Show Notes
In this episode, we talk with Alice Cazenave about the toxicity of photography. She examines photography and colonialism on a material level in terms of land ownership, extraction and contamination. Alice discusses how the use of plants allowed her to explore the different narratives that emerged from the same place. She provides insight into the plant-based photo-chemistries* that develop her analogue photographs, and explains how her work is informed by multi-disciplinary perspectives and resources. Through her practice, Alice stresses the importance of vulnerability as she pursues work which challenges her own assumptions.
*Plant-based photo-chemistries are made with plants and sodium ascorbate.
More from The Photo Ethics Podcast
In this episode, we talk with Joyce Y. T. Mak about community photography, participatory archiving, and ethical documentation. Joyce discusses how their work as a documentary photographer, digital archivist, and community organiser has been shaped by questions of representation, consent, and care. They reflect on photographing grassroots communities through long-term relationships, exploring how collaboration can extend beyond image-making into the archiving process itself. Joyce also considers the role of constraints in ethical photography, the challenges of preserving born-digital materials, and why ethics should be understood as an ongoing practice rather than simply a set of rules.
In this episode, we talk with Siorna Ashby about ethics in boudoir and nude portrait photography. Siorna discusses her collaborative, consent-led approach to photographing the body, exploring how clients actively shape the images they create together through what she describes as “self-authoriship”. She reflects on navigating vulnerability, power dynamics, and body image, explaining how trust is built before and throughout the process. Siorna also shares her approach to retouching and the challenges of building an ethical boudoir business, and considers how historical representations of the nude continue to shape contemporary photographic practice.
In this episode, we talk with Aindreas Scholtz about sustainability, materiality, and the future of photographic practice. Aindreas discusses how his camera-less photographic work, drawing on historical processes such as cyanotype and anthotype*, has shaped his research. He reflects on photography as a material practice, exploring the ethical implications of the resources and environments entangled in photography. Aindreas discusses the value of working collaboratively with communities and scientists, the importance of embracing slow methodologies, and why photographers should be transparent about the environmental impact of their work. He shares how reflecting on his own practice has led him to see photography ethics as an ongoing process of imagining better futures through more thoughtful choices.
In this episode we talk with Oh Soon-Hwa about long-term documentary practice, research, and ethical responsibility. Soon-Hwa reflects on her personal experience of migration and its influence on her photographic work, discussing the importance of curiosity, sustained engagement, and research when working with communities. She explores the ethical challenges of photographing private lives, balancing public visibility with private wellbeing, and explains why care, rather than consent alone, is at the heart of her photographic practice.
For season 7, we are bringing you a mini edition of the podcast to focus on our biennial Photography Ethics Symposium.