“Controversies – a legal and ethical history of photography”

“Controversies” was an exhibition and book created in 2008 at the Musee d’Elysee by Daniel Giradin (curator) and Christian Pirker (barrister). The idea behind the exhibition was that in the 170 years since photography was invented, photographs have often caused controversy and resulted in legal proceedings.

Giradin says that the exhibition demonstrates the “insoluble paradox between freedom and constraint” that is photography. Photography brought up some new legal challenges both of law and of ethics. For example, can copyright be applied to reality as seen through the camera and where multiple images can be reproduced, or only to art, where the reality has been interpreted? As society changes, so does its culture and its view of ethics. This is reflected in how photography is perceived over time.

There is mention also of the political power of images… “whoever controls the image controls the mind”. Giradin takes this further to basically complain that authority is exercised through reproduction rights, including the charges that many collections of photography apply to reproduction of their images.

The exhibition merges legal and ethical aspects of photography, and just tries to show how photography was both a reflection of, and influenced by, society as it changed between the 19th and 20th centuries.

As one of the examples in the exhibition, the case of the photos by Gary Gros of Brooke Shields as a 13 year old is given. A nude photo from this series has become widely known, and when Brooke Shields became an adult she tried to stop further publication of the picture, claiming it was embarrassing. Despite several trials, she did not succeed as her mother had signed over the rights and the courts upheld this contract.

Christian Pirker’s notes on the exhibition from a Barristers point of view, summarise the situation and debate nicely:

“When a conflict becomes a controversy, it is an indication of the attitudes and sources of tension in any given society at that particular moment. A controversy is like a mirror in which the convictions of a community at that time become visible.”