First, I'd like to say that I think that is a very powerful photograph. I puzzled for a while over Frank's question of exploitation and then puzzled a while longer on whether the question of whether something was exploitation could ever be properly judged by oneself, or others, or a poll. I decided that it comes down to the photographer's motive and that was something that no one else would be in a position to properly judge. I decided that it is good (commendable) to question oneself (as Frank seems to have done here), but I also decided that the answer can only come from one's own conscience and not from that of others.
As photographers, we have choices to make constantly: from what subjects we photograph (and which we ignore) to which of our images we deem "good", to which images we deem worth of showing others as representative of what we have captured and/or created. What we don't have control over is how those images are going to be interpreted or received by the viewer. A couple of threads that you may find thought-provoking on the subject: (possibly disturbing images warning) http://www.dphotographer.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4004&f=17 http://morningmedia.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/questioning-photojournalism-how-true-is-truth/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
