Etyczne problemy fotografa

Abstract

The incorporation of photography into mass culture brought with it a new group of customs and ethical problems. On certain levels, this paradigm shift continues to influence our perceptions of social reality. Taking photos has become a social habit in most parts of the world. Most of us are producers and consumers of great number of photos. We may distinguish four kinds of photography: amateurs-memorial, advertising photography, artistic photography and photojournalism. With the social acceptance of all of these kinds of photography different ethical problems arise. For example, memorial pictures might be treated as representative of a conventional way of thinking one way in which mass society might share a world perception. Compared to the other types of photography, memorial photos operate in safer spheres, areas widely accepted by those involved in the process. Usually these photos are devoted to special occasions, and very rarely are these rules broken. Because of the nature of memorial photography, the ethical problems are different than those connected with the other types of photography. The ethical problems attached to memorial photography are less difficult or complicated than those of the other three types, but deserve equal attention. Often these three types of photos have larger public exposure, such as on billboards, in museums or print media, and therefore they become more deeply incorporated into social reality and raise ethical dilemmas. The reasons and the aims of taking any photos are different, and therefore the ethical problems are inevitably different, and deserve different theoretical explorations.