Was the consent sufficiently free and informed?
Newsha Tavakolian, a recognized photographer from the Magnum agency, was harshly criticized last week for a report published in August 2021 and produced for Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
At the heart of the controversy: several photos identifying a teenage rape victim from the village of Drodro, in the province of Ituri (north of the Democratic Republic of Congo).
In response, MSF withdrew the images published online on May 13, causing the photographer to misunderstand.
To discover
Discover the “Best of the Goncourt Prize” collection
Read alsoDeath at 66 of Miss Tic, pioneer of urban art in France
“These images will forever exist on the web identifying them as child rape survivors. How can a child in Ituri
understand that
?”
, photographer and teacher Jason Tanner explained to
The Art Newspaper
, pointing out the sensitive nature of the shots.
MSF therefore does not understand that these stories could be told without having recourse to images of these minors who survived a rape and are perfectly identifiable?
Missing parents, floating consent
Produced in March 2021 in the Ituri region, where a conflict between rival militias has been brewing for twenty years, the report entitled
Ituri, a glow in the crack,
was written with four hands by Newsha Tavakolian and Sara Kazemimanesh.
The photographer went to meet the population who have suffered since 2017 from the repercussions of the increase in violence.
Several portraits punctuate the story: families suffering from malnutrition, isolated children, broken faces, unemployed.
In the middle of the report, several lines are devoted to the story of Giselle,
"a tall 16-year-old girl with very short hair",
raped by three men two months before she met Newsha Tavakolian at Drodro hospital.
Two portraits of the teenager, lying on a wooden bench, accompany the text.
Published last year without arousing criticism, the report only scandalized after it was posted online in April 2022, on the Magnum agency website, where the text was taken up in the middle of another assortment of photographs.
Newsha Tavakolian regretted the controversy and the deletion of the images.
The photographer clarified that she had indeed obtained the full consent of Giselle and the other subjects photographed.
Should I tell her to go home and write off her story just because she didn't have parents to give consent?
No.
She was powerful and strong.
She wanted to express herself and tell her story
Newsha Tavakolian, The Art Newspaper
"I continue to defend my decision
," Newsha Tavakolian told
The Art Newspaper
.
We discussed it with the medical and psychological teams.
And after taking the photo, an agent from the MSF communications department and I again explained to the young girl that her image could be used.
She signed a consent form which was translated for her by a local translator who accompanied us.”
No parental authorization was possible: Giselle's mother disappeared when she was still young and her father was killed during a raid in 2018.
“Should I tell her to go home and write off her story just because she didn't have parents to give consent?
No
, argues Newsha Tavakolian.
She was powerful and strong.
She wanted to express herself and tell her story.”
Read alsoRussian rocker Yuri Shevtchouk prosecuted for denouncing the offensive in Ukraine
After initially defending the photos in question, MSF finally changed its mind a week later and deleted five images for which the consent of the subjects could be questioned.
“
If MSF now says it misjudged the situation, I respect that
,” commented Newsha Tavakolian.
The publication of Newsha Tavakolian's work on the Magnum site has not, however, been modified.
"We are convinced that Newsha's photos and her account of her trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo with MSF comply with our code of ethics,"
the agency said in a statement.
