Archive Page 37
Nixon & His Cronies, Super 8 Style
Published March 25, 2011 Documentary , Photography 3 CommentsTags: Brian L. Frye, home movies, Kickstarter, National Archives, Our Nixon, Penny Lane, Richard Nixon, Super 8, White House
Photo: Our Nixon
Everyone knows Richard Nixon was a prodigious recorder. It got him into some hot water during the Watergate scandal, and it turns out the FBI confiscated a lot more than just nefarious stuff that ultimately lead to his downfall. The National Archives has been holding onto more than 204 rolls of Super 8 home movies filmed over three years by some of Nixon’s most trusted advisors: Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, Chief Domestic Advisor John Ehrlichman, Special Assistant to the President Dwight Chapin and Deputy Assistant Larry Higby.
It’s over 3,700 hours of never-before-seen material — official White House events, visiting dignitaries, campaign stops, the historic trip to China, and even innocuous things like birds and beach time with Henry Kissinger.
The home movies record every aspect of their experience of the Nixon White House, from the prosaic to the profound. These four men carefully documented their time with Nixon because they believed that Nixon would transform America. And in a way, they were right.
Filmmakers Brian L. Frye and Penny Lane have acquired that footage from the National Archives, had the first-ever digital copies made, and are now making a documentary film called “Our Nixon.” And naturally they’re funding the project through Kickstarter; they needed $10,000 to get if off the ground and they’ve already raised it (well before the May 6th goal, too).
There probably won’t be any dancing on tabletops, but maybe it’ll unearth the human side to that very cold, calculating White House administration. I’m excited to see how it turns out.
For more info on “Our Nixon,” check out the Kickstarter page, or the film’s website.
Photography Link Roundup
Published March 24, 2011 Photography 9 CommentsTags: Goran Tomasevic, Guillaume Janot, Hamidou Maiga, Jimmer Fredette, links, roundup, YouTube
Photo by Hamidou Maiga
• 80-year-old photographer Hamidou Maiga has been doing studio photography since the 1950s, documenting villagers, dignitaries and artists in Mali in West Africa. Only now are his photos getting attention from the western world, including his first solo exhibit in London. He said: “I became well known in these parts – everyone knew my name. The studio became a site where people would meet and exchange ideas.” [Dazed Digital]
• I don’t know jump shots, but Sports Illustrated’s cover shot of BYU’s Jimmer Fredette is apparently pretty awesome. [The Dagger]
• Guillaume Janot’s series, “Welcome Home,” captures scenes at a Beijing Ikea. By way of explanation, Ikea is more of a destination than an errand in Beijing, and visitors might spend the day chatting on the furniture or even sleeping on the beds. [ARTINFO]
• A selection of some of the many front pages all over the world that featured Reuters photographer Goran Tomasevic’s striking shot of a convoy explosion in Libya. [Reuters]
• YouTube knows not everyone has access to a camera, so they’re launching a portal (at YouTube.com/create) where you can build a video clip by using third-party apps. [TechCrunch]
NYT Journalists Recount Captivity In Libya
Published March 23, 2011 Photography Leave a CommentTags: capture, conflict photography, journalists, Libya, New York Times, Qaddafi
If you haven’t read it already, the four New York Times journalists, Anthony Shadid, Lynsey Addario, Stephen Farrell and Tyler Hicks, who were abducted in Libya, held for six days and released yesterday, have written an account of their time in captivity. The piece recounts their at times brutal treatment at the hands of Col. Qaddafi’s loyalist forces.
A half-hour later, we arrived on what we thought were the outskirts of the other side of Ajdabiya. A man whom soldiers called the sheik questioned us, then began taunting Tyler. “You have a beautiful head,” he told Tyler in a mix of English and Arabic. “I’m going to remove it and put it on mine. I’m going to cut it off.” Tyler, feeling queasy, asked to sit down.
Sadly, they believe their driver, Mohammed, died as a result of their capture.
If he died, we will have to bear the burden for the rest of our lives that an innocent man died because of us, because of wrong choices that we made, for an article that was never worth dying for.
It does make you think of the cost involved in covering stories like this and if it’s worth it. All four journalists said they’d had scary run-ins or close calls before. Despite the whole maybe-my-nine-lives-are-running-out thing, I’m willing to bet this will not deter them from covering future conflicts, though.
Source: New York Times
Florida Farm Photos, Video Allowed Now…Sort Of
Published March 22, 2011 Photography Leave a CommentTags: agriculture, bill, farming, Florida, Iowa, Jim Nelson
Phew — photographers in Florida won’t be treated as equivalents to murderers and rapists. State Sen. Jim Norman’s bill wanted to make photographing farms and their farm animals a first-degree felony, but it was seriously amended after word got out and people claimed it was ridiculous. Norman’s impetus was those undercover videos of abusive farming operations made by animal rights groups; a bigwig egg producer (read donor) in Florida farming suggested the bill.
The bill is still pretty ridiculous, but now you’ll be able to take photos from the road or air, and the punishment will be a misdemeanor and not a felony for entering a property without written permission.
A similar bill just passed in the Iowa House. It criminalizes undercover agricultural investigations and sends the participants to prison.
Source: St. Petersburg Times
Der Spiegel Publishes Horrific “Kill Team” Photos
Published March 21, 2011 Photography 12 CommentsTags: Afghanistan, army, civilians, kill team, military, murder, photos
Via Speigel Online International
It is so odd that, despite being a free country with a voracious and independent media, here in the US we don’t publish photos of our military doing God-awful things. Because that, I guess, is just crossing the line.
German newsmagazine Der Spiegel doesn’t care about that line, and went ahead and published two photos of Army soldiers posing with the bodies of Afghan civilians they killed. (The magazine says it has about 4,000 images and videos total.) The Americans in the photos are part of a so-called “kill team” of 12 soldiers that enjoyed murdering unarmed civilians and are now being charged with war crimes.
A lot of defense hawks will claim the photos will provoke backlash, including targeted attacks on US troops, and that is why they shouldn’t be published. I say not committing atrocious thrill kills and then posing for trophy photos would be a better way to prevent backlash. (To reiterate, the soldiers took 4,000 pieces of photos and video to serve as momentos.)
A quick scan of the few major US outlets that ran the story, like the Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, showed they used official army portraits of the accused men to illustrate the story.
Time to replace Bradley Manning with these “heroes.”
Fashion Street Photography Surges
Published March 21, 2011 Photography , Street photography 15 CommentsTags: fashion, fashion week, magazine editors, paparazzi, style
Photo by Eirik Slyngstad/The Streethearts
The rise in street style photographers outside of fashion shows in New York, Paris and London has become a cottage industry of its own. As the Business of Fashion website writes, the hordes of photographers is starting to rival that for the most tabloid-worthy Hollywood stars, and it can be dangerous. It’s no wonder though; like a prized shot of Angelina Jolie, photos of the fashionable elite can result in serious bank.
But the rapid rise of street photography also has a darker side. The ‘bloggers walk’ in the Jardin des Tuileries, site of many major Paris shows, is now completely out of control. Indeed, it’s become increasingly difficult to tell the difference between the aggressive paparazzi who stalk Hollywood celebrities outside bars and clubs and a few of the bad apples amongst the hordes of photographers that accost editors as they come in and out of shows.
Several street style bloggers told me confidentially that the competition is extremely fierce for getting the best photographs, which can then be sold on to global editions of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar each for as little as $200, but up to $1000 or more.
For some examples of exemplary street style, see StreetPeeper, Woodboard and The Streethearts.
Mohawked Man Goes Ballistic Over Photo
Published March 20, 2011 Photographers' Rights , Photography 1 CommentTags: Assault, Austin, mohawk, Texas
If you shoot street photography, you’ve certainly come across angry or belligerent subjects. They don’t usually beat you on the head with a skateboard though, as a miffed mohawked man did to a photographer in Austin, TX.
The man who was assaulted said he had been taking photos of “anything that was remotely interesting or unusual,” according to the affidavit. When he photographed 23-year-old Johnathan Washburn’s mohawk, Timothy Beard, 19, told him to delete the picture from his digital camera, according to the affidavit.
The man refused and Beard took his $100 Oakley sunglasses, the affidavit said. When the victim tried to get his sunglasses back, according to the affidavit, Washburn hit him on the left side of the head with the skateboard.
This seems odd because mohawks are in my mind aggressively look-at-me hairdos, so wouldn’t you be accustomed to the attention?
By the way, Washburn was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and Beard was charged with theft.
Source: The Blotter/The Statesman
Double Standard Much? James O’Keefe Kicks Out Videographer
Published March 19, 2011 Photography Leave a CommentTags: Asbury Park Press, James O'Keefe, New Jersey, NPR, recording device, Tea Party, wiretapping
Conservative activist/wiretapper James O’Keefe has made his name in surreptitious recordings of high-level executives making supposed impolitic and embarrassing statements, including most recently, the top fundraiser at NPR who was caught on camera deriding the Tea Party and saying that public radio would be better off without federal funding. That dustup cost the fundraiser, Ron Schiller, and NPR’s CEO, Vivian Schiller, their jobs — and lead to a House vote to defund NPR.
But this past Thursday night, O’Keefe had an Asbury Park Press videographer kicked out of a Tea Party event in Keyport, New Jersey because he didn’t want it filmed. (See the video here.) Isn’t it strange, if you brand yourself as a morally charged force for openness and good, that you wouldn’t allow recording of your own activities? Crusaders for any cause should believe in transparency, or else they just look foolish.
Source: Asbury Park Press
The third installment of F8Magazine is out now, and our own Shawn Nee makes an appearance with a selection of his work.
If you’re not familiar, F8 was started by Madrid-based photographer Miguel Moya to highlight documentary photography, and the result is is a cool mix of diverse photographers in a visually arresting layout.
boywithgrenade.org 