Photographing Tragic Events

[PnwGuy]

How do you feel about photographing events that you encounter that may be considered tragic?

I do service calls for a living so I drive around a lot and see a lot of things. I've had three situations recently where I wanted to take some shots but I didn't want to seem like a vulture, or feel like I was intruding on someone else's plight or capturing their misery.

First one, I saw a bedraggled homeless man who had fallen on the ice while crossing the street. He was on his hands and knees, in obvious pain and could not get back up. A passing lady had stopped to assist and was tugging and pulling on him trying to help him, but to no avail. She motioned to a couple of guys in a nearby bus shelter and they went over to help. I watched the scene unfold while reaching for my camera and debating on whether to shoot. I ended up driving on.

Second, I came upon a scene with a motorcycle laying in the road busted up, and orange cones blocking the lane. The rider was already gone (hospital I hope) and the police were doing an investigation (not a good sign). I thought about getting out and getting a few shots, but again I hesitated and ended up not doing it.

Third, driving in Seattle the other day I came upon a scene where a young lady (early 20s?) was sitting on the curb, wrapped in yellow police raincoat, being comforted by a police officer on either side of her. My impression was that she was a pedestrian who had gotten hit but was going to be OK, but was very upset. I could see the ambulance a few blocks up the road headed to the scene. Again, I reached for my camera, but then chickened out.

There's some raw emotion to be captured but...

Any thoughts on this?

[googlit]

seems like to capture really raw emotion, you have to take the risk that people won't want their emotion captured...

I'm not sure which way I'd go. I'd usually chicken out. Sometimes if we're driving by an accident I'll take a few shots. But, of course, this leads to pretty crappy pics. And mostly of wrecked cars...

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/141/329770598_147f0f7857.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/googlit/329770598/)

[Nicole]

...I've had three situations recently where I wanted to take some shots but I didn't want to seem like a vulture, or feel like I was intruding on someone else's plight or capturing their misery...
Any thoughts on this?

I think it's this statement that hits it for me. If I don't feel comfortable doing it, then I don't think that it's my place to take the picture. I realize that there are times to push your comfort zone, but to me, this isn't it. That's only my opinion though. If I wouldn't feel comfortable being photographed in those situations, I don't think I would do it to others.

[googlit]

well put.

your post better matches my sentiments than mine does. :)

[PreyingJaws]

I can't say either way, The question comes down to are you a participant or are you not. If you are not; the adds the elements do you want to be there & what ethical convictions do you carry about portraying someone's demise? I wish during my accident someone would have documented it for me. I walked away from a Moto/Ped. Another act to count is can you get the images to those who want to have the accident covered? With so many cameras & camera phones there is a feed on public news coverage. Do you remember the London bombings a while back? Many of those images came from the public not the reporters. If you are mearly pulling through keep going, if you can spare the moment do so, get out walk around. Vulture? May be so but in shooting pulic events I've told people I do it for my 'studies' it helps. Post only those that are the best quality. Post only those that meet high journalistic photo story telling qualities. When you post 'em tag 'em appropriately.

[NaturesPixel]

hmm this is a tough one.. part of my job as a Fireman was to take the photos of MVA's (car accidents) afterwards to keep in our scrapbook.. and for just incase reasons
but it was usually with a 35mm point and shoot.. wish i had my DSLR back then...lol i know i could take photos of fires and what not but an MVA i dont think so.. to many raw memories would come back which is why i retired in the first place..lol

[alissasanderson]

This past April an F-4 tornado (2, actually, they were "sisters") passed within 1/8 of a mile of my home. We were lucky, and escaped with minimal damage--some trees down, missing siding and shingles and toys from the yard. We live in a rural area, and not so far away people were not so lucky. It was devastating. Homes were not just leveled--in some cases they were gone. Vehicles were found miles from where they originated. One boat has still not been located. Cattle and horses were killed and maimed. Amazingly, no people were killed, even though this happened at night and most people were home.

When the sun came up, and I drove through what was left of what used to be familiar country, I cried. And as I watched people sift through what was left of their lives and their homes, I couldn't bring myself to lift my camera. I felt I was better served helping them salvage what they could.

Now I wish I had taken those pictures. I really wish I had. Because the few photos I've seen just don't do justice to the reality of what was. Not that I could have done any better, but perhaps I could have documented more, so that we could have said to future generations "see, THIS is what it was. THIS is how bad it really was."

My 2 cents.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alissaspics/269518203/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/81/269518203_e2ddbacac4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Hopkinsville, KY tornado--April 2006" /></a>

[PnwGuy]

Thanks for the input. Definitely some food for thought. Alissa, that was a powerful posting and really made me think.

I guess as long as there aren't any mangled bodies or blood in the shot, and I'm trying to capture the emotion, or the actual event, and I don't have to go too far out of my way, I'm going to start taking some shots I normally would not take. Although I hope to be able to do is discreetly with a zoom and not even be noticed. Then, depending upon the reactions I get, if any, just play each situation by ear. I'm also thinking of having some cards made with my email and Flickr URL which I can offer if the situation warrants it. Thanks again all!

[RainPacket]

PnwGuy, as an additional note... if you're trying to capture emotion in a news-worthy context, it's worth looking into YouWitness. There's a group for it on Flickr, and the actual YouWitness News (which is part of Yahoo! News and Reuters) takes their pictures from your Flickr feed; you log into YouWitness, and pick what images you want to submit, write up the information that goes with it, and if they find it worthy, it goes into the Yahoo! News photostream.

For one thing, it's nice to feel your pictures have gone to use -- I have one in the Yahoo! News stream right now, which was a pleasant surprise to me -- and for another, there's some very good guides on how to handle touchy situations in photojournalism available from the YouWitness resources list.

[PnwGuy]

PnwGuy, as an additional note... if you're trying to capture emotion in a news-worthy context, it's worth looking into YouWitness. There's a group for it on Flickr, and the actual YouWitness News (which is part of Yahoo! News and Reuters) takes their pictures from your Flickr feed; you log into YouWitness, and pick what images you want to submit, write up the information that goes with it, and if they find it worthy, it goes into the Yahoo! News photostream.

For one thing, it's nice to feel your pictures have gone to use -- I have one in the Yahoo! News stream right now, which was a pleasant surprise to me -- and for another, there's some very good guides on how to handle touchy situations in photojournalism available from the YouWitness resources list.

Rain, Excellent suggestion!! Thank you, I'll take a peek now. Thanks so much!!

BTW...which of your shots is on there, if I may ask?

[RainPacket]

This one (http://news.yahoo.com/photo/061216/photos_ywitness/d754c0fb6dfbe9e2aaab3327e06ab7f0) (seen on Yahoo! News), which is here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/packet/324178625/) in my Flickr photostream. :)

[KatherineEmma]

Interesting discussion.

I went on a bit of a roadtrip down to the gulf coast in september and inevitably saw some scenes of absolute devastation, despite it being a year on from hurricane Katrina. I really didn't feel comfortable with the idea of taking pictures, as though I would be treating the destruction of someone's life as a source of fascination or drama in my own. My husband sees it differently - more in the 'recording it for posterity' vein and he took these:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/49621209@N00/322884078/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/131/322884078_2f8d33d76c.jpg" width="500" height="402" alt="Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/49621209@N00/331330874/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/331330874_225ea46ac4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="New Orleans" /></a>

I suppose the story here comes from the fact that it was an entire year after the event and nothing had changed.

If I feel uncomfortable enough to put the camera away in a situation where there is only me and my husband there, I very much doubt I could bring myself to shoot tragic events like your initial examples where the victims were still present.

Somebody accused me of "despicable poverty tourism" when I showed them those pictures, and I won't go into my response to that here because I'm veering off on a bit of a tangent, but this thread brings this Banksy artwork to mind: http://www.banksy.co.uk/indoors/media.html

[Breathephoto]

I like to evoke emotion in my shots... It's something that I strive for, and am continually trying to improve (i.e., I'm not very good yet). As such, I feel that if something makes me feel some emotion, I should probably take the picture. I don't believe this to be some despicable form of voyeurism or anything. I believe it to be appropriate. This is my own viewpoint though.

Here's a picture that I felt was kind of borderline in the manner you're describing:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/116/291637273_950dde8ff1.jpg

It's not as tragic as what you've described, but I'm sure there are people who would disapprove of this image. To me, it's nice just because it forces me to think...

[Faded_Mantis]

Before taking the shot you need to think "What am I trying to achieve with this shot?"

If you are taking a photo of a tragic scene to make people aware of how hard some people have it, or to let them know that not everyone is lucky enough to be happy and healthy, then the photo should be taken.

If you are taking a photo of a tragic scene just because you think it would make a good shot, or because you want to add another photo to your portfolio, then it probably shouldn't be taken because you are now doing it for yourself, and not for others.

So while taking photo's for youself is fine in most subject matter, when it concerns something tragic you should be doing it to make others aware.

That's my view.

[robwilliams]

This is a tough subject. Emotion captured on a camera is powerful though you have to be cautious of what your taking. I am an EMT in town and we have had incidences where people will be taking pictures of MVA's or sports injuries. I think if you are going to take pictures of accidents, respect the privacy of the patient and dont zoom on pictures of them. I think its alright to take a photo of the scene in general, emt's firefighters, crashed cars, helicopters etc. If you have a good photo of a scene and there is a picture of the patient and the family, although it may ruin the photo somewhat id suggest maybe blurring out their face if it is going to be uploaded. At sports events like i said before respect the privacy of the injured pt. I think though taking photos of Mock drills of events like that are the better way to go.

[deck]

Sort of an out of topic here, me and my dad were talking about photographs a few days ago when he mentioned an award winning shot where a baby was about to be snatched away by an eagle, yeah the guy won the top prize for the contest he joined it but he went nuts because of his conscience. Of course I don't know if the story is true or if its a tall tale, but I think my dad was trying to pass a point...
Anyway, I agree with taking pictures of tragic events if it is to show others the truth and the emotions in the event, but I think my dad was trying to say that there are times where you have to drop the camera and act.

[michaelsteinbach]

On a vaction to Waldorf MD to see my aunt and uncle, we went for a drive through a recently tornado hit neighborhood (this was several years ago) and people were still outside their houses surveying the damage at the time. I felt uncomfortable looking and yet couldn't look away. Only a couple people looked over at the van passing by. I idn't have a camera at the time, but I'd be too chicken to stop the car, roll down the window, and shoot someones devesated home like that.
I'm sure I could if I knew noone was there, but not while people are looking at me.
~Mike

[Benji]

If you think you would like to do this again in the future a quick phone call right now to your attorney might be wise. As lawsuit crazy as people are today I can just imagine a photographer being sued for a couple of million bucks by some hot shot lawyer because of some legalese mumbo jumbo.

Benji

[incurable-hippie]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/116/291637273_950dde8ff1.jpg

It's not as tragic as what you've described, but I'm sure there are people who would disapprove of this image. To me, it's nice just because it forces me to think...

I don't think this photo is tragic at all, it's just a bloke in the street.

Let's not patronise disabled people!

[incurable-hippie]

This is a really interesting subject, and very fraught as well!!

My main problem with photos like this is when the photographer could have actually been helping with a situation, rather than shooting it. Some photographers believe in the 'never intervene' rule but this is quite inhuman in many ways. If someone is in desperate need of help and instead of doing so, someone is photographing them this is pretty unethical, not to mention cruel!

In other circumstances, like people have described above, it is tough and I'm not sure how willing / able I would be to take these photos though, like others, I might want to.

It's interesting to see that a few people would take the shots if they weren't being watched, and wouldn't take the shots if they were. This seems to be more of a matter of not wanting to be shouted at than the actual ethics of the situation.

[Sergio]

I was actually just thinking about this yesterday. I decided that a funeral is not a good place to take pictures.

[TriciaLynn]

I dont see anything wrong with it as long as you are not getting in the way and not making it an uncomfortable situation for the subjects. It would be good in some cases to offer to forward them a copy. In the instance of the homeless man and those helping them, you could have approached them after to shake their hand and explain why you were taking it...such as the humaity you saw.

I say this, but on the other hand I am not one to get out of my comfort zone and do that myself. I have trouble snapping a pic of a biker on the riding trail down by the river. I am planning on working on that though.