Business insider once said, “If photojournalism had a Mount Rushmore, Steve McCurry would be on it. He's probably the closest thing to a mainstream celebrity in the field”. Although “Steve McCurry is, perhaps, one of the most iconic names in the National Geographic pantheon”, in 2016 the ethics of his photography was called into question after a photoshop mess up. For example, “The NPPA Ethics Committee writes that the new revelations have “triggered a troubling reexamination of McCurry’s storied 40-year career”. The person who first noticed the mistake in the photograph was a fellow photographer, Paolo Viglione when he was at a display. It was not his intention to create a scandal though. I personally feel that Steve McCurry editing the photographs he was submitting for journalism with National Geographics was unethical. I feel this way because he knows they are meant for an audience/ viewers. “Photos are immensely important to how we understand ourselves and the world around us” and his viewers are expecting to get insight through his photographs that are meant to be portraying something. They are not expecting things to be manipulated and edited in order for the nature of the photo to be changed. Sean D. Elliot, chairman of NPPA Ethics Committee also writes, “Any alteration of the journalistic truth of his images, any manipulation of the facts, regardless of how relevant he or others might feel they are to the deeper ‘truth,’ constitutes an ethical lapse”. If Steve McCurry edited his personal work, then I would feel differently and would not view it as unethical. I feel this way since it is for his satisfaction and he is just enhancing what catches his eyes and that he wants to draw more attention to. He says, “Today I would define my work as visual storytelling, because the pictures have been shot in many places, for many reasons, and in many situations. Much of my recent work has been shot for my own enjoyment in places I wanted to visit to satisfy my curiosity about the people and the culture”. I respect his character though, because he did not deny the scandal, and he just changed his work from journalism to storytelling which is more fitting because it is through his eyes you are seeing the scene. He goes further to say he will take steps to prevent this from happening again in his place of work. He states, “I try to be as involved as much as I can in reviewing and supervising the printing of my work, but many times the prints are printed and shipped when I am away. That is what happened in this case. It goes without saying that what happened with this image was a mistake for which I have to take responsibility”. I think that sometimes there is a grey line for the artists and their interpretation of the truth and I feel that Steve McCurry editing his own photographs is fine and ethical, but when it comes to his work for journalism, it is unethical to edit the images for the public to see.
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