Controversies: A legal and ethical history of photography

Since its invention in 1839, photography has provoked numerous controversies and sensational trials. The photographic image has been at the centre of important ethical debates and legal questions throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. As a symbol of free expression and the rights of individuals, but also of power and money, it has frequently come into conflict with authority and has had to face censorship and manipulation. It has provoked impassioned debates in the worlds of art, science, politics, journalism, fashion and advertising that have often ended in court. Most major photographers have been drawn into legal proceedings or controversies that have had important repercussions on their careers. 
The Musée de l'Elysée has brought together a wide range of photographs from the beginnings of photography to the present day that have been the focus of controversy or legal proceedings. Some of these are very well-known, others are less so. Taken together, these pictures give a better understanding of how a society or culture looks at itself, and thereby enable us to consider contemporary debates with a critical eye. 

An exhibition produced by Musée de l'Elisée, Losanna 
curated by Daniel Girardin, curator at the Musée de l'Elysée and Christian Pirker, barrister in Geneva 
organized and presented in Florence by Fratelli Alinari. Foundation of History of Photography.

 A book published by Actes Sud and the Musée de l'Elysée accompanies the exhibition.

Photo: Oliviero Toscani, Virginal Love, 1992 © Oliviero Toscani 5