#MeToo and Photojournalism: What Needs To Happen Next

Photojournalism has a proud history of reporting for a better world where human rights are central, and this work is more important than ever. But photojournalism is framed to a large extent by masculinity, with a competitive culture of power embraced by many in the field. In a recent interview for the NRC in Amsterdam I even described it as suffering from a macho culture.

The #MeToo movement has, not a moment too soon, caught up with photojournalism. Like many other sectors of society, photojournalism finds its established way of working undercutting its history and purpose. What has been publicly revealed, especially through the investigative reporting of Kristen Chick published in the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR), is just the tip of the iceberg. We know that from the private conversations that are common among colleagues, and everyone associated with photojournalism now faces the challenge of how we can deal practically with the problems that lie below the surface.

At its core, the issue is very simple. Any decent human being knows what sexual misconduct is. As Daniella Zalcman, the founder of Women Photograph, makes clear, everyone needs to “treat their women colleagues like grown adults who deserve respect and bodily autonomy”:

The behaviors highlighted in the CJR article are categorically unacceptable. There is no nuance here, no shades of gray. Do not touch women’s genitalia in a professional setting. Do not chase women around photo festivals and try to kiss them. Do not make vulgar, suggestive innuendo about women’s bodies or their sex lives. Do not promise professional advancement if a woman engages with you sexually. Do not threaten professional harm if she does not.

In addition, we have to appreciate that inappropriate behavior has also been directed at people with different and fluid ways of identifying themselves and their sexuality.

How we can take practical steps that are effective and meaningful to address this is not so easy. People often think photojournalism is an “industry.” But we are not an industry in the classic sense because there is no governing body with formal members who can legislate behavior and sanctions for others.

The #MeToo movement has, not a moment too soon, caught up with photojournalism

The organization that I head, the World Press Photo Foundation, an independent nonprofit foundation based in Amsterdam that since 1955 has been organizing one of the premier international photojournalism contests, is very active on this issue. We do not speak for everyone, and we cannot determine what others should do, but we can do our best to lead by example. One small thing we have done is ensure that our events do not encourage the excessive consumption of alcohol which might increase the possibility of inappropriate behavior.

We began by being transparent about the gender imbalance in photojournalism and a commitment to improving diversity. In 2015 when we published data in our State of News Photography report about the disturbingly low number of women entering our photo contest (just 15% over the last few years) it provided the evidence that spurred others to push harder for diversity. We have repeatedly said this low percentage is totally unacceptable and we need to work even harder to stimulate change in both the industry and in our own activities. In the 2018 contest, there was a marginal increase and we hope that is pointing in the right direction. We have also used our media channels to publish and share important perspectives, like Amanda Mustard’s powerful call to remove sexual predators from photography.

We have a very simple and clear policy. We do not discriminate against anyone on the basis of age, gender, race, or ethnic origin, religion, or sexual orientation, and we oppose discrimination and harassment in our community. Our protocol is that when we learn from reliable sources that someone working with us has engaged in inappropriate behavior and harassed individuals, we end all association with them the moment we find out. In the last three years, this has happened on a few occasions, and we let those individuals know why we will no longer work with them.

Internally we have always had a very strong anti-harassment policy. Now we are taking steps to improve how that operates in practice for our workplace, and how it will operate in relation to anyone our staff works with around the world. This year three of my female colleagues have led a review of the policy and processes to address the challenge of how we protect our own staff, three quarters of whom are women, when they are working for us, both in Amsterdam and on location around the world. My colleagues are formulating new protocols on what needs to happen when harassment occurs, namely, how are the incidents reported, how should managers deal with these reports, and what action is required in response. We will be implementing these reviewed and renewed protocols in the new year, and they will be published on our website.

These steps chime with some of the practical steps discussed at a recent forum on photography’s #MeToo movement at the Frontline Club in London that I participated in. The urgency of pushing for institutional change was there and the need for a protocol on reporting harassment was clear, especially with regard to freelancers, who comprise such a large and important part of our profession, but who have few if any institutional support mechanisms.

I believe women need, as they have been doing so effectively already, to lead this effort. But there’s a clear role for all men, especially those who manage companies and organizations. We have to be open, reflective, and self-critical so we can identify potential blind spots or unconscious biases. We have to listen to our female colleagues and support them in speaking out without fear of retribution. There is also the right and a responsibility on the part of women to communicate what they need for the situation to change. Then everyone can have a candid and honest discussion that will be the basis for working together to push for practical changes.

All of this is much harder to achieve at the international level when we do not have a formal industry structure. So I want to issue a challenge to other organizations in photography and visual journalism. It is time to move beyond the whisper networks that, in the absence of alternatives, women have needed to cope with inappropriate behavior. What can we put in place to ensure that those who experience harassment have a place to go and know their reports will lead to action? We don’t have all the answers, but we are ready to work with others to develop them. So here we go:

Who wants to join the World Press Photo Foundation in a collaboration to work out the best way to build on the real opening of the #MeToo moment in photojournalism?

Author’s note: I would like to thank Anne Colenbrander for help in finding the blind spots and David Campbell for polishing up my thoughts and language. It is good to have them involved.