Tips for a More Careful Camera: The Ethics of Photovoice and Photography

What stories do you see in this photo?

Mother and child in Hiroshima, Japan, December 1945. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

“It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter.” This commonly attributed quote to Alfred Eisenstaedt, the Prussian photographer of the famous kiss on V-J Day in Times Square, is difficult to verify but nonetheless attests to the importance of the interactions between the photographer and the photographed. If the quote is indeed from Eisenstaedt, this adds a layer of irony: the famous kiss behind his photo was nonconsensual; there is an imbalance of power captured, presumably without the consent of the woman in the photo who also did not consent to the kiss. We believe there is a valuable lesson transmitted through the famous saying, as well as through this unfortunate history to one of the most famous 20th-century photographs: Real people hold more value than any photo.

This doesn’t diminish photography’s power. If anything, this is a source of that power. “I never thought of myself as doing anything other than telling stories,” said Erich Lessing, the great 20th-century Austrian Jewish photographer. The storytelling element to photography—and even more specifically, photovoice—entails first understanding and respecting another’s story. To do this, the photographer will often need to interact with the person they are photographing. 

How do we do this in a way that respects and honors the stories of the people we photograph? Here are a few tips for a more careful camera:

Ask for and receive consent to photograph others.

Empowerment has always been a central value of photovoice. But it’s difficult and dishonest to empower others without appreciating and respecting the most important and fundamental ethic of photovoice: consent. In many Western societies, even though privacy is not a right one is entitled to in public spaces, it is still a courtesy. Relatedly, the act of photographing can be laden with power because the subjects of photovoice photography are often from vulnerable populations. This makes consent even more important. We want to use that power carefully. 

Capturing a candid photo calls for a moment of bravery. If you take a photograph without someone’s permission beforehand, we recommend immediately showing them the photo, asking for their permission after photographing them, and to delete the photo if they ask.

Don’t portray others in a negative light even if your depiction accurately records a moment.

Since photovoice is not photojournalism, photovoice photographers have the capacity to reject portraying others in a negative light. We recommend avoiding portraying others in ways they wouldn’t want to be portrayed because the methodology of photovoice uses empathy to tell stories to empower change. Photos that capture someone at their worst do not generate empathy but rather frustration, hatred, and other negative emotions.

Additionally, as noted above, we value the consent of the photographed and they are not likely to consent to a photo that portrays them negatively.

Don’t intrude into others’ space even if in public.

As an ethically conscious photographer, it is your responsibility to hold your own photography to a higher standard than the law does. In many Western societies, people legally forfeit the right to privacy in public spaces; practically, this means at a mall, town hall, or a grocery store, one does not legally need the permission of a person to take their photo since they forfeited that right by entering a public space. (Two common exceptions to this legal right are if the photo is intended to be used for defamation or if it contains copyrighted material—in those cases, there are usually fewer legal protections.) 

You have probably heard of the Golden Rule and its more demanding variation, the Platinum Rule: we should do unto others the way they want us to do unto them. Our photography should aim for this standard. Would this stranger want me to photograph them without their knowledge or consent? Likely not…and you will only know if you ask.

Representing work as your own or someone else’s?

An important part of photovoice is that the person sharing the photograph took the photo. In fact, if you’ve ever participated in a photovoice project, you likely know many if not all of the photos you share will be originally taken for the project. One reason for this is that photovoice projects almost always require printing and displaying the photos, so it is important to have the proper rights to do so. Additionally, because the participant’s involvement is essential to photovoice, it’s generally important to use your own photographs in photovoice settings.

In other settings, you may be able to use, exhibit, or even share photos taken by others.

Ask yourself the following questions before using someone else’s photo: 1) Is it in the public domain, 2) Do you have the right to use this photo? 3) If you do have the right or permission to show the photo, do you have all of the information you need for proper accreditation?

Three participants in an Interfaith Photovoice project in Richmond, Virginia discern what photos to include in their upcoming exhibit.

As important as we think these photo ethics are, it is important to recognize that these conventions are largely for North America. These same ethics may have a different value in other places in the world or additional ethics may gain more import. To ensure people who are photographed are aware of it in South Korea, for example, there is no built-in ability to turn off the sound of your smartphone camera’s digital shutter sound effect. The sound alerts people that someone is snapping photos nearby. 

Please consider how your own context may differ—and what that might mean for these standards (or additional ones!)—if you live somewhere outside of North America. And if you’d like to share how those expectations may differ in your location, we would love to share them!

For those who want to read even more about photovoice ethics, we recommend the open-access article Photovoice Ethics: Critical Reflections From Men’s Mental Health Research.