Close this window [x]

AURORA PHOTOS' "J-TAG"

(JOURNALISTIC TAG)

Aurora Photos' web site is all-inclusive, containing both editorial and commercial imagery. Because Aurora works with the top journalism organizations in the world, we want to alleviate the potential risks of one of these clients mistakenly publishing an image that is not "journalistic" or "truthful" from the client's perspective and that of the journalism community at large. We address this issue on our web site by defining and identifying certain images as "journalistic", tagging them as such in our archive, offering clients a filtered search result of these images and displaying an icon (the "J-Tag") next to these images in a search result expanded view. This tag and filter will allow journalism clients to differentiate "journalistic" images from those that are not. Aurora defines "journalistic" images as images that have not been altered in any way by the photographer, either by altering the situation at the time of shooting, or altering the image itself in post-production. Only images classified "journalistic" are identified in search results.

Aurora's definition of a "journalistic" / J-Tag image:


What is JOURNALISTIC:

  1. Candid photographs that truthfully represent what was taking place at the time the image was made.
  2. Posed portraits of people in their environments, as is often done for magazine assignments. No digital manipulation has been made to the image, and the subject is not a model and has not been paid or rewarded materially for their participation in the making of the photograph.
  3. Images with acceptable digital adjustments. This includes: small adjustments to brightness, contrast, and saturation that do not alter the reality of what the photographer saw when he/she made the photograph. Minor sharpening of an image is allowed.
  4. Images with acceptable retouching. This includes: cleaning dust or scratches from film scans or dust from lenses or digital sensors. It is not acceptable to remove things such as moles, birthmarks, or blemishes from a subject's face.
  5. Creating panoramic or similar formats by stitching together at their edges two or more images in such a way that the resulting image truthfully represents the view at the moment the images were made.
  6. Black and White images that are not tinted or toned in any way and adhere to all the other rules for a JOURNALISTIC image.

What is NOT JOURNALISTIC:

  1. Digitally adding or removing anything from the image that is not dust or scratches. This includes: Blemishes, pimples, dirt, power lines, lens flare, logos, trademarks, people, etc.
  2. Combining two or more images to achieve a third new single image.
  3. Manipulation of the image's brightness, contrast, saturation or color that changes the reality of what would have been seen by the photographer or others present when the image was taken.
  4. Images where the subjects are models or have been paid or rewarded materially for their participation in the making of the photograph.
  5. Images that appear to be candid, but where the subject or any element in the image was conceived, posed or positioned by the photographer.
  6. Images where the subjects are wearing clothing or using equipment or props provided by the photographer.