The ethical issues 'covered' by Dench's images are obvious - the British nations unhealthy obsession with alcohol. Lenculture opens its piece on Dench's work with the following comment:
"On January 15th 1915, during the First World War, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George exclaimed that Britain was “fighting Germans, Austrians and Drink, and as far as I can see the greatest of these foes is Drink.”Moving on almost a century, I'd have to suggest that Lloyd George's statement is still valid; partying hard, drinking to excess and the subsequent antisocial behaviour is not difficult to observe in any town on a Friday or Saturday night.
In Dench's interview with the BBC, he shares with us that his personal approach to photography was humorous and his intention behind the humour was to 'break the ice' thus enabling the trickier subject of alcoholism to be addressed more openly. Dench also clearly states that the move in his photography toward a more 'anthropological angle' was because of the pushing he received from the project editor. I accept that this statement provides Dench with a "it's not my fault really, I was just doing what I was told..." card, but the reality is his images work and they are commercially successful - so, why change it?
What do I think of the approach? I genuinely don't know. I've seen the standard dozen (or so) images that are generally available on the web and they certainly depict the subjects in a harsh and unflattering light. Whilst some of Dench's images are posed, because of his engagement/interaction/drinking with his subjects, none of the images are staged. Thus, I find it difficult to disapprove of the approach - if the image is there for the taking and Dench is there to see and take it, so be it.
[I have ordered a copy of English Uncensored and will update this post once I have read and digested the contents.]
In terms of the comment "humourous with an underlying social commentary", I would suggest that this applies to numerous other street and documentary photographers e.g. Brandt, Parr, Gilden, Meyerowitz, etc.
Does it work, in terms of having a positive impact on drinking in Britain? I think its too early to tell, but my speculation would be that it will have no influence at all. Referring to the comments made by David Campbell in his lecture about 'narrative, power and responsibility', there is only one demonstrable example of photography influencing behaviour and that was in a very minimal and limited way. Therefore, it is extremely unlikely that Dench's work will have any influence at all - for change to happen, the people involved must want to change and there is no evidence that this is the case.
What are the ethical issues? Heather Shuker (UK street photographer) states that "the ethical issues associated with any street photography primarily concern invasion of privacy; invasion in the form of intrusion; portraying subjects in a false light; embarrassment; and image appropriation."
All of the above are legitimate concerns, but, is it conceivable that, in some warped way, this kind of photography starts to glamourize the situation - the locations, the people and the behaviours. Fundamentally, any type of bad or antisocial behaviour that is not curbed when it happens is, by default, condoned and will happen again...
References:
Slate - Britain's drinking culture shows it's not always happy hour...
Peter Dench
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