The Fundamentals of Photographic Consent

Unpacking the fundamentals of photographic consent, including informed consent, consent forms, who can consent, and non-consent.

Homepage, PEC ContentSavannah Dodd3 February 2022photography, consent, informed consent, autonomy, ethics, power

The Ethics of Documenting Your Own Family

While turning the camera inward may alleviate ethical qualms about positionality, photographing the people closest to us is not without ethical considerations. Seven photographers discuss the ethics of working on stories close to home.

Interview with Smita Sharma on “Stolen Lives”

After my podcast interview with Smita Sharma earlier this autumn, I wanted to learn more about her experience photographing “Stolen Lives: The harrowing story of two girls sold into sexual slavery” for National Geographic.

Webinar: Applying the Photographer's Ethical Toolkit to the Coronavirus

May 1, 2020

PEC ContentSavannah Dodd4 May 2020event, webinar, empathy, autonomy, consent, integrityComment

Episode 8: Gilmore Girls

In this episode, we look at a clip from Gilmore Girls to talk about consent and safety when photographing events in public spaces.

Photo Ethics on FilmSavannah Dodd31 March 2020photography, consent, privacy, safety, ethicsComment

Field notes on Othering: A critique of Soham Gupta’s photobook ‘Angst’

A look at Soham Gupta’s Angst as a symptom of a larger ongoing system of questionable practices of representation.

Episode 7: Grey's Anatomy

In this video we will talk about informed consent in sensitive settings and with individuals who might not be able to consent for themselves by looking at a clip from the TV series Grey's Anatomy.

Photo Ethics on FilmSavannah Dodd11 July 2019photography, ethics, consent, hospital, medicalComment

Informed Consent and How to Fix it

In this article we tackle some of the challenges of informed consent in development contexts.

Episode 6: True Story

Here we talk about the difficult relationship between power and consent by looking at clips from the film True Story. We will zoom in on the ethical concerns about giving money to subjects in exchange for photographic consent.

Photo Ethics on FilmSavannah Dodd15 April 2019photography, consent, journalism Comment

Episode 4: The Holiday Calendar

Watch this video to better understand how to ethically ask for consent when working with vulnerable people.

“Dreaming Food”: A Reflection on Responses and Responsibilities

One of the most written about controversies of 2018 was Dreaming Food by Alessio Mamo. Here is a break down of the key points.

Homepage, PEC ContentSavannah Dodd28 December 2018case study, consent, empathy, understanding, ethics, photography, vulnerabilityComment

Episode 2: 13 Reasons Why

How do we know when we can photograph? What is the difference between public and private space? Here are your questions answered.

Photo Ethics on FilmSavannah Dodd19 November 2018consent, privacy, ethics, photographyComment

Episode 1: Departures

Children love a camera. They find it really exciting, they want to engage with it, and they want to see themselves in a picture. But there are ethical challenges because children cannot consent. What can we do?

Photo Ethics on FilmSavannah Dodd1 November 2018ethics, consent, children, informed consent, photographyComment

Negotiating Consent in Development Contexts

The issue of consent is key across the photographic community. But development photography, in particular, presents a unique set of challenges because of the complexity of the subject/photographer relationship.

The People in the Pictures: Vital perspectives on Save the Children’s image making

Save the Children conducted a four-country (UK, Jordan, Bangladesh, and Niger) research project to listen to and learn from those who contribute their images and stories (contributors), as well as members of their communities and Save the Children staff.