The Very Brief #MeToo Movement In Professional Photography

This seems like a good time to remind everyone that the photography industry had a brief “me too” moment back in 2018-2020.

Several big photographers were named in a couple of excellent articles in the Columbia Journalism Review by Kristen Chick and Vox by A.J. Chavar.

I’m sure there are many who never came forward because while the initial outrage caused the named to disappear and delete all their social media, they soon crawl back. Two people I’ve been following are David Alan Harvey and Patrick Witty.

In the article by Kristen Chick, “Eleven women have described to CJR inappropriate behavior from David Alan Harvey over a span of thirteen years, ranging from suggestive comments to unwanted sexual advances to masturbating without their consent on video calls.” His agency, Magnum, was told about it and sat on the information for a decade before suspending him.

So what is David up to now? He’s very active on Threads, where he has 57,000 followers. On Instagram, his account is private, but he has 441,000 followers. On his website, he’s selling prints, has five in-person workshops slated for 2025, and offers online mentorships.

In the article by A.J. Chavar that talks about Patrick Witty: “I spoke to more than 20 people — some of them friends of mine in our shared industry — who said they experienced unwanted interactions with Witty, witnessed the inappropriate behavior, or were told details at the time the events occurred that corroborated the women’s stories. These stories included accounts of unwanted touching, kissing, and other advances at a variety of professional events during and prior to Witty’s employment at National Geographic.”

So what is Patrick up to now? Semafor is reporting that he’s been hired by the White House. Prior to that he was very active on Instagram with 72,000 followers, Threads with 12,000 followers, and has a substack with 3,300 subscribers where he lists his bonafides as a photo editor at National Geographic, WIRED, TIME, and The New York Times.

Do I think these people should be cancelled for their alleged creep-ass behavior that potentially ruined the careers of 30 women plus countless others who headed the other direction once the alarm sounded in their heads?

YES.

But you can do what you feel in your heart. When I brought Patrick’s behavior to the attention of “A Photographic Life” podcaster Grant Scott (former AD at Elle and Tatler) and his host Bill Shapiro (former EIC at LIFE), after they quoted him in a podcast, they refused to remove the quote or take down the podcast where they recommended people subscribe to Patrick’s Substack. Bill has subsequently become chummy with Patrick on Threads, engaging him in conversation on several occasions.

If that weren’t enough, in a subsequent podcast, Bill Shapiro quoted Bill Frakes who has a Wikipedia entry that states “The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) found that Frakes engaged in sexual misconduct and sexual harassment while he was a visiting professor. Frakes was found to have made unwanted comments about women students’ bodies and clothing according to a document obtained by The Omaha World-Herald.”

I think it’s important not to memory-hole what happened. Grant Scott told me he had no idea about Patrick since he works in the UK. Bill Shapiro just told me I was being mean. If industry leaders, despite their cranky old age, refuse to acknowledge the hard work of journalists and the women who brought this information to light, there’s no reason this behavior won’t persist. Personally, I refuse to forget that our male-dominated industry creates challenges for women, and we need to continuously work to rectify that. Lets not erase the work that has already been done.