Ethics in street photography is something we need to discuss more as a community. While it’s ethical to take photos in public places that document our world, some methods clearly cross a line into the unethical.

In this video I present some thoughts about how we can be ethical street photographers. But ultimately there is no objective right and wrong when photographing in the world. We each have to set our own standards about what feels good and what doesn’t.

Bookmarks
0:00 - Intro
0:33 - Unethical Street Photography
01:33 - 3 Ethical Checkpoints
01:56 - 1st Checkpoint: How are you taking the photograph?
03:15 - 2nd Checkpoint: What’s the content of the photograph?
03:40 - Henri Cartier-Bresson & the Humanist Approach
04:18 - Shifting Standards on the Unhoused, Addicted, Mentally Ill
04:40 - Significance of Larry Clark’s Tulsa series
04:58 - Diane Arbus: Building rapport
05:11 - Mary Ellen Mark: What documentary photography is all about
06:24 - 3rd Checkpoint: How are you publishing the photos?
07:16 - Strangers on a train & the potential impact
07:44 - The impact of how publishing today differs from pre-internet age
08:25 - Vivian Maier: Publishing photos 50 years after they were created
08:54 - CONSENT
09:20 - Getting consent before or after creating a photo
09:58 - Developing your own ethics is a continuing process

I want to add a note about Michelle Groskopf. I’ve followed them for a long time on social media and they take wonderful photos. An extremely talented photographer!

There were several situations where they were confronted in that Wrong Side of the Lens video. But they also frequently speak to subjects and ask for consent first.

Groskopf’s photos of the woman who gave consent to be photographed (08:59) are beautiful and I think it illustrates an important point that photos where consent is given can be more impactful than the ones that are “taken” from the subjects.


Credits

Footage of Michelle Groskopf & Daniel Arnold from channel Wrong Side of the Lens by Josh Ethan Johnson
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Footage of Trevor Wisecup from the series Walkie Talkie by Paulie B.
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Footage of Garry Winogrand, Joel Meyerowitz, and Mark Cohen from the documentary Contemporary Photographie in the USA by Michael Engler (1982)
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Footage of Bruce Gilden by WNYC (2008)
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Footage of Daido Moriyama by TATE
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