Karla Sanchez
English
Diana Firestone
Pictures Online
How would you feel if i told your personal pictures were being used? Like in ads online, or simply your picture got re-posted by someone else? All without your permission. Maybe at first you'll feel a bit flattered but then how would you afterwards when you realize that everyone can see that certain picture of you and you can't take it back?. In my essay I’ll be discussing about Nora's opinion regarding the photographs she speaks about. Ill also be talking about people sharing pictures and what the outcome is, also what you shouldn't post on social media.
In class i read about ‘’The Boston Photographs’’ by Nora Ephron . The photographs show the mother falling from a building along with child trying to escape a fire. When these pictures first came out a lot of people were very bothered and disturbed by it back then you didn't see photographs like hat everyday or look the up lie you can now a days. Let's get deep into this, imagine how the child felt when he was old enough to look up these pictures of himself and mother falling to her death.. ‘’In conclusion, Seib wrote: “Any editor who decided to print those pictures without giving at least a moment’s thought to what purpose they served and what their effect was likely to be on the reader should ask another question: have I become so preoccupied with manufacturing a product according to professional traditions and standards that I have forgotten about the consumer, the reader?”. So when is it to much? Should people be able to take pictures of what they want and post them online for everyone to see or should we be restricted on what to post online? The only difference with the Boston photographs is it was taken in the early 70s by a photographer. Now a days we have cell phones that can record videos and take instant pictures. Its both a good and bad thing.
In the article Nora's gives her opinion on these photographs stating how remarkable these photographs are .She goes to mention how death is normal ,how it happens all the time so whats wrong with showing it. ''Throughout the Vietnam war editors were reluctant to print atrocity pictures.Why not print them? that's what it was about.Murder victims are almost never photographed;they are granted privacy.But their relatives are relentlessly pictured on their way in and out of hospitals and morgues and funerals''.I understand what point she was trying to make here but in my opinion i feel like there's things you should and should'nt photograph for the world to see.She also mentions how she is not trying to advocating '' newspapers print these things in order to teach their readers a lesson''but that there should be no problems with photographs like these.She continues to mention the pictures were ''breathtaking'' and it should disturb readers. ''That's why photojournalism is often more powerful than written journalism''.
With that being said i truly agree with that last statement. Photo journalism is 10x more touching than journalism because you get to emotionally feel and see what the journalist is writing about.For example the horrific things that are happening in Syria. If it wasn't for the many photographs there is online i wouldn't even know that such thing is happening at the other side of the world because some day it will be history and we could go back and see. ''To me, the picture shows that in war personal belongings don’t exist. There is destruction, and with the sniper looking out of the window there is no mercy. I don’t know who had lived there, although I did think a lot about that. I tried to imagine a family inside the house and what they were doing. Family pictures or possessions in any abandoned house in a war zone always look sad and make me think of the people who lived there. People ask why would I want to work in a place like Syria. Because I want to tell the story. That is what I do for a living.'' said Goran Tomasevic a photographer in Syria. Pictures on war are always sad and make you feel. But again should it be okay for these pictures to be out there?. I think it depends on the situation i believe if its something that's actually important for the world to know it should be written about and photographed yes.But not a baby falling from a building.
How about posting pictures of your children online. Is that any different from the Boston photographs or is it the same thing?Putting pictures of your child on Facebook Instagram etc. can be the same thing photographs are for the world to see.Just like the pictures you post on social media. Once you post online it can go viral especially now a days since we have cellphones.Now you can take a picture of a picture''screenshot''. It's there for everyone to see. In my opinion it's a very delicate thing. Uploading a picture with your son or daughter and having your location on can be dangerous. Showing everyone where you are can be an easy target for someone to try and do something harmful to you and your child. It's important to not tag locations in pictures with your kids on it, for example at school, your home address, parks or shopping centers. ‘’If you leave your location settings on, there’s a location tag and you can hit it and the majority of people add their photos at home so you can pretty much guess where they live,' she said. 'It terrifies me. 'I keep seeing people doing it and I want to email them saying stop it, especially high profile people.’’ Said Ms. Kurtini co-founder of Tiny Beans.
While i read the article and saw the pictures i indeed felt bad for the young boy i would hate to have a picture like that of my mother dying, not having a mother alone could be hard and imagine seeing a picture like that could be very depressing. What about invading you child’s privacy or privacy in general, it all connects back to the ‘’Boston photographs’’ i wonder how the young boy felt when he was older and saw the pictures for the 1st time. Kids have no control of what’s being posted about them. They might not know anything about privacy now but later they won’t want those embarrassing pictures you’ve posted of them online “It came home to roost a year ago when my daughter, who is now 15, told me to take a photo of me kissing her off Facebook because she was embarrassed by it. My first reaction was, ‘I don’t have to do that, it’s my photo and it’s sweet.’ But then I realized that she had every right to ask me, so I took it down.”
There can be many dangers when it comes to posting online, but another one is posting a selfie of yourself throwing the peace sign. Now you’re thinking what’s wrong with that? Researchers at the National Institute of Informatics found out that with the right lighting your fingerprints can be recreated and it only takes one picture of you throwing the peace sign. ‘’Echizen said his team has developed a thin titanium oxide film for fingertips that can prevent this sort of snooping. But that’s a couple years off, and wearing special films on our fingers just to stay anonymous seems more than a little dystopian’’ .With the technology we have today it does not shock me but it seems like it keeps getting scarier. Although besides the good lighting you must be 10 feet away.
Overall being born in this generation is quite different from any other, you see the craziest things online. And i always think to myself what will they think or their kids think about this once they look back and see it. ‘’Deleting’’ won’t really delete it. It remains saved in certain servers. Once it's posted online it's there forever even if you delete it, it will be saved. ‘’When you send or receive messages using the Snap chat services, we temporarily process and store your images and videos in order to provide our services. Although we attempt to delete image data as soon as possible after the message is received and opened by the recipient (and after a certain period of time if they don't open the message), we cannot guarantee that the message contents will be deleted in every case’’. So be careful what you post online because you might not be able to take it back.
Citation
Fotrell, Quenttin. "Read this before posting photos of your kids on Facebook." Read this before posting photos of your kids on Facebook. N.p., 9 Mar. 2016. Web. 4 Mar. 2017.
"Fingerprints can be taken from peace signs in selfies." Cult of Mac. N.p., 11 Jan. 2017. Web. 4 Mar. 2017.
Sarah Carty for Daily Mail Australia. "The dangers of 'sharenting': From posting pictures of your baby online to uploading snaps of your family with location settings on ... are YOU putting your kids at risk by oversharing on social media?" Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 20 Apr. 2015. Web. 04 Mar. 2017
EPHRON, NORA. “The Boston Photographs”. N.p.: NORA EPHRON, n.d. Print.
Ducklin, Paul. "Snapchat images that have “disappeared forever” stay right on your phone…." Naked Security. Paul ducklin, 09 May 2013. Web. 04 Mar. 2017.
Tomasevic , Goran . "Witness to war: five photographers discuss their images from Syria." The telegraph. N.p., 14 Aug. 2012. Web. 10 May 2017.
