Amateur Photojournalism and Moral DilemmaWriten by Eric Hartwell
Many of us have visions of producing that once in a lifetime image. This may be one that you have struggled to perfect a landscape or a certain portrait perhaps. Alternatively, it might be one that you have captured in a fit of photojournalism.
The latter is something we often wish to aspire to. Capturing an image at the moment of breaking news and then wiring it to some picture agency or even a local newspaper has the feel of professionalism and excitement about it. Seeing your image in print can work wonders for the psyche as well as accumulating that little bit extra in your bank balance.
But consider your actions. What pictures are you going to take, for what audience and where will you send them? More importantly, what are the consequences of your actions?
Imagine you are driving along the highway and you come across a car that has just burst into flames. Its dramatic and you are first on the scene. What do you do? Do you get your camera out and start snapping away, knowing that you have an exclusive in the bag?
Or do you do what many would call the honourable thing and call for help and perhaps administer valuable assistance to the poor occupants of the car, some of which might be severely injured or even worse.
Its a moral dilemma which could land you in trouble. Moreover, it could play on your conscience in the future if anybody did come to serious harm whilst you were there taking pictures when you could be offering aid and succour.
Perhaps leave photojournalism to the professionals in certain circumstances?
Eric Hartwell is an experienced photographer and owner of the photography resource website ephotocentral