to print or not to print...

(from audreyhepburncomplex.tumblr.com)

...that is the question.

I like to call myself an amateur photographer. I enjoy taking pictures, playing around with cameras, learning about angles and lighting and what makes a beautiful shot. But that's exactly it: I like to take beautiful, interesting pictures. Most of us do.

I cannot imagine being a photojournalist working, for example, in Afghanistan. That is a dimension of photography that, quite frankly, frightens me. I really admire those who will do anything for an important, inspiring, even controversial shot.

In the New York Times the other day, a post on the Lens blog (photography, video and visual journalism) really caught my eye. A photo taken for the Associated Press which shows a mortally wounded corporal in Afghanistan is the cause for debate in journalistic circles across the country. Does one respect the wishes of the family, who really doesn't want to see their son in his last moments of his life, in such pain? Or does one fulfill his or her promise to the public: to show things how they are?

Words from the photographer herself:

"It is necessary to be bothered from time to time. It is too easy to sit at Starbuck’s far away across the sea and read about the casualty and then move on without much of another thought about it. It’s not as easy to see an image of that casualty and not think about it. I never expect to change the world or stop war with one picture, but only hope that I make some people think beyond their comfort zones and hope that a few of them will be moved into some kind of action, be it joining a protest, or sending that care package they’ve put off for weeks, or writing that letter they keep meaning to write, or donating money to some worthy N.G.O., or just remembering to say I love you to someone at home. Something.

I believe that is why I decided to send the photo in to the N.Y. desk despite what the media rules of engagement said, to start some conversation about it and hope that it will move out there. It bothered me too much not to have at least some discussion about it. And with great respect and understanding to all the opposing arguments to publication, I feel that as journalists it is our social responsibility to record and publish such images. We have no restrictions to shoot or publish casualties from opposition forces, or even civilian casualties. Are those people less human than American or other NATO soldiers?"

-Julie Jacobson

The rest of the blog post is here:
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/behind-13/?emc=eta1