The Steve McCurry Scandal
One of the most famous National Geographic photographers, Steve McCurry, found himself in a scandal regarding his discovered manipulation to his work in 2016. He was first called out on a sloppy PhotoShop mistake by photographer Paolo Viglione, who never actually meant to start such an uproar. After this, people tried digging deeper and trying to find other photographs that had been drastically altered. They were successful and deemed plenty of McCurry's work had been edited far from the original. People and objects disappearing and other alterations sent people into a frenzy against McCurry.
I do believe that, as a photojournalist, the rules apply to everyone in which you cannot edit a photograph in a way that changes the story or setting drastically. After the scandal emerged, McCurry announced that he is now a visual storyteller, not a photojournalist, meaning that from now on he is freer in his photography and art. I acknowledge this change and respect it, but I stand by the idea that his manipulation of the images caught in the scandal was wrong because of his digital removal or objects and people. This scandal caused a lot of other people to speak out, having strong words and opinions about the manipulation. Gianmarco Maraviglia, the founder/director of Echo Photojournalism agency, posted comments on Facebook stating, "what he did in Photoshop is totally outside the limit of power in the profession. In my opinion, one cannot move any pixel when it comes to journalistic photographs...". Photojournalists are supposed to only use PhotoShop to adjust coloring or exposure settings and McCurry's actions were unacceptable for the circumstances he was under.
Steve McCurry's dramatic manipulation of his photographs caused major controversy and uproar. It is a violation of the "rules" for photojournalism and inappropriate due to the removal of multiple people and objects. He addresses his actions later on and apologized for his PhotoShop use. I believe that it was wrongful of him to edit the photos and that he is better suited as a visual storyteller with more freedom in how you convey your message or perspective. When you are reporting on news and global events, like in National Geographic, you can't alter what happens right in front of you. The
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