A few random shots
Pelicans migrating along the MIssouri River flood plain.
Amazing grace.
I think this is the closest Kansas will come to looking like Ireland. Unfortunately, the grass won't stay this green for long.
I like to make images that can be read multiple ways.
Portrait of a 12-year-old
There's a lot going on in the life of a 12-year-old. My son has become much more self-conscious of his appearance and disposition. The expression on his face conveys a sense of reserve that I hadn't seen before. He is growing up.
Simplicity
Reeds after floodwaters recede on the Missouri River near Atchison, Kan. 2012.
During the 1930s, Henri Cartier-Bresson, a young French photographer, described his style of making pictures as the decisive moment. Bresson observed, “To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality.“
Memory is stitched together by a millions decisive moments. To hold’s one breath – to recognize a flash of universal truth in a tear or a smile –– when life becomes a series of discrete instances captured on film. Photography demands interaction. Pictures reveal relationships – subject and photographer, light and camera, what is seen and what we fix in time.
Thomas Merton said, “In modern life our senses are so constantly bombarded with stimulation from every side that unless we developed a hind of protective insensibility we would go crazy….”
Moreover, artist and philosopher Frederick Franck suggests, “We have become addicted to merely looking-at things and beings. The more we regress from seeing to looking-at the world—through the ever-more-perfected machinery of viewfinders, TV tubes, VCRs, microscopes, stereoscopes—the less we see, the more numbed we become to the joy and the pain of being alive, and the further estranged we become from ourselves and all others.”
It's easy to understand the aesthetic benefits of simplicity since a photograph holds only a finite amount of information. The idea here is that simplicity in the frame may seem like a matter of composition -- arranges elements so that they communicate a message more effectively. Clear and contributing backgrounds, foreground/background relationships, juxtapositions, contrast, are all part of the mix that can either simplify or complicate the message.
At the same, simplicity in photography can also be an attitude, an approach to making compelling picture, or a state of mind. Photography that positions the photographer in a more harmonious relationship with the subject and the environment is more likely to experience a greater sense of fulfillment in what they create.
Creativity demands that we go beyond the technical aspects of a craft and seek the liberation of true self-expression.
State of Mind: Photographic Permanence
Photographs provides a sense of permanency - the feeling that the objects in the picture never change, just our perspective on them over time. Pictures are a cultural and historical reference point for us. They are a way of validating our experience and ourselves. But sadly, pictures are also an illusion.
Recently, while working on a new book about photography and spirituality I wrote a personal anecdote about being left out of a family picture. Here's an excerpt from a chapter, "Forever Fixed in Time."
I raised my father’s Konica rangefinder up to my eye. The camera’s smooth brushed chrome finish was cool to the touch. I was 10 years old.
“Hurry up,” an anxious sister hissed.
My grandmother stood in the middle of the group with the other adults in the back. The kids filled in the gaps like concrete. My grandparents and mother are dead now, but more than 40 years ago, when everyone had their eyes open, when they put aside the petty bickering, I was master of the moment – a big cheese telling others to say, “cheeeeze.” I never realized until later there was something missing from the family picture – an undeniable and essential truth – me.
Photography is a process of subtraction –– it’s a process where the things you leave out of an image can be as important as what is left in. On that steamy morning after breakfast in the summer of 1966, my family became in aternum – forever fixed in time –– and I became the kid behind the camera.
The notion of permanency in having a photographic reference point seems to be mostly about identity. Since I was absent from the image, it is easy to feel somewhat alienated, especially after so many decades have past. But is a picture really who we are?
One day, many years ago, while I was meeting an aide worker in California, we waited for a priest in the parking lot of a church. The parish was making a donation to pastoral work in Mexico, and the volunteer had come to pick up the donation.
After some time, a long sleak limousene pulled up to the curb. The priest came out to greet the aide worker and led her into the church. I waited for a few minutes and then, to my surprise, out of the car came Martin Sheen, the actor. I remembered him for his amazing acting in Acalopyse Now and Da, but couldn't understand why he was here or why he would want to meet me. The point of the stroy that after we talked for a minute he motioned to the chaffuer to take a picture of us. It was an awkward moment for me. The driver took the picture and handed Mr. Sheen a tiny polaroid. I was presented with a souvenir of the strange encounter in a church parking lot and still cherish the memory whenever I dig out my scrap book.
At the same time, pictures can be a way of reminder ourselves how short life is. We can look into our past and see how we once were, groan or chuckle, and get back into the present.
Intimacy: Defining the Decisive Moment
There are some images that leap off the page. Yesterday's upset of Missouri in the NCAA tournament, in my mind, will be remembered not by a win or a loss, but in a simple, elegant and beautifully composed moment between two opposing players. When Norfolk State center Kyle O'Quinn consoled Missouri guard Phil Pressey in a compassionate embrace, the stereotypical image depicting most jubliation and dejection in sports was shattered. After looking at thousands of "arm pit" shots in basketball it was refreshing to see an image that made me really care -- a moment in time that truly touched my soul. It would be diferent if Pressey was being embraced by a member of his own squad, but O'Quinn's gesture stands out as unique in sports. The image shows how emotionally charged sports has become in society and the tremendous pressure it places on athletes.
During the 1930s, Henri Cartier-Bresson, a young French photographer, described his style of making pictures as the decisive moment. Bresson observed, “To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality.“
Memory is stitched together by a millions decisive moments. To hold’s one breath – to recognize a flash of universal truth in a tear or a smile –– when life becomes a series of discrete instances captured on film.
The road to the Final Four is littered with broken dreams and hearts, but seeing an image that speaks to the human condition in such a way humanizes the prevailing "tough guy" image often associated with sports today.
The Light Becomes Us: My latest project
I've been writing a book called the Light Becomes Us: A spiritual journey through photography. I draw on more than 30 years of experience to reveal something deeper about the visual experience. It's been an interesting experience since I am using some of the values inspired by St. Benedict in the 5th century. Benedict was a monk and preach core values such as humility, simplicity, stability, and obedience in life. He also believe that prayer and work were essential in the way a person lived.
I've seen a change in the way I approach photography in recent years. I see myself less concerned with capturing every decision moment and more interested in experiencng the moment when light reaches deep into the inner-self. My pictures show this more now.
Steam vents from a grain distillery as the temperature drops below zero.
The Afghan Shootings and the Post-Visual Event
It's hard to imagine a world without images. Pictures verify, confirm and validate the unimaginable. But happens when there are no photos? Are we left only to speculate what really happened? Are we left only to believe what we hear others tell us?
This seems to be the case in the recent shooting incident in Afghanistan. Already mired in a string of events including the burning of quarans at a U.S. military base, the public is offered what is often referred to as "react" photos. Photographers scramble to find images of substance after the fact in order to support reports that seem unsubstantiated or confusing.
In our increasingly broadening visual lexicon, these types of images have become cliche -- a flood of tears running down faces or the foregrounding armed soldiers holding back an angry crowd.
There are two predominant focal lengths used for such images -- a telephoto and a wide angle. The images produced by these lenses are distinct and serve different purposes.
The long lens, anything over 80mm, condenses the space between foreground and background, making the picture appear more immediate and intense. This lens choice is also extremely effective for highlighting emotion and provides a sense of intimacy with the subject. In this case, the viewer identifies more readily with the grieving youth. In other words, the use of a telephoto to tell a story is a technique that is dramatic and appeals to our emotions more often than our intellect.
A wide shot, is used typically for providing a context for the scene much in the same way an establishing shot works in cinema. Providing context for a story is essential and the wide angle image does this very well. At issue, the familiarity we have with viewing the world through these dominant perspectives. What do we actually learn about an event other than what is represented through the long and short of it all?
Credit: Mustafa Khan, European Pressphoto Agency
I suggest that many images from the conflict are less about edification and more about filling a void when words fall short. In the Aghan shooting case, the images are part of a post-visual event -- occurences that offer visual representations as a norm for explaning complicated world issues.
The Photographic Imperative
When we learn to see someone inside of us comes alive. Perhaps it is a heightened sense of awareness or consciousness.
It is 4 a.m. and the streets are wet slick with drizzle.
A neon sign blinks red -- on -- off. Its light reflecting off the roadway. Stop light. We must stop, raise the camera to our eye, wait, and press the shutter. There it is, one of thousands of pictures we might make in just a short time.
How is it that photography can accompany us in a spiritual way? The whole process seems so self-centered and far removed from the introspection and tranquility required of a faith-based practice.
I don't mean to offend those that have an absolute view of God in their mind's eye, but I offer this short anecdote to open up a dialog about the Creator's presence in all things.
Sometimes I think our understanding of the nature of the devine is either too narrow or too far removed from our present reality. In order to believe, we are asked to suspend judgment of the intangibles in life and follow the precepts of a particular path. Therefore, it seems problematic or even perilious to discuss God in the same conversation at something so materialistic as photography. However, if we see God in all things -- really see the presence and mystery of the devine -- then we can understand that the things we create are part of something marvelous and inexplicable. We see the material things, but within these things resides a something that defies common logic.
Every day I feel humbled by the greatness and goodness of the earth. For those of us who struggle with the idea of the Divine, we need not look too far from those hours in the day that bring us comfort and moments of deep meaningful reflection. Kathleen McDonald observes, " The present life and all its experiences are fleeting: Clining to anything in this world is like chasing a rainbow. If we keep this in mind we will not waste time on mundane pursuits but spend it wisely, avoiding what is negative and thus the cause of unhappiness."
PHOTOQUAI: Another View of the World
I tend to think through an anthropocentric lens. That is, my world view is largely based on my experiences as a "westerner." Almost all of my photo-idols, with the exception of photographers such as Graciela Iturbide, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Sebastião Salgado, and Martin Chambi (I know I am leaving others out), have been from Europe and the United States. Yet, in the world of photography there is an equally talent base of photographers outside of the Western sphere that is producing remarkable images.
This year, at PHOTOQUAI, a photo biennial organised by the Musee du Quai Branly, more than 400 works by 46 non-Western photographers from 29 countries will be exhibited from 13th September till 4th December 2011.The exhibition began in 2007 and has received acclaim from artists and institutions around the world. More importantly, the showings have given attention to photographers who might have gone unnoticed.
Julian Lineros, a Columbian photographer, image of a paramilitary training camp will be featured in this years exhibition.
Others represented in the exhibition include photographers from South Africa, Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Togo, Morocco, Tunisia, Bahrain, Iraq, Belarus, Russia, China, South Korea, India, Japan, Taiwan, Cuba, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Colombia, and Brazil.
One of Gueorgui Pervov's, Figured Scenes, from Russia.
Rock Legend Rod Stewart Hosts Photo Contest
Forty years ago, pop icon Rod Stewart released his sit "Every Picture Tells" a story - something he continues to believe in.
According to Larry Little at Talenthouse, "Rod is inviting aspiring photographers to submit one original photograph that captures 'soul.'"
The winner(s) of the contest, to be selected by Stewart, will travel to Las Vegas in November and capture the singer's performance at Caesar's Palace. In addition to travel, the winner(s) receive accommodation as well having their photos featured on rodstewart.com and across his social media channels.
Osama bin Laden "Death Photos" No longer "News"
It's been nearly two month since the U.S. government announced the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Citing they had proof of the killing, evidence of these claims has yet to fully come to light.
Time softens the zeal for the truth.
Maybe the pictures would help put some closure on this chapter of the 9-11 tragedy? Perhaps the need to have evidence of bid Laden's death is no longer needed as the U.S. begins plans to de-escalate military involvement in Afghanistan? More than 1,400 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan since operations to rout out bin Laden began in October 2001, and with his the death the justification for the war has shifted.
The public outroar demanding to see, what have been described as "gruesome" images, has become a murmur. What happened to cause such apparent disinterest? Public support for viewing the death photos, according to NBC/Wall St. Journal and AP polls, diminished dramatically after President Obama addressed the nation on May 4. After the president's interview on 60 minutes, a majority of Americans, 64 percent, backed off from calling for the release of the pictures. As is the case with many major news stories once public interest wanes, the drumbeat of media attention also quiets.
Although the release of the pictures has lost appeal in the court of public opinion, over time court decisions base on Freedom of Information Act requests will reinvigorate the debate and help bring the affair to a close.
Photo Ethics: The Case of the Odd Brawler
The Los Angeles Times has an interesting article on its journalism blog about a Reuters photo showing what looks like a manipulated image. The good news about the digital era is that readers are becoming increasingly literate in suspecting the validity of an image. As soon as a picture appears in the news, someone, somewhere, is on guard for such fakery. While photo manipulation may be increasing, so to is the number of people calling into question anything that looks out of place. The Times' article does a good job at holding the news media accountable to breaches in ethical standards.
Social Media Branding 101: Talenthouse, Brett Ratner and Creative Initiatives.
Photo Credit: Talenthouse
Social media branding is another break-through frontier for many creative talents such as Brett Ratner (X-Men: Last Stand director and Prison Break producer). Ratner is building his fan base and offering aspiring creatives opportunities through social media synergies. The artist, actor and director recognizes the potential of connecting with his audience through partnering with innovative firms such as Talenthouse and the trendy new magazine Treats!. Ratner's online competition encourages audiences to submit images for the chance to work as his assistant on an upcoming photo shoot for Treats! The project, along with four other creative Ratner initatives is a great way for aspiring artists to break into the business.
Increasingly, social media such as Facebook, Tumblr, Blogger, Twitter, and Four Square affords marketers and artists innovative ways to create unique brands and build new audiences. The best part of this new form of creative convergence is how audience involvement is not only invited but essential for success. The Ratner/Treats! photo shoot lets the audience not only select the winner but also helps to bring greater awareness to Ratner's diverse creative talents. At the same time, companies like Talenthouse, when partnered with such creative forces as Treats! and Ratner, help support emerging talent as well as a way to engage and maintain a widening fan base.
Signs of the Time: Struck by Juxtaposition
One of the more interesting aspects of looking at pictures is in trying to find juxtapositing ideas and ideals in the interpretation.
Sandwich board advertising has been around since the 19th century, but the modern variant is more streamline and techno-chic. Merchants hire packs of sign carriers to work their way through crowds depending on what they are selling. In this case, car loans and a car show.
In this interpretation, the focus is not only on the use of human billboards but also on the physical juxtaposition of the yellow sign and the front of the roadster.
Matt Black's Haunting Images
The New York Times' Lensblog is featuring Matt Black's "People of the Clouds" documentary work this week. What comes across most clearly is how Black uses his grainy almost ghost-like technique to convey a culture that is deeply rooted in the land.
Black's sensitivity to the people he photographs along with his gritty pre-digital style is reminenscent of the work of W. Eguene Smith. Smith was motivated by stories that captured the human condition in the most compelling and intelligent ways possible. The same can be said of Black obvious commitment to his storytelling approach. Many of his pictures evoke emotional connections, but there is also a sense of curiousity that isn't exploitative.
Many photographers approach making images of different cultures much like a taxidermist might prepare a trophy catch. There is a long tradition in photography of conveyingf people in developing and exotic lands as primitive or even savage. Historically, the act of making pictures as "trophies" of the other, can be traced to colonial times. Images accompanied pacification and the submission of indigenous peoples. The flip side of this argument is that photography preserved disappearing ways of life and culture.
There is this feeling that looking at someone, freezing them in a moment of time, that often reflect more on our differences than of our similiarities. Of course there will be differences, but it is the bond formed between the people and the photographer that is critical here. Black seems to approach what he sees with a sense of reverance, which is only more amplified through his method.
"Nice Photo": Image of Couple Kissing in the Midst of Vancouver Riot Refreshing
The juxatposition seems so surreal. Richard Lam's image of a couple, in the middle of a riot, kissing. The Vancouver Sun called the picture, "Love Among the Ruins", but in reality it is more like "Sanity Among the Insane." Reckless acts of abandon captivate our imagination and bring a refreshing pause to the madness that life brings. Lam's picture does this brillantly. He nailed the "decisive moment" that speaks a universal truth reaching far byond the event. One day we may forget the riot, but we will never forget such an image.
Vancouver Police Look to Social Media to Round Up Bad Guys
Photo Credit: Lisa Johnson/YFrog
When the Vancouver Canucks hockey club lost in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Championship Wednesday disappointed fans took to the streets to vent their frustrations. Such a reaction is a fairly common occurrence, but what changes the game is how social media appears to be fanning the flames of idiocy. On YouTube, Facebook, and most especially on Tweeter, authorities and onlookers a like pout, prod, and post to their hearts content. The police want evidence. The onlookers simply want the satisfaction of public attention.Why should feel compelled to submit their images and videos to the Vancouver Police Department when they are already available through social media.
RT @andreareimer: 100 arrests last night, more on the way. #VPD asking for anyone w photo/video/witness evidence to email robbery@vpd.ca
Smacks of frontier justice.
If the police can easily obtain the images on soical media sites, why would they ask people to submit them separately?
We are increasingly approaching a time when a "Turn-in Your Neighbor" policy may become the norm. If you don't like the neighbor's laundry hanging in the sun, just tweet about it. If you don't like the way someone looked about you in the grocery story, toss the insult up on Facebook for the world to see. Today, people racing around with camera phones to record a riot or a car crash has positive and negative consequences. It would be best to weigh both pros and cons before rushing to the police.
Six Packs and Shopping Bags
Photo Credits: AP (left), Wheaties (right)
Our cuture is obsessed with body image -- at least that's what marketers would have us think. Two recent representations of the male body stand out. On a poster for the retail giant Abercobie & Fitch, a six-packed model -- someone the caption calls an 'employee' -- poses with two young women or 'customers.' In another image, a man stands with a shopping bag advertising Wheaties and an idealized male form.
These images are powerful because they reflect something profoundly ethnocentric about our visual culture. So much of our preoccupation with body image is generated and maintained by captialism and consumerism. Our desire to "look" a certain way is fed by a culture of consumption, and we have the pictures to prove it.
Authenticating Photo Fakery: The Case of Ali Abdullah Saleh's Picture Debated on Twitter
Shortly after President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen was taken to Saudi Arabia for treatment of wound suffered in an attack by militants last week, a image began to surface on the Internet. The picture showed Saleh being treated by doctors in a hospital, but readers are now crying foul. The picture is a fake and someone has an agenda many have claimed.
Typically, verifying the authenticity of an image begins with evaluating the source. Who made the picture, where was it made, when was it made, why was it made? Even before looking at the picture for obvious signs of manipulation it is important to establish a context for the picture. Once the context -- who, where, when, why -- is establish then it is easier to validate a claim that the picture is real.
This may be changing. On Twitter, members chime in about the image and why it is a fake. Readers look at details such as lines and shadow. In addition, they look for misleading bits of information such as words or graphics. Looking at Storify's tweet stream it is easy to see the diverse range of perspectives and opinions of people who may or may not know what they are really looking.
Credit: Storify
Social media, in this way, allow people to engage in a virtual court of verisimilitude. Although many readers look at the tell-tale signs of an altered image -- sort of like a Where's Waldo puzzle -- a more important determinant is motive.
Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are like barn yards -- whoever crows loudest gets the attention. At the same time, it is important to ground such casual armchair analysis with rationality. In this case, someone had a reason for posting the picture in order to confirm or reject the winds of public perception.
Funny: Washington Post Tiny Belly Ad and Anthony Weiner's Not so Tiny Tweets
Click image to enlarge (really)
The Washington Post website ran a photo gallery about Rep. Anthony Weiner's alledged three-year spree of having sexually explicit communications with women in various online settings. The interesting thing about Weiner's tweeter picture (left) is the advertisement (right). It's just a coincidence of course, but both are selling body image. It appears that Representative Weiner doesn't seem to worry about the "tiny belly."
It is difficult for a website to control the juxtaposition between news content and advertising. Although they appear in close proximity, the placement of the images is almost certainly coincidental.
Not Funny: Newsweek Attacks Romney's Faith
The media doesn't give the public enough credit. It's got a chip on its shoulder when it comes to politics and religion: the public gets treated like idiots.
It's easy to poke fun of politicians and religion -- some news outlets excel at it. In the end, though, cheap shot journalism -- one that is not fair-minded, balanced, or honest -- represents the crumbling of a vital relationship between freedom of expression and democratic civics.
Surveys tell us that distrust of mainstream media remains at the bottom of respectability.
Now, instread of taking the high ground, and treating the public seriously, much of the media stands around wringing its hands. It's business as usual. But making fun of someone's faith is hitting below the belt. In the end, taking on a person's belief system distracts from electing a president with integrity and vision. In the Newsweek article that accompanies the image, the writer even asks if Mormonism is a Christian faith. There is an assumption here based on the image as well as in the reportage that Romney's faith makes him unfit to govern.
The media, like a school yard bully, plays a critical role in giving this nation a president "it" thinks it deserves. Bombast and senstationalism appear tools of the trade.
Trying to understand a complex issue is never easy, but there is no excuse for not giving a candidate a chance to defend themselves. . Not a lot of people understand Mormonism, maye they understand the faith less than they do Islam. Religion is often the target of satire because it is based on differing belief systems. Connecting Romney's faith to his ability to govern undermines the public's ability to assess his competency as a future president.
As many public relations specialists will say, negative press is better than no press at all. But there is something inexpliably wrong here. The digitally altered image of Mitt Romney dancing around is a spin on the current Broadway play "The Book of Mormon." The mash up is supposed to be satrical, and suppose it is. But there is something else at work here. How is possible to make an informed decision about a candidate when the media has already visually defamed them? Yes, it's funny, but selecting a U.S. president is not. The Newsweek cover featuring Romney, the dancing Mormon, deflects from a larger and more critical debate about religion and politics in this country. For decades the media has treated the two forces as separate, but politics and religion are hard wired into our system of discourse and governance.
The first repsonse to a critique such as this one is that wouldn't be the first time politicians have been accosted verbally or visually through media satire. During Obama's campaign he was attacked by the right-wing press as being a Muslim. The smear campaign was aimed planting a seed of doubt -- The attacked attempted to make a connection between the candidate and extremists. Now, Romney's faith is under attack because Mormonism is a mystery for many Americans. When we don't understand something, we make fun of it. That's the way it works. Guilt by association, or in this case faith.
Suicide and Social Media: Paintball Journalism
The red arrow of death. Photo by Amy Gahran
Suicides are not typically covered by the media, but in a time where truth and fiction meld together on the Internet, the sand is shifting.
A transformation is taking place in how news is gathered, reported and delivered to the public -- a transformation that is best conveyed by looking at the emergence of a two-tiered system of news reportage. Often this system seems to have the effect of a paintball fight -- the splatter of social media and the clean up of content by the mainstream press.
What this relationship also suggests that the first-tier or "first-responder" eye-witness account is more immediate, reactionary, and certainly more subjective. Stories are often shuttled or hurled onto the Internet through social media without editorial discretion. First-tier account also get "tagged" literally with keywords for impact, irregardless of whether all all the facts are correct. Many first-tier accounts hit the Internet with the force of a tsunami even when the story is implausible or suspect. Such reports are often contributed by eye-witnesses who are not trained to get both sides of a story or look for "cause and effect" angles.
The second-tier of an emerging news system is more in-line with traditional journalistic practices -- a system where fact-checking and stronger narrative elements are the bread and butter of credibility. At the same time, the two-tier system of journalism, especially in an age of social media, is becoming increasingly vital to establishing and maintaining a constant flow of news.
On the Internet, space is not an issue for journalists. However, for many news organization the problem resides with the editorial decision-making process. Albeit a generalization, there is a perception that in the rush to scoop the competition on the Internet, many second-tier news outlets fail to ensure that a story is accurate, balanced, and fair-minded.
Despite the many benefits to such a two-tier system, there's a downside. In some cases, and maybe this situation will become more evident in the future, the second-tier sets itself up for the possibility of misleading audiences, encouraging unethical behavior, bias, and even libeling a source is clear and present.
On the Web, content is more maleable -- it can be put up, altered, and taken down in seconds. First-tier news reports can be pulled without much fuss -- something a print publication could not do without considerable expense and time.
The Red Arrow of Death
Amy Gahran, a journalist and non-profit social media advocate, was riding her bike on Memorial Day near Almeda, Calif. when she spotted paramedics and police officers staring out into the water. An unemployed man, depressed and off medications (witnesses said) was attempting to commit suicide. On the shore, the authorities were legally prohibited from rescuing the man due to liability and budget troubles with the city.
Why wasn't anyone going to rescue Zack? Photo by Amy Gahran
Gahran took a few pictures with her cell phone, posted a few tweets, and witnessed the slow death of a man less than a football field off shore. Gahran's instincts as a journalist told her that maybe there was something more to this story. But in the end, it wasn't the suicide that became the story. It was government malaise and politics. Furthermore, Gahran's personal account wasn't initially intended for the national media. Gahran was writing for a select group of followers -- friends, family, and community members interested in the work she does. Nevertheless, once the story about how the rescue workers were prevented from helping Zack, her story played a secondary role.
After a while, Gahran continued on her way, but the few words and pictures she posted caught the intention of the mainstream media. The story took off, blew up, and is now history.
The casual and and subjective language used to describe Gahran's image: "You cannot see him, but Raymond Zack was standing here, about 50 yards off the beach in shallow water."
The use of the third person in a caption is far removed from the conventions prescribed in the Associated Press Style Book. Clearly, even though trained as a journalist, Gahran's account is first-tier.
What also makes this story interesting from a visual perspective is that it relies on a personal account rather than pictures to tell it. Pictures accompany the words, but it is Gharan's narrative that is powerful and compelling.
Editors use to argue that when words failed to tell a story, you could use a bigger picture. At the same time, without a picture more words could be used. What is presented as documentation that the event took place appears on the web with a heavy red arrow slicing the frame. The arrow points allegedly to the spot where Zack drown. The incorporation of a graphic element into the picture changes the meaning significantly. News picture are not typically accompanied by an "!" (exclamation) point to add drama and emphasis -- like a Jerry Springer stunt.
The use of the arrow serves only to undermine the integrity of the scene -- one which is primarily text-driven. The technique is glaring, didactic, and unwarranted. In an attempt to be objective the arrow sends the opposite message. Imagine a police officer or firefighter reacting to the drama emotionally and the photographer decides to place an arrow on the frame pointing toward at the face. Perhaps this example is a bit over the top, but if the image is already placed in a supportive role as juxtaposing the written account, then the arrow becomes gratuitous.
It's not the first time a news organization has augmented a picture with a punctuation mark, but what makes this situation different is that it implies that there really is something out there in the water without showing it. The practice is almost fallacious and certainly uncalled for.
While it would be easy to argue that such treatment is a form of photo manipulation and an ethical issue for journalism, there are other factors at work. What this type of reportage suggests is that on the web the traditional conventions applied to stories in many legitimate print publications appear inapplicable.
The Photo Booth Makes a Comeback: Long Live the Photo Booth
Photo: NY Daily News
Tucked away in a corner of a "Five and Dime" for decades ubitiquous photo booth sat in a corner waiting for young sweet hearts to act silly or steal a kiss. The photo booth was an unmistakable and quintessential part of American culture. That is until it was eclipse by the camera phone and the digital point and shoot.
Now, an Indianapolis-based company, Fish Face Photo Booths, is reviving the beloved ritual. The Fish Face booth is like renting a bounce house. With a 1950s vintage look, the booth produced digital prints, which can be uploaded to social media and email. The company now rents out the booths for parties, weddings, anniversaries, graduations -- pretty much any social event. In fact, the booths have been rented out even to dental offices.
Alan Sailer's Frozen Moments
Photo Credit: Alan Sailer
In 1957, MIT electrical engineering professor Harold Edgerton developed a special photographic strobe that allowed the camera to freeze an object that would normally be to too fast for the human eye to see. Edgerton was a pioneer in flash photography and his work has played a significant role in the history now.
Now, more than 50 years later, Alan Sailer is pushing the envelop with a homemade flash. Working in relative obscurity and with about $300, Sailer invented a strobe that captures the crashing and crunching of some of the oddest things -- such as limes smashing into meat and paint-filled Christmas ornaments exploding on impact. Sailer began uploading his images to Flickr in 2009, and has since caught the attention of the art world as well as millions of photo enthusiasts.
Social Media and the Emergence of the Flash-Celebrity
Photo Credit: Stefanie Gordon via Mashable
Stefanie Gordon's unique picture of the space shuttle Endeavor's last launch was made through her airplane window and uploaded to Twitpic, a social media photo sharing site.
While Gordon's images have brought her momentary fame, her experiences may also help us to understand how our recalcitrant traditional media system works in an age of social media.
When Gordon uploaded her short video of the shuttle launch to Twitpic she only asked that if someone wanted to use it they needed to only spelled her name right and gave her a credit line. Gordon was not asking for compensation, just recognition -- a public acknowledgement of who she was, she was presenting and protecting an image of self.
The media soon grabbed the video, some paid her for her effort, while others failed to even give her credit. Although there is a great deal of discussion surrounding intellectual copyright involving this event, an even more interesting aspect to consider is Gordon's interest in sharing what she experienced with others. Some people might say that Gordon's motive to share her pictures was motivate by attention seeking and ego-stroking. At the same time, there is something much more complicated about human behavior at hand here.
Gordon's perception of herself was not as a journalist, but as a passenger on an airplane flying near the launch site. Her pictures, however, changed not only how she views herself, but how others view her. On Twitter, Gordon writes, "I am speechless! Brian Williams knows who I am! Video hero of the day: Stefanie Gordon of Hoboken, NJ."
Such events, and our ability to share them with others through words and pictures in a heart beat, is creating culture of the "flash-celebrity." In the limelight one moment and gone the next.
While Gordon's friends and family will recall her "claim to fame" for years to come, the media, through omission of credit, has already relegated her to anonymity. It will be nearly impossible for Gordon to maintain an image of self beyond guest appearances on NBC, MSNBC, CBS, and ABC news. Gordon's frustration with the mainstream press seems less about being dismissed and more about her expectations surrounding her desire to be recognized for her initiative.
Through social media, Twitter and Twitpic, Gordon's social construction of self is historically contingent -- her images and subsequent media attention -- are directly related to a specific event. Research indicates how many new technologies such as computational photography, computer programming languages, social media, and mobile technologies to name just a few, increases productivity and creativity. At least that is the perception.
Technologies such as digital photography, Web interfaces, cell phones, text messaging, cloud computing, and many more innovations, have made us more creative and productive. There are, of course, downsides to the immediate, pervasive, and ubiquitous nature of emerging technologies. Consider for a moment, how different writing a letter by hand is to sending and receiving a message on Twitter.
In an age of multi-tasking, we have become accustomed to making pictures with our camera phones, texting a friend, checking Facebook, sending a tweet, seeming all at the same time. Meanwhile, some may argue, perhaps with good reason, that these activities are really not making us more productive or creative at all. Instead, new technologies have created a generation of distracted, self-absorbed, and compulsive individuals. In other words, with the advance of new technologies people, even though people create words and images, they are increasingly careless about how they communicate in a digital age.
In addition to productivity and creativity there is the idea that new technologies, especially social media, improves interaction between individuals. Like productivity and creativity, social interaction is one of the those problematic "yes" but "no" situations. At issue here is how people attempt to present a positive image of themselves, through words and pictures using new media technologies. As sociologist Erving Goffman discovered in the late 1950s, long before the emergence of social media, once somehow presents an image of themselves, in whatever form, they must work hard to maintain appearances. Goffman called this phenomena "face work." and idea that seems relevant today as illustration by the number of times people change their Facebook profiles, or the way in which we compulsively upload images to Twitter. Much of this behavior, it can be argued, is related to how social media affords individuals greater opportunities to build a sense of self-worth and self-importance. In a world seemingly out of control, images and words, construct a framework around an individuals experience -- one that can be immediately shared in order to establish and maintain a positive self image.
Maintaining a positive self image, Goffman suggests, is incumbent on the expectations and obligations an individual believes to be true about themselves. Social media, then, is a mirror in which an individual can look into as they create an identity which may or may not be entirely true. Not that this doesn't occur in the real world as well, but it seems to grow exponentially on the web.
While this analysis presents the darker side of emerging media, there are also many benefits that counteract some of the negative effects. Nevertheless, it is important to evaluate whether or not the expectations and obligations we create for ourselves through the use of new technologies shapes our self-identity in negative ways.
For example, how people present themselves while in college on a Facebook profile may not be how they want to see themselves when they are looking for a job or trying to get into medical school. In other words, the expectations and obligations of how we relate to one another changes over time. In the past, our ability to create and maintain a positive self-image may have been more easily controlled simply because opportunities for interaction seemed far fewer. Social media has changed all of this.
Considering Stefanie Gordon's experience, we can begin to understand how social media can make us more productive and creative. However, more importantly, new technologies are now affording us unique opportunities to create positive self images for ourselves -- even though often fleeting.
Flickr Nation: Joplin, MO Tornado Aftermath in Pictures
In 1906, an earthquake ripped through San Francisco setting off firestorms across the city. At that time photography was less than a century old. But people recognized the importance of documenting the event -- they could see the power of the image -- even if the pictures weren’t always made by trained professionals.
1906 San Francisco Earthquake
Fast forward another 100 years, when Aaron Fuhrman, a photography enthusiast with a well-trafficked site on Flickr, decided to leave his home in the middle of the night to photograph the aftermath of a tornado which devastated the city of Joplin, Missouri. Glued to the Weather Channel that evening with his wife Amy, they watched as the tornado advanced toward Joplin. Feeling the need to see Joplin first hand, Fuhrman decided he and his brother-in-law Lee Myers, would make the more than four hour trek to Joplin. They arrived just before sunrise.
“It was when the reporter for TWC [The Weather Channel] broke down on air that I told Amy I felt like I needed to go and photograph the damage,” Fuhrman recalled in a recent correspondence.
Navigating their way closer to the center of the city, after receiving permission from the police, the two men began to grasp the full impact of the tornado’s path. Nothing could have prepared them for what lay before them. Fuhrman notes, “I think I was numb when I arrived in Joplin. The reality for me was the damage. I had never been to Joplin before and had no idea what the area, where the tornado hit, should look like. The landscape was surreal in that it was normal to see cars wrapped up in trees and metal siding or roofing wrapped up like aluminum foil.”
Fuhrman further observed, “The landscape looked as if a giant lawnmower and run through the area. For Lee and I it was the only reality we knew because we had never been to Joplin before. What struck me at this point was the contrast of a beautiful sunrise over total destruction. After that it was the realization that I should not be able to see the sun on the horizon from that vantage point. We could see damage where we were standing to the horizon and knew there was damage behind us for some distance as well.”
Photographing as they walked through the rubble, Fuhrnman was eventually stopped and questioned by authorities – something that is very typical and important in such situations. It was by this time, after witnessing so much devastation that he felt they might be in the way.
“I believe I was in shock. I posted a picture of a red Honda with some writing on it and someone pointed out that it meant two people were found dead in it. I had been walking around while people were trapped or buried in the remains of their homes. When a person commented on the photograph it came to me and I just broke down.” -- Aaron Fuhrman
After returning home, Fuhrman posted his Joplin aftermath pictures to his Flickr account. The response to the images was immediate and overwhelming. News media from around the country took notice and he was soon contacted about his experiences and his pictures have been used across the web as a first-person account of the tornado’s aftermath. Fuhrman, by this time, could no longer be counted as an enthusiast. His work now contribute to telling the story of Joplin in a significant way.
“For me, Flickr was a way to showcase my work, at least in the beginning. What it has become for me is a way to connect with others who share the same interest. I have connected with people all over the world with Flickr,” he said.
Photo Credit: Google Images (above) Aaron Fuhrman (below)
Juxtaposing before and after images of Joplin has helped Fuhrman tell the story in a rich and compelling way.
Fuhrman believes that publicly sharing his images on Flickr has helped tell a bigger story. “I believed this before I left for Joplin and found it to be very true after I uploaded the images. I have received messages from people in other states who were motivated to help in many ways,” he said.
“Messages came in from Joplin residents and those who have Family and Friends in Joplin. Even in their quest to make contact they thanked me for the photos. My Flickr account has received over 1,000,000 hits since I uploaded the images from Joplin,”
“I have been contacted by CNN, FOX News, NPR, ABC World News, Nightline and many others who used my images to help describe the damage in Joplin. I feel this is the only good that comes from my photos. Telling this story has sent overwhelming support to a city with overwhelming damage,” Fuhrman said.
Photography, through social media, has entered a new era where the lines between professional and enthusiast seem imperceptive, Today, sharing, connecting, and the immediacy of an image’s impact are now part of our complex media environment.
Photo Credit: Google Images (above) Aaron Fuhrman (below)
For Fuhrman, “The messages I received in the days after the tornado shows just how powerful a tool the social media can be. People could not make contact fast enough through official sources and turned to me, despite knowing I was hours from Joplin at the time. They would ask if I had photographed a certain area or if I could help find Family and Friends. Through social media I would forward their request to those who I believe might be able to help.”
Joplin Relief Efforts
Can 60 billion Pictures on Facebook Tell Us Who We Are?
It's almost hard to imagine, but in less than a decade more than 60 billion pictures have been uploaded to Facebook. What is even more interesting, according to a recent study, that 10 percent of the images are posted to Facebook profiles. From a sociological perspective, profile pictures tell us more about what we think about ourselves than many other forms of self-disclosure. A study by Pixable found that more women than men post profile images. In addition, women show more pictures with other women, while men prefer to be seen with women rather than other men.
Credit: Mashable
Thomas Abel notes, "Private pictures make up an inherent part of the environment and everyday life of modern societies." Interestingly, Abel believes the deluge of personal images of self are akin to a "testimony of being." In other words, Facebook pictures act as a visual fingerprint in virtual form -- represents and depict and seek to reinforce our self indentity. This makes sense when considering how often people change there personal profile on Facebook. Also, as we change our pictures, there is also a feedback effect -- a way of soliticing the attention of others and keeping a profile in the forefront.
Photography has become even more of a ritualized form of expression in a digital age. Not only is it an essential part of creating a sense of self in a social space, it has also become a unique and validating influence in forming internal and external circles of collaboration. Photography historian John Berger observes, "The thrill found in a photograph comes from the onrush of memory. This is obvious when it’s a picture of something we once knew." What Berger is suggesting appears so obvious to us today. Pictures + Memories = Self Concept. In a way the concept of the individual self only exists within relation to others. I am who I am because others reinforce the concept. Pictures, however, voluntarily uploaded to Facebook or other photo sharing sites, such a Photobucket (8 million photos), Picasa (7 million), or Flickr (5 million), indicate how an individual's personal image of self mirror what they and others expect to see of themselves. Comments made on an individual's wall about a specific image, placing pictures in online albums, or tagging pictures to share with others, are indications of self-validation through the actions of others.
Where this is headed is anybody's guess, but as mobile clouds and crowdsourcing expand, it is likely that the process of making and sharing images in real-time may become a norm. We can already do this through Facebook, Twitter, and Twitpic, but what is suggested here is that such practices will increase dramatically in the future.
Intuition, Empathy and Spontaneity: Keys to a Photo Critique
The keys to a photo critique including trusting your intuition, being spontaneous, and having empathy for others and yourself.
"It's never personal." That's the first thing to keep in mind when offering a photographer a critique of his or her works.The critique, in theory, should be based on the reviewer's experience in making and looking at a range of photographs. However, in the real world not getting personal is nearly impossible. There is always a subjective measure involved in deciding what makes one picture better than another -- a point that is especially true on a lot of social media photo sharing sites such as Flickr, Facebook, Photobucket, and Shutterfly.
The process of a photo critique begins with developing trust between the photographer and the individual conducting the critique -- a relationship built upon one person's experience and another person's interest in improving their craft. If there is mutual respect in a relationship than the process of learning and improving one's work is made that much easier.
Online, there are many photo sharing sites that allow users to critique pictures. Unfortunately, the process of saying what works or what doesn't work is a little soft. Basically, anyone can
Unlike "art" photography where just about anything goes, human interest photography/photojournalism follows a predetermined set of expectations that is linked to one main objective -- telling a story. If there is something that gets in the way of the story such as poor lighting or composition, choice of focal length or camera angle, or lack of understanding between the subject and the photographer, then the images will perhaps not be as compelling emotionally.
W. Euguene Smith once said (paraphrase) that if you feel you are close to a subject than you probably aren't close enough. Photography is all about relationships. Our relationship to the world around us, the camera, the light, and ourselves. Confidence comes with experience. Like a musician, the photographer's ability to use the camera as if it were a Stadivarius violin. The camera becomes an extension of the way in which we relate to the world. If we disassociate ourselves from the mindful discipline of recognizing the relationship between photography as a science and photography as an art, we are well on our way to become great visual storytellers.
Henri Cartier-Bresson observed, "For me, the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity."
This is a good place to start thinking about what makes a compelling photograph. Bresson's idea that the camera is an instrument of intuition and spontaneity is a brilliant. While critiquing an image the first that comes to mind is the connection between what the photographer has fixed and framed in a blink of an eye, and the process that help them get to that place. It's intuition and practice that helps a photographer get in the right position, select the appropriate angle and focal length of the lens, and wait for the decisive moment. Both Smith and Bresson were masters of the intuitive approach and it shows in all of their work. The techniques involved in using a camera can be learned, but intuition is much more difficult.
Beyond technique, the photograph should be evaluated on the photographer's ability to compose an image. Again, using the music analogy, a musician may be phenomenal in executing a tune or song, but what is missing may be expression. The photographer must develop not only technique but also an understanding of how the arrangement of elements in the frame work together. This process, after a while, is also intuitive and spontaneous. Finally, there is the issue of being able to tell a story. People respond to images emotionally,
A good photograph offers the viewer the opportunity to emotionally connect with the subject.
Emotions are those feelings we hold toward someone or something. Feelings, are natural and intuitive -- they can draw us in or push us away. This is why it is important to evaluate an image with empathy -- the ability to understand what the photographer feels. The reviewer, with an empathetic eye, must consider the intention of the picture-maker. Who is the audience? What is the photographer trying to convey? What elements in the image distract from clearly communicating the story?
One of the most important lessons learned earlier on about having work critiqued by a peer or mentor can be summed up in one simple question. Why should I care? These four words, early on in my career, dramatically changed the way I think, act, and make pictures. When reviewing an image, this question needs to be in the back of the mind, but not necessarily expressed openly. The purpose of a critique, ultimately, is to encourage and build-up a photographer not to discourage and destroy the ego.
Staggering: Viewing Joplin's Destruction from Above
Photo Credit: The Associated Press
When the Associated Press released two aerial photographs showing Joplin, Missouri before and after a devasting tornado struck on May 22, words seemed unable to convey the same message as a couple of million pixels could.
Aerial pictures function like maps -- they are indexical and provide context. Although they lack intimacy, aerials are best used to provide viewers with a sense of scale. They speak to us as though we would look upon a crime scene.
Photo Credit: The Associated Press
An aerial image is an abstraction. Aerials reduce objects into a montage of shapes, colors, forms, and lines. There is an almost grotesqueness about the images documenting the destruction of Joplin - a sense of undenied voyagerism from above.
Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks: Journalism in a Digital Age
Photo Credit: Kinga
Once upon a time there was a photographer and a reporter -- a person expected to make pictures and write stories. They weren't hired to tweet, curate the news, shoot video, make pictures, produce audio, write and edit copy, and design a web page. Although we think of backpack journalism as a recent phenomenon, the shift to multiple media platform began with the advance of computerization, technological innovation, as well as the downsizing of the industry.
Today, a transformation is taking shape. The demand for visual storytellers with experience and knowledge of video, audio, design, and writing, along with basic digital camera skills seems to have become the norm, not the exception. In our competitive and changing field, photographers, videographers, writers, and editors, must learn to communicate effectively across multiple platforms. For example, it is common for a news outlet to expect a reporter to not only write, but also to capture pictures and audio for the web.
Daniel Sato went to college to become a photojournalist, a field he had been interested in since high school. After graduating, unfortunately, the job market had dried up. When Daniel graduated in 2003, the job had already been on a dramatic downslide. Even when news organizations like Reuters were eliminating more 3,000 jobs, Daniel was determined to succeed. Almost immediately Daniel began honing other skills such as writing, video and web design. As the economy began to recover, Daniel had learned a few important lessons about where photojournalism was headed – a web-based industry that would provide many different ways of storytelling. In order to promote his work and demonstrate the range of skills he had developed, Daniel set up a blog. “Students today need to realize that it is quickly coming to the point that photography is not enough,” Daniel notes. “I am not necessarily advocating that students need to master skill sets beyond photography, but they need to be aware of things like video, html, CSS, flash, after effects, etc. They need to understand how these skills/programs can add to the story they are trying to tell and surround themselves with people from a variety of backgrounds,” he said.
James Horton notes, "Although thousands of reporters still work traditionally in media conglomerates, there are a growing number called upon to use multiple media and to act as publishers by running their own blogs, for example. Not long ago, one could be a reporter/writer. Now, mainstream and new media journalists handle print, web, video and sound."
Media JobMarket blog correspondent Hayli Morrison has some words of advice for journalists in an age of digital convergence:
- The emerging technology has a ripple effect of other considerations for modern-day media professionals. From salary and benefits to competition and insta-news, technology is changing the face of media and shaking things up like never before.
- Media industry veterans may find the tech-driven changes unfamiliar and uncomfortable at first, but they would do well to embrace the inevitable.
From my own experience as a teacher, I encourage students to dabble in all areas of creating news content. This would range from digital image editing, photojournalism, page layout, web design, video field production, reporting, audio production, copy editing, web design, and more. Although many students will gravitate to a particular speciality such as reporting or photojournalism, someone with a larger array of skill sets may be more likely to find work.
Although many students are reluctant at first to set up a personal website to maintain a blog, but the benefits can far outweigh the determinants. Blogs are simple and practical ways to establilsh the day-to-day discipline of working across platforms that is required of many journalists today. In addition, blogs can serve as personal brands for reporters or photographers who specialize in specific fields of interest such as the environment, politics, or sports.
Sitting back and waiting for someone to hire a newcomer to the field without experience is pretty unusual. Students need to begin practicing their craft in whatever way they can as soon as possible and blogging on a specific topic is a great way to get started. As more and more news migrates to the web, young journalists who have experience with online reporting and producing visual content will have a clear advantage.
Why History Repeats Itself in Pictures
Immigrants crossing the Rio Grande River from Mexico (1985).
More than two decades ago, I stood on a bridge overlooking the Rio Grande River in Laredo, Texas. The bridge separated not only two countries, but two worlds. It was a constant reminder of the disparites between nations. As a photographer telling such stories was an attempt to put a "face" on a complex issue.
As daylight approached, the amber vapor glow of U.S. Border Patrol security lights began to give way to what promised to be another sweltering summer day in South Texas. On the bridge traffic had all but stopped -- the scene was eerie and somber. All was quiet, except for a few hushed words in spanish coming from below the span. Two men, most likely day laborers, were crossing the river illegally into the United States. This was a time, when the pejorative term "wetback" was still widely used by many in the U.S. to alienate and often persecute our neighbors to the south.
This scene and others like it have been repeated millions of times since the U.S. began securing its borders in the late 1880s. More than one hundred years later demand for cheap labor in the U.S. and poverty in Mexico and Central America continues to create even more tension along the border.
Story after story, picture after picture, continues to tell us about the lives of people struggling to better their lives at all costs.
At about the same time I made this image, I met a reporter from Sweden who was on assignment to write about America's immigration "problem." I was surprised that the rest of world was beginning to take notice. Why Sweden, I thought?
Pictures are historically contingent and function to construct a context in our collective consciousness -- one that is linked to culture, politics, history, economics, and religious values.
What I witnessed in the 1980s, however, is not what journalists are seeing today. Although people attempt to cross the border daily, the risks from drug traffickers, smugglers, and bandits has become endemic. What we see in the mainstream media today is but a fragment of the real story happening along the border -- a story so frequently told that most of the nation has lost interest. Nevertheless, the story never ends as history repeats itself as long as photographers and journalists are around to notice it.
Sarah Palin Film: Pandering for President?
Credit: All Voices
This June get ready for what promises to be a really "hot" major cinematic event. "Sarah Palin" the movie. Who said politics and Hollywood don't mix. If you're a conservative flimmaker like Stephen K. Bannon, have $1 million to spare, as well as unlimited access to the subject, the whole thing seems like a reasonable idea. At the very least such a film will be an unprecedented way of announcing Palin'e bid for the presidency in 2011. The big question is what can Bannon say about the celebripol in two hours that the public doesn't already know?
It's obvious that a Sarah Palin cannot be considered serious film making for the simple reason that it's intent is driven by overt partisanship. While one portion of the American public eagerly anticipates such a film, there is another part of this country that will be repulsed at such blatant and incredulous panderment.
Biometrically bin Laden: Quantifying the Old Adage "Seeing is Believing"
Sorting out the details in the death of bin Laden will take many years. Recently, however, information regarding how the U.S. military used specialized biometric technology to ensure they got the "bad guy" illustrates the convergence of cognitive science, optics, and technology. During the raid, U.S. Navy Seals used SEEK or Secure Electronic Enrollment Kits to match bin Laden's physical characteristics with data accumulated over the years, including hundreds of photographs. According to SEEK's makers, Cross Match Technologies, the device combines "Forensic-quality fingerprint capture, rapid dual iris scan capability and innovative facial capture technology."
Although the image matching software provides a strategic advantage in tracking down criminals and terrorists it may also lead to our ever-increasing surveillance culture. It is not hard to imagine that in the near distance future biometric/forensic devices will become as ubiquitous as closed-circuit camera systems. Imagine such a sophisticated device that will be able to "read" or scan an individual's emotional and physical condition. Imagine being stopped by a bouncer at a bar armed with a biometric scanner only to tell you that you've reach well above your limit and have to find another way home. Imagine a scanner able to detect the facial characteristics of a shoplifter as they enter a store. Now imagine SEEK being used to identify and collect information on citizens engaged in peaceful protest.
It is not an exaggeration to suggest that we are only at the beginning of an era where intelligent machines will be used to both safeguard as well as oppress people. While the world awaits the disclosure of bin Laden's death photos, the release of the SEEK data may help to quiet nay sayers and inform the greater public. In the realm of scientific scrutiny, biometrics quantifies the old adage "seeing is believing."
Storify: A New and Exciting Brand of Journalism
It almost feels as though the topic of how people are using social media during and after a disaster is becoming routine. But no disaster is routine. All disasters call for empathy, compassion, rationality, and action.
Today, social media is a center for expressions of grief, sharing news and information, as well as a place of hope. In the lightening fast world of journalism today, social media has become part of a multi-layered process of delivering information. One shining example of this is the website "Storify."
The concept behind Storify is brilliant. Collect and Curate social media in a digestible and relevant way. A group of journalists track the major events of the day on Tweeter, Facebook, and blogs through a process called curation. After stories, tweets, eye-witness images and videos are selected by the curator, the content is assembled and aggregated on the Storify site. The end result is content that is accessible, interesting, and easy to share.
Following Twitter feeds, on a disaster like the tornado in Joplin, MO., can be exhausting without the help of a curator.
It is easy to see where the process of curation is headed. Now it is incumbent for the mainstream media to follow the Storify example.
Polaroid Goes Gaga: Life After Film
Lady Gaga and Polaroid design fashion camera sun glasses. Photo Credit: Polaroid
In the pre-digital era (P.D.E.), the Polaroid was something that always seemed to make its way into the hands of a grandmother at Thanksgiving dinner, or a sunburnt father on some beach somewhere gathering up the tribe for one last memory of the end of a summer vacation. The camera's edge over other photo-chemical processes was in its immediacy. Huddled around the 4 x 5 pull apart picture, there was a sense of anticipation in watching the image appear as if by magic. People loved the Polaroid because it was easy to use and, more than anything else, it produced results on the spot. According to Polaroid history buffs, more than 1 billion Polaroid pictures were made in 1974. For nearly four decade Polaroid cameras corner the niche on "instant' -- then digital happened. Like Kodak, another household brand, the Polaroid was successful because it recognized and continues to recognize the power images hold over our emotions. There is ritual not only in picture-making, but also in holding a memory in your hands only second after it was made.
Recently, Polaroid strategically linked up with pop icon Lady Gaga a their new creative director to promote a line of collaboratively designed products including sunglasses, cameras and other items. It's not the first time Polaroid has gone to celebrities to endorse its products. Notables have included Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Jerry Lewis, Ali MacGraw, Lord Laurence Olivier, Liv Ullmann, Candice Bergen, Alan Alda, Danny Kaye, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, and the Muppets. This time though, with Lady Gaga, the relationship is more than about endorsing a brand -- it seems more symbionic. It's not that Lady Gaga needs for balls to juggle, but working with Polaroid affords her some creative muscle flexing in the area of design and fashion. In a press announcement earlier this year Lady Gaga said, "The Haus of Gaga has been developing prototypes in the vein of fashion/technology/photography innovation--blending the iconic history of Polaroid and instant film with the digital era--and we are excited to collaborate on these ventures with the Polaroid brand."
It's hard to imagine Polaroid ever regaining the dominance it held in the industry from the 1950s through the mid-1990s, but it is refreshing to know that the company's passion for innovation and design continues.
HuffPo's Use of Picture Understates Crisis in Syria
The connection between the Huffington Post's use of a veiled woman's face and the rising death toll in Syria is a little confusing. Mysterious, provocative, gaze, and taboo are a few of the words that come to mind when describing this image. According to the AP, "Syrian security forces opened fire on a funeral procession for slain anti-government protesters Saturday, pushing the number of people reported killed in a two-month uprising to more than 900 and making it one of the deadliest of the Arab Spring." To use an image that is little more than "eye candy" suggests a couple of things. First, the editors want to down play the importance of the story by running "soft" art to illustrate the unrest? Plausible? Secondly, the editors do not wish to offend the viewers, so they "toned" down the visual. Finally, the editors were just too lazy to find more appropriate art. The image itself is a stereotype and if placed withing the context of feminist theory, it represents the "male gaze." In this reference, the relationship between men and women is asymmetrical. In other words, the concept refers to the imposition of a man's unwanted or objectifying gaze upon women. What does any of this have to do with death in Syria? It's a stretch to be sure, but it is also emblematic of how such images become iconic in Western media.It takes about 10 seconds on Google to find videos and still pictures from Syria relevant to the unrest. Here's a good example from Al Jazeera showing protesters throwing rocks at the police.
Soundgarden Tour Photo Contest Offers Fans Unique Opportunity
I am reposting this piece after noticing that it had dropped off the site from some reason. It's worth it.
One of the more Intriquing and fun photo contests this year is the Soundgarden 2011 World Tour photo competition where the winners get to photograph one of the 17 tour stops.
Larry Little at Talenthouse said, "For someone to have access to a band of this caliber at the size of venues that they are playing is pretty incredible. We did a similar campaign with Lady Gaga and it was a runaway success, as her friends are truly religious about her and the photographers got once in a lifetime access. Having photos of this reunion tour in someone's portfolio that can be used in major magazines and online publications is also a great resume builder that could lead to more work."
Why Enter Contests?
Photography is all about the experience of seeing and capturing what we see in meaningful ways. Connecting with the world around us -- being in the "present" -- of making pictures can be transformative. Perhaps why photography, as a hobby and as a profession, is so overwhelmingly popular. In 2010 alone, more than 109 million digital cameras were sold around the world.
One way photographers, both amateurs and professionals, is to sharpen their skills through competition. Having someone critique and compare your work to others develops confidence and enriches the experience of making picture.
Contests, although not for everyone, are undeniably one the best ways for photographers to gain recognition, have fun making pictures for a reason, and connect to a wider of like-minded people. Today, there are photo contests for just about every subject imaginable -- contests for the best baby pictures, most stunning travel shots, wildest nature images, and much more.
Here Today and Gone Tomorrow: Why People Fail to Backup Pictures in the Age of Instant.
Hundreds of years from now computer mediated anthropologists will be faced with an enormous problem -- making sense of trillions upon trillions of digital images.
Photo Credit: Slapstart
Many of these pictures will be made by amateurs, average citizens who use a camera phone or another device to record their day-to-day experiences. It is difficult to imagine what the future hold, but the proliferation of images made by amateurs and professionals is increasing exponentially. Imagine how historians and anthropologists will have to sift through the millions of images just to understand a single event.
Let's pretend for argument sake that these academic types begin their exhumation of our digital footprints on September 11, 2001 and end in 2100.
What will they find?
First and foremost, we have to assume that the majority of the digital files stored today may not be available to us in 100 years. Images that may survive will be found on an antiquated array of storage technologies such as CDs, DVDs, hard drive external drives, and computer servers. Unfortunately, billions of image will be lost simply because their creators failed to understand the impermance of media. Protecting digital images is clearly not on the agenda of average computer user.
The greatest threat to image storage today is the inability to understand how antiquated computer technologies are being replaced by newer ones at an unprecedated speed.
The Internet has created a causeway for millions of people to store and share their images. Thanks to the digital camera, camera phones and the Internet, the world has witnessed the worst and the best of the human condition. Pictures of tortured prisoners in Iraq, aircraft accidents, banned images of flag-draped coffins, and many other events flit across screens around the world. Photosharing sites such as Flickr and Photobucket, as well as microblogging services like Twitpic have changed the way people create and use pictures.
From phonograph records, beta and VHS video, as well as chemical-based film, the shift from analog technologies to digital has had a tremendous impact on how we record and remember the past. No media is permanent, however, what we need to remember is that challenges of preservation are resides in quantity and longevity. Digital capture and storage media have already seen a move toward cheaper and faster materials.
Floppy and Zip disks have been replaced by external multimedia drives. We have moved from kilobytes to terabytes of storage in a matter of a decade. Pictures live in the real space of our computer hard drives but also in the virtual domain of cyberspace. We have come to trust our memorable past -- our pictorial treasures -- to the likes of Shutterfly, Facebook and Flickr. We have come to trust our computer and external drives without considering that the machines that can read these digital files today, may not be able to in a hundred years from now. The pictures that survive in the future will be those that have been carefully curated by owners who understand the tenuous nature of digital technologies.
The best way to guarantee that our images will be around decades from now is to promote digital literacy. When a friend was presented with a 500 gigabyte external drive to preserve his images, the device was promptly put aside. A year later, it was still sitting around collecting dust. Why? One might get the impression that the idea of backup files can be attributed to apathy and a sense of image immortality.
Our culture teaches us that "redundancy" is a bad thing. Get to the point and don't repeat yourself. It's not this way in the realm of digital storage. Picture need to have several homes -- on the computer's hard drive, on external drives, DVDs and CDs, and Online. Any one who has lived through a computer crash, where all the data was rendered irretrievable, understands the perilous dangers of computer technologies.
Our culture is accustomed to collecting personal images in scrapbooks and not in a computer folder. Pictures of significant events are typically categorized and organized chronologically, not so with computers. For many, digital images stored on a computer are the source of great angst and frustration. Finding images and electronically editing the images for size, color, and tone can be time consuming and costly to print. Many Online services provide solutions, but do we really know how if the ink and paper used will survive for future generations. Photographs printed in the 19th and 20th centuries may actually have more longevity than the pictures printed today.
At the same time, one of the many advantage of digital image technology is the ability to share images with others. Online photo sharing sites such as Flickr, Zoto, Smugmug, Scrapblog, and Snapfish provide users with a place to share, comment and organize the photographs they upload. For example, in 2008 Flickr had more than 27 million visitors. Many of the images on these photo-sharing sites demonstrate importance of the "visual" in our culture. The gap between what someone with a smart phone or a digital point and shoot can produce in terms of technological capacities is closing in on more professional digital single lens reflect cameras. Imperfect as they may be, the digital snaps of life fulfill a basic human need to recall and remember our presence on earth. In an age of immediacy and impermanence, it is too easy to overlook the future as we focus on the past.
Jumping to the Obvious: CNN headline and Photo Mislead Readers
Photo Credit: AFP/Getty
At the risk of incredulity, what other conclusion could a reader draw from CNN's headline and supporting image?
It is this sort of "no-brainer" reportage that infuriates readers and media critics. How difficult would it be for the Western media, such as CNN, to provide a little more context.
Why does CNN "spoon feed" audiences with bombast and overstating the obvious, The perspective that is absent here is that in Islam, suicide is strictly forbidden. CNN's focus is on the novelty of someone jumping from the world's tallest building and not on the apparent cultural and religious tensions.
To take a broader angle would be edifying -- a perspective often lacking from Western media.
Adil Salahi writes, "It is true that suicide is strictly forbidden, because it is an affront to God. It is like a person saying to God: “You have given me life and I am taking it away. The World Health Organization found that Muslim nations such as Iran, Kuwait, Egypt and Jordan have some of the lowest suicide rates in the world, undoubtedly because of their religious beliefs. At the same time, around the globe people commit suicide at the rate of one death every 40 seconds.
CNN's focus on the world's tallest building and not on the relationship between Islam and suicide misleads readers by not addressing some on the underlying causes for such an action. What is fascinating about this story is the cultural, religious, and socio-economic perspectives -- points of view that are complex and multi-faceted. In the end, the choice of the image and the words to describe the event do audiences disservice.
Breaking the Wall of Silence: Graffiti Spotlights Role of Social Media in Middle East
"Precisely how we communicate in these moments of historic crisis and transformation is important. The medium that carries the message shapes and defines as well as the message itself." -- Peter Beaumont
Photo Credit: Steve Crisp/Reuters
Photo Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
In the United States, Facebook or Twitter are not seen as overtly revolutionary or radical ideas, but in parts of the world, where freedom of expression remains a dream, social media has become an incendiary yet unifying force for many. The "Twitter Revolution" accompanying the "Arab Spring" uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa are visible on the Internet and on the streets. Two recent images suggest public awareness of two terms that seem unique in the lexicon of any language, be it Arabic or English. In most parts of the world graffiti is typically associated with insurgency, political unrest and social protest, so when the words Facebook or Twitter appear on walls in Egypt or elsewhere in the Middle East you know things have changed. It's not clear whether Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook ever dreamed his innovation would represent a cry for social justice or a sign of free expression, yet it can be said that now, at least in the Middle East, the writing is on the wall.
Pictures Rising: Storm of Images Flowing Across the Internet Documents Historic Flood
A Google Image page search reveals the aesthetic as well as the informative diversity of pictures from mainstream and social media sources.
As the nation watches with great concern the extensive flooding along the Mississippi, photographers of all kinds turn their lenses onto the drama unfolding before them. Today, with the use of mobile devices, digital cameras, and social media, the way we inform one another as well as the way in which we are informed is unprecedented. Over the past decade alone, society has advanced from a culture of spectacle to a culture of participants in an endless stream of image production and consumption. What would 19th century photographic pioneer George Eastman, if he were alive today; have to say about the current state of photography? Could Eastman possibly imagine the immediacy, intensity, and ubiquity of the photographic image? Unlikely.
Hundreds of years from now, computational anthropologists (my term for social scientists who study how human beings use computers and the Internet to make sense of culture) will exhume a sea of digital images. Many of these pictures will come from amateurs, average citizens who use a camera phone or another device to record their experiences. It is difficult to imagine that far into the future, but the proliferation of images made by amateurs and professionals will undoubtedly increase. Imagine how teams of historians and anthropologists would have to sift through the millions of images just to understand one event. In this case the flood. Beginning with September 11, 2001, the Internet has created a causeway for millions of people to store and share their images. Thanks to the digital camera, camera phones and the Internet, the world has witnessed the worst and the best of the human condition. Pictures of tortured prisoners in Iraq, aircraft accidents, banned images of flag-draped coffins, and many other events flit across screens around the world. Photosharing sites such as Flickr and Photobucket, as well as microblogging services like Twitpic have changed the way people create and use pictures.
Photo by Stephen Gipson
As a pilot and physician, Stephen Gipson has a bird's eye view of the Mississippi flood near Memphis this week. After a fly-over of the city, Gipson sent some of his images to CNN's iReport, a site which encourages amateur photographers to tell their stories.
Photos by Jonathan Serrie
At the same time, Jonathan Serrie, captured and transmitted pictures to Twitpic from the ground in the same area as Gipson. Both Serrie and Gipson are citizen journalists, individuals who believe sharing what is happening around them in the world is as much "news" as anything thing in a newspaper or on a television. The references for such images appear as hash (#) tags or short bits of code that link back to the original source. The way in which people connect today through images appears impermanent and virtual.
Jonathan Serrie's Photo and short description linking to his Twitter page:
#Flood waters cover intersection in #Tunica County, #Mississippi. #fb
#Flood waters cover intersection in #Tunica County, #Mississippi. #fb
Early on, as more and more people began making and submitting pictures pertaining to news events, many in the mainstream held the belief that these cheaper, sloppier, and sometimes inaccurate representations of "reality" would undermine the profession of photojournalism.
There is cause for concern. In the news industry thousands of news professionals were being laid off, downsized, and dump out on to the street to compete for what few jobs remained. The fact is that just about anyone a digital camera meant fewer opportunities for professional. Skepticism and pessimism seemed permeated any discussion about amateur photographers undermine photojournalism's role in the news process. In the meantime, the field scrambled to produce a new, more versatile, type of photojournalist -- individuals that could make images, video, produce audio, write, and build a website.
Professional news photography and amateur photography are forced to co-exist is the hyper-extended media landscape of today -- a place where temporal-spatial boundaries shift and where immediacy is everything. Deadlines seem irrelevant in an age when an eyewitness can upload a picture from their cell phone faster than a trained professional can get his or her camera out of the bag.
While a "first-person responder" type of image (amateur) has its place in the feeding frenzy of endless news cycle, there is also a lot to say about thoughtful, compelling, and more carefully constructed images made by professional photojournalists. Despite the tendency to think that social media "flattens" out how much information we receive, there is still something to say about accountability and reliability. The idea of an information hierarchy may seem to have been undermined by 10 million bloggers with cameras, but in reality the vast number of people seeking news still depend upon professionals to get it.
To become more literate of the events shaping our lives, social media photography provides a rich layer of images in which to make sense of things. But it is just a layer. Traditional media also provides the same function but with the added benefit of a self-regulated control for veracity and accuracy. Social media offers no such guarantee.
While there are thousands of first-person pictures available online, it is easy to see that just a few dramatic pictures made by professional can enhance our understanding of an event and inform us in valuable ways.
Recently, a picture made by photojournalist Matthew Hinton illustrates this point when laid along side first-person responder accounts. Hinton, who works for the Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans, made an image of a ship riding high in the swollen waters of the Mississippi. The picture is edifying and helps to develop a context in which to understand how the flood is affecting the city. Hinton approaches visual storytelling methodically and conscientiously. He knows his audience and he knows what is expected of him. In addition to skills sets, his profession prescribes a specific code of conduct -- a set of beliefs and practices that others using social media may not understand.
Social media is often viewed as a one-size-fits-all formula to news judgment. Getting the picture, for many of us with camera phones, means simply that, "getting the picture." One picture. Beyond the physical act of capturing an event -- bearing witness, first-responder photographs appear to be made with little regard to the aesthetics of the frame.
If your plane goes down and you live through it, the last think you are going to worry about is composition and lighting. Moreover, the primary audience for the image is not a news outlet. Getting rich off a "one shot wonder" is very unlikely. In fact, most people make images simply to share with family and friends. Today, we might extend this sharing to Facebook and Twitter followers as well.
When the roof on a commercial aircraft ripped recently somewhere over Arizona, one passenger began emailing and tweeting her images back to earth. Twitpics in not Time magazine, but it does generate a lot of interest. Two things can happen in a case like this one. First, the world gets a personal first-hand view of the event in real time, and, second, the passenger ends up being part of the story.
When the roof on a commercial aircraft ripped recently somewhere over Arizonia, one passenger began emailing and tweeting her images back to earth. Twitpics in not Time magazine, but it does generate a lot of interest. Two things can happen in a case like this one. First, the world gets a personal first-hand view of the event in real time, and, second, the passenger ends up being part of the story.
Matthew Hinton, The Times-Picayune
Joe Spake's love of photography and social media places him the unique position of bridging the worlds of first-responder amateurs with camera phones, and professional photojournalism. With a reasonably priced digital single lens reflect (DSLR) camera, some experience, and a Flickr account, Joe can share his work and his passion for Memphis with the world. A real estate broker by profession, Joe is also an avid blogger and user of all-things social media. One glance at Joe's Flickr site and it is easy to see how connected he is to his community. There are pictures of the seasons, festivals, tourist spots, and much more. When Memphis prepared for one of the worst floods in history, Joe was there to make images. It made sense to take and share his work with others.
Bottom line. Joe’s images far exceed the fuzzy quality of most camera phones. For some, Joe’s Flickr image demonstrate how photo-loving individuals, people with other ways of making a living, can walk the line between the professional and the amateur.
Photo by Joe Spake
Several years ago, a wild fire threatened to burn down a small town in Southern Oregon. As the sky darkened with smoke, police and fire crews rushed to the scene. At the same time, a small army of shutterbugs was headed toward the fire. In this situation, the police not only had to help evacuate people from their homes, but also keep thrill-seekers out of the area. Back at the 13,000 circulation daily newspaper, a part-time photographer attempted to make a deadline in less than 30 minutes. While at the computer frantically transmitting pictures, a seemingly endless parade of people from the community came in asking whether anyone wanted to use their images for publication.
The photographer soon became overwhelmed with not only the deadline, but with the onslaught of potentially news worthy images taken by citizen shutterbugs. For more than 3 hours, the photographer downloaded memory cards and listened to countless stories from people who had better access and more time than he had to tell the story. In the end, almost all of the amateur images were uploaded to a special section of the newspaper's website. The phrase, "We are the Media" resonates loudly today. But media means different things to different people.
In the world of photography, social media represents many opportunities for people to share their experiences with others. At the same time, social media also challenges the hierarchical nature of news production and transmission. The more we can understand the relationship between mainstream and social media in terms of mutually serving a wider audience, the less ambiguous the process of making pictures will become.
Ground Zero After bin Laden
Photo Credit: Don Hoekwater
Images derive meaning from the context in which they were made as well as the context in which they are later viewed. Perception, how we make sense of images,is dependent on several factors, but symbols prevail as one of the major forces at play in today's digital and visual culture.
Don Hoekwater's images from "ground zero" made shortly after the death of Osama bin Laden are loaded with symbols that are closely associated with American values and beliefs.
privacy . patriotism . protection . politics . profit . pride .
ideas come to mind when reflecting on symbols
An African American man stares with one-eye open into the photographer's lens. The man is aware of the photographer's presence. He is holding American flags. Selling them? The colors are vibrant and contrast with the rich blue of the background. Behind the man's head, slightly blurred but readable, is a sign, "No Trespassing: Violators Will Be Prosecuted." Is the juxtaposition of all that is represented in this image intentional or coincidental? Perhaps it doesn't really matter, since whoever takes the time to think about this picture will ultimately walk away with their own unique interpretation.
The flags....patriotism?
The sign....boundaries and ownership?
The man....African American?
The man....entrepreneur?
The man.....employee?
The man..... patriot?
Each image poses a number of questions to the viewer -- questions that often cannot be answered directly, concretely, or, even in terms everyone will understand.
It all depends on the meaning we place on the content, maker, and time in which the picture was made.
The elements in a frame -- the ones that engage and capture our imagination -- are not easily quantified, distilled or labeled. We often encounter images casually -- on the Internet, Facebook, or in the doctor's office. Something about pictures catch our "eye" -- color, tone, mood, composition, Then, as we are are drawn in by the aesthetics of the frame we are also subjected to the figurative, unconscious, symbolic, rhetorical, metaphoric, allegorical, and all the other forms of meaning making.
Pictures do not resonate in the conscious mind without connecting to the inner self and the unconscious mind. The image is like a mirror we look into trying to see who we are and what is happening to the world around us. Pictures trigger primal instincts such as fear, anger, joy, desire. Pictures also trigger socially constructed and conditioned emotional responses such as pride, patriotism, obedience, trust. Pictures operate on different levels -- immediacy, intensity, and even intimacy. Pictures are pervasive. Pictures are ubiquitous. Pictures are persistent. Pictures are who we think we are and who we think we are not.
The photograph as a reflection of our culture, the historical moment, and as a mirror of self, is not free from context, situation and circumstance. Being seen and seeing are bound to perception. The gun, T-Shirt, building reconstruction, flag, and man, are real, but they are also historically contingent upon what we know about them and what others have to say about them.
Special thanks to Don Hoekwater for his compelling and thought provoking images. Well done.
Selling Serial Killer's Art for Charity: A Well-Intentioned Publicity Stunt?
"Multiples: The Artwork of John Wayne Gacy
John Wayne Gacy was a horrific human being. He raped and murdered 33 young men and boys in the 1970s. He also painted. Now. many years later, an art gallery in Las Vergas is trying to selling the paintings to raise money for the National Center for Victims of Crime. The organization, however, wants nothing to do with the Las Vegas gallery or the artwork.
It's hard to imagine anyone wanting to own such works, not because of the art itself, but for what they represent -- an indelible mark on the darkness side of human nature.
At the same time, after Gacy's execution in 1994, his attorney sold off much of the murderer's work. Exhibitions of Gacy's work has always raised controversy. However, in this case, a well-intentioned gallery owner is trying to raise awareness for a victim's advocacy group as well as perhaps a little media attention for himself.
Dogs, Ponies and Presidential Photo Ops: White House Backpedals on Photo Re-enactments
Photo Credit: Air Force Times
There were a lot of press feathers ruffled last week when President Barack Obama held a middle-of-the night press conference announcing the death of Osama bin Laden. So many feathers that the White House is ending its practice of re-enacting speechs for news photographers.
According to the Associated Press, "The White House said it is ending its long-running practice of having presidents re-enact televised speeches for news photographers following major addresses to the country, a little-known arrangement that fed suggestions of fakery when Barack Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden."
Photographers called to the press conference described how the president first addressed the nation on television, and then proceeded to conduct a 30-second reenactment for newspaper and wire service photographers.
After the event, members of the media voiced concern that restaging an event such as this would not only be unethical it could potentially comprise its objectivity.
Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute notes, "Since the Reagan era (and possibly before) it has been the standard operating procedure that during a live presidential address, still cameras are not allowed to photograph the actual event."
White House spokesperson, David Bauer wrote, "The practice of re-enactments has a long history. Washington veterans say President Harry Truman would deliver speeches over radio and then repeat them for newsreel cameras,"
It seems like the "dog and pony" show epitomizing the "telegenicity" of the modern presidency has been around for as long as, well, dogs and ponies.
Today, the White House announced it will discontinue the practice of re-enacting the president's speech. May be this means that those photographers typically excluded from the initial event, will now have to settle on computer and video screen grabs.
The bigger question, since are 11 presidents removed from Truman, is what didn't someone make a stink about this early? We can take a wild guess here and say NO ONE really cared all that much. With so many issues facing the country, not to mention the Obama administration, you would think that this sort of things belongs outside the three-ring media circus.
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White House says no more photo re-enactments
Digital Days
- A sampling from my recent project. A year-long exploration of life in the age of the camera phone.
Documentary Photography
- Between 1987 and 1996 I documented displaced and repatriated communities in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Chiapas, Mexico. This album represents some of the images made in more than a dozen trip to Latin America in the 1980s and 1990s.
Presentations Online
ESSAYS
- One Day, Everything Will Be Photographed
- Rethinking Relationships in a Digital Age
- The Supreme Medium of Truth?
- What’s Next for Photojournalism?
- Mastering the Art of Observation
- Developing the Gift of Seeing
- Myanmar and Memory
- Death as Contributing Background
- Un-Bearing Witness
- In the Age of Digital Manipulation
- Embedded Photojournalists
- Rush of Innovation
- Photojournalism in an Age of Contrivance
- What Should Power Look Like?
- The Intelligent Machine: The Camera in the 21st Century
- Teaching And Learning Online
- Photojournalism Ethics
- Camera Phones Prevail
- Has digital changed our society?
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About Me
- Dennis DunleavyI having been writing about visual culture, ethics, photojournalism, and social media. In 2006, American Photo Magazine named this blog a "Top Innovator" for writing on photography. My work has been published in more than 8 languages and has been included on many websites, online magazines and in books. The opinions and views expressed here are my own and I am solely responsible for the content. In addition, this is a non-profit and educational blog and with no commercial interests. Please contact me at dennisdunleavy7@gmail.com
