Photography and Tragedy—When Should You Put Down the Camera? – Response

As stated before by my other classmates, I feel that in order to capture the emotion during a certain moment, the picture has to be candid.  As if taken by surprise; otherwise, things wouldn’t seem real.  They’d seem posed.  However, in this circumstance, it is my belief that these photographers should have approached the subject and asked her for her consent in releasing that photo after having taken it.  Photographers need to understand that people want respect and privacy.  Still, there have been many photographs taken throughout history that truly embody the emotions felt during that time.  It helps the audience capture the moment and empathize with whatever is going on.  Conversely, having to ask for consent in taking photographs can also depend on the situation at hand.  Someone grieving a lost one may have more reservations on having their pictures taken as appose to a person being reelected as president.  I also believe that photography plays an important role in documenting moments in history.  This is so that other generations can have a visual when learning about the past.  Perhaps if photographers had asked previous subjects in their photographs for their consent, we wouldn’t have the pictures of the past that we have today.