Where is the photographer here?

Last week, I was with some wildlife colleagues at a nature reserve, as part of an induction project, where students were charged with photographing as much wildlife as possible. My colleague Jamie, a keen and experienced wildlife photographer, kindly let me try out his Nikon Z9 with a telephoto lens. Early on the walk, one of our colleagues spotted a dragonfly perched on a branch and we each then took turns to photograph it with the Z9.

The camera was shooting in auto-mode, but with manual zoom. Upon returning, it was unclear who had taken which photograph, which, historically, has been important, when laying claim to the image as a creative output. This claim identifies the artist. This led me to wonder, what is it that the photographer may claim when there is such ambiguity over who did what.

Generously, perhaps the wisest answer would be to simply credit all parties for their respective roles. In this way, we may look upon the image as an artwork that has been created by the range of individuals and organizations involved in its creation. This may need to include Nikon and…