Informed Consent

This page deals with the ownership of the images created and the concept and practice of informed consent. We require all photographers to understand and gain informed consent.

We will address the concept of Informed Consent with a short video seminar and links - and then discuss that with each of you either as a group or in individual mentorship sessions. For now we advise two short reads from The Photography Ethics Centre.

Readings

1. The Fundamentals of Photographic Consent
2. Informed Consent and How to Fix it

A Note on Ownership

This project will culminate in a public and/or targeted exhibition of participants’ work. Exhibitions are by and large a positive experience for all but exhibiting work can also raise tensions and differences of ideas around editing and about communications, etc.

Each image will be co-created by you the photographer and the person photographed, therefore the images will be jointly owned by you and your co-creator. Therefore, it's important that all participants remain informed about and agree to the decision-making process, of their work.

A Note on Copyright

Before discussing consent in more detail it's important to raise the issue of copyright. We require that all project participants, retain the copyright of the images they co-create. This means that 'photographers' and 'sitters' will share the copyright. Permission for the use and publication of images must be granted by both 'photographer' and 'sitter'.

A Note on Consent

All project participants are asked to gain an informed consent agreement, which states in simple language the different terms of consent around image use. You will be given guidance in your choices by your mentor.

Under 18-year-olds - Consent is also sought from parents/guardians for participants under the age of 18.

Gaining consent in practice

So how do you get a person’s consent to photograph them and publish their image? There are a range of methods to gain consent.

We view consent as ongoing rather than a single decision, bear in mind people may withdraw consent at any point without any need for explanation.

Whichever form of consent you choose, it should always be accompanied by a conversation. Be sure to discuss image use and purpose and offer choices throughout the project. One-to-one dialogue with the people you photograph is a key part of this process.

Written consent

To get written permission to photograph someone and use their photograph, you can use consent forms or an appearance release. Most written appearance release forms however tend to prioritise the rights of the 'photographer' and often attempt to give blanket rights for publication. We suggest that you make your own appearance forms which are specific to narrowly agreed terms of the publication of images, for example, the exhibitions in Bolton and Zitwe and for your own website perhaps, any further publication should be agreed on again by gaining further consent.

There are no right or wrong ways to write a consent form However, the form should at least contain the photographed person’s name and what they’re consenting to (being photographed and the photographs being published in a certain place or a specific context). The purpose and date are good to add, do keep the forms as clear and concise as possible so that the agreement is clear for both parties.

Recorded consent

Written consent isn't necessarily the best or most legitimate form of consent. It tends to be the gold standard in professional settings but in many cases, it gives power to the 'image makers' and waives the rights of those pictured.

Consent forms are also sometimes impractical, not everyone is literate or comfortable with signing an official-looking document. Alternatively, you might record consent via audio or video (a mobile phone is fine). In this case you can outline the terms and conditions and ask the person photographed to make a statement that they agree to those terms.

Consent via email or text message

Email and text messages are other ways to gain consent. Here a short text is written defining the terms and conditions and the 'sitter' is asked to respond if they agree to those terms.