Learning objectives

  • Cultivate an empathetic understanding of the people you photograph

  • Learn the meaning and visual language of dignity in representation

  • Understand the power imbalance in the photographer/photographed relationship

  • Engage with critical ethical discussions that are taking place within photojournalism

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Introduction

    • 1.1 Introduction

    • 1.2 Meet the Experts

    • 1.3 Learning Objectives

    • 1.4 Pre-Course Survey
  • 2

    Photojournalism Ethics

    • 2.1 Introduction

    • 2.2 Recap: What are photography ethics?

    • 2.3 Exercise: Ethical Dilemmas

    • 2.4 Exercise Feedback

    • 2.5 Empathy, Dignity, and Power

    • 2.6 Section Summary
  • 3

    Empathy

    • 3.1 Exercise: Role-Reversal

    • 3.2 Exercise Feedback

    • 3.3 Empathy

    • 3.4 Empathy in Practice

    • 3.5 Exercise: Practicing Empathy

    • 3.6 Section Summary
  • 4

    Dignity

    • 4.1 Dignity

    • 4.2 Photographing Traumatic Events

    • 4.3 Photographing Controversial Subjects

    • 4.4 Visual Language

    • 4.5 Exercise: Identifying Dignity in Visual Language

    • 4.6 Exercise: Dissecting Visual Language

    • 4.7 Section Summary
  • 5

    Power

    • 5.1 Power

    • 5.2 Power and Consent

    • 5.3 Consent and Children

    • 5.4 Exercise: Power, Consent, and Children

    • 5.5 Power and Vulnerability

    • 5.6 Power, Vulnerability, and Consent

    • 5.7 Participatory Photography

    • 5.8 Section Summary
  • 6

    Summing Up

    • 6.1 Exercise: Applying Ethical Principles

    • 6.2 Exercise Feedback

    • 6.3 Take Away Questions

    • 6.4 Summing Up

    • 6.5 Next Steps

    • 6.6 Post-Course Feedback

Bonus material

Take advantage of this bonus material when you register

  • Facebook Community Group

    When you enrol in one of the Photojournalism Ethics course modules, you will have access to a private Facebook group where you can work through course material in discussion with other participants.

  • Free 1-to-1 with the Instructor

    If you register for all three modules, you will receive an invite to schedule a free 1-to-1 meeting with Savannah Dodd. During this 1-to-1, you will have up to one hour to share and discuss your work, and to ask any questions you have about visual media ethics.

  • Certification

    When you complete all three modules in the Photojournalism Ethics course series, you will be invited to apply for certification. Certification from the Photography Ethics Centre is an indicator of cultural competence, professionalism, and rigour.

Instructor(s)

Course Instructor

Savannah Dodd

Savannah Dodd, PhD, is a photographer and anthropologist. In 2017, she founded the Photography Ethics Centre with the aim of promoting ethical literacy across the visual media industries. Savannah holds a Practitioner’s Appointment at the Centre for Creative Ethnography at Queen’s University Belfast. In 2023, she delivered a TEDx talk at the university titled “Changing the world with visual media ethics.” In 2020, her edited volume, Ethics and Integrity in Visual Research Methods, was published by Emerald Publishing Group.

Expert Contributor

Tammy Law

Tammy Law documents stories that are reflective of her experiences of being a child of Chinese migrants, and the bubble of Asian/Australianess within which she lives. Tammy regularly contributes to Fairfax Media and works as a lecturer in the School of Communication and Arts at The University of Queensland. Tammy was awarded an Australia Council for the Arts grant in 2017 to establish Fragile Constellations, an online network between photographers from Myanmar and Australia. Tammy is a Representative of the Photography Ethics Centre.

Expert Contributor

David Degner

David Degner is a photojournalist who has mainly been based in Egypt since 2010. Before that, he freelanced in Florida, interned at the St. Petersburg Times, and studied photojournalism and philosophy at Western Kentucky University. His greatest achievement to date is mentoring photographers for Panorama, a platform showcasing the best photojournalistic work from Egypt.