Ethics In Contemporary Photojournalism – Has Kajodi Reached Home?
– Rahul Bhattacharya

Many years ago, the Wanted series initiated the dialogue on ethics in photography. a seminar was organised at max muller Bhavan delhi in collaboration with goa- Cap and askar. subsequently, the goethe Institute at New delhi tried to formulate a working group which would explore the question of ethics in photographic practices. a large seminar was followed by a couple of close think-thank meeting, and then we all disappeared. going back to the conversation that we generated, I remember being numbed by the impossibility of it all. Yet, ethics as praxis and as a concept metaphor has always remained important to me as a critical tool while looking at (looking through) any cultural act or artefact. In today’s world, we can no longer hold on to the notion of a ‘Universal good’. over the years my notions of ethics have been shaped by moral negotiation processes, red-flagging arbitrariness or manipulation.


‘The Vulture and the little girl’ is perhaps one of the earliest instances in recent memory which threw up grave questions regarding ethics in photojournalist practices. Initially, Carter claimed to have come upon the scene, snapped a few photos, and then chased the bird away.