About the Campaign
Commit to writing and publishing your own Statement of Ethics.
Since 2020, we have been asking the photographers interviewed on The Photo Ethics Podcast: what does photography ethics mean to you? This is a question that all photographers – not just podcast guests – should be answering. This is why we are asking people across the photography industry to reflect on their practice, identify their own ethical approach, and share it with the world.
This is a campaign encouraging people to make the pledge, committing to writing and publishing their own Statement of Ethics. This pledge is for photographers, photo editors, curators, photo organisations, and any one else who maintains a practice working with photographs or other photo-realistic visual media.
What this pledge is not:
This is not a passive pledge. We are asking for participation in a movement toward increased transparency, accountability, and awareness of ethics in photography.
This is not a pledge to a specific set of ethical guidelines. We believe that ethics are subjective, contextual, and fluid. This is why we are asking you to do the work of reflecting on your practice and considering what ethics means to you in that context.
Statement of Ethics
What is a Statement of Ethics?
A Statement of Ethics is a declaration of your ethical principles and a description of how you enact those principles in your photography practice. The purpose is to explore what ethics means in your practice for yourself, and then to share your commitment to ethics with others.
Publishing your Statement of Ethics on your website serves three functions:
It sets an example for others.
It encourages transparency.
It fosters accountability.
Recommendations for writing a Statement of Ethics
Your Statement of Ethics is unique to you, and we encourage you to take it in whatever direction feels most authentic. We do, however, have a few recommendations to help you get started.
Engage in self-reflection: Why do you do the work that you do? What drives you? What ethical principles guide you?
Do some research: Read articles, watch videos, listen to podcasts, and learn from others about how they approach photography ethics.
Start with principles, then identify actions: It is good to say that you value dignity, but it is far better to explain what dignity means to you, whose dignity you are talking about, and how you will uphold dignity in your practice.
You can also read Statements of Ethics written by people who have already made the pledge.
Keep in mind that your Statement of Ethics is organic. Just as your ethics will change overtime as you learn new things and have new life experiences, so too will your Statement of Ethics change and grow with you. We recommend that you review your Statement annually to ensure that it reflects current practice.
Make the Pledge
Commit to writing and publishing your own Statement of Ethics.
When you sign the pledge, your name will be added to the public list (below) and you will be invited to download a digital badge.
Committed to Visual Media Ethics
The following people and organisations have made a pledge to write their own Statement of Ethics and to publish it to their websites.