How Much is Too Much? Examining the Ethical Boundaries of Exposure from Production to Editing in Photojournalism

This study seeks to examine the perceptions of practitioners in the field of photojournalism regarding ethical exposure in photojournalism in both the production and editing phases. The ethical considerations range from exposing for the highlight, or the brightest part of a frame, to exposing for the shadows,” or the darkest park of a frame, and incorporates professional boundary frameworks, social constructon theory and semiotics within professional photojournalism practices. The findings show that although practitioners agreed upon generalized ideals of an ethically made exposure, a fracture begins to emerge once these boundaries are extended beyond this generalized ideal, suggesting a lack of conformity within of what constitutes an ethical exposure. These ethical findings are then discussed in the ethical context of what this means for the practice of photojournalism.