The ethics of wildlife photography have been the subject of much debate for some time now and were perhaps highlighted by the enormous controversy generated by the alleged use of a tame/trained wolf by the original (but later disqualified) winner of the 2009 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
OK – so that was a clear breach of the competition rules and obviously he had to be disqualified, but this controversy brought the whole subject of the ethics of wildlife photography into open debate, not only in relation to the use of captive subjects in competitions but also such issues as excessive digital manipulation intended to deceive the viewer and the accurate captioning of images of captive subjects in general.
The continuing use of images of captive subjects portrayed as ‘wildlife’ in various newspapers and magazines (but without always being captioned as such) has added fuel to the fire as many readers clearly don’t like being the victims of such deception.
And of course many photographers (including some quite big names) continue to market/exhibit images of captive subjects under the heading of ‘Wildlife Photography’ and/or with the clear inference that their subjects were wild and free - possibly in breach of the misrepresentation of goods legislation.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve no problem with anyone taking images of captive subjects – be it at a zoo, a bird of prey workshop, a so-called ‘wildlife centre’ or whatever - if that’s what they want to do. My concern lies with those who attempt to dishonestly pass off such images as ‘wildlife’ and whether in competitions or elsewhere.
Sadly, such matters have resulted in many non-photographer wildlife enthusiasts taking the view that they can no longer believe their eyes when viewing ‘wildlife’ images and have generated deep mistrust of those of us engaged in true wildlife photography.
Over the last year or so there has been a series of articles/discussions on the subject of wildlife photography ethics in various publications/forums and this culminated in Mark Cawardine’s address to the audience of some 400 photographers and industry experts at last Autumn’s ‘WildPhotos’ event and at which wildlife photographers were invited to sign up to the following ‘WildPhotos 2010 ethics declaration’ –
“As responsible photographers of wildlife -
• We will always put the welfare of our subjects and care of the environment above any photographic aims.
• We will never use live bait or any bait that will adversely affect the behaviour of an animal.
• We will always be honest in declaring the circumstances under which a photograph has been taken.
• We will never use digital manipulation to misrepresent a subject or mislead the viewer.”
Almost 500 photographers from all around the world have since added their names, including several WAB members such as
matt-xyz,
pressld2,
targetman and myself (with apologies to anyone I’ve missed).
Are there any other WAB-member photographers who wish to commit to the above in an effort to bring greater honesty into wildlife photography and to help clean up the image (no pun intended
) of all of us engaged in it?
If so, please see/sign up here –
Ethics Declaration | WildPhotos
Jeff
(Schedule 1 Licence holder for Kingfishers, Barn Owls & Avocets)
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