The Scotsman’s Ian Rutherford has been named photographer of the year for a record fourth time.
Ian picked up the prestigious gong at the annual First ScotRail Press Photography Awards in Glasgow last night.
His winning portfolio included shots of troops from the Royal Regiment of Scotland returning from Iraq, the Open Golf and the Highland Open surfing competition. His previous successes came in 1994, 1997 and 1998.
Check it out here.
Laurel points us to the excellent work of Texas-based photographer Mike Osborne. His Press Pictures series (made at Austin American-Statesman, San Antonio Express News, and LA Times
Check it out here.
Chances are if you aren’t emo, you hate emo. But you likely don’t hate this straight-haired, massacre-lined subculture as much as the Mexicans do. In recent weeks, a wave of emo bashings has swept across Mexico, several news agencies have reported, fuelled by punks, rockabillies, goths, metalheads and basically anyone who’s not emo.
According to Daniel Hernandez, who’s been covering the anti-emo riots on his blog Intersections, the violence began March 7, when an estimated 800 young people poured into the Mexican city of Queretaro’s main plaza “hunting” for emo kids to pummel. Then the following weekend similar violence occurred in Mexico City at the Glorieta de Insurgents, a central gathering space for emos. Hernandez also reports that several anti-emo riots have now also spread to various other Mexican cities. Via the Austin American Statesmen, several postings on Mexican social-networking sites, primarily organising spot for these “emo hunts,” have been dug up and translated. One states: “I HATE EMOS!!! They are not even people, they are so stupid, they cry over meaningless things… My school is infested with them, I want to kill them all!”
Check it out here. Via BoingBoing.
Judges picking winners in the Web site categories of NPPA’s 2008 Best Of Photojournalism competition have released the following partial results, along with judges’ comments, from the contest’s host site at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies.
Check it out here.
Photo by Anthony Suau
On the third full day of judging at NPPA’s Best Of Photojournalism competition at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, judges picked winners in the categories Domestic News Picture Story, International News, General News, Enterprise, Natural Disaster, and Environmental Picture Story.
Check it out here.
THE reminiscences of Hitler’s favourite photographer have been published in a new book. Heinrich Hoffmann made a small fortune from photographing the Führer, but his nest-egg was seized by the Allies and he died in poverty in 1957.
Before his death, he gave a series of interviews to Joe Heydecker, a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto and a fellow photographer. Heydecker, who died ten years ago, gave instructions to his publisher that the Hoffmann conversations were not to be published until now.
The result is The Hitler Picture, a memoir from the man who, more than any other, helped sell the myth of the “Führer Superman” to the German people.
Check it out here.
I’m happy to report that Photoshop Express, Adobe’s new online tool for organizing, editing, and sharing images, has launched in beta form. Some highlights at a glance:
Includes tools for applying spot healing, distortions, sharpening/softening, color tweaks, image filters, and more
Offers 2GB of storage space for storing images
Supports tie-ins to Facebook, MySpace, and Picasa
Runs in any browser on Mac, Windows, or Linux using the Flash Player (v9)
Will include an AIR-based desktop version (useful for editing images offline) and printing services
Will remain free, with paid service adding more functionality
Check it out here.
Photographer and photo editor Geoffrey Hiller has created Verve to feature photos and interviews by the finest young image makers today. Verve is a reminder of the power of the still image. Verve will also point you to new photo agencies, publications and inspiring multimedia projects.
Check it out here. Via Tim Gruber.
Then, the business starts to struggle and stock sales start to crumble and suddenly divorce. And, wham, the money is all gone and the business is really drying up and suddenly you’re a 49 year old former wunderkind thinking “what in the hell am I going to do?” If you’re Chip Simons you hit the effing reset button, sell all your gear, pack your shit in the car and drive from New Mexico to east 13th street in NYC and start pounding the streets again.
Check it out here.
Dennis R. Warren, a prolific freelance photojournalist who captured revealing images of a who’s who of state and national political figures, from Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan to Cesar Chavez and Robert Kennedy, died Friday. He was 62.
The cause was heart failure, said his sister, Debbie Carroll.
Starting with a Brownie camera and a homemade press pass, Mr. Warren was a fixture behind the lens at the state Capitol and on the national campaign trail for two decades. He freelanced for United Press International and the Associated Press as a photographer and reporter from 1968 to 1982.
Check it out here.
In what may go down as one of the best billboard hacks of all time, LA’s Skullphone managed to hijack not one, but ten, of Clear Channel Communications electronic billboards in the Los Angeles area. To pull it off Skullphone found a way to hack into the billboard’s computer network where he then placed his iconic skullphone character amongst the various ads flashing on the screens.
Check it out here.
On the second full day of judging at NPPA’s Best Of Photojournalism competition at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, judges picked winners in the categories Sports Photojournalist of the Year, Non-Traditional Journalism Publishing, Sports Picture Story, Sports Portfolio, Celebrity Picture Story, Natural Habitat, Domestic News, Serial Portrait, Local Portrait & Personality, and The Road To Office.
Check it out here.
The Ten Legal Commandments of Photography
I. Anyone in a public place can take pictures of anything they want. Public places include parks, sidewalks, malls, etc. Malls? Yeah. Even though it’s technically private property, being open to the public makes it public space.
Check it out here.
By DAVID W. DUNLAP
I began photographing the poster operation. After about two minutes, one man asked me why I was taking pictures. “Because what you’re doing is illegal,” I replied.
He answered, “Breaking cameras is illegal, too, but if you don’t stop taking pictures, I’ll break your camera.” He modified “camera” with an adjective I am not permitted to repeat here. I identified myself as a reporter from The Times. “I’ll break your camera,” he said, using that adjective again, “and you can print that in your paper.”
Check it out here. Via Shoot the Blog.
Photojournalists— #4 on the list:
Photogs like Dead Rising’s Frank West and Disaster Report’s Keith Helm embody what every photojournalist wants to be; in the thick of the action, kicking some ass (objectivity be damned), and taking the controversial shot that blows a worldwide conspiracy wide open. Sure, some war photojournalists get to take some pretty gripping shots, but most are stuck taking pictures of blue-haired elderly ladies complaining at town hall meetings or sleeping in their car waiting for Britney Spears to leave her house and (hopefully) leave her baby on the roof of the car as she drives off to Starbucks.
Check it out here.
I started shooting this series my first trip to Iraq and always enjoy the diversion of shooting while stuffed into the back of a Humvee. It helps keep the mind off things that tend to happen while riding in the back of a Humvee. And usually, as a journalist, you end up sitting in the seat that is on top of the gas tank. Not the best place to be if something bad is to happen.
Check it out here.
An aspiring filmmaker at Eastern Washington University says he never meant to prank the New York Times when he posted a video online March 16th.
“Pawley P” says he wanted to make a clip that looked like he interrupted a woman’s basketball game by playing a popular song from the 1980’s.
The prank of drawing attention to the Rick Astley song “Never Gonna Give You Up” is known as Rickrolling-and it happened to be the topic of an article being written by a New York Times reporter last week.
Check it out here.
There is only one 50mm f/1.0 lens in production today. It is the legendary Leica f/1.0 Noctilux, which is also the fastest rangefinder lens IN THE WORLD. Cue Tenacious D. You can pick a Noctilux up new for, oh, about $6,000. But you’ll need an M-series Leica to pair it with.
Another 50mm f/1.0 lens you can find with a little scouring is made by Canon. This one works with the EOS system, and has been out of production for a few years. This thing also retails for about 5-6k.
Check it out here.
