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I had a vague recollection of some controversy about the author, and ended up finding this piece: https://www.cjr.org/the_feature/chris_arnade_journalism_photog

I had a vague recollection of some controversy about the author, and ended up finding this piece: https://www.cjr.org/the_feature/chris_arnade_journalism_photography_photojournalism.php https://www.cjr.org/the_feature/chris_arnade_journalism_phot... > Arnade’s work has raised the ire of a variety of people: photographers, journalists, advocates and community members. People have called his work exploitative, and much worse. Arnade tends to photograph mostly women; he has photographed them when they’re high and given them money they’ve used to buy drugs. He claims he’s built a relationship of trust with them. Critics, including some prominent photojournalists, say he exploits that trust to distribute photos of his subjects at their most vulnerable to a fan base of online lurkers.

heymijo 7y ago
So I'm going to comment on this. As an outsider I gather that there is a journalistic/photographer code that basically amounts to "don't help or get involved with your subjects." Well, if you follow Chris' work or have read his book, that's a pretty fucking hard ask. I saw this first hand when I met him outside a McDonald's in Portsmouth, Ohio. Portsmouth is ground-zero for the opioid epidemic. I met Chris Arnade in Portsmouth on a whim. I drove into town. Navigated to a McDonald's and spotted him outside photographing what appeared to be a homeless family. They had been right outside the McDonald's begging. They were all filthy and pushing around their toddler in a shopping cart. It was late fall and getting cold. Once Chris finished interviewing them and taking their picture I walked up and introduced myself. He was on his way inside to buy them some food, which we did. Then we went back inside together and talked. He was shook. This guy had been all over but it was the cold and the kid that really got to Chris. He goes to the places most journalists don't--like his first stops are children's services and McDonald's in areas he visits. He talks to the people. He knew already that Portsmouth's children's services was beyond overwhelmed. They were underfunded ten years ago. Now they were barely treading water and the opioid epidemic had flooded them. I had been a teacher so he asked my opinion of what I saw with the toddler. Was this neglect and if so what would I do? Teachers in Ohio are 'mandatory reporters' meaning we are legally obligated to report anything with our students that we think might be neglect. From my training, this was unequivocally neglect. He was torn. The journalist's code says "do nothing." I had a two hour drive home that night to process this. It was fucked up. When I got home I e-mailed him my thoughts and said I thought we should alert children's services. I didn't have the families names though. He e-mailed back and said he had been thinking about it too and agreed. But he didn't pass the buck to me. He made the call himself. That night I saw Chris Arnade interact with people the rest of the world overlooks. I saw him treat them as people. Listen to them. Worry about them, give a few of them a meal, and ultimately wrestle with morality, ethics, and being a human being. Those are my words. Chris' words are here about how he grappled with his time in Portsmouth. [1] [1] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/17/drugs-opiod-addiction-epidemic-portsmouth-ohio https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/17/drugs-opiod-...
- cm2012 7y ago
  Thank you for sharing this.
  - heymijo 7y ago
    You're welcome. Thank you for reading it.
- cookie_monsta 7y ago
  > The journalist's code says "do nothing." Even if there were such a code it would say no such thing. Journalists aren't scientists who need to protect the integrity of the research by trying not too influence results. Many fine journalists get actively involved in the lives of their subjects. From the article you linked: "I called for the expertise of child protective services. Not calling would have been denying what I saw."
- techstrategist 7y ago
  Thank you for sharing this.
sansnomme 7y ago
Ah yes, the classic journalistic arrogance. If you see a bloated child keeled over in a third world country, do you simply photograph or do you help? Perhaps it is a failing of humanities education that this sort of issues are still worthy of debate, that the basic human instinct to give aid to a fellow man can be supplanted by philosophy and economic debate. A perfect example of why tertiary education is under attack from all sides; if the ivory towers brings marginal value and charges tremendously high rent, is it still worth keeping them around? A good topic for HN to consider and think about, it is easy to bash academia and universities as overpriced and irrelevant, but Khan Academy doesn't exactly fulfill the niche either.
- pm90 7y ago
  Bashing tertiary education is one of those uniquely American things. Literally nowhere in the world is it considered a problem to have more education. American Universities are certainly not perfect and there are sectors that exploit easy student loans, sure. On the aggregate though, Universities are the bedrock of American progress.
  - sansnomme 7y ago
    Most countries' universities are not "world class". They are good but the top US universities are like tech unicorns, entirely in their own class when it comes to innovation/rankings, network, and opportunities.
  - Nasrudith 7y ago
    I wouldn't say unique although it is anomalous as those examples are very third world. Mostly it comes down to attacking the source of dissent instead of defending their beliefs and ideas.

heymijo 7y ago

So I'm going to comment on this. As an outsider I gather that there is a journalistic/photographer code that basically amounts to "don't help or get involved with your subjects." Well, if you follow Chris' work or have read his book, that's a pretty fucking hard ask. I saw this first hand when I met him outside a McDonald's in Portsmouth, Ohio. Portsmouth is ground-zero for the opioid epidemic. I met Chris Arnade in Portsmouth on a whim. I drove into town. Navigated to a McDonald's and spotted him outside photographing what appeared to be a homeless family. They had been right outside the McDonald's begging. They were all filthy and pushing around their toddler in a shopping cart. It was late fall and getting cold. Once Chris finished interviewing them and taking their picture I walked up and introduced myself. He was on his way inside to buy them some food, which we did. Then we went back inside together and talked. He was shook. This guy had been all over but it was the cold and the kid that really got to Chris. He goes to the places most journalists don't--like his first stops are children's services and McDonald's in areas he visits. He talks to the people. He knew already that Portsmouth's children's services was beyond overwhelmed. They were underfunded ten years ago. Now they were barely treading water and the opioid epidemic had flooded them. I had been a teacher so he asked my opinion of what I saw with the toddler. Was this neglect and if so what would I do? Teachers in Ohio are 'mandatory reporters' meaning we are legally obligated to report anything with our students that we think might be neglect. From my training, this was unequivocally neglect. He was torn. The journalist's code says "do nothing." I had a two hour drive home that night to process this. It was fucked up. When I got home I e-mailed him my thoughts and said I thought we should alert children's services. I didn't have the families names though. He e-mailed back and said he had been thinking about it too and agreed. But he didn't pass the buck to me. He made the call himself. That night I saw Chris Arnade interact with people the rest of the world overlooks. I saw him treat them as people. Listen to them. Worry about them, give a few of them a meal, and ultimately wrestle with morality, ethics, and being a human being. Those are my words. Chris' words are here about how he grappled with his time in Portsmouth. [1] [1] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/17/drugs-opiod-addiction-epidemic-portsmouth-ohio https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/17/drugs-opiod-...

cm2012 7y ago
Thank you for sharing this.
- heymijo 7y ago
  You're welcome. Thank you for reading it.
cookie_monsta 7y ago
> The journalist's code says "do nothing." Even if there were such a code it would say no such thing. Journalists aren't scientists who need to protect the integrity of the research by trying not too influence results. Many fine journalists get actively involved in the lives of their subjects. From the article you linked: "I called for the expertise of child protective services. Not calling would have been denying what I saw."
techstrategist 7y ago
Thank you for sharing this.

sansnomme 7y ago

Ah yes, the classic journalistic arrogance. If you see a bloated child keeled over in a third world country, do you simply photograph or do you help? Perhaps it is a failing of humanities education that this sort of issues are still worthy of debate, that the basic human instinct to give aid to a fellow man can be supplanted by philosophy and economic debate. A perfect example of why tertiary education is under attack from all sides; if the ivory towers brings marginal value and charges tremendously high rent, is it still worth keeping them around? A good topic for HN to consider and think about, it is easy to bash academia and universities as overpriced and irrelevant, but Khan Academy doesn't exactly fulfill the niche either.

pm90 7y ago
Bashing tertiary education is one of those uniquely American things. Literally nowhere in the world is it considered a problem to have more education. American Universities are certainly not perfect and there are sectors that exploit easy student loans, sure. On the aggregate though, Universities are the bedrock of American progress.
- sansnomme 7y ago
  Most countries' universities are not "world class". They are good but the top US universities are like tech unicorns, entirely in their own class when it comes to innovation/rankings, network, and opportunities.
- Nasrudith 7y ago
  I wouldn't say unique although it is anomalous as those examples are very third world. Mostly it comes down to attacking the source of dissent instead of defending their beliefs and ideas.