Philosophy
The Ethics of Photography
When is it morally permissible to take photographs of strangers in public? Do photographers sometimes owe it to photographic subjects to represent them in ways that respect their agency or their beliefs about themselves? Can morally problematic aspects of photographs undermine their aesthetic value, or is their aesthetic value an independent matter? Is it morally wrong to aestheticize suffering or death in photographs (when it might not be wrong in paintings of similar subjects)? Is it morally wrong to produce photographs that deceive people who take them at face value? The Ethics of Photography offers a systematic presentation and assessment of arguments for a range of moral answers to these questions, as well as a novel defense of the artistic/moral rights of photographers, within certain limits.