The Ethical Eye: Documentary, Portrait, and the Boundaries of Practice

The Master's-tier genre-ethics course of the University, built from the Dean's definitive guide to the subject and assuming the full Bachelor foundations (PHO 347). It carries the photographer's conscience into working practice: documentary photography's absolute rule of truth and the treatment of subjects in grief; the power imbalance of the portrait and fashion set and the honest limits of retouching; the commercial promise of product and food photography; leave-no-trace, geotagging, and category honesty in nature and landscape work; wildlife photography's first law of subject welfare — baiting, nests, playback, flash, and the captive-as-wild deception; and, finally, truth of label across all genres and the writing of a published professional code of practice. Eight lessons across four modules, with quizzes and field assignments at professional standard throughout.