Combinatul Siderurgic Galaţi and the Ethics of Taking Great Pictures of Bad Things

Combinatul Siderurgic, Galati, Romania 2008_01.jpg
Everytime I take a picture and make it look beautiful, I advertise what's on it. That is why I don't do photographs like this one anymore.


Sometimes we see things that make for amazing photos, even though they are bad in reality. Dying people, terrible industry, poverty, decay and so on: It all can become kind of acceptable and we even find beauty in it! To me this is a perversion.
This Combinatul (more about its history here) is a good example. It looks absolutly stunning in a photography-sense, but it is actually a symbol for greed and the destruction of our enviroment.



I'd be interested to hear your opinions about the ethics of taking pictures.


Disclaimer: I am not a documentary photographer; I look for peace, beauty and equilibrium beyond our reality, and I do find it in abundance!