It’s very, very important for us to realize what we have to lose when we treat chance bystanders as journalists, while, at the same time, refusing to fund actual journalists – and it’s important to realize that these two issues are actually connected: They’re the two sides of the same coin.
Link: We’re all Zapruders now (but that doesn’t make us journalists) – Conscientious
A photographer who is bravely, creatively and interestingly staking out his own path is Balazs Gardi with his Facing Water Crisis Project.
Link: Photographers I Like: Balazs Gardi & Facing Water Crisis « The Spinning Head
By Andy Rogers for SportsShooter
With the closure of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in May though, my goal of retiring as a newspaper photographer took a hit. My colleagues and I were faced with the challenge of being laid off in the worst economy of our lifetimes. We would all have to consider the question of how to get our careers back on track or whether to continue a career in photojournalism at all.
By Matthew McClain, for SportsShooter
What I have learned in the following months of the paper closing is there’s no right or wrong way to be a freelance photographer. The majority of my fellow Rocky Mountain News photographers are still working here in Denver. None of our paths have been quite the same. Some are pursuing video production while others are breaking into the wedding market. The other portion is seeking primarily editorial and commercial gigs.
The Detroit Free Press would love to have an intern. Unfortunately, we have not been able to hire one for more a year and a half.
So, in this shrinking job market, I cannot stress enough the importance of being prepared when you apply for any internship or job.
Link: The other side of intern diaries: The Detroit Free Press
“The good news for photography is that our editor, Robert Thomson, is a very visual person,” says Jack Van Antwerp, the paper’s photography director.
The WSJ shoots substantially more original photography than before Murdoch took over. “A lot of the stuff needs to be assigned, because we’re breaking the story or it’s a unique angle on it,” Van Antwerp says.
Link: PDNPulse: The Wall Street Journal Photo Department Under Murdoch
This is the second segment in a four-part series on international photography.
![higgins9-24-4 [] 1.jpg](https://i0.wp.com/lh6.ggpht.com/_HBVKhiKXg8k/SyanopTdoLI/AAAAAAAAEgI/3kVptLY95L0/higgins9-24-4%2520%255B%255D%25201.jpg?resize=500%2C332)
The work of Garry Winogrand remains highly controversial. Biographical detail is widely available elsewhere but this piece assesses the key challenges.
Link: AMERICANSUBURB X: THEORY: “Garry Winogrand – Differing Perspectives”
travel photographer
Link: http://thetravelphotographer.blogspot.com/2009/12/jehad-nga-turkana.html
I’ve described Jehad Nga as being a master of chiaroscuro and his new work Turkana just reaffirms and even compounds this well-deserved appellation. His new work is just beautiful and details of each photograph must be slowly absorbed. In Jehad’s photography, I guess less is more…and his play of light against the colorful garments is just exquisite.
Siobhain Butterworth: The readers’ editor on… death and sorrow in pictures
via the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/14/open-door-photography-grief-afghanistan
A picture can raise as many ethical questions as a thousand words, as two recent images show. The first, a photograph of a murdered young woman lying on a street in El Salvador – eyes open, mouth slack, legs and arms outstretched; the second, an image of a child crying at her father’s funeral.
Superstar snapper Mr. Jimmy Nachtwey needs some unpaid help. Maybe your unpaid help. For three months. You’ve got to be…
Superstar snapper Mr. Jimmy Nachtwey needs some unpaid help. Maybe your unpaid help. For three months. You’ve got to be skilled mind…
by Paula Bronstein
One thing about covering the stories in Afghanistan is that there never seems to be an end to these heartbreaking, agonizing issues – whether it is about the effects of war, abuse against women, disease and hunger, poverty or unemployment.
It was in early March 2002 when I first arrived in Kabul – just weeks before springtime and Nawroz, the Persian New Year. The Kabul Valley looked cold and barren-dry as the Ariana flight descended through the clouds. Snow-covered peaks of the Hindu Kush lay on the horizon, aloof from all that was happening here.
Link: Sides of the Wire: America in Afghanistan – The Digital Journalist
Photojournalism is dead.
Why? Because most people don’t care about meaningful, relevant photography anymore.
Link: Rest in Peace: Photojournalism Is Dead – The Digital Journalist
As you know, after more than 10 years, Canon has felt compelled to discontinue its support of The Digital Journalist. It is that support which has made it possible to produce these issues, and become one of the most trusted and vital resources to visual journalism. We are working very hard to come up with new sponsors (or who knows, Canon might change its mind?). We will also be going to several foundations, seeking institutional support. It is our intention and hope to keep publishing as long as we can. This month you, our loyal readers, donated nearly $5,000 in pledges, which is just enough to pay our staff, to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude. So please make pledges if you can. We know how difficult it is in the economy, but consider your pledge an investment not only in this magazine, but also in yourselves, and our beleaguered profession of photo/video journalism. Hopefully we will all make it through to the other side.
Also receiving votes were members Danny Gawlowski (92), Jack Zibluk (91), Jeff Gritchen (80), Gerald Williams (61), Pete Souza (1), Ken Irby (1) and Melissa Lyttle (1).
Link: NPPA Board Of Directors Election Results, Candidate Withdraws
The photographers’ collective NOOR was founded in Amsterdam in 2007 with a mission to pool resources and interests to produce, exhibit and promote both individual and group projects by its members. Managing director Claudia Hinterseer recently spoke to PDN about a group project called “Consequences” that highlights the social impact of climate change in different parts of the world.
Link: Nine Photojournalists. One Ambitious Climate Change Project.
Considering that today is World AIDS Day, this seemed like the perfect time to highlight a new book from photographer Karen Ande, Face to Face: Children of the AIDS Crisis in Africa. Although hardly the first person to document this topic, Karen’s emphasis on telling positive stories is unusual. And her technique presents a hard — but important — question for documentary photographers: Do too many images of suffering make people feel helpless to improve things?
Link: Should photojournalists seek out the silver lining? | RESOLVE — the liveBooks photo blog