ABSTRACT
This chapter is an edited transcript of the keynote address by Jon Alpert at Brooklyn College on March 14, 2013, as part of the Global Media Ethics Conference. Alpert explores the role of cinematographer/journalist in documentary production with a focus on war photography. Through numerous examples, he explains the complex ethical decision-making that often occurs when you try to find a balance between obligations to your subjects and an audience’s right to know.
Have any of you had to make spontaneous ethical decisions when you were in the field? Often, as a cameraperson and documentary filmmaker, ethical decisions need to be made instantaneously, without warning. I would like to share ethical decisions I’ve had to make around the world, often without any preparation, without any training, without any time.
