Forced to Photograph
2008 April 13
I also found this topic from Musings on Photography. This is a very scary issue for me as a photographer. I cannot imagine someone approaching me to photograph something I was against and then being sued because I did not want to do it. I’m not going to say much on this topic right now. I haven’t had time to think about what I want to write. But I will come back to it. That fact that this happened is really frustrating but the fact that it is getting discussed could mean change in the future.
Read this article about a photographer taken to court for refusing to photograph a same sex marriage.
This has happened to me before (not the lawsuit) and whenever I’m asked to do a job that doesn’t align with my ethics I simply say “sorry I can’t do it”. That’s it! No explanation necessary…telling someone why you’re not taking it just creates conflict. That’s my thoughts on the matter anyway.
As a side note, I don’t understand why we, as a society, constantly look for validation from others. Did the photographer not wanting to shoot their wedding make the couple any less of a couple? I don’t think so. But it’s not just that. There’s this element of force and control that doesn’t sit well with me…someone forcing me to shoot their wedding is like me forcing them to not be gay anymore. Where does it end?
I know. It’s nuts. But what if you went into Mcdonald’s and ‘they’ refused to sell you fries? Or Chapters refused you a magazine? Or Winners…oh maybe I shouldn’t go there!! haha, just trying to up the controversy. Do we look at it as a service we are providing or an art we are selling?
I see what you’re saying. Very tough! I believe in equality, definitely, but I don’t believe I’m just in the service industry: what we do is more personal. Whether anyone else sees what I do as art; I do! lol
I really like the part in the article that talks about forcing a writer to write something specific in a newspaper. It reminded me of the newspapers in Zimbabwe that are completely controlled by the government. Nothing is written that isn’t forced or written by their own people. If our society goes it that direction we’re done. That might sound extreme but as an artist it’s especially true. No one can force me to worship their god and no one should be able to force me to express myself in a certain way.
You may be in for a shock, lol, but all Canada’s major newspapers (and most of the small ones) are owned privately by one company who dictates what can and can’t be printed. You’ve heard of Conrad Black? Well before he went to prison, HE was the man who personally owned them ALL.
Yes, that is true to a point. All the media is that way…including everything you see on the news. It is controlled but not to the point that it is in country’s like Zimbabwe. In North America they are not forced to write about things they don’t want to write about. If the writer does not want to write a story he/she could always quit without being sued (hopefully).
Just for reference, I reread the article and it didn’t say a writer for a newspaper, they were comparing a free lance writer.
Yikes. That is crazy. I honestly had never thought of it that way.
I completely agree with you on this point Lori, “There’s this element of force and control that doesn’t sit well with me…someone forcing me to shoot their wedding is like me forcing them to not be gay anymore.” Very well said.
Wow, no one’s ever agreed with me before. I don’t know what to do with that *Lori wanders aimlessly* lol.