Publishing Photos of a Deceased Boy
Do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?
This is the question at hand when evaluating how ethical publishing photos of a deceased toddler is.
Alan Kurdi was a three-year-old Syrian refugee who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea on his journey to Europe in hopes of a better life. Kurdi’s deceased body washed up on a Turkish beach, where photographer, Nilüfer Demir, photographed the child’s body to later publish.
The photos of Alan Kurdi’s body went viral and caused many reactions, both positive and negative. Some saw the photos and educated themselves while others shunned the publication. Many donated to charities in hopes to help refugees while countries committed to helping refugees gain a better life.
Demir gave a voice to those without. She was able to tell many people’s life stories with a photo that forced people to acknowledge the hardships refugees face every day. The photo of Alan Kurdi shed light upon an issue that many people did not understand. The photographer demonstrated care towards the refugees whose stories have not been told.
Unfortunately, care was not shown for the Kurdi family. As they were mourning a tragedy, a photo of their deceased family member was being shared all around the world. The family faced horrible backlash and were forced to grieve publicly because of the publication of the photos of Alan Kurdi.
I believe Demir did the right thing when deciding to post the photos, I would have done the same. Many lives were helped as an outcome of the photos going viral. Although still a tragedy, something positive happened as a result.
The publishing of the photos had both positive and negative effects. The photographs displayed the harsh reality that many people face every day. As a result of Nilüfer Demir’s photos of Alan Kurdi, many refugees will get the chance to live a better life; a life Alan Krudi will never experience.
References
Bouckaert, P. (2015, September 3). Why I shared the horrific photo of the drowned Syrian child. The Globe and Mail; The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/why-i-shared-the-horrific-photo-of-the-drowned-syrian-child/article26204821/
Durham, M. G. (2018). Resignifying Alan Kurdi: News photographs, memes, and the ethics of embodied vulnerability, Critical Studies in Media Communication, 35(3), 240–258, DOI: 10.1080/15295036.2017.1408958
Raghavan, S., & Tharoor, I. (2015, September 3). The saga of the Syrian family whose 3-year-old turned up dead on a Turkish beach. Washington Post; The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/the-saga-of-the-syrian-family-whose-3-year-old-turned-up-dead-on-a-turkish-beach/2015/09/03/4a82ed56-5251-11e5-b225-90edbd49f362_story.html
Stead, S. (2015, September 3). Public Editor: Why The Globe published photos of a drowned Syrian boy. The Globe and Mail; The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/community/inside-the-globe/public-editor-why-the-globe-published-photos-of-a-drowned-syrian-boy/article26204629/
