Jill Morgan Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 I was driving into town yesterday and as I approached the airport I noticed EMT's removing a patient from the back of an ambulance to put on to the awaiting helicopter ambulance. I assume to take the patient to Toronto. I pulled over as I thought this was a good photo opportunity (always have my camera with me) but couldn't bring myself to take the shots. I felt so invasive on someone else's tragedy. Somehow trying to make money from their misfortune. So I put the camera back and continued in to town. Do any of you have this problem? Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarsierspectral Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 You should see the movie "Nightcrawler" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872718/) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnapper Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 no http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3487683/25-stone-cafe-boss-famous-big-breakfasts-winched-flat-fire-brigade-using-cherry-picker-falling-flat.html http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/cafe-boss-weighing-25-stone-7547631 http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6996198/25-stone-cafe-boss-famous-for-his-giant-breakfasts-had-to-be-hoisted-out-of-his-flat-with-cherry-picker-after-fall.html km Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nacke Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 While I've photographed a lot of human tragedy and suffering, I've never photographed that scene "to make money" from others misfortune and anyone who thinks that way does not belong in photojournalism, in my opinion. Using your example, keeping in mind that I was not there and do not know the details, to simply take photographs of a injured person being loaded into a chopper without further information is a waste of your time and everyone else's. Nightcrawler is just a movie and except for LA it is mostly fiction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nacke Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 I would also like to add that a working "photojournalist" is very careful to not interfere with the event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnapper Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 there has to be a story..... and you have to be able to tell it without , as Chuck says, intervening in it.. km Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Quist Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Yes. I'd be convinced that I was lying to myself that the images would be more important than showing the sympathy to stay away or be ready to help in any way without the camera. Perhaps just to keep the iPhone shooting crowd at a distance.... That said, there could be situations in which I would take the necessary photos. But I don't hope the situation will arise, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ann Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Ashmore Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 I had the same decision a couple of weeks ago and made the same choice.. and old man was being put into the back of an ambulance having fallen and hit his head and my iPhone was in my pocket and stayed there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 In the case of huge National events, you must attempt to put you feelings aside to capture history. World Trade Center comes to mind, also Oklahoma City bombing. And all of the other acts of terrorism. You never know when a certain photograph might give a clue. On one hand, I hate giving terrorists visual confirmation of the deed, but yet these stories need telling. And sometimes it helps. When my husband took the shot of the Firefighter/baby, a lot of money poured in for the victims because of it. I know, because we got the letters from people saying so. A lot of designated money went straight to the mother of that baby. Thing is, my husband never planned on selling the images. Stringers covering the photo developers sniffed them out. Images move people and causes a connection to the heart. Of course, this doesn't necessarily fit Jill's event, but even sometimes it can. Whenever there is a picture in the newspaper, or a video about someone's tragedy, people around here open their wallets and help them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Walker Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 I'm sure I remember reading some time ago that if you witness an act of terrorism or other incident, don't just point your camera at the main scene but take many photos of the scene around you. Many vital clues or identities can be picked out from those images. The perpetrators or their vehicles are often still in the vicinity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Morgan Posted March 14, 2016 Author Share Posted March 14, 2016 Interesting to see the different views. I wasn't interfering in anything, and I could have taken the shot without anyone actually being identifiable, Not really a live news opportunity, but probably a good shot for many magazine articles. Guess I never would have made a good photojournalist. My cousin Mark was a reporter on the city news desk for one of the Toronto dailies. His boss told me Mark was the specialist for getting photos from loved ones of people killed in car accidents etc. (He didn't take them, just talked the relatives into giving them to him.) Don't think I ever could have done that. Not in my emotional make-up I guess. But he covered a lot of that kind of stuff, so that was his job. Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vpics Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 I photographed people and police during the London Bombings in 2015. The BBC used some of my pics (yes, they paid!!!!) and about an hour later I got a phone call from a picture editor from a national newspaper wanting to know whether I had any close-ups of the bus that had been blown up. I didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Ramsay Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 I was driving into town yesterday and as I approached the airport I noticed EMT's removing a patient from the back of an ambulance to put on to the awaiting helicopter ambulance. I assume to take the patient to Toronto. I pulled over as I thought this was a good photo opportunity (always have my camera with me) but couldn't bring myself to take the shots. I felt so invasive on someone else's tragedy. Somehow trying to make money from their misfortune. So I put the camera back and continued in to town. Do any of you have this problem? Jill My response would be the same as yours, as I am also not employed as a photojournalist, with all the responsibilities and duties that are entailed by that particular role. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 the London Bombings in 2015. Just in case anyone is worried about forgetting things, it was 2005. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Ashmore Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 the London Bombings in 2015. Just in case anyone is worried about forgetting things, it was 2005. It doesn't 'feel'like that long ago .... not sure if it's a getting old thing or what but time feels to be speeding up for me. The last decade seemed to go by significantly quicker than the previous two decades! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vpics Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Oops. Fat fingers. Yes, 2005. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnapper Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Mark was the specialist for getting photos from loved ones of people killed in car accidents etc. known in the business as 'collects' easier these days, when everyone has a social media presence; just grab them off Facebook or similar.. km Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panthera tigris Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 I pulled over as I thought this was a good photo opportunity (always have my camera with me) but couldn't bring myself to take the shots. I felt so invasive on someone else's tragedy. Somehow trying to make money from their misfortune. So I put the camera back and continued in to town. I applaud your empathy. Stock will not make you rich but your morals should make you a person you want to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 My feeling about this is: If I can be of any help, in any way, to make the outcome better for someone in bad situation, I will not pick up the camera but would rather help and I have done that many times, when I have come across an accident before professional help has arrived. On a few occasions, I did photograph an emergency event (and I was sensitive to not show faces or gore) showing rescue people at work. In one of those cases, a person involved turned out to be someone I knew and she was grateful that I took pictures as she used them in court and won her case that the other driver was at fault. She was badly injured but made a full recovery. My brother was a career fire fighter and my daughter is training to be a volunteer emergency medical technician (EMT) while going to nursing school so I do understand the need to help first, no matter what! A picture of a house fire, that I took, has sold on Alamy, In the case of that fire, no one was injured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 My feeling about this is: If I can be of any help, in any way, to make the outcome better for someone in bad situation, I will not pick up the camera but would rather help and I have done that many times, when I have come across an accident before professional help has arrived. On a few occasions, I did photograph an emergency event (and I was sensitive to not show faces or gore) showing rescue people at work. In one of those cases, a person involved turned out to be someone I knew and she was grateful that I took pictures as she used them in court and won her case that the other driver was at fault. She was badly injured but made a full recovery. My brother was a career fire fighter and my daughter is training to be a volunteer emergency medical technician (EMT) while going to nursing school so I do understand the need to help first, no matter what! A picture of a house fire, that I took, has sold on Alamy, In the case of that fire, no one was injured. Yes, we should be human beings first, journalists/photographers second. I think in France there is a "Good Samiaritan" law, no one should just walk by; so I guess taking photographs rather than helping where it would have been possible would be taken very badly by the authorities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlbertSnapper Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Different times back then.... New York based Weegee was well known for photographing tragedy...... car crashes, murders, crime..... up close with flash on a large format camera. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/12/weegee-photos_n_6278364.html Not a nice way to go in the last photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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