BEHIND THE PHOTOGRAPH Story by Khaleigh Reed A FEW YEARS AGO, Stephen Swofford was working as a photographer for “The Gazette” newspaper in Pueblo, Colorado. One day, while driving home from work, Swofford noticed a man standing in what he described as “really beautiful light.” Swofford stopped his car, took a photograph of the man, then walked over to introduce himself. While Swofford has a wide range of experience in photography, this situation was different. According to Swofford, when he asked if he could use the image, the man immediately declined. “I told him, ‘Hey, that’s no problem,’” but instead of leaving it at that, the two men started talking. The man described the challenges he was facing, such as his recent move to town and his struggles after being incarcerated. “He said he just felt invisible,” Swofford said. After nearly an hour of talking, Swofford said he understood he “just made [the man] feel seen.” Before he left, the man told his name and agreed to let Swofford publish the photograph of him. Swofford has documented communities throughout Colorado, using photography to tell breaking stories. A photojournalist, whose career spans nearly 20 years, Swofford explained that not only is it his responsibility to ensure objectivity, but also to actively represent people for who they are, not how they are framed. The interaction with the man he had photographed made Swofford think about what is often overlooked in journalism: trust. A 2022 paper on how the media represents homelessness and unhoused individuals reflects many of those same patterns Swofford described. In “Faceless, Nameless, Invisible: A Visual Content Analysis of Photographs in U.S. Media Coverage About Homelessness,” co-written by Elizabeth Bowen, Ph.D., and Nicole Capozzielo, Ph.D., the authors found that photographs of those presumed to be unhoused often featured homelessness paraphernalia (e.g., tents, shopping carts). While Swofford said he could cover breaking news or features with more empathy and effort, his goal has always remained the same: to tell the truth and treat people with dignity. “I think the most important bit is just treating them like you treat anybody else,” he said. Swofford stated that photographers can fall into the habit of focusing on a person’s circumstances rather than their humanity, which is why he believes it is especially important, when photographing vulnerable populations, including people experiencing homelessness, to treat them like they do anyone else. “They can often sort of just become an object to photograph,” he said. “You have to remember, they are [not just subjects]. These are actual people.” When reporting on various communities, trust can be difficult to earn because many people have been portrayed in ways they felt were unfair, exploitative, or incomplete. “I think it’s hard, or it can be difficult, to earn the trust of these vulnerable populations,” Swofford said. For him, building trust starts with treating people as equals. “You’re not there to tell your story and use them for it or anything. You’re not telling a biased story. You’re there to find the truth,” he said. That approach also helps address another challenge journalists face: personal bias. DENVER VOICE JULY 2026 Daniel Teitsort and his dog, Penny, look up the hill as they wait for Daniel’s girlfriend to come to their new camp after being forced from their old site at 38th and Fox in Denver by a police sweep in June 2024. | Photo by Stephen Swofford Swofford said he regularly examines his own reactions while working in the field. “If I start to feel uncomfortable, then I always take a little moment to do some introspection and figure out why I’m feeling uncomfortable,” he said. Sometimes that discomfort is a sign of danger. Other times, he said, the discomfort can reveal assumptions or perspectives that need to be challenged. “You have to get out of your bubble,” he said. “Just expose yourself to other ways of living.” The same attention to detail continues when he reviews photographs after an assignment. According to Swofford, photographers can unintentionally create misleading images simply through framing. A photograph may technically be accurate while still presenting a false impression. “If a guy’s having fun with his friends, that’s the truth of the moment,” Swofford said. “Cropping his friends out turns that into a lie.” In situations like that, Swofford said that photographers have a responsibility to represent events honestly rather than creating narratives that weren’t there. “I think it’s easy to lose sight of that objectivity,” he said. Still, Swofford said that he believes reputable news organizations work hard to remain fair and accurate in their reporting. And to ensure that journalists or photojournalists tell the truth with dignity. “Let their humanity shine through,” Swofford said. “I think that’s how you remove exploitation.” He added, “It comes back to respecting their agency.” “A photograph can’t change the world, but it can show the world a reason to change,” Swofford said. 11
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