Kate Winslet’s biopic of Lee Miller, the pioneering woman war photographer, raises some interesting questions about the ethics of fieldwork and their governance. If we reframed Miller’s work as visual ethnography rather than photojournalism, much of it would probably be barred by today’s ethics regulations. On the other hand, her reflective moments well capture the moment-to-moment decisions made in the field by anyone directly witnessing events, even those less dramatic than front-line combat or death camps…
…The world can be a cruel place – and social scientists should not be prevented from exploring, documenting and exposing its cruelties, even at some personal risk. But the occasional distress of that public service also requires its own recognition and remedy.
A Social Science Space blog