The Photo Ethics Podcast

In the final episode of this mini-season of The Photo Ethics Podcast, we talk with Anthony Luvera about socially engaged photographic practice. He discusses the kinds of questions that collaboration helps to raise - including questions about who benefits from the work, and who gets to make decisions about where and how it is seen - which keeps him interrogating the power that he holds as an artist...

In this episode, we talk with Joyce Y. T. Mak about community photography, participatory archiving, and ethical documentation. Joyce discusses how their work as a documentary photographer, digital archivist, and community organiser has been shaped by questions of representation, consent, and care. They reflect on photographing grassroots communities through long-term relationships, exploring how c...

In this episode, we talk with Siorna Ashby about ethics in boudoir and nude portrait photography. Siorna discusses her collaborative, consent-led approach to photographing the body, exploring how clients actively shape the images they create together through what she describes as “self-authoriship”. She reflects on navigating vulnerability, power dynamics, and body image, explaining how trust is b...

In this episode, we talk with Aindreas Scholtz about sustainability, materiality, and the future of photographic practice. Aindreas discusses how his camera-less photographic work, drawing on historical processes such as cyanotype and anthotype *, has shaped his research. He reflects on photography as a material practice, exploring the ethical implications of the resources and environments entangl...

In this episode we talk with Oh Soon-Hwa about long-term documentary practice, research, and ethical responsibility. Soon-Hwa reflects on her personal experience of migration and its influence on her photographic work, discussing the importance of curiosity, sustained engagement, and research when working with communities. She explores the ethical challenges of photographing private lives, balanci...

For season 7, we are bringing you a mini edition of the podcast to focus on our biennial Photography Ethics Symposium. Back in June, the 2026 symposium was hosted at Queen’s University Belfast and produced in partnership with the academic journal, Photographies, with funding from the ESRC. This event brought together photographers, curators, archivists and researchers to critically consider the me...

In this episode, we talk with Tanya Habjouqa about reevaluation and responsibility. Tanya shares how her Circassian background motivates her work as she feels the diasporic community’s story was never told.  She reflects on how the process of printmaking has allowed her to forge a deeper physical connection with her art which can be healing. Tanya explains the countless ethical considerations...

In this episode, we talk with Tiffany Fairey about visualising peace. Tiffany warns of the dangers of binaries and hierarchies in terms of the different forms of photography as it negates the importance of different perspectives. She highlights the complexity of the politics of visibility and the ethical considerations required when marginalised groups become visible through photography. Tiffany a...

In this episode, we talk with Kimbra Audrey about healing. Kimbra shares how her self-portraiture practice is a way to reclaim power over her image and body after years of modelling. She discusses documenting her breast cancer journey through photography as well as the current issues with breast cancer representation in terms of race, gender and age. Kimbra challenges the phrase taking a photo as...

In this episode, we talk with Jesse Alexander about creative sustainability. Jesse discusses the nuances of rurality and place making as well as the urban bias present in landscape photography. He also explains how idealised images of agriculture are disconnected from their polluting impact. Jesse shares his ethical approach which focuses on the general messaging of his work and lowering his own c...

In this episode, we talk with Heather Agyepong about embodiment and the self. She explains what reimagination means in her practice when representing black women in history ethically. Heather also explores the gatekeeping present in art and how this drives her to make her work visceral in order to transcend linguistic accessibility. She reflects on her decision to focus on self-portraits after wit...

In this episode, we talk with Nana Kofi Acquah about the complexity of consent. Nana speaks of the importance of prioritising understanding in order to photograph complex stories authentically. He also discusses how the coronavirus pandemic illuminated the lack of empathy present in the photographing of illness in Africa.  Nana highlights how images of poverty and opulence are often juxtapose...

In this episode, we talk with Alice Cazenave about the toxicity of photography. She examines photography and colonialism on a material level in terms of land ownership, extraction and contamination. Alice discusses how the use of plants allowed her to explore the different narratives that emerged from the same place. She provides insight into the plant-based photo-chemistries* that develop her ana...

In this episode, we talk with Hernease Davis about empathy in the darkroom. Hearnease opens up about her use of photography to process, heal and take care of herself. The complexities of exhibiting work relating to vulnerable issues is explored as well as the topic of protection. Hernease discusses empathy in relation to trauma and the place of empathy in art history. The metaphor of walking in so...

In this episode, we talk with Jai Lennard about opportunity versus access. Jai discusses how part of his ethical considerations include deciding if he is the right person to tell a story.  Additionally, his founding of Color Positive was part of his drive to diversify the stories which are told by aiding young black artists. Jai outlines how his mentoring role at Color Positive puts him in a...

In this episode, we talk with Lauren Walsh about conflict photography. Lauren first discusses her career trajectory, explaining her shift from English literature to photojournalism due to her sustained interest in storytelling and ethical issues.  She explores who consent forms are designed to protect and stresses the need for ethical considerations in relation to photojournalists’ mental wel...

In this episode, we talk with Santiago Lyon about trusting what we see. Discussing his own work with the Content Authenticity Initiative, he stresses the need for provenance information to be available to consumers.  Santiago highlights the importance of clarifying the differences between photojournalism and stock photography as they entail differing ethical considerations. He also explores t...

In this episode we will talk with Aida Muluneh about authenticity. Aida discusses the use of festivals to manage perceptions of Africa and to globally share different imaginings of Africa through the continent’s own visual language. She stresses the need for a global discourse surrounding ethically photographing the Global South, which is rooted in awareness and respect for the country being repre...

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,...

In this episode, we talk with Melanie King about leaning into collaboration. She talks about her transition from research-informed practice to practice-informed research. She also explores the collaborative nature of sustainable photography and how she has built her own network within the community of researchers and practitioners. Throughout, she comments on her journey of becoming a sustainable...

In this episode, we talk with Mohammad Alnobani on reducing bias in imagery. He discusses his experiences founding an Arab stock imagery website and how his role has allowed him to better understand photographers’ concerns. He also explores AI tools like image generation, describing how he has tried to maintain his own ethics through the use of these tools. What does photography ethics mean to Moh...

In this episode, we talk with Daniel Etter about truth and fiction. He discusses the differences between observation in photojournalism as opposed to the element of creation present in filmmaking. He discusses the rise of AI image-making and the associated risks. Finally, he describes how problems within photography are often representative of systemic problems requiring societal change on a wider...

In this episode, we talk with Mohamed Mahdy on embedding ethics. He talks about using your own senses to discover the stories around you, rather than venturing out of your own community. He also explores his quest for authenticity in his work and how multi-modal works can help achieve such authenticity. Finally, he discusses street photography and the ethical reflections it invites. What does phot...

In this episode, we talk with Alicia Bruce on collaboration and advocacy. She explores how a collaborative approach to photography can avoid misrepresentations and can counter typical media narratives. She also discusses her involvement in campaign-based photography and the empowerment that can come as a result of telling hidden stories in an ethically-aligned way. What does photography ethics mea...

In this episode, we talk with Aryan Musleh on storytelling on social media. He discusses the challenges of representing communities that are misrepresented or forgotten in the media, focusing on the political barriers that can hinder the efforts of photographers. As a curator, he explores the ethical complexity of ensuring that photographs he posts are used responsibly and represented accurately t...