Faking Photos: Is It Ever Justified?

JAMES VAN METER

By Charmaine Teo

In this particular case study, I believe that the actions of the photographer, Steve Stone were
more ethical than not. To begin with, he made multiple attempts to take photographs which
accurately depicts the struggles of the homeless people which unfortunately, were in vain. Stone
made the decision to respect the homeless peoples right to privacy, instead of taking
photographs of them without their consent, which would have been unethical.

His failure prompted him to recreate a fairly accurate representation of lives of the homeless and
the struggles they face every day. I suppose that the fact that the photos closely mirrored reality
does make a difference as to whether the deception was ethically justified. In my opinion, it
would only be unethical if he made depictions of homeless people that do not exist, as that would
be lying to the public in an attempt to influence the corporations decision. Ultimately, the
choices he made had a positive impact on the living situation of the homeless people and
prevented them from losing the only place they could call home. The ends managed to justify
the means.