Every now and then, the global world of photojournalism goes into self-oscillation. It happens when a photojournalist is caught manipulating a photo. News photojournalism is the most sensitive in this respect. We want to trust that what we see in a newspaper, particularly when the photos are used as accurate and trustworthy accounts of significant events, that they are accurate representations of the truth. And when a photojournalist crosses the line, a tidal wave of photojournalists starts wondering and discussing where the line is. What’s allowed and what’s not allowed in photojournalism? It’s a can of worms, but all the more important to understand. For photojournalists and their audience alike.

The basic rules that most photojournalists agree to is that news photojournalists are not allowed to add, move or delete anything in the photo. They are not allowed to stage a situation or instruct people to reenact an event for the camera (except when making a portrait). And they are not allowed to use “excessive” photoshopping, tone mapping, color manipulation etc.

But where exactly the line is between reasonably “enhancing” the photo for visual appeal, and distorting the photo beyond what is a faithful depiction of a situation is not always easy to say. If it was easy to draw the line, it would probably already have been done and agreed upon. The line is especially fuzzy when the subject comes to changing the colors and contrast of a photo.

It would be simple to say that colors simply shouldn’t be changed at all. The photo, as it comes out of the camera, should be used directly. The camera never lies, right? Well, not exactly! Different cameras and lenses actually “see” colors in slightly different ways. Not to talk about the good, old roles of film, each with their own characteristics. And when a photo is printed in different magazines or newspapers, they’ll come out slightly different. And even when viewed on two different computer screens, colors will appear slightly different.