REACH emergency medical helicopter (NSFW)

[Hooligan Dan]

A scooter accident today. Lady lost control and crashed. They don't know how long she was out there before someone came along and called 911. It was out on a country road. I got there just in time for them to take her out of the ambulance and transfer her to the chopper. We are running the wide shot of the chopper because we have a strict no blood policy. The shots look a bit wonky after uploading them on photobucket. Like they lost some contrast. Not sure what that's about.

[TPF Sponsor]

[mrodgers]

I'm sure if she ever saw these, she would surely appreciate seeing photos of herself on the internet in a bra and bloodied face. Very nicely done with the respect. Sometimes you have to put away the snobbish "it's my right" and think a little bit with photography.

[epp_b]

^ She's not identifiable, so I don't see the problem.

[mrodgers]

If it were an image of yourself, would you not be able to identify yourself?

[Sinister_kid]

If it were an image of yourself, would you not be able to identify yourself?

It all depends actually. She may not have been coherient or even conscious to know that she was being loaded into a helicopter.. and if she wasn't then she wouldnt be able to tell it was her.

[SrBiscuit]

interesting...i hope this turns into a good debate and not a flame war.

personally, i dont know where i stand on the issue...initially i agree that shes not identifiable and it would be fine to post these pics. part of me views it as no different than someone on a beach who may be equally exposed, caught in someones pic and published on the webs.

but then i think hmmm...if it were my wife or my mom maybe i wouldnt be as OK with it...


so im not sure exactly where i stand on it.

interesting issue.

[mikemicki]

This accident happened on a public road? I'd see a privacy issue if she had crashed her motor-bike on her driveway or her private property. If privacy turns out to be a big issue, you could always blur out her face and upper chest area.

[Hooligan Dan]

If anyone finds it offensive I'll take it down.

[SrBiscuit]

If anyone finds it offensive I'll take it down.

i think the initial comment was made from an ethical standpoint, not about offensive content...
don't take it down, i'm curious to see others' positions on the issue that was brought up.

[Hooligan Dan]

i think the initial comment was made from an ethical standpoint, not about offensive content...
don't take it down, i'm curious to see others' positions on the issue that was brought up.

Ah. Then as far as journalism ethical policies it doesn't violate any rules. The first post would be more of a moral decision.

[Hooligan Dan]

but then i think hmmm...if it were my wife or my mom maybe i wouldn't be as OK with it...


interesting issue.

This subject always comes up between us photogs and the editor when we cover a tragic event. What do we show without being offensive. Obviously we photogs are willing to show more than the editors and the paper has missed running some excellent photos because they are too scared to run something controversial. My editor always asks, "What if this was your **** or your ****," and so on. But the thing is it's always going to be someone's mom or someone's brother. And if we we are always forced to take that into account than people woiuld be blind to what happens in this world.

Take Vietnam for example. The photos out of Nam were the first to show the true horrors of war and that was a huge part of the backlash against it. But what if everything single photog and publisher were to ask themselves 'What if this were my brother," and they didn't show the photos? Where would we be now?

Now I'm not comparing these accident photos to war photos, just merely addressing the Idea that "What if this was my ****" should be asked before running a photo.

Last year 6 locals died when they ran a stop sign on a farm road, were hit by a truck, and plunged into a canal. Two days later I was there when the pulled up the body of a 16 year old victim. You can see her leg and on the high res version you can see her gray toes on one foot if you blow it up enough. We ran this shot(rumor is that it's now used at Sac State to debate this very topic) on the front page right next to a shot I took of the mother on scene. Obviously we got complaints from readers as we always do with controversial shots. But not a single complaint came from the family. Even with the photo of the mother seeing her daughter being taken out of the water.



So the idea of "What if it were" should not be taken into account for every single photo. Just because a shot may be controversial and may not be liked, it doesn't mean it shouldn't run.

*UPDATE to my rant: Many people call controversial shots sensationalism. Shot's with no real purpose other then to show something outrageous or to sell papers. Running the lady above in her bra being loaded onto the chopper. That would be considered sensationalism. It doesn't actually add anything to the story other than showing what happened to the victim. That and the blood is why we wouldn't show it in our local paper(other papers would show it though). I showed it here assuming that most photogs would be more accepting of what accidents look like in real life as opposed to the cleverly composed shots you see hiding this kind of stuff or the wide shots that don't really show anything.

[Sardine]

Good pictures, pity about the circumstances. Personally, if I was in a bike accident, I wouldn't want my picture going up on the web. The first 2 are alright, but the 3rd one is too 'close'.

Tell me, did they shut the chopper down? Doesn't look like there's any blade movement.

Regards

[Dmitri]

Good pictures, pity about the circumstances. Personally, if I was in a bike accident, I wouldn't want my picture going up on the web. The first 2 are alright, but the 3rd one is too 'close'.

Tell me, did they shut the chopper down? Doesn't look like there's any blade movement.

Regards

1/1600 shutter speed. The back propeller looks like it's in motion, tho.

[Heck]

The local spanish paper drips with blood with the shots they show. It depends on the paper. I think people should be able to see what a accident really looks like and would understand what Ems, Police and so on see everyday and maybe would understand there point of view when it comes to enforcing safety issues. As long as viewer know what there gonna get when they read a paper photos like these should be ok.

[KmH]

I think people should be able to see what a accident really looks like and would understand what Ems, Police and so on see everyday and maybe would understand there point of view when it comes to enforcing safety issues.

Well said.