To pay or not to pay? To stage or not to stage?
Posted by Tim Gruber | Filed under Uncategorized
Hello Athens.
Jenn and I just got back from a nice little road trip from Utah to Ohio, which also means I’m back in the blogging saddle. I’ll post more from the trip when I get settled in.
In the meantime I found this post and discussion interesting and wanted to pass it on.
Just a bit of what you’ll find on Michael’s post about Manufactured Landscapes:
Right after, there’s a scene where Burtynsky’s assistant pays a man carrying firewood. You get the feeling that the payment was given because each man was halted from what they’d been doing, and asked to do it again, for the benefit of a photograph.
There’s something about the photograph above that feels lessened, after learning it was staged. You might say more is manufactured than just the landscape in Burtynsky’s work. Documentary images needn’t always be candid, but I always thought payment was a no no.
Back to unpacking.
Further Reading:
Tags: ethics, journalism, photojournalism