe and Mail, LA Times I have not found sufficient evidence of any regulations on altering press photos. There are also no codes of ethics or regulations that reside in countries but I believe there are some companies that enforce this. I believe reporters should have the right to enhance the quality of the photo without changing the context of it. Pictures provided should be fact and not mislead or misrepresent the story because they would be challenging their own integrity.

There should be some editing but to a certain extent, for example the pictures I altered in the photo manipulation assignment. I made the pictures a lot clearer and detailed so the viewers can see it more precisely without having to closely examine it. Overall I think editing a picture to improve its quality is fine but to a certain extent that you alter its true form would not be acceptable. In this course we had examined different ways and methods that photographers captured their art and majority of the time, due to their editing it has improved their artwork exponentially.

http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2007/04/toledo03.html

Press photography versus art photography

Make Love Not War by Steven Miesel

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/make-love-not-war-steven

Soldier crying http://shanerogerson.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/soldier-crying.jpg

Soldier in battle http://www.agmates.com/images/24a.jpg

First of all, press photographs and art photographs are both represented differently because of their purposes. Press photography is an image that is meant to tell a news story and there are some regulations on how much you can edit the photo before releasing to the public which varies on the company. Art photographs however are images that reflect on the photographer’s style of shooting and editing an image. Art photography these days tend to be used a lot in print media and commercially.

Above are 4 pictures on war. The main differences of the pictures are that press photography capture a realistic event at that moment. The photographer captures the agonizing emotion that the solider is portraying as the two come to the aid of a fallen comrade. The image of the solider crying defines how much of an impact the war has on people. The reason for the tears might be because of his distant loved ones at home or even a horrific event that happened on the battlefield which lead to the tears.

The photos by Steven Meisel are found in the vogue. “Critics say that Steven's images glamorize the war in Iraq.” However, the photographer’s intention was to use the theme of “war” to show his artistic values of the dirty soldiers in the middle of a warzone hence the title “Make Love not War.”

Another difference is that the press photos don’t seem to be edited at all, maybe to capture the environment of the battlefield because they aren’t as clear and well detailed compared to the works of Steven Meisel’s photos. Stevens photos are professionally edited to allow a higher quality for the viewers to capture his imagination and because the photos appear in a prestigious magazine like Vogue.

Sources of reading

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photojournalism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine_art_photography

Week 9 discussion

What's the role of photo journalism?

The role of photo journalism is to use photographs with the intention of reporting it to the media such as; newspapers, magazines, television and the internet. The pictures allow the viewers to have visual feel which connects them with the story, without it, readers feel they are only grasping half of the report. It allows viewers to see images of that certain time, accuracy and gives accountability to the public.

- Are there rules that photojournalists should follow? Why? Why not?

There is no code of ethics or regulations that reside in countries but in the industry of photojournalism but there are some media companies that do carry it. I believe reporters should have the right to enhance the quality of the photo without changing the context of it. Pictures provided should be fact and not mislead or misrepresent the story because they would be challenging their own integrity.

- Is the ethics of taking journalistic photos different than the ethics of writing a news story?

The ethics of journalistic photos and news story are the same. The only difference is that the delivery of the message. Journalism is portraying in pictures and news stories are portrayed in video recording. Both have the same purpose. The stories are both the same but just voiced out differently.

- What's the impact of altering press photographs? Should they be edited (at all) in postproduction?

There should be some editing but to a certain extent, for example the pictures I altered in the photo manipulation assignment. I made the pictures a lot clearer and detailed so the viewers can see it more precisely without having to closely examine it. Overall I think editing a picture to improve its quality is fine but to a certain extent that you alter its true form would not be acceptable.