Archive for the 'Photojournalism' Category

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Town Halls, From the Photographer’s Perspective

Published August 14, 2009 Photojournalism , Protests , Rally 2 Comments

Political discourse has turned ugly in America, and it’s more of the same with the current health care debate. Rather than accepting our system is broken and championing change in any form, certain people like to cling to destructive myths and wild misinformation to fuel their own anger and sense of oppression. At least that’s my take. 

The Columbia Journalism Review has an interesting interview with New York Times photographer Damon Winter, who won the Pulitzer this year for his work covering the then-Senator Obama’s campaign for the presidency.

Winter took this photo of an angry man at a town hall meeting this week in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and he talks about his role at events like this – among other things, avoiding creating caricatures and staying calm among the fray.

Article via Columbia Journalism Review

Penn State Photog Cleared

Published July 24, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism Leave a Comment
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A District Attorney in Centre County, Pennsylvania, who apparently doesn’t have anything better to do than go after college paper photographers, lost his battle in court this week when a judge cleared the photographer of all wrongdoing. 

Michael Felletter was photographing the melee after Penn State’s victory over Ohio State last October 25 for The Daily Collegian when he was arrested and charged with five counts of failure to disperse and one count of disorderly conduct. (In March the charges were re-filed with only one count of failure to disperse.) The criminal complaint – somewhat shockingly, if only because it sounds so preposterous – claimed Felletter’s photographs incited the crowd to become “more exuberant, excited and destructive.”

Interestingly though, the police used Felletter’s photos to identify and charge more rioters involved in the incident. So, the State was happy to use the fruits of his labor, they just didn’t believe he should have been there taking photos. Hmmm.

DA Michael Madeira said he is reviewing the decision and deciding whether to appeal or re-file charges. Andy Shubin, Felleter’s lawyer, said Madeira needs to “reread his copy of the Constitution.” It would seem he has the time to do so.

Article via Centre Daily Times

LeBron James Nixes Photographer at Camp

Published July 11, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism , Sports photography 4 Comments
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Photo by d_julien

Participants at LeBron James’ Nike basketball camp in Cleveland this week learned a little bit about media manipulation alongside ball handling skills. From The Quad blog in the New York Times comes a report that a freelance photographer’s footage was confiscated after he ran afoul of the star’s vanity.

Ryan Miller had been at the camp shooting video all day when he caught an Xavier sophomore dunking on James – what Miller calls the “highlight of the camp.” Miller says James’ team lost the subsequent game and then he saw the star call over a Nike official. The official then told Miller he couldn’t tape the professional players basically because the players are out of shape, and then he  took the video – the entire video of the day, mind you, that Miller was shooting as a freelancer for ESPNU. Not right. 

It’s fine to have a closed camp with a no photography policy. But to decide midway through the event, after what is so clearly an embarrassing moment for James, to then enact a policy and confiscate footage (and someone’s livelihood)? That’s not just bad PR, it’s ridiculous. Get over yourself.

Article from The New York Times

Photographers’ Rights Rally Weekend 2009

Published June 3, 2009 Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism , Police Harassment , Protests , Rally , Security Guard Harassment 7 Comments
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It’s been a year since we held our first National Photographers’ Rights Organization (NPRO) rally in Los Angeles, and a lot has happened since then. Over the past 12 months, hundreds of us have been harassed by security guards and law enforcement for practicing a perfectly legal activity while in public. Some of us have even witnessed or personally experienced an unlawful arrest by an out-of-control cop. But with the help of our cameras, the grassroots mobilization of the internet and our lobbying of companies and public officials, we have stood up to this abuse and forced change.

For instance, Amtrak finally released a policy on photography and the NYPD’s leaked policy document says to stop the harassment of photographers shooting in public. So in order to progress even further, promote even more awareness and stand up for our rights, NPRO is holding a Photographers’ Rights Rally Weekend this year that will kick off in the Los Angeles Harbor/Port of Long Beach on Saturday June 6th, and end on June 7th in Downtown Los Angeles.

Before attending this event, it is important that we all educate ourselves about the law and photography. To learn the essentials it’s best to start with Bert Krages’ ubiquitous “The Photographer’s Right.” Read it. Memorize it. Print it. The knowledge you obtain from this document will help protect yourself when confronted by law enforcement or security staff when taking pictures in public.

You can also check out the numerous links in section 9 of this blog’s sidebar, which provide you with even more information regarding the law and photography.

Most importantly though, no matter what we are told by law enforcement, California Wiretapping Law legally permits us to secretly record police, or anybody for that matter, when they are in public and there is no expectation of privacy. We do not need a cop’s acknowledgment or permission to record their threats.

It’s extremely important that we bring video cameras and/or audio recording devices to document the unlawful actions of  cops and security guards.

So put on your rally lens caps and clear your schedules for the first weekend in June.

NPRO Rally – Saturday, June 6th
Location: Los Angeles Harbor/Port of Long Beach
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Directions From Downtown Los Angeles: 110 S to Anaheim St Exit, Turn Left on Figueroa Place, Turn Left on W Anaheim St, W Anaheim St Turns Into E Anaheim St, End At N Henry Ford Ave, Park On Street
Directions From the 405 N/S: Exit 33B S Wilmington Ave, Travel West on S Wilmington Ave, Take First Left at E 223rd St, Right on S Alameda St, Continue on S Alameda St, Veer Left on to N Henry Ford Ave, End at Intersection of E Anaheim St and N Henry Ford Ave, Park on Street

 

NPRO Rally – Sunday, June 7th
Location: Pershing Square, Corner of S. Hill St. & W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
Time: 11:30 a.m.

First Amendment Travesty: Michigan Reporter Sentenced

Published June 1, 2009 Assault , Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism , Police Harassment 1 Comment
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Photo from the Michigan Citizen

It was Michigan Citizen reporter Diane Bukowski’s rotten luck that her sentencing came on the day that GM announced it was filing for bankruptcy. Already this story wouldn’t have gotten much play in Detroit, but now it’s as good as done.

Bukowski was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and ordered to pay a $4,000 fine today for two counts of resisting and obstructing an officer at a crime scene in November. Of course the story is as shady as a big oak tree. It was a police car chase that ended in the death of two men. Bukowski is well known for reporting on police corruption. The officer in question manhandled Bukowski, deleting all of her photos – and the jurors saw the raw Fox 2 news footage that substantiates that she never crossed the police tape. Nevertheless, the cops have friends in high places and now Bukowski will pay.

She is appealing the ruling.

Watch the original Fox 2 news report here.

Article from the Detroit Free Press

Hey Joe – “A Hendrix Experience”

Published May 29, 2009 Photojournalism , Street photography Leave a Comment
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Newspapers are dying. Multimedia is the future, or so they say. Here’s an example of what the Los Angeles Times is doing to stay current.

Photographer Mel Melcon followed Hollywood Boulevard’s Jimi Hendrix impersonator, Anthony Aquarius, and it’s actually a very cool little piece. I like how Melcon somehow briefly but very vividly captured this Jimi’s life – a group of teen guys rocking out to him on the sidewalk; Aquarius on the mattress in his bleak bedroom; a couple taking a photo with their phone and we see the result before they will; a passerby dancing to the music through several frames so you can feel the movement; Aquarius’s own unique insight: “The only reason why this works is cause there’s doubt.”

To see the piece, go to “A Hendrix Experience in Hollywood.

6 Inches of Separation

Published May 27, 2009 Documentary , Photojournalism Leave a Comment
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In the Midst of War, Pink Boxers

Published May 23, 2009 Photojournalism Leave a Comment
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Photo by David Guttenfelder/AP

Talk about right place, right time. AP photographer David Guttenfelder’s shot of Spc. Zachary Boyd trading fire with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan would have been fairly ordinary – if it weren’t for the fact that the soldier was wearing pink “I Love NY” boxer shorts.

The shot, which is on its way to becoming one of those iconic war photos, landed on the front pages of the New York Times and Boyd’s hometown paper, the Star-Telegram in Fort Worth, Texas, reports the AP.

Boyd called his parents to warn them about the photo, and the AP says he was seriously worried for his job. Thankfully, his parents got a huge kick out of it, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said he wanted to meet the soldier next time he’s in Afghanistan, commending his “special kind of courage.”

As for the photo, Guttenfelder said:

“It doesn’t really belong to me anymore,” he said. “You put it out there and it takes on a life of its own.”

Article from AP

Looking Into the “Lens”

Published May 20, 2009 Photojournalism Leave a Comment
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At a time when newspapers are shrinking, if not outright dying, a new blog dedicated to photojournalism projects is a heartening development for photographers and fans alike. This week, the New York Times  debuted its large-format photojournalism blog called Lens. With content spanning their vast archives up to present day, what’s also interesting is that the mission is to not only highlight the best of Times photographers but also other media outlets. But lest you think it’s a glamorous big-dollar venture, it’s actually a fairly simple proposition.

From an article in Editor & Publisher:

In a sign of how online publishing is often run on a shoestring, the blog has no dedicated staff and no budget for photography. It will showcase work shot for the Times’ print edition, personal projects by Times photographers, wire service photographs, and work provided for publication at no cost.

E&P says the blog was in part inspired by Boston.com’s The Big Picture, but Lens is more sleek, sophisticated and comprehensive. The format is user-friendly too, allowing viewers to peruse the photographs vertically rather than horizontally, which is a nice feature. Definitely worth checking out.

Eddie Adams Workshop Deadline Is Today

Published May 14, 2009 Documentary , Photojournalism Leave a Comment
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Today, May 15th, is the deadline for student photographers and professional photographers (with less than three years experience) to submit their work to Eddie Adams’ Barnstorm XXII, an intensive four-day workshop attended by photography’s top professionals and a selection of 100 students.

If you’re unaware of Eddie Adams, he is probably most known for taking the image of police chief General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan executing Nguyễn Văn Lém on a Saigon street in 1968. It was a photo that earned Adams the Pulitzer Prize but reportedly caused him great pain, publicly lamenting the image’s notoriety and the hardship it created for Loan throughout his life.

The workshop, started in 1988 by Adams and held in Jeffersonville, New York, is a tuition-free event  and a program deeply focused on photojournalism. During the past 21 years, many known photographers, including Chris Hondros, Rick Loomis and Matt Black, have attended this prestigious gathering. Some would consider the workshop a right of passage for photography’s most talented documentary photographers, launching their careers in a new direction.

In the past, the workshop required photographers to submit a letter of recommendation from a working professional along with their images, but this year that part of the submission process has been removed, making it much easier for documentary photographers who lack connections to professionals to submit their work.

This year I submitted the above 20 images.

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