Subway death photo discussions - What do NPAC members think?

[Don Denton]

Lots of online discussion about ethics of shooting/running photo of man about to be killed by NY subway train.

I find it "interesting" that most of the posts even those slamming the use of the image are running the front page of the paper showing the photo.

A couple of threads here:

http://gawker.com/5965659/would-you-have-taken-the-post-subway-photo-pulitzer+winning-photographers-respond

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2012/12/05/r_umar_abbasi_ki_suk_han_ny_post_photog_explains_what_happened_what_he_thought.html

[Lyle Aspinall]

I think Vincent Laforet expressed my reaction better than I could have written it (it's at the top of Don's first link). In a nutshell: Since I wasn't there, I have to trust the photog at face value and believe he couldn't have reached the man in time. Without seeing anything suggesting otherwise, I have to believe he did the only thing in his power in the moment. If evidence to the contrary comes to light, I'll re-evaluate my opinion at that point.

[Fred Lum]

as usual, Poynter has a good take on this as well.

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/197176/ny-post-subway-photog-every-time-i-close-my-eyes-i-see-the-image-of-death/

[Ken Gigliotti]

I was writing this as these posts came in , so the story begins to be more clear>
Judging from  other photos and news reports , the man who threw the victim onto the tracks caused  other people on the platform to disappear or flee the scene . If people were afraid they were going to be tossed on those tracks  would account  for no one going to the rescue or at least causing the loss of valuable reaction time. ( seconds) This is not a simple story of an uncaring public .
  This is one thing for sure photographers should think about  ahead of time . I was in a situation during the Olympic Flame tour , when I could see a TV photographer backing up , fallowing the action and not seeing he was  going trip and fall backwards over a large dock tie down on the boat pier we were on . I could see clearly he was going to trip and fall backwards over the dock and fall at least 8 ft to the frozen ice of Gimli Harbour MB. This would have been fatal at its worst , neck/back breaking at the least . As the Flame carrier  and security ran toward us , I had to  try to move into the frame of the TV shooter so he could see me . I know that yelling him might be ignored as we sometimes  cut out  sounds when involved in  intense concentration . I moved into his frame , pointed at him and yelled at him to stop. I guess he was kind of stunned by my action and came to a stop just before he backed over the dock tie down. He realized right away how close the danger was. The head of  Flame security was very pissed at me and just glared at me for the rest of the day .
   This brings me to the  guy on the tracks . In a perfect world running towards him , waving  hands, directing the eyes of the driver to that spot,  might have given the train driver more time to stop. Flashing the  camera might distract away from the point of danger , or  cause the driver to loose his low light vision, in any case do more harm than good. As paramedics and firefighters say “don't make things worse”.
  This is not to judge , the guy that caused the victim to be on the tracks  may have still been on scene , and still threatening , the chaos of people  fleeing  and the train  coming and the few seconds  it all transpired in would be very confusing  . Photographers are conditioned to watch , stay above it all . I find this training  effects my everyday life and will cause delayed reactions even to family situations.  In any case  these are all very bad circumstances for the victim.
   Taking a picture is one issue , printing it is the other .The victim facing away works in favour of publication . The tragic circumstance  is an issue . Was this a crime or a mental health issue ?, should people feel safe or not on these platforms ? It's a story and concern for subway users . There are likely other pictures , I can only guess.
  These  things will often cause Post Traumatic Stress for the photog and I don't know of any newspaper that would even ask that question or offer help . When a bank is robbed all the bank staff are offered counselings automatically.  
  These circumstances are inevitable for news photographers . I am sure Umar Abbasi will carry this image and others in his mind forever . It is a good thing to seek help early from medical professionals , they have effective  treatments .I know this personally .

[Moe Doiron]

Nobody can really answer the question "what would you do?" without having been there but I'd like to think that if I chose to shoot a photo, after having quickly exhausted any possibility of helping the victim, I would have pointed the camera at the pusher.

[Ken Gigliotti]

If  photographers were to write down the conditions and thought pattern that led to how they took their greatest picture , it would likely take an hour to write .This would be the  same time needed to fill out a police report on your last MVC. It may take a person  only about three minutes to read it.
  The funny thing is , by the time it took to say to yourself , “take the picture, stupid” it would have been all over and the picture would have been missed.
 The time element is one of the most important elements in any story , but the hardest to understand . Journalists should know this but it is often the most misunderstood element of any news story . Time duration is an element I have never read in any story. The events of fatal MVC's ,bar shootings , raging house fires never say  anywhere in the words , the total duration was 30 seconds , one minute , 5 seconds . This element would greatly add to any news story and lead to greater clarity  to the reader , and car insurance companies .
  It would be interesting to know if the photographer   Umar Abbasi would describe his entire involvement in the space of a minute , two minutes or less than 30 seconds .(he says in the video it took 25 seconds  from begining to end ,and the guy on the tracks was up and making his way to the  platform to get out.)  I would argue most peak moment experiences for photography last no more than 5 seconds . This one maybe a minute to realize the guy could not make it out.  It would take at least 45 minutes for him to retrace every thought that went through his head from the time he saw the guy go over (he did not see that) to the time he took the picture.
  Time and  space are the essence of trauma and guilt . No one should judge , but we judge everyday , just hope none of us ever sees anything like this .Again our business gives away awards for these moments. These are very disturbing aspects of our trade that keep me up all night when I hear someone is going through these life changing , fatal moments .
  The driver of the train actually sees in tunnel vision , he begins to  slow down before he reaches  the open space of the platform . He can see down the track well before , and with greater clarity that anyone else. Every train  driver  has this scenario in their heads . Time ,and space did not have the tolerance for rescue by the time the picture was taken , it seems obvious.
 Could the flashes look like muzzle flashes to the train driver , or add to the confusion ? This is a bad situation to wittness.
I believe journalism needs to think in 360 degree formats with consideration for time and space. Different people will view the same event differently . Our view is often judgemental and it has repercussions. I  believe our business should be more forgiving in these situations but I known sensationalism sells papers . Maybe not as many papers  as before . This may be a clue .It is obvious to me our readers want us to be better. CNN often speculates oblique views of situations with experts and commentary . A paragraph raising possibilities should be mandatory in breaking news because facts are often scarce , even just to hedge our bet.
 Cryptic headlines , knee jerk reactions  are often  inaccurate remnants of an old news format .It is proven day in and day out with a little more digging. ( see Fire the Photographer on page 4 of this site)  Don't fire the photographer because  they thrive in  weak systems and chaos .
   We survive because , we take  pictures without hesitation , people will talk to us , because we are solid people , and because we last .We are good company in bad times and bad times are next. . In the end  a good photographer and a good reporter can accomplish anything . 
  Consider yourself lucky when this all ends and you have a photographer to record it by your side. So don't  fire  them all  for that reason alone ,just bring it.  kg

[Ali Ledgerwood]

Interesting discussion on Q:

http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2012/12/06/was-tuesdays-new-york-post-cover-unethical/

[Jack Simpson]

when I first read about this from I read/heard them say "the crowd gasped (I suspect, when the victim was pushed on to the tracks)" ... that pretty much sums it for me.

Personally, I wouldn't have hesitated to (try and) help the fellow. Of course, then I would have become part of the photo-op.

Cheers,

Jack

[Kenneth Armstrong]

I don't doubt you on that, Jack but I imagine if someone had interviewed all the people on the platform prior to this event most would have said they wouldn't hesitate to help yet not a single person did.

[Ken Gigliotti]

This is true , the thing that is different is the flashing .I have a hard time getting mine to flash 4 times in a row , 50 consecutive flashes   would certainly effect a crowd  , maybe freeze them and as the seconds tick down to  zero . ( the photog  explains the how the flash  was set ) I have always thought it would be an interesting alternative to current journalistic approaches to  create a “black box”  alternative  to reporting . To create  the last 30 seconds of a spot news event from many perspectives at the same time. This would be much like the way a “black box” on an airplane works . In this case the photographer has already  generated his 25 seconds , the train driver would be another , a person on the platform .There is cellphone  video of the argument that must have been remarkable enough to record by a person standing near by. This idea is done by accident by all journalists  but to mandate a 360 degree  view of the same 30 seconds  on any given  event could prove interesting and provide better understanding by the readers .Many readers  many already have a better understanding than news editors . It would mean filling in reporter notes with possible speculation from another driver , or streeter type  comment from the public that travel in the area .The speculation may bring other missing people and elements through useful online comments . The online comment could be a very strong innovation , it has already provided unexpected insights . I once read a book about the WW1 Christmas Truce 1914, based on letter by many soldiers fighting the brutal trench warfare viewing the same few hours on No Man's Land with the enemy , sing Christmas carols and exchanging food. One soldier  soldier took the opportunity to located a German sniper position  that was resolved the next day.

[Warren Toda]

Lots of online discussion about ethics of shooting/running photo of man about to be killed by NY subway train.

Armchair quarterbacks have existed for a long time. Even though the Web has amped up their volume to infinity, that doesn't mean their comments have any value. It's always easy to make judgement on matters for which you have no responsibility. If you weren't there, you can't comment. Period.

"All photos are accurate. None of them is the truth."  - Richard Avedon

"The camera cannot lie but it can be an accessory to untruth."  - Harold Evans

Can you tell the final score of a football game by looking at one picture shot during the game? Can you judge whether someone is guilty by looking at one picture of them standing in front of the court house?

Every photograph has one huge flaw: it shows only what was in the viewfinder. It's like the human mind which sees only what's between the ears.

I have always thought it would be an interesting alternative to current journalistic approaches to  create a “black box”  alternative to reporting. To create the last 30 seconds of a spot news event from many perspectives at the same time. This would be much like the way a “black box” on an airplane works. In this case, the photographer has already generated his 25 seconds, the train driver would be another, a person on the platform.

This idea is done by accident by all journalists but to mandate a 360 degree view of the same 30 seconds on any given event could prove interesting and provide better understanding by the readers.

This "black box" idea of recreating the event from every angle used to be the way many newspapers operated. I recall this from the 1980s and 90s when papers sent three, four, or more, photographers and a half-dozen reporters to cover one news event (e.g. large fire, car crash, crime, etc.). Back then, everyone carried two-way radios so they could always co-ordinate their coverage and create the "360-degree" coverage.

Today, two-way radios are gone and cellphones allow only for private conversations. One photographer and one reporter is the limit except for preplanned events like sports, political conventions, election night coverage and special features. All predictable events.

Papers no longer have the ability to turn on a dime because that dime now costs too much.

Many readers many already have a better understanding than news editors.

There's an understatement.

[Louie Palu]

Quite simply if you were not there, you don't know and can't say what you would have done or what the photographer would should have done.

This reminds me of what happened after Kevin Carter's photo was published.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5241442

[Jack Simpson]

Quite simply if you were not there, you don't know and can't say what you would have done or what the photographer would should have done.

Very true, Louie. In fact, what I ask myself, every once in a while, when a very
young Kevin Frayer headed off to Yugoslavia in the early 90's ... and I often wonder,
could have I done that    

Jack

[Louie Palu]

All one has to do is buy a plane ticket, follow your dream and work hard.

The subway incident is a little bit different.