The Travel Photographer has again written about his outrage
Written by duckrabbitthat the Washington Post can publish a photo of a seven year old girl being circumcised that includes both the face of the girl and her full name. You can read his incisive words here
Melissa Lyttle is very clever … her headline says it all:
Furthering the Abuse
Respect to Trent Nelson, for caring enough to offer an opinion (the only one).
BADGERBAG nice one.
and if you’re not sure what the fuss is all about The Travel Photographer has just added this comment to my earlier post:
The victim is a 7 year old, whose name (and that of her father and her family) and her face have been plastered by the Washington Post. There’s no question that “shining the light” on the nasty practice of FGM is worthwhile and desirable, but not this way. This is exploitation at its worst. No one is arguing against covering this story…the issue at hand is how ethical was the photographer, the Washington Post and the rest of the organizations in publishing the story as it appeared? If that’s still debatable, than our morality as human beings has sunk to incomprehensible levels.
And FINALLY duckrabbit will add that what’s really shocking has been the widespread acceptance and applause for this photo. It seems that photojournalists have all the machismo to shoot drug addicts and warzones (their two favorite topics) but when it comes to standing up for what’s right, well self interest occasionally gets in the way.
Fair enough, I’ve done that myself but we should all have the self-awareness to recognize it for what it is.
Author — duckrabbit
duckrabbit is a production company formed by radio producer/journalist Benjamin Chesterton and photographer David White. We specialize in digital storytelling.
Discussion (3 Comments)
When it was first published, I saw the Washington Post’s report by Andrea Bruce I was troubled by it. I could not look it all. If it happen in the U.S. the child’s face and name would never have been used in a publication. I don’t care how talented she is. While this is an important story, there has to be a better way to tell it.
Thanks for continuing this discussion.
Its all to easy to feel some special sense of entitlement as a photographer isn’t it and hard to discern when one’s ego has got in the way of one’s ethics. Its also hard to give up a great shot because its simply not right and then find another way of telling the story. Nonetheless I suspect there are lots of potentially prizewinning shots that have been held back by by thoughtful or concerned photographers and publishers. We need to keep engaged in trying to work out where the balance lies. Thanks to the travel photographer and duckrabbit for encouraging this reflection.