We have come together in the midst of COVID-19, alongside the movement to fight police brutality and systemic racism, to assert the rights of all lens-based workers and define actions that build a safer, healthier, more inclusive, and transparent industry.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlights and exacerbates inequities toward workers, especially those who are marginalized (including Black, Indigenous, and people of color [BIPOC]; the working class; women, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people; people with disabilities; and LGBTQIA+ people). This pandemic also presents an opportunity to rectify these inequities. It has laid bare systemic oppression, heightened community tensions, and as a result, ushered in a global civil rights revolution. This revolution emphasizes dismantling the systems that historically uphold and maintain white supremacy, echoing our call for immediate and sweeping transformation that honors the current moment. This uprising is our collective call to immediate action. The Photo Bill of Rights is a fundamental step in changing our industry and gaining rights and access for all.
The labor and livelihood of lens-based workers (including photographers, cinematographers, video and broadcast journalists, visual editors, assistants, and producers) have been under duress long before this pandemic. This Bill of Rights speaks primarily to the concerns of independent workers, though it is also largely relevant to staff employees.
This document brings attention to the pervasive issues surrounding health, safety, access, bias, ethics, and finance throughout the visual journalism and editorial media industries and offers solutions to establish equitable standards through actionable steps.
Media institutions cannot claim to educate and progress public understanding of injustices while upholding practices that marginalize workers. The white, Western, cisgender male gaze has been used to colonize, disenfranchise, and dehumanize. The burden of recognizing, accounting for, and living with these inequities has been placed on those with the least access to power, resources, and recourse within the industry.
We offer this framework for lens-based workers globally and aspire for this groundwork to amplify existing industry transformations worldwide.
This is not a legally binding document; this is a call to action. This is a guide. This is an ethical code. This is an opportunity to recognize the problems within our industry and act to solve them.
For further context, please see the findings of the Visual Storytellers Survey of 700+ lens-based workers across various sectors of the industry, providing evidence and insight into many of the issues we’ve outlined in this Bill of Rights.
HOW TO READ THE BILL OF RIGHTS:
Every arrow (») will expand the section to reveal the complete text and accompanying action items.
All bolded words are hyperlinked to a glossary with definitions of important words and phrases.
You can access a plain text version of the Photo Bill of Rights here.
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The physical and mental well-being of lens-based workers requires due diligence and transparent access to safety assessment, requisite hazard pay, personal protective equipment, training, and trauma-informed aftercare when necessary. »
ACTION »
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Financial respect and security is integral to the success of all lens-based workers. Create a transparent process for timely payment, advance payment, kill fees, and addressing financial and contractual issues without reprisal. »
ACTION »
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Lens-based workers from marginalized groups are routinely subjected to sexual misconduct and abuse (microaggressions, discrimination, harassment, and assault) while working. Prioritize safety for all workers by proactively addressing concerns and grievances with policies meant to eliminate abuse and sexual misconduct. »
ACTION »
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An ethical industry requires equitable access to opportunities and pay, as well as support for continued growth. Create codes of conduct, training, and clear systems to further identify and challenge implicit bias in decision making. »
ACTION »
IN CONCLUSION:
This Bill of Rights is a first step toward working as a collaborative and conscientious industry. Change is possible if we are willing to identify and address consistent problems at the individual and institutional level.
Visual storytelling at its best upholds integrity, respect, transparency, and accountability. Now is the time to work together to build a sustainable industry that is accessible, equitable, and inclusive for all; anything less impedes our ability to be a genuine mirror to the world.
If you are a lens-based worker: co-sign and share this document and the accompanying toolkit with your colleagues to enact more collaboration and transparency in your practice.
If you are in a hiring position: co-sign and use this document to inform improved practices and to advocate for those you hire.
If you are in any position to amplify this message: co-sign and advocate for improved policies and practices to shift the toxic and untenable state of our industry.
The Photo Bill of Rights was created alongside additional resources meant to move the goals of this initiative beyond conversation and into tangible action.
The “Beyond the Bill” offers a starting point for continued development of a more conscientious and equitable visual media practice. Prompts are provided for reflection — for workers to draw their own conclusions, start conversations within their networks, and take action — beyond the Photo Bill of Rights.
Additionally, we’ve created toolkits with specific resources for lens-based workers and hiring parties. These toolkits provide guided processes that can be enacted in the workplace and in the field, expanding on the Photo Bill of Rights to offer templates for practical application.
We encourage you to spend time with each, as a way to further engage, learn, and actively participate in growing a better industry.
We acknowledge this document was shaped by lens-based workers in the United States, where the industry often exploits the labor and knowledge of lens-based workers outside the country.
An international application of these and other rights must be explored by hiring parties. We hope this can be a seed for individuals and organizations beyond the U.S. to advocate for the specific needs of their communities. We will join in, amplify, and support any effort to that end.
[Published June 22, 2020; Updated June 26, 2020]