Advertise on podcast: The Photo Ethics Podcast

In this episode, we talk with Joyce Y. T. Mak about community photography, participatory archiving, and ethical documentation. Joyce discusses how their work as a documentary photographer, digital archivist, and community organiser has been shaped by questions of representation, consent, and care. They reflect on photographing grassroots communities through long-term relationships, exploring how collaboration can extend beyond image-making into the archiving process itself. Joyce also considers the role of constraints in ethical photography, the challenges of preserving born-digital materials, and why ethics should be understood as an ongoing practice rather than simply a set of rules. What you'll find inside: ‘I consider myself first a community organiser. The difference is that I have a camera with me.’ (8.12) ‘People often apologise for not wanting to be photographed... but you have every right to say no. You are taking part in the event—you haven't consented to having your image everywhere.’ (13.30) ‘Working with constraints can actually be quite fun... knowing who didn't want to be photographed changed how I composed the image, and I think the photographs became stronger because of it.’ (16.50) On participatory archiving: ‘The approach to archiving should be needs-based... it's an invitation to involve the community in deciding what belongs in the archive and how those images are described.’ (32.30) What does photography ethics mean to Joyce? ‘It shouldn't just be something that's on paper. It should be practice. It has to be something that’s integral to the practice of any photographer or anyone with a camera. You won't feel it when it’s done well, but you’ll definitely feel when it’s absent. For me, it comes down to remaining curious, reflexive, operating with integrity, and having enough self-compassion to recognise that ethical practice takes emotional labour—but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it.’ Links:  The Feminist Library Mayday Rooms Bishops Gate Healing Justice London Studio Voltaire Grounding resource pre/post session Digital archiving project

In this episode, we talk with Siorna Ashby about ethics in boudoir and nude portrait photography. Siorna discusses her collaborative, consent-led approach to photographing the body, exploring how clients actively shape the images they create together through what she describes as “self-authoriship”. She reflects on navigating vulnerability, power dynamics, and body image, explaining how trust is built before and throughout the process. Siorna also shares her approach to retouching and the challenges of building an ethical boudoir business, and considers how historical representations of the nude continue to shape contemporary photographic practice.  What you'll find inside: “The photoshoots I have with clients are designed to feel calm, collaborative, and consent-led… clients actively shape the creative direction in these images…that’s what i call self-authorship in boudoir and nude photography” (1.27) “Consent is not static, and my job is to stay responsive to the person in front of me” (9.45) “I treat retouching as a conversation… There's no rule book. It’s led by the client and its case by case” (24.57) “I would encourage you to do your own boudoir shoot… understand what it feels like to be a client is really going to help you understand what vulnerability looks like” (28.35) What does photography ethics mean to Siorna? “For me, in this genre, ethics is what protects the person behind the picture. It's not a checklist. It’s about how you handle power, vulnerability and consent, and keeping that conversation ongoing throughout the process (34.03)  Links: City Academy British Museum Lynda Nead

In this episode, we talk with Aindreas Scholtz about sustainability, materiality, and the future of photographic practice. Aindreas discusses how his camera-less photographic work, drawing on historical processes such as cyanotype and anthotype*, has shaped his research. He reflects on photography as a material practice, exploring the ethical implications of the resources and environments entangled in photography. Aindreas discusses the value of working collaboratively with communities and scientists, the importance of embracing slow methodologies, and why photographers should be transparent about the environmental impact of their work. He shares how reflecting on his own practice has led him to see photography ethics as an ongoing process of imagining better futures through more thoughtful choices. *Cyanotype is a camera-less photographic process that creates photograms by placing objects on light-sensitive paper, coated with iron salts and exposing them to ultraviolet light. After washing with water, the process produces distinctive blue and white images. Anthotype is a camera-less photographic process that uses light sensitive pigments extracted from flowers, leaves or fruits. Objects placed on the coated surface create images as the exposed plant pigments gradually fade in sunlight. What you'll find inside: On discovering sustainable photographic practice after breaking his camera: 'That was the best thing that ever happened to me… I had plenty of sunlight, I had plenty of water… I thought, I'm not going to use tap water, I'm going to use seawater because I'm surrounded by the sea. I want to allow the environment to come into the process.' (12.26) 'When you work with a community and you've got ten people coming together, the knowledge they produce in that very short amount of space is amazing. You just have to remove yourself, watch, and learn.' (14.56) 'I know that my work has a footprint. I know that my work is not 100% eco-friendly or sustainable… First you address it, you admit it, you problematise it, and then you ask what can be done better.' (25.56) ‘I'm informed by science, because photography came out of science, but it can have very creative applications…it can change people's minds about our behaviour’ (28.18) What does photography ethics mean to Aindreas? 'To me it means to be more reflective about my choices and behaviours, to reflect on the past and to imagine a future inspired by ethical choices, and to make things, hopefully, better.' (33.35) Links: The Sustainable Darkroom Anna Atkins Archive Dr Melanie King, Ancient Light

In this episode we talk with Oh Soon-Hwa about long-term documentary practice, research, and ethical responsibility. Soon-Hwa reflects on her personal experience of migration and its influence on her photographic work, discussing the importance of curiosity, sustained engagement, and research when working with communities. She explores the ethical challenges of photographing private lives, balancing public visibility with private wellbeing, and explains why care, rather than consent alone, is at the heart of her photographic practice. What you’ll find inside: “I’m photographing a certain perspective … I’m really narrowing down to one aspect rather than portraying the entire culture or the whole community” (10.25) “Although I had all the legal consent, I took it down for the participant because it wasn't about legal issues. It was about ethical issues, and I didn't want to harm her in any way” (22.27) “Through the project I really saw the limits of my own thinking and perception, my own prejudice … just one or two conversations became awakening moments” (26.26)  “I think something that I’ve done is not necessarily focusing on disseminating the photographs themselves, but using them as an intervention…so I think that’s a way we can expand our impact without focusing solely on the visibility of the images  (27.44)   What does photography ethics mean to Soon-Hwa?  “Caring. I care, so I photograph [them]. Whatever protects the participants or subjects that I photograph, I shall do it. That’s photo ethics to me; to make sure they are not harmed by my picture or by my actions. They allow me to photograph them because they care, maybe about me as a stranger and what I want to do, so I try to exchange that same care” (30.23) Links: Oh Soon-Hwa Darling Quiet Dream The Steep Price Photographic Collections as Visual Method Liminal Landscapes 1940s - 1960s

For season 7, we are bringing you a mini edition of the podcast to focus on our biennial Photography Ethics Symposium. Back in June, the 2026 symposium was hosted at Queen’s University Belfast and produced in partnership with the academic journal, Photographies, with funding from the ESRC. This event brought together photographers, curators, archivists and researchers to critically consider the messy endeavour of photography ethics. This season, we invited a selection of the poster presenters to share more about their research, spanning decolonial archiving practices to the ethical considerations of boudoir photography.  We hope you enjoy this season and the fascinating insights that the speakers have to offer. We’re looking forward to sharing the special issue of photographies with you in 2027.

In this episode, we talk with Tanya Habjouqa about reevaluation and responsibility. Tanya shares how her Circassian background motivates her work as she feels the diasporic community’s story was never told.  She reflects on how the process of printmaking has allowed her to forge a deeper physical connection with her art which can be healing. Tanya explains the countless ethical considerations involved in photographing Palestine including the topic of embedding as well as the targeting of journalists. She also discusses the different levels of involvement and responsibility involved in photographing a community and the impact of parachute journalism. What you’ll find inside:  “I need to care about the community that I’m photographing, there needs to be a stake a personal stake.” (13.17) On printmaking: “There was something healing about that process but it was also just wow I can take a faint archival picture I can utilise images that I could not in our traditional photography realm.” (14.29) On art books: “It was this moment where I understood I was in a position where I could bring my documentary work and ethics but find new ways of layering bringing in history and overlaying texts.” (15.16) “The community who’s story you’re telling they should recognise themselves. You should invest time before picking up your camera, I really see photography as an intellectual practice.” (19.24) “You have the power and the responsibility of that archive, I don’t think you shouldn’t take the picture. Sometimes if there is something happening take it and then carefully carry that close to you and unpack where that should go or if it should go.” (21.02) “I think we have a responsibility to try to innovate in our image making and to be as layered and nuanced as possible.” (39.22) What does photography ethics mean to Tanya?  “It’s a process of being thoughtful, evolved emotionally intelligent human beings and understanding that this is not a right, you worked very hard to get access.  You can tell there’s a difference between a parachute journo drop in snapshot, you can tell when you’ve been invited into the house and that there’s a degree of trust it’s very clear in the image and what’s reflected. It’s just a constant evaluation checking in with stake holders. There’s no key formula you also end up developing an intuition and trusting your intuition.” (40.33) Links: The Unseen Truth: When Race Changed Sight in America by Sarah Lewis Darcy Padilla Maureen Cummins Sean Hillen The Book as the Trojan Horse of Art: Walter Hamady Betty Brink These macaques are used for entertaining. They’re also endangered. Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots

In this episode, we talk with Tiffany Fairey about visualising peace. Tiffany warns of the dangers of binaries and hierarchies in terms of the different forms of photography as it negates the importance of different perspectives. She highlights the complexity of the politics of visibility and the ethical considerations required when marginalised groups become visible through photography. Tiffany also explains peace photography and how it can be used to depict a desired future in contexts where conflict is still present. What you’ll find inside:  “I felt really uncomfortable I guess about this idea of who’s taking the pictures and who’s telling the story. That idea that taking photos of someone is almost like putting words into their mouth.” (7.37) “Often in these projects a lot of the kind of benefits and the outcomes aren’t really anything to do with the image… really about facilitating something beyond the photography but also facilitating through and via photography.” (12.28) “It’s not like peace photography is against war photography and we must have one or the other. I think there’s a danger sometimes in photography that we have to think in terms of binaries or in terms of hierarchies.” (16.06) “The politics of visibility basically can not be straight forward when you’re working with groups that are traditionally silenced suddenly becoming visible and having their stories heard. It’s complicated as well because a lot of the times they’re not listened to, so there’s dangers of raising expectations that can’t be met through these projects. We’ve had complications around finances as well.” (22.25) “Within peace photography that is one of the key considerations are these images to be shared or not? There shouldn’t be an assumption that these projects are always about sharing images.” (32.31) “I think the idea of peace photography is asking us to really reassess what we think of as visually significant.” (40.17) “A photography of peace can make visible all these elements of peace that we might not always consider.” (41.03) What does photography ethics mean to Tiffany?  “Essentially for me ethics means accountability and transparency in how you deal with others and communicate your work. There’s always the danger that the language of ethics end up obscuring what is actually happening, we can make it more complicated than it is. I worry a lot about people talking the talk about ethical photography but we don’t always walk the walk and it’s not simple to do that. I would say it’s this idea of ethics being grounded in transparent and accountable relationships with the people that we work with.” (41.52) Links: PhotoVoice Street Vision Anna Blackman Voices in Exile TAFOS Fotokids Nancy McGirr Ingrid Guyon PhotoVoice Statement of Ethical Practice - PhotoVoice - Projects, Training, Photography and Consultancy for Social Change Liz Orton Peace Photography Guide | Imaging Peace Imaging Peace Everyday Peace Indicators Ariella Azoulay

In this episode, we talk with Kimbra Audrey about healing. Kimbra shares how her self-portraiture practice is a way to reclaim power over her image and body after years of modelling. She discusses documenting her breast cancer journey through photography as well as the current issues with breast cancer representation in terms of race, gender and age. Kimbra challenges the phrase taking a photo as she incorporates sustainable practices into her work, trying to give rather than take. She also explains her decision to takes self-portraits nude as a way to distance herself from the fashion industry. What you’ll find inside:  “I think that consent is the most important part of the relationship between any model and photographer and that clear boundaries should always be established before you even shoot. Also, clear explanation of where the images will be.” (7.50) “I learned to love of all of my feelings and the complexities of my emotions through my self-portraiture. I feel like in modelling I loved the parts that fit into patriarchal values.” (10.58) “It was also very healing to love my body when it was at its weakest and most sick and most vulnerable. And be able to find strength and empowerment in moments that were really really horrible and difficult.”  (13.16) “But it can be hard to draw the line in the middle range of like green washing or also I’ve discovered more recently pink washing which is essentially the same thing but for breast cancer… you really do have to dig deeper and find your own personal compass.” (18.43) “Just the phrase take a photo I have always had issue with because I’m not taking anything. I’m making I’m creating I’m making a self-portrait, I don’t want to take anything. I approach my photography the same way I approach everything in life and I want to give.” (20.22) What does photography ethics mean to Kimbra? “Photograph ethics are not separate in any way from my life ethics. Also really specifically in my situation because of the nature of my work and the self-portraits being so insular and solitary they are a representation of who I am … love, kindness and self-responsibility I focus on what I can do and that I think is reflected in my work.” (30.49) Links: Model Alliance

In this episode, we talk with Jesse Alexander about creative sustainability. Jesse discusses the nuances of rurality and place making as well as the urban bias present in landscape photography. He also explains how idealised images of agriculture are disconnected from their polluting impact. Jesse shares his ethical approach which focuses on the general messaging of his work and lowering his own consumption. He speaks on the ethical framework at Falmouth University, which invites reflection and innovation while allowing students to learn without shame. What you’ll find inside:  “There is I think a very very inherent urban bias in landscape representation. It sort of links to other things like enclosure acts and a very distorted appreciation of the land in a very broad sense.” (9.11) “These images are really really pervasive I think, particularly around agricultural actually and its very disconnected. Unfortunately, the majority of agricultural practices are really bad, really polluting… the dominant narratives are quite different.” (12.06) “Does it increase consumption basically in a bad way? That’s sort of my core fundamental approach, the priority has to be about thinking about the messaging.” (16.24) “I do think if ethics are so far at the front and in such big bold letters then I think it can be a bit kind of restrictive. So, I think the thing I say is the MA course is a safe space to make mistakes.” (25.47) “At the time I kind of had a distinction between ethics and sustainability and then since that time I’ve really realised that actually they are two sides of the same coin.” (32.17) What does photography ethics mean to Jesse?  “I think it is ultimately what your practice says, and what it says about you as well. Whether it is in like the really obvious messaging of the work or actually the kind of very subtle ways of how you go about working. I think it really does actually filter into all of those choices you make as a practitioner.”  (43.35) Links: David Campany Paul Seawright Paul Graham: Troubled Land Clive Landen The Digging Season AdGreen Albert Jesse Alexander Alice Cazenave Dawn Woolley Tamsin Green

In this episode, we talk with Heather Agyepong about embodiment and the self. She explains what reimagination means in her practice when representing black women in history ethically. Heather also explores the gatekeeping present in art and how this drives her to make her work visceral in order to transcend linguistic accessibility. She reflects on her decision to focus on self-portraits after witnessing the exploitative and distorted depictions of e-waste in Ghana.  Finally, Heather talks about self-exploration through art and balancing this with establishing boundaries. What you’ll find inside:  “It’s more about what I’m feeling and what sort of medium I need and then I fall into these different dimensions of making art.” (4.10) “I think the reason I make art is to trust myself and rediscover myself. I think for a long period of time there was just so many different layers of who I was which were just kind of projected on to me… my quest in making art is to start removing those layers and I guess whilst I’m removing the layers I’m trusting myself more.” (4.41) “There was something about looking back which helped me to understand my present circumstance, using these women from history to explore myself.” (6.22) “A violence sometimes happens with these women where because of the lack of knowledge, they are created as like caricatures or their lives are reduced in some sort of way. So if anything, it feels like I’m trying to kind of repair some of the violence that happens in those old images.” (7.55) “My work is not really about perfection it’s the intent and the intention of making something accessible.” (12.14) “There’s something about giving it up to the camera and trying to make the camera not a critical viewer … more like a witness or an observer. So you kind of take the power back from that gaze it becomes less of a critical observer more of just like someone witnessing you.” (16.40) “I think that work is always like the last chapter of something. Healing is a constant thing but in terms of that specific thing I’ve processed it I’ve got a revelation of something that’s happened, it doesn’t belong to be anymore.” (25:34) What does photography ethics mean to Heather?  “An empathetic ear, selfless reflection and progress. I think the history of photography has been ethnographic, anthropological and I think that often haunted photography for a very long time. The progress idea is that we need to evolve from this idea that its truth or about othering. I think that photography at its best is about connectivity and I think that it’s the responsibility of the photographer to engage with those three things.” (36.08) Links: Raymond Thompson Jr.: On speculation Heather Agyepong: Yaa Heather Agyepong: Through Motion Heather Agyepong: The Body Remembers Authentic Movement: Essays by Mary Starks Whitehouse, Janet Adler and Joan Chodorow by Patrizia Pallaro The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

In this episode, we talk with Nana Kofi Acquah about the complexity of consent. Nana speaks of the importance of prioritising understanding in order to photograph complex stories authentically. He also discusses how the coronavirus pandemic illuminated the lack of empathy present in the photographing of illness in Africa.  Nana highlights how images of poverty and opulence are often juxtaposed and that more understanding is needed to create nuanced images.  He explains how captioning is critical to remove bias and depict the original substance of the photo. Finally, he explores the capacity for consent in relation to people in vulnerable positions. What you’ll find inside:  “I think the secret of good photography when you’re dealing with very nuanced very complex issues is to not focus on the photograph just focus on understanding. Focus on getting to this place where the people can truly be themselves in your presence.” (9.18) “To seek to disappear, to seek to not get in the way of the story. I think the pinnacle of all art is invisibility.” (10.51) “When you photograph a child who is starving and dying maybe they lived maybe they became president of their nation, but nobody remembers that all we ever remember is a poor starving African child.” (16.29) “People are more than just a moment you witnessed.” (18.38) “In the effort to make exceptional images we tend to distort history especially for those who come after us … and the ability to see that the mundane is a story.”  (21.55) “Captioning is the secret recipe that gives a photograph true longevity it’s that important. Captioning is crucial because captioning helped me step out of my bias to hear the original observer’s voice.” (23.45) “Consent for me is a complicated matter especially when we are working with vulnerable groups.” (30.03) What does photography ethics mean to Nana?  “If I can go back show them the photographs and not have to worry about how they will feel about it. It may not be their greatest photo but they say at least that’s how I was feeling that’s the way I was. I don’t want to remember that part of my history again but that photograph is honest it speaks to that moment in my life.” (34.39) Links: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change The Baggage that Lives with You Forever Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats Nana Kofi Acquah on inequality in Ghana Immediate Family by Sally Mann Kadir van Lohuizen

In this episode, we talk with Alice Cazenave about the toxicity of photography. She examines photography and colonialism on a material level in terms of land ownership, extraction and contamination. Alice discusses how the use of plants allowed her to explore the different narratives that emerged from the same place. She provides insight into the plant-based photo-chemistries* that develop her analogue photographs, and explains how her work is informed by multi-disciplinary perspectives and resources. Through her practice, Alice stresses the importance of vulnerability as she pursues work which challenges her own assumptions. *Plant-based photo-chemistries are made with plants and sodium ascorbate. What you’ll find inside:  “Using the plants was a way to kind of unveil the different levels of social and ecological harm that was coalescing in this space, without condensing that region to one specific narrative.” (11:48) “Looking upstream at the infrastructures and the cultural practices around what we value in photograph and what that looks like if you look at the materials that we use. We might value aesthetically clean or well-balanced photos but there’s a real toxic legacy to making photos that way.” (16:05) “It’s fascinating for me the way these chemicals move around and shape-shift, so I’ve also been interested in recycling and repurposing the actual chemistry to think about the way that contamination moves through time, and through people’s bodies and atmospheres, and these boundary-less spaces.” (23:21) “I really think that looking to disciplines outside of photography, and bringing them back in through the work is a really enriching way to engage with the medium, because it explores the complexity of it. It’s a really complex medium, photography…ethically, materially, and historically.” (31:10) What does photography ethics mean to Alice?  “For me, it’s about starting a project or an approach from a place of feeling vulnerable. Approaching a topic or at least choosing things that have really marked you from a sense of not knowing too much about them and that being a problem. I think that sort of vulnerability is at the core of all of the work I have done.”  (37:26) Links: The Sustainable Darkroom The Sustainable Darkroom Patreon  Up the Anthropologist: Perspectives Gained From Studying Up by Laura Nader Ganondagan White Corn Project the.lilac.collective Digital Rubbish: A Natural History of Electronics by Jennifer Gabrys In Pollution Is Colonialism by Max Liboiron  Coal Fired Computers Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet by Andrew Blum

In this episode, we talk with Hernease Davis about empathy in the darkroom. Hearnease opens up about her use of photography to process, heal and take care of herself. The complexities of exhibiting work relating to vulnerable issues is explored as well as the topic of protection. Hernease discusses empathy in relation to trauma and the place of empathy in art history. The metaphor of walking in someone else’s shoes is deconstructed in order to depict empathy in a more nuanced way.  Hernease also gives advice about using photography for the pursuit of self-knowledge. What you’ll find inside:  “For the past ten years I’ve been crafting my practice to be a place where I can take care of myself. So like a psychological space and a safe place to imagine things that are metaphysically impossible in order to try and render a healing process for myself.” (3.20) “Empathy actually started as an art historical term… empathy was started off as a way of appreciating art.” (25.23) “You’ll never truly know what it is like to walk in their shoes or to be them and it’s ok to bring yourself in this idea of what empathy means.” (28.06) “For me what it means to be seen is what you think of me as my surface is just the beginning. Ask me some questions, spend some time do a little bit of relating. It is also the way that I try to think about others as well.” (32.17) What does photography ethics mean to Hernease? “In my experience I have had the realisation that some people take photography personally, like too personally where it becomes their identity in some kind of way… I just approach it as it just is, it is and this is what photography has done. I can talk about it as a tool that has honestly saved my life but also has been a tool that has led to so many atrocities like genocide. That also has led to how we misread each other, how we misunderstand one another.” (37.24) Links: A Womb of My Own (Mistakes Were Made In Development) A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf Hernease Davis

In this episode, we talk with Jai Lennard about opportunity versus access. Jai discusses how part of his ethical considerations include deciding if he is the right person to tell a story.  Additionally, his founding of Color Positive was part of his drive to diversify the stories which are told by aiding young black artists. Jai outlines how his mentoring role at Color Positive puts him in a place of access to talent enabling him to connect photographers with projects that they are aligned with. Access is also explored in relation to opportunity as Jai discusses how both are needed for artists to succeed. What you’ll find inside:  “I think that a lot of the subjects that I used to be more head on with dealing with actual people, dealing with survivors, dealing with people who are on the ground trying to change the world. Those same stories get told in entertainment… everyone wants to tell stories different ways.” (7.08) “If I’m being approached about a project, is this a topic that I want to dive into? Should I be telling this story?... It’s always case by case for me, I take everything individually I don’t really have blanket answers.” (8.12) “I just kind of always knew I needed a mentor and I think maybe that’s also back to just my background. Growing up as a young black man in a mostly white community – despite how diverse my area was – I just always knew that if I was going to succeed, I wasn’t going to do it on my own.” (18.52) “You can be asked to do a job that sounds amazing and when you get there, you have not been set up to succeed and that is the difference between having access and not having access…there’s so many different kinds of access, an opportunity is just an opportunity and without access it’s not a lot.” (36.23) What does photography ethics mean to Jai?  “Putting the wellbeing of everyone who’s involved at the forefront of your mind when you do a project. When it’s there you’re protective of it and I think that photography ethics is about being protective to what’s important on every scenario. And it may seem like a lot times the most important thing is just to get it but it’s usually not. For me, a lot of the times it’s about the experience. When I focus on the experience as the most important thing for a photography project a lot of other things come into play very smoothly including the images.” (39.25) Links: Color Positive Women Photograph Color Positive Mentorship Danielle Villasana: On representation and eq

In this episode, we talk with Lauren Walsh about conflict photography. Lauren first discusses her career trajectory, explaining her shift from English literature to photojournalism due to her sustained interest in storytelling and ethical issues.  She explores who consent forms are designed to protect and stresses the need for ethical considerations in relation to photojournalists’ mental wellbeing. Lauren grapples with the issue of ethical viewership in relation to fast paced encounters of suffering on social media. There is a discussion of perceptions of photojournalism within academia, she also dispels myths that the general public have about conflict photography. What you’ll find inside:  On consent forms: “I wouldn’t want a one size fits all form cause I think depending on what’s being documented it can radically shift what you need to protect for… if it is a setting where you think somebody could be at risk because of your work, I do think it is fair to think it through very very deeply and potentially offer them the opportunity to talk to you about it.”(20.42) “I don’t have hard and fast answers a lot of what I do – and this is how I think of a lot of ethics – winds up in grey zones where it’s really hard to give like here’s the one exact rule you need to follow every time. For me part of the process is advocating or asking photographers to think more critically, in ways that I don’t think that the industry usually train them to think.” (22.37) “A photojournalist should be paid for their work because it is a job and if they are documenting someone else’s hardship, it brings these two uncomfortable realities together… this is a vital job if we don’t pay into it then we lose what photojournalism or journalism broadly contributes to society. Which is keeping an eye on what is happening around the world particularly where we can’t be, exposing injustices, making us aware.” (26.07) “Preliminary data is showing 85% of journalists are reporting a traumatic episode on the job, that’s an enormous percentage. About 10% are reporting thoughts of suicide.” (35.24) “I also wouldn’t ever make the claim that photojournalism matters more than what might be happening locally in a photojournalist’s community. I say that almost from an advocacy position, as at least where I am based in in the United States like local journalism is really hurting here and the smaller newsrooms and the smaller publications are dwindling. I think actually community and local are reporting is so vital to the health of a community”. (39.44) What does photography ethics mean to Lauren?  “Thinking through all aspects of the photo, the photojournalist before they pick up the camera, when they’re in front of whatever they’re documenting, before they file the image to an editor and then seeing where the images goes … I think they should operate in a way that should aim to reduce any harm to whatever story they’re working on and I also think the industry has the obligation to reduce any harm for its media workers too.” (40.47) Links: The Cruel Radiance: Photography and Political Violence by Susie Linfield Conversations on Conflict Photography by Lauren Walsh Art Works Projects Archiving the Troubles in Northern Ireland by Savannah Dodd Biography of a Photo How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell