DHUM 25A28 - MEDIA AND NARRATIVE CENTER - ETHICS AND PHOTOJOURNALISM
DHUM 25A28 · Fall semester 2026-2027
- Language of tuition
- English
- Course type
- Cours séminaire
- Number of hours
- 24
- Credits
- 5
Information
Description
This workshop of 24 hours (2 hours per week) aims at understanding how photojournalism contributes to the news landscape and how images shape our comprehension of current affairs and history. The course will look at images from contemporary events as well as studying the history of photojournalism and its different fields of engagement in order to give context for its role today.
The course will also focus on how Artificial Intelligence is changing the game for the viewers as well as the professional photographers.
What makes us an ethical photojournalist? Are there ways we should act while covering stories worldwide? Is it always appropriate to make an image or are there times when a conversation needs to happen first? What messages are we trying to convey through our photographs? How do we remain transparent and inclusive as photographers while working in the field?
Assessment
Students will be graded (out of 20). The criteria are below:
Grading will be largely based on three pieces of work, two of which will be written and one of which will be oral. The oral task will be based around a presentation of images by each student in session 10 (see description of session.) The first written task, consisting of a text of between 700-900 words, will be given at session 3 and will need to be handed in by session 6. The second written task, to be of a similar length, will be given at session 9 and will need to be handed in by session 12. Each task will carry equal weight towards the overall grade of the term’s work worth 90% of the term's work. Class participation will also contribute 10% to the overall grade.
Readings
Main readings 5
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Believing is Seeing – Errol Morris : A series of essays by the well-known documentary maker about truth and photography with his famous investigation of Roger Fenton’s ‘In the Valley of the Shadow of Death’ as well as important investigations into works of the Farm Securities Administration and the scandalous photographs from Abu Ghraib during the Iraq War.
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Camera Obscura – Roland Barthes: While the premise of the book is to find the ‘truest’ photograph of his mother it turns into a powerful dissection of photography and our relationship with it. A book of great importance to photography and this course.
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On Photography – Susan Sontag : It’s hard to overestimate the seminal role of this book in the contemporary discussion of photography. Thought provoking and a vital point of reference.
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Regarding the Pain of Others – Susan Sontag : A much later book than “On Photography” and a discourse of the role of conflict photography, its creation and consumption.
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Understanding a Photograph – John Berger : A series of essays about photography. Berger is a very lucid thinker about art in general and some of his observations – comparing the photograph of the body of a dead Che Guevara to Mantegna’s painting of the dead Christ - can be extraordinary.
Further readings 3
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On Photographs – David Campany : Campany is probably the most prolific critic, writer on photography today, currently based at ICP in New York. Here he analyses photographs by famous photographers.
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The Ongoing Moment – Geoff Dwyer : Dwyer is a well-known UK fiction writer. This is a longer book connecting photographers and the way they work by looking at how they photograph a certain object – a hat, or a hand – and how their work is connected. An interesting dissection of how photographers see.
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Unreasonable Behaviour – Don McCullin : A searing autobiography by one of the greatest war photographers about the emotional toll and complexities of conflict photography.
Teaching units
| Unit no. | Unit type | Teaching units | Teachers | Number of hours | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16670 | Cours séminaire | MEDIA AND NARRATIVE CENTER - ETHICS AND PHOTOJOURNALISM | James HILL | 24 | 5 |
Teachers
- James HILL
In the curricula
- Bachelor Exchange Programme, Seminars / Bachelor, Programme d'échange, séminaires - 26/27COLLÈGE UNIVERSITAIRE - CAMPUS PARIS
- Bachelor, semestre 3 : cours séminaires - 26/27COLLÈGE UNIVERSITAIRE - CAMPUS PARIS
Contacts and resources
- Contact
- NAUDASCHER Marie