[Washington Post] Opinion: The media must do better to address photojournalism’s sexual harassment problem

John M Flores

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...l-harrasment-magnum-photos-david-alan-harvey/

It's behind a paywall but here are some quotes.

Harvey first asked me to travel with him to Brazil as an assistant, but I was unable to get a visa, so he asked me to come to Madrid to help him teach a class in April 2010. I quickly learned that there was not much assisting for me to do. Instead, I spent my evenings partying with Harvey and his students.

He had already made a few inappropriate comments during the trip. Then one night, after we went out drinking, he said it was a good time to go look at my new work. We left the bar and headed to my hostel, where he manipulated his way up into my room. The room was small, and there was nowhere to sit but on my bed. As I pulled out my laptop, he laid down, and I flashed back to all of the inappropriate comments he had made during our conversations. The project I was working on at the time was about strippers, and he had asked if I could move or dance like one. I tensed up and made sure that the laptop stayed glued to my lap. It became my safety net. I was so focused on not getting hurt that I don’t remember much about what he said to me in that room. Eventually he left, and I returned home feeling ashamed.
 
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PakkyT

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Unfortunately this is prevalent in just about any and every industry. There has recently been a huge backlash with craft brewing & breweries on sexism and harassments in a mostly male dominated industry. A female brewery worker asked on social medial what some woman have had to put up with and the avalanche of responses was so huge and widespread that so far has resulted in firings, CEOs stepping down, everyone releasing statements to cover their asses, etc.
 

ex machina

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After the workshop, we jumped on a Skype call, where we planned on discussing new photos from a project I was working on. But at some point Harvey stood up, turned off the lights, and it became obvious to me that he was masturbating. I was startled, but I’m embarrassed to say that didn’t deter me from wanting to assist him. His actions worried me, but I had experienced so much sexual harassment in my life that this behavior wasn’t necessarily a red flag.

Yikes!

How eff'd up is it that a woman is so exposed/inured to systemic harassment that this doesn't raise a red flag?
 

doady

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OP didn't even post the part about the Harvey turning off the lights and jerking off during a Skype session with the author. That's probably the worst part.

edit: removed a reference to a deleted post
 
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doady

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We have to keep reading about this kind of stuff over and over, about people abusing the power to prey on people, or doing nothing to stop others from doing it, I can't help but wonder as a man if I would actually be any different if I was in the same position of power. It just seems all too common.
 
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John M Flores

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Tweeted by Women Photograph

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Mike Peters

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This is a position of power problem. This happens everywhere, all the time, from the first person in charge, and probably until the last. Human evolution is lagging behind society.

Give a person power and a good percentage of he/she/they/them will find a way to abuse it in a way that mirrors their own psychopathology. Some favor money, some prefer to be cruel, and some will use it to get sex.

The human condition does not care about the industry or institution, only about self-gratification of some kind.

I'm not throwing my hands up and saying "what can you do" and just walking away. But all I, or you, or anyone can do is try to be our best possible self each and every day.

We need to call out the bad actors, like in the linked article, and hold them accountable. Also, as a society, we should find a way to deal more directly with the kind of mental health issues that drive someone like DAH to act in such a way. He needs help, as do all of those who now suffer the PTSD that he, and undoubtedly others, have dumped on them. And, in our educational system, along with Civics, we need to deal more forthrightly with the impact of bullies, toxic masculinity, and other forms of anti-social behavior.

Until we can deal with these issues in a forthright and open manner, that is both thoughtful and sensitive, we are doomed to have problems like these until humans are extinct. Which at this rate might be pretty soon. After that, it's Animal Farm, all day, every day.
 

demiro

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...
We need to call out the bad actors...
Very well said @Mike Peters

I parsed your statement down to what I see as the most important part. Many people are basically good. More than not, I'm quite sure. But very few of them will stand up and call out the bad actors.

On a personal note, the events in American over the previous five years or so have forced me to come to terms with my own lack of standing up for what I think is right. I've tried, and continue to try, to do so, but it's not easy or comfortable. I've done it on this forum, and been called self-righteous. Maybe justly so; it's hard to be sure you are morally correct at times, or when you should "stand up" or just ignore what you think is wrong because it's not really a big deal.

The truth is that most adults, certainly those 30 and older, simply were never trained to stand up. The emphasis has always been to "go along" and not "make waves". I do have some hope for the younger generation. They seem to understand what a poor job we have done at being stewards for the planet and society, and they don't seem willing to just go along. Seems like 50+ years since that's been true in the US. Hopefully these kids will stick with it.
 

davidzvi

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OK I have cleaned up and removed ALL that I believe should be. Things not related to this post, posts about posts not related, questions about moderation, ......

I also removed some of the OP quotes so that questions about fair use (as I read it from a few articles) should not be an issue (no I'm not a lawyer). But I believe it falls under news, not for commercial gain, and not in a way to limits market for creator.

Also I'm not hitting a paid content wall on the original link.
 
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Phocal

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Also I'm not hitting a paid content wall on the original link.

I'm a subscriber but I believe you get a few articles for free every month.

I will admit I never clicked the original link until now and I am not hitting a pay wall either. The reason I didn't click the link previously is a few of my friends are always posting stories from the Washington Post on Facebook and I can never read them, so I have stopped following links to them.
 

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