Photographs that are Morally Wrong

Many opinions and disagreements can be made on the topic of whether photographs of the deceased should be published. When one opens the paper on a weekend morning while sipping their coffee and intending to relax and read about what is going on in the world, they probably are not mentally prepared to see a dead body or bodies heaped on top of one another. Such an image will surely awaken them for the day. With the disaster in Haiti that recently took place, many journalists and reporters are taking action and taking pictures of disturbing images. Many of these photographs have been published, one in specifically caught my eyes. I was browsing through the New York Times online, reading about the tragic disaster, when I came upon this sickening picture of a survivor (1). He was kneeling down, crying at the sight of his 10-month daughter, dead and piled on the mound of dead bodies outside a morgue (1). This photograph was bad enough with the pile of dead bodies; but the thing that affected me the most, was seeing the baby in the picture. You can clearly see the babies figure, facial expression, and how she was positioned when she passed away. I think that this picture is morally wrong to have online. Some people may say that it is a wake up call, and that people need to know the real effects of the disaster, but the photograph doesn’t even have the ones who died names. Viewers can’t give them a proper remembrance; fore, they will be remembered only by the people in Haiti, who died and were piled in the filthy streets on top of each other. Also, the man that is kneeling before his child, will have to live with this image for the rest of his life. It may haunt him and randomly appear on a website, newspaper, or magazine when he is casually reading. Due to the distressing and mentally disturbing affects, I believe that publishing photographs such as these should be illegal, unless the consent of the ones in it is given.

Reference:

1) Winter, Damon. Death Toll Mounts After Haiti Quake. 2010. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/01/14/world/0114-HAITI_11.html