Bonus: Eight Lessons from The Photo Ethics Podcast

Each year since 2020, the Photography Ethics Centre has interviewed 12 photographers, asking them: “What does photography ethics mean to you?” After four years and 48 interviews, we have distilled eight key lessons that we have learned about what it means to be an ethical photographer. These lessons - ranging from the language we use to the intentions we have - can help photographers, filmmakers, and visual storytellers to reflect on their process, develop their practice, and help to build a more equitable industry.

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This resource was developed through a thematic analysis of 48 episodes of The Photo Ethics Podcast, Seasons 1-4. This research was led by Dr Savannah Dodd, founder and director of the Photography Ethics Centre, during her Practitioner’s Appointment within the Centre for Creative Ethnography at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) in 2024. It was supported by the Photography Ethics Centre’s advisory team and by Luke Strong. It was funded by the QUB Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA).

Thank you to all of the photographers who have contributed to this research by sharing their experiences through The Photo Ethics Podcast. Special thanks to Anthony Luvera, Justin Carey, Rehab Eldalil, and Mallika Vora who also contributed photographs to illustrate this report.

You can download a PDF version of this report in six different languages at https://www.photoethics.org/articles