Session 4, Task 1: Controversies, A legal and ethical history of photography
I found this really interesting, as photography is a symbol of free expression, rights, power, money, manipulation. Its true that a picture speaks a thousand words but who has control over what other people interpret it as and can this be offensive and harmful.
The right to photograph by Daniel Girardin
He talkes about what makes photograhy so interesting, why there are so many debates about what is right and wrong, how photographers are bound by series of laws who's limits are constantly being tested and that its all a question of how pictures are interpreted with artwork, law and ethics, changing by evolution of attitudes, and if multiple copies de-value and can you really put a price on a photo.
Beyond Apperances by Christian Pirker
This article talks about how many of us read judement before giving opinion and how prejudies relate to a particular culture or social group. He describes whats right in someones eyes may be wrong in anothers and that controversy is like a mirror people see things differently at different times, (comparing today with the past) and also touches on the areas of what is evil, false or private and how this reflects the dominant ideology of the moment.
Three case studies delt with in the exhibition and the book
Garry Gross, Untitled 1975
A battle bettween Brooke Shields and her photographer "Gross" about images taken of her as a child which she no longer wanted to be used. She didnt get them back because her mother at the time had signed her consent for them to be taken and they were not sexually explicit. The photos were then sold to Richard Prince who retitled and made adjustments to them and sold them for $151,000.
Frank Fournier, Omayra Sanchez, Columbia 1985
Picture taken few days after volcano erruption, he got trapped with and took pictures of a young girl who eventually died, he had the dilema of showing his horifying pictures to the public of the reality, or refusing to show such tragidies.
Oliviero Toscani, Kissing-nun 1992
This photographer used provocative themes in his work that caused intense controversy, challenging religious order by taking pictures of a nun kissing. His photos finally became prohibited, but he also designed a christian cross transformed into a Nazi symbol.
I found it really interesting how photography seems to be the search for the truth, and the question of why should we be ashamed..??
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