Archive for the 'Documentary' Category

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Thank You For Your Call

Published July 20, 2010 Documentary 4 Comments
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In 1935, the Social Security Act was created to help ensure the economic safety of America’s elderly.

As of July 2010, the United States Social Security Administration does not recognize same-sex marriages or domestic partnerships as valid relationships.

Consequently, thousands of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender seniors are denied Social Security benefits every year.

Ineligible for Social Security surivors benefits, and faced with undue economic burdens, many LGBT seniors are often forced to give up their homes after losing their partner.

To learn more about this issue please visit rockforequality.org

Video by Shawn Nee / discarted

Stupid Questions

Published July 8, 2010 Documentary , Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism 1 Comment
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discarted

I see something that I’ve never seen before. I bend down in the middle of the street as cars, attempting to avoid the bumper to bumper orgy on Western Avenue take a hard right down La Mirada Ave., and speed past behind me—their hot exhaust fumes graze my back. I’m invincible holding this camera.

Me: Is it loaded?

William (watching a movie): Boy, you ask some stupid questions.

I move my camera and crouch lower. My right knee cracks, and then the shutter as a Beamer lays on its horn and keeps going.

William: I got an M-16 too, but that’s buried in the back.

Documentary Photography: Still Possible

Published July 7, 2010 Documentary , Interview 1 Comment
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From the Downtown East Side series. Photograph by Claire Martin

We interviewed photographer Claire Martin last year as part of our occasional Found on Flickr series, and now she’s won one of Magnum’s Inge Morath awards, which not only serves as a nice bit of recognition, it will also give her $5,000 to put toward one of her projects.

About the award, Claire says:

Documentary work is so difficult to publish and very hard to create without funds. Often it seems like only an idiot would try to pursue this path in the real world, and I am sure when I explain myself to most people they see me that way. So awards like the Inge Morath make you believe it is possible. Even if you don’t win it, knowing that there is an industry that supports it, no matter how small is encouraging.

Read her whole interview with the British Journal of Photography here.

Earning Her Wings

Published July 2, 2010 Documentary , Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism , Street photography Leave a Comment
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Tracy (high and inebriated): Mistah, you shouldn’t be down there. The cops are gonna come.

No response.

Tracy: Hey pal, get outta there…you’re gonna get killed!

Man (infuriated): WHY DO YOU THINK I’M DOWN HERE!!!

Tracy: Sir, you shouldn’t try to kill yourself.

Man (high on meth): I know.

Photos by Shawn Nee/discarted

Introspection

Published June 30, 2010 Documentary Leave a Comment
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DISCARTED

Welcome to My Jungle

Published June 30, 2010 Documentary Leave a Comment
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Photo by Shawn Nee/discarted

Yesterday within a span of 30 minutes a deadly shooting and three vehicular injuries occurred all within a one block radius from one another.

Near the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and St. Andrews Place, an unidentified 20-year old man was shot to death by an unknown assailant who fled on foot. As two LAPD officers responded to the call, they were stuck by another vehicle, sending the officers to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Then, a short while later, a bicyclist traveling north on Western Boulevard and only one block east of where the shooting took place, was struck by a vehicle as he crossed Virginia Avenue. The unknown cyclist sustained a head injury, a large laceration to his knee, and was transported to an area hospital by the Los Angeles Fire Department. The driver of the vehicle remained on scene, and according to one man who witnessed the accident, the cyclist was at fault. And finally, as I made my way home to process the photos and get them to my editor, I saw a man wielding a tire iron chase another man down the street. I love this neighborhood.

According to a Los Angeles Times article regarding yesterday’s fatal shooting, there has been at least 63 homicides in my neighborhood since 2007.

For more photos of the accident and a write up by Zach Behrens check out LAist.

The Randomness of Street Photography

Published June 16, 2010 Documentary , Los Angeles , Street photography 1 Comment
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Woman walks up…asks me to take her picture…shows me her vagina.

Chevron Forces Documentarian to Spill

Published May 10, 2010 Documentary , Photographers' Rights 1 Comment
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In an effort to defend itself in a $27.3 billion lawsuit, Chevron is trying to get 600 hours of raw footage from the filmmaker behind the 2009 documentary “Crude.” The lawsuit involves 30,000 Ecuadoreans who are suing Chevron for polluting a big chunk of the Amazon rainforest through drilling and dumping, and the documentary covered the ongoing fight.

The “Crude” filmmaker was fighting the request, citing the First Amendment and journalist privilege, but a judge overruled him last week and is allowing Chevron to subpoena their footage. Documentarians and filmmakers are worried the case sets a dangerous precedent. Michael Moore weighed in, claiming the ruling would amount to a chilling effect on whistleblowers. Ric burns told the New York Times that the decision “contributes to a general culture of contempt for investigative journalism.”

The result, he said, would be that “next time, there won’t be a ‘Crude.’ There won’t be a film. That’ll be good for Chevron, I guess. Because the next time you go, you’re going to have a much leerier group of informants.”

Article from New York Times (via The Click)

$10K Available for Amateur Photography Project

Published April 30, 2010 Documentary 2 Comments
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POYi (Picture of the Year International) just announced their “Emerging Vision Incentive” to help fund and showcase documentary photography work. The recipient gets $10,000 to devote to their project, which should focus on “daily life, social issues, cultural trends or news events.” The recipient also gets the opportunity to display their proposal at the 67th POYi competition at the Annenberg Space for Photography  in LA in June and their own exhibition in 2011.

You have to be an amateur of semi-professional and the project can’t have been previously published. The application process starts today and goes through May 31, 2010.

Get more info and the application here.

Bill Cunningham’s Street Style

Published March 23, 2010 Documentary , Street photography Leave a Comment
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From Bill Cunningham New York

Readers of the New York Times Style section know Bill Cunningham’s work — the guy is a dogged chronicler of the city’s street fashion in his regular column “On the Street.” And at 81, he’s not showing any signs of slowing down. He is also famously idiosyncratic, getting around the city on a bike, wearing his signature blue smock, and living a spare existence in a tiny one-room apartment.

On top of the that, he’s extremely private, so it’s no small feat that the documentary Bill Cunningham New York came to be. It actually took 10 years to make and eight of those were spent convincing Cunningham to participate. The NY Times’ Lens blog tells the story of the documentary here.

“It isn’t what I think, it’s what I see,” Mr. Cunningham says. “I let the street speak to me. You’ve got to stay on the street and let the street tell you what it is.”

There will be three screenings in New York this month. Go here for more info.

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