Comments on: Of life and death

By: Jasmine

Jasmine — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:52:52 +0000

I can understand that the photographer would be troubled, but he really couldn’t have done anything to help the woman. If he had gone in to save her, he would have died trying seeing as the water was too much for the rescuers. He wasn’t alone there, he wasn’t the only person there to help, so calling to professionals was the best choice; they were just doing their jobs, as was the photographer. I can also understand why it would be troubling to take the photos of the troubled woman’s last moments alive. They seem private, sacred, not meant to be documented. But it is his job as a photographer to depict the photos to go along with the story. The editor was right, the real problem is figuring out how to use them appropriately. Personally, I think they shouldn’t have used them at all. The article about the woman’s tragic drowning was disturbing enough without photo-documentation of her last breathes to go along with it.

By: Amy

Amy — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:38:42 +0000

We think that because the journalist was not the only one there to save the woman, he was not wrong to stay and document the situation. Had he been the only person available to save the woman, and had taken pictures instead of trying to help the woman, that would have been a different situation.

By: Brie, Heidi, Sarah, Katie Johnson

Brie, Heidi, Sarah, Katie Johnson — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:18:43 +0000

We don’t think that Halevi is to blame for the woman’s drowning. The fact that he was 50 ft. away shows how he was too far away to help her. Another point is that if a professional rescue team couldn’t save her then the chances that Halevi could have saved her is very small.

By: Maggie

Maggie — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 03:00:13 +0000

I think that the journalist did all that he could to save the woman, and he just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time taking pictures. He didn’t intend to be put on the spot by a drowning woman and he handled the situation in a professional way. The editor also noted under the photo that the journalist was not in arms length so people would not get a misunderstanding.

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:51:51 +0000

I don’t think that the journalist did anthing wrong. He even admited that he should have acted but that wasn’t his job and there were other people on the beach that it was their job to save the women. The reported also tested the accuracy of what he caught on film by talking to her peers they told him that she had talked about sucide in the past.

By: Jessica Moore

Jessica Moore — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:24:28 +0000

The journalist, I believe, did NOT do anything wrong. Of course, he did just take pictures instead of trying to save her, but in otherwords the rescuers were doing their jobs, as so was he. Although this is a tragic event that someone drowned in the waters, it was fate that he ended up at the besch at the exact right time to take the picture. Her story must have needed to be told. If Haveli had jumped into the water to try and save, as an untrained lifeguard, he would have hurt himself more than trying to save her. He was already at risk being so closed to a stormy sea. At what measures do we take to capture a shot?

By: Charity Marsh

Charity Marsh — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:30:44 +0000

We do not believe that the journalist did anything wrong when being in this position. There was nothing more that Halevi could have done, other than trying to get help from the rescuers..which he did. The few seconds it took for him to snap the photo would have not resulted any more positively due to the terrible storm that the place was already having. If trained profesionals could not have done anything more to save the ‘troubled woman’, then Halevi would have potentially been putting his life in more danger than it was already in.

By: Lizzie Joray

Lizzie Joray — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:22:47 +0000

We think that the photographer should not be blamed for the incident involving the woman. He was just doing his job and the photo was taken 50 feet away, so it wasn’t like he could really help her. Also, since there were trained professional rescuers it was not his duty to save her. Even if he did attempt to save her, he would have been risking his own life.