As a photographer, is there a session type that would go against your personal morals/ethics/beliefs?

As a person there are sessions that would go against my moral beliefs.

What my job is has nothing to do with it.

Yes, I would agree on the CP (though it did take me a minute to figure that one out!).

I think I would be in the same boat as your friend though. It is something that I don't agree with morally, so I would have a hard time capturing what the client would want. However, unlike your friend, I would not sit and condemn someone else for taking the job. I would have no problem taking the pictures of an individual, but if asked to take photos of a commitment ceremony I would most likely refer them to another photographer. As I said before, because of my personal beliefs, I don't feel that I could capture the love and fun of the event.

EDIT:

Thanks, I try to be as honest as I can be! Didn't mean to say your friend! I guess I over-read the word "photographer" :)

Porn in the rawest sense. CP. Bestiality and getting into the really hardcore things that would go against the majority of the human race's morals. Otherwise? no, there really isn't a whole lot I'd say no to shooting.

I am sure someday I'll get a proposal that I will think back to this question and say, "well, I never thought of THAT when I answered!"

I remember back when I was in photo school and the head of the school had a contact at the local electric company: I had a great shot of a power plant of theirs. Heroic, beautiful sky (#15 yellow filter I think) Good clear late afternoon sun, exquisite B&W 4x5 shot. But what they would really like was that there was no visible smoke from their giant old polluting stacks.

Soured me a bit on advertising photography. Kinky sex of various sorts? Well, if it's truly consensual and no one gets hurt, is that worse than what the electric company was trying to sell?

There isn't much I wouldn't shoot other than corporal punishment or things of that nature but I might still shoot those depending on the project.

It all depends on context.

If I'm shooting, for example, for a really hard hitting ad against violence for women and I'm asked to shoot a graphic shot of a woman getting beat up (faked of course) for the ad then I'll consider it but if I'm asked to shoot a "adult glam" shot of the same type then noooo ... I'm walking away.

I have two daughters. I would not photograph anything that I wouldn't proudly show to them, or photograph them doing. That includes any form of violence. On a personal level, I have never photographed fur coats, either.

I don't like to photograph unpleasant situations. I try photography enrich me as a person

I would always refuse cigarette ads but then I started smoking