Savannah Dodd conducted a thematic analysis of 48 episodes from The Photo Ethics Podcast to distilled eight key lessons about what it means to be an ethical photographer. These lessons - ranging from the language we use to the intentions we have - can help photographers, filmmakers, and visual storytellers to reflect on their process, develop their practice, and help to build a more equitable industry.

This research was led by Savannah Dodd, founder and director of the Photography Ethics Centre, during her Practitioner’s Appointment within the Centre for Creative Ethnography at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) in 2024. It was supported by the Photography Ethics Centre’s advisory team and by Luke Strong. It was funded by the QUB Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA).

Thank you to all of the photographers who have contributed to this research by sharing their experiences through The Photo Ethics Podcast. Special thanks to Anthony Luvera, Justin Carey, Rehab Eldalil, and Mallika Vora who also contributed photographs to illustrate this report. 

Findings from the study were disseminated via a white paper, available for download in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Available here: https://www.photoethics.org/content/2024/10/16/report-eight-lessons-from-the-photo-ethics-podcast

An audio version of this report (English only) is available here: https://www.photoethics.org/podcast/eight-lessons

Results were also published in:

Dodd, Savannah. "AI is just one of the thorny issues facing photography – here’s how the industry can prioritise ethics," The Conversation, 21 October 2024, https://theconversation.com/ai-is-just-one-of-the-thorny-issues-facing-photography-heres-how-the-industry-can-prioritise-ethics-241148.