On Being a Photographer

Class,

We didn't discuss the final interview in the episode of This American Life that we watched on Monday, but it seems relevant to this class, and perhaps Project 2 in particular.

Photographers are often stuck in an awkward position--do they document or do they intervene? In the TED talk we watched earlier this semester, Rick Smolan told of photographers standing outside of the hotel, snapping photos of people jumping as the building burned. This doesn't just happen in Korea, the well-known "Falling Man" photographs of 9/11 are another example of this (Google it if you're unfamiliar).

Nora Ephron wrote an essay in the mid 1970's about a similar situation. The Boston Globe published a front page photograph of a woman and child falling from a burning building. The woman died, but the child lived, mainly because the woman broke her fall. Here's a link to Ephron's essay, which includes the photograph:

http://www.haverford.edu/writingprogram/development/Ephron.pdf

Many people were outraged that the sensational photograph was published, but the publication eventually led to the nationwide improvement of fire escapes. Ephron's essay questions the publication of the photograph, and she comes to an interesting conclusion (or maybe she cops out, I'm not sure I agree with her). Regardless of that, it's an interesting essay and worth the read. She also does an excellent job of incorporating multiple perspectives, something you all should be doing in Project 3.