Controversies

Upon reading the post provided to us about specific instances of photography use I find it interesting to see what sort of perceptions different people have and how they as an overall group of people, directly influence the way the law changes over time. Photographs once shown in galleries can be taken down at a moments notice regarding the current law changes.

I read about the case where Brooke Shields had pictures taken at 10 years old in the bath. The topic that Gross chose seems a little risqué, but I would say more has come to light recently regarding the topic of the sexualisation of young girls. The difference between a naked image of a girl in a bath, being simply a girl in the bath is very different once they adopt makeup. I do not feel the photographer himself was doing anything pornographic here. I think it was an unfortunate case though, as Brooke herself didn't even sign away those rights to her pictures then. I don't feel parents should be able to do that, at least the contract should be limited to when she is old enough to realise she doesn't want them in a public domain.
Photographers and companies now have to be really careful with showing any child nudity. I understand in some respects, considering the children themselves can't understand that people will see this work of them however, I feel in a sense that limiting that sort of innocent picture taking will always be a slippery slope.

The story of Omayra Sánchez was more shocking to me than most. Similar to the pictures of the man stealing grain from a starving boy, Fournier's image shocked many people. No one really wants to see technology capturing the moments of a young girl's death, yet being unable to save her. The photographer could do nothing but watch and capture, as he spoke with her during her time left. I really find these sort of photographers astounding. To me it never shows a lack of help with them standing back and observing. They are making a much bigger statement through the documentation of incidents, to the entire world.
I feel the pictures of Omayra do not really serve any purpose other than to show humanity very plainly. The people around her trying to help and the people in government who did not. I feel that in this sort of case I would want to show the world what was going on, the girl does not seem phased by any of it. She speaks on camera quite openly. I think in this case the image did an amazing job to illustrate an amazing girl who stayed calm throughout her ordeal. It shows certain aspects of humanity in a very positive light.

Toscani's image of 'Kissing-nun' doesn't really shock me all that much. The only thing I see from this image is that he's portraying the fact that although things are forbidden in these lifestyles, the people are still human beings. This goes against anything traditional but they're still shown in a very nice light overall. Toscani's work seems to be all about the shock value, making people think. I suppose if I was more religious I might feel differently but as it stands he's simply making people look at traditional contraints within society today.