Morgan Chambers - Steven McCurry

     The name Steven McCurry is synonymous by many  with "fraud," "impostor," and "liar" after his recent scandal involving the manipulation of his photographs submitted to National Geographic. McCurry was caught changing his images - including the famous photo Afghan Girl - to be more visually appealing for the viewers. Many felt his digital manipulation was unethical; however, McCurry did not deny his editing when accused and did not create fake photographs any more than photojournalists who only capture the portion of the story they want heard or who stage photographs. Therefore, McCurry was not in the wrong to manipulate his own photographs.
     As mentioned in the writing prompt, McCurry admitted to editing his photographs as soon as accusations arose. He was not trying to hide his edits. In an interview with DW, McCurry explains he could see how his images could be confusing, but he was only attempting to add "aesthetic and compositional sense" to his photos (1). It is not reported that McCurry ever lied or claimed he did not edit the photographs he submitted.
     The famous saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is true, but a picture also never tells the whole story. Photojournalists everywhere are quite talented at manipulating the story their pictures tell.  For example, a photojournalist could make an image of a Donald Trump protest rally to show the nation's disapproval of our new president but neglect to make an image of his supporters. The image of protesters says "No one supports him!" when, in reality, the supporters were just not pictured. Is this not manipulation of images? Why is digital manipulation the only unacceptable kind of manipulation? While McCurry was removing objects from his photograph, he never added anything to his pictures that did not originate in the picture. In my opinion, he never changed the story behind his images. McCurry just edited the photos to look more visually appealing. Looking at the before and after images of some of McCurry's edits, I do not feel he inaccurately depicted a person, place, or event. Removing one child playing soccer or enhancing the colors of a girl's eyes does not change the meaning of an image like only photographing half the story does.
     McCurry may have manipulated his photographs after they were made, but some photojournalists manipulate the image they want to create. An Indian photographer Satish Sharma told his memories of McCurry staging images (2). Sharma explained watching McCurry arrange subjects to perfect his images at times, but this type of manipulation is widely accepted by the photojournalist community (2). According to Stanley Greene (a founding member of Noor Images), many photojournalists will set up photographs and "they are completely staged" (3). Why is this type of manipulation accepted while digital manipulation is not? Both have the same outcome of changing the image for a better visual appeal. If physical manipulation is accepted, I believe McCurry's digital manipulation should be accepted.
     Although some feel lied to when realizing Steven McCurry's images were digitally manipulated, I believe he is not being unethical. Many photojournalist manipulate their images using other methods, and they change more about the message of their photos than McCurry does.


Works Cited

1. Sanders, Louis. "'Ethical Lapse.' Photoshop Scandal Catches Up with Iconic Photojournalist Steve              McCurry." DW.COM. Deutche Welle, 31 May 2016, www.dw.com/en/ethical-lapse-photoshop-            scandal-catches-up-with-iconic-photojournalist-steve-mccurry/a-19296237.
2. Nagar, Kshitij. "Eyes of the Afghan Girl: A Critical Take on the 'Steve McCurry Scandal.'"                          PetaPixel, 7 June 2016, petapixel.com/2016/06/07eyes-afghan-girl-critical-take-steve-mccurry-              scandal/.
3. The New York Times. "Staging, Manipulation, and Truth in Photography." The New York Times.                Lens, 16 Oct 2015, https://lens.blog.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/staging-manipulation-ethics-                      photos/.