Argumentative Essay On Photography

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Photography has been a game changer in our society and no one can deny that. A certain photograph can change a person’s stance on an issue in an instance. Capturing a moment can pull a person’s heart strings in any direction. However, is taking a picture always appropriate or are there times and places where its better to just put the camera down? These moral questions sometimes all come down to the individual’s discernment as they evaluate the worth of getting the shot versus the appropriateness of the moment. This can be seen in the picture of the murdered Haitian girl from the angle of the photographer in figure one, versus the angle of the photographers taking the picture in figure two. Photographs can put things into perspective by …show more content…
Paumgarten explains it as, “When it ends badly, the camera can be a kind of black box” (339). This idea is being implemented into the United States law enforcement officers on duty recently and has been implemented into the military for a while. Due to all of the controversies with accusations about police brutality and all sorts of injustices, many police departments are putting cameras on the bodies of many police officers on duty. This is to ensure that both the police and citizen are protected legally with documentation of everything that goes on in their interaction with video recordings. This eliminates slander against both parties in case things do end up going badly in an encounter. However, it doesn’t always have to be negative information it can be something such as an advertisement as well. A video tour of a theme park you’ve never been to can provide more information than just reading about it ever could. This is because when you actually can see how things really are it gives the viewer more confidence before making the decision to actually purchase …show more content…
Sometimes we also need to evaluate the appropriateness of taking a picture. News reporter James Thom is in the perfect position to take an award-winning picture of a grandfather in a candid position of grief, looking over the dead child. He decided not to take the picture and he describes his thoughts as,” Every day on the newscasts and in the papers, we see pictures of people in extreme conditions of grief and despair. Human suffering has become a spectator sport… I still feel right about what I did” (47). A lot of the times we don’t think about whether that moment is appropriate to take the picture and don’t even consider it when looking at the picture on a news article. Which is why the pictures shown in figure one and two really give a good perspective on why a moral unrest may occur when a reporter is taking a picture. Sometimes it is just better to put the camera down and just live the moment without the need to interrupt it. Ultimately, it is up to the person taking the picture to decide whether it is appropriate but it is a dilemma that shouldn’t be ignored and rather taken more

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