Shooting Ethics, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

This photo created Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. when a man was
shot. Although not fatal or serious, thank goodness, he was
transported to a local area hospital. A friendly police office came up
to me and asked if I could not shoot for his "dignity’s sake." I
responded politely with a question, "Am I doing something illegal?"
His response was, "No. But I just don’t want you to photograph, It’s
your moral decision." To combat against my decision to photograph he
decided to keep his flashlight conveniently directed at my lens as he
walked away. I was ready to make a more visually communicative scene
but have to admit he threw me off my game mentally, I suppose his plan
worked. Although this is not the greatest photo. it is what it is.
However, the greater lesson comes up with what viewers don’t realize
about our jobs as photojournalists we face everyday is ethics and the
message we bring.

Ethics. Yes, ethics. To your surprise we do abide by a code of ethics.
It’s a strict code of ethics. Basically in a nutshell, we cannot
influence the situation in anyway. We cannot suggest our subjects to
do anything, minus portraits which I avoid on daily assignments, but
that’s another discussion. Pretty much we photojournalist document
life as it comes at us, one frame at a time. I actually love the code,
it gives me rules to abide by. I take my job seriously, sometimes too
seriously. I feel I represent the eyes of the community to reflect
what happened that is noteworthy. Good and yes, bad. Why? So we can
live in a better world, so we can be aware of our surroundings, so we
can improve and live and grow for a better tomorrow. Idealistic yes,
I’m very idealistic. However, we must see the good and the bad, the
normal, the weird, the business and the lack thereof to know how to
push to a brighter future. This image to me represents the chaos in
this world because people dispute and can’t control themselves. It
means we need to be aware of what a mad person with any weapon or
object can do to attempt to destroy. It represents the frailty of life
and how precious each day is. To me I did not take away dignity I
created this with the hopes that others might keep theirs.

-Corey Perrine