Objectivity in documentary photography

The first set exercise in this course is to look at news photographs of emergencies and consider whether it is possible to create truly objective images of these occurrences.   

I very rarely watch the news; I hear snippets of some of the disgusting things that are happening in the world today but I really don’t want it ramming in my face while eating breakfast. As a result, I really wasn’t prepared for the sick feeling in my stomach when researching the suggested ‘Abu Graib’. As I viewed the repulsive images on the page one word rattled around my head: why?

I don’t know what reaction the photographers were aiming for but one thing is certain, they most definitely were aiming for a reaction. My emotional response, and I’m sure I’m among many, suggests that these images evoke personal feelings. Surely these personal feelings must be amplified for the photographer and with these feelings in force, is it really possible to record such moments with an objective eye.

The nature of a photograph gives an impression of objectivity; as with film, it is recording reality. If we thought no further we could probably deduce that yes, documentary photography is always objective. Delving deeper though, we need to look at what is not within the frame to fully answer this question. Why did the photographer choose this viewpoint, this focal length and this exact moment to hit the shutter? What is outside the frame, behind the photographer, what happened just before or the moment after?

‘Objective’ means free of bias or prejudice caused by personal feelings. What makes a documentary photographer decide to capture an image; something which captures them, takes their interest has a chance of capturing the hearts and minds of the reader making a successful photograph. Randomly snapping without feeling probably wouldn’t make for interesting news so I suppose the question is, should there be objectivity in documentary photography?

Don McCullin, famed war photographer believes that his success is in his emotional approach. McCullin’s ethos is to be there, feel it, live it and look at what’s in front of you in order to capture so much more than visual impact. This could not and I believe should not be done with objectivity.

This aside, most would say that the one thing they should expect from the news is the truth. With so much subjectively captured imagery, are we getting the truth? We can all see by scanning the headlines that each newspaper has their own personal perspective on the truth; naturally, the accompanying photography mirrors those versions.

My research lead me to browse Google Images using various famed emergencies, the wars in Syria and Afghanistan and the London Bombings among others. What interested me the most when searching the Syrian war was the quick search buttons above the images. Assumingly influenced by popular searches, these buttons were entitled: children, destruction, crimes and bodies. These four words tell me without even clicking on the links that I am going to feel something when I browse the images. Am I going to feel proud, looking at photographs of soldiers adorning medals, or even a little uneasy viewing them fighting, brandishing guns?  No, the four main groups of image under this title are going to show me death and destruction; not just the soldiers who have signed up to fight but innocent children whose only crime is being born in a time and place where bad things happen.

Objectivity? I think not...