Phil Moore is a British photojournalist working in the MIddle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. This picture is taken from the following blogpost about a mother in Goma. His works on conflict in the Nuba Mountains and Libya, elections in the DRC, life in Mogadishu, and independence in South Sudan are brilliantly narrative.

I am currently learning about the ethics of photojournalism, so I’ll perhaps have more insightful comments hereafter on the subject. But for now, know that I’m trying to understand why some photos feel inappropriate to me, whilst others (like Moore’s) feel informative and….historical? I sense that it’s the exploitation of subjects in the photos that I am averse to (i.e. using people for popular purposes), but I can’t seem to pinpoint the circumstances under which I deem narration to have become exploitation.

And then there is the fact that we never can tell what went on behind the scene of a photo. Is there some sort of photojournalistic Hippocratic Oath?

(note: I always wish to see cameras (other than cell phones) in the hands of nationals–so if anyone has a photojournalist to recommend (particularly one who is not from Western Europe or North America), please let me know.