Worth a Look: The Valley of Shadows | dvafoto:
Newsweek’s just published a brilliant and far-reaching investigation into California’s growing economic and water crises. The Valley of Shadows, a five-part series comprising wonderful photos by Ken Light, original reporting, interactive maps, and audio, is a great example of what most journalism might look like in a few year
Ara Oshagan – father:land | burn magazine:
My father died in June 2000.
A few years before that, he and I decided to embark on a project about Karabagh: a remote mountainous area next to Armenia. A region where the Armenians fought and won a fierce war of independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union. A region still with militarized borders and no political recognition. A place in transformation: the people, the land, the very way of life in political, social, existential upheaval. A place that is part of our distant homeland.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Ami Vitale’s Beautiful Cultures and Powerful Documentary | the adventure life:
Of course photojournalism is important but it has always been a struggle to find support even since I began. Just because magazines and newspapers are going through a difficult period does not reduce the need for great storytelling and I believe now is a perfect time to find opportunity and recreate ourselves for other mediums. I feel it’s a glorious time for photojournalism and story telling. Our medium is changing and the new opportunities are out there but take a little more work to find. I don’t understand why everyone is afraid of change, the same thing happened to radio years ago. Everyone said it was dead. Photography is not dead and if we can harness all the creativity and tools available to us, we can make some amazing work and deliver it to audiences we never dreamt of reaching before. I see this as an empowering and exciting time.
via duckrabbit
Ask a Pro: How to Shoot (and Not Get Shot) In a War Zone – War zone photography – Gizmodo:
Ever wonder how war photographers survive out there? We’ve enlisted Teru Kuwayama—a photographer who has covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and other hotspots for Time, Newsweek and Outside—to explain the perils of working in a war zone.
via APE
On Assignment: Arlington Cemetery – Lens Blog – NYTimes.com:
Doug Mills’s gripping and emotional image of Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s burial — showing family members embracing in a glowing light and children kneeling before the casket — was the result of one of those risky but rewarding choices. It was published across five columns at the top of the front page in Sunday’s late edition.
Q&A: Brian Shumway, New York – Feature Shoot:
Brian Shumway is a New York City based photographer whose work blurs the line between portraiture, documentary and fine art photography. He has worked for Reader’s Digest, Smart Money, Newsweek, Time, XXL, TV Guide and the New York Times, among others, and has appeared in American Photography, Communication Arts, Shots Magazine and the Photo Review. Brian was one of Magenta Foundation’s top 25 ‘Emerging Photographers’ in the USA in 2006 and 2008. La Chureca, his story on the city dump in Managua, Nicaragua, was a finalist for the (Santa Fe) Center’s 2008 Project Competition. He is represented by Redux Pictures. This selection of pictures is from Happy Valley, which is a personal look at Utah Valley, misunderstood suburban home of the Mormons and ironically known as Happy Valley, through the daily life of his family.
First Leica M9 pictures | Leica Rumors:
It did not take long until online forums started to buzz about the potential Leica M9 pictures in the latest promotional video from Leica
Pictures: Canon 7D All But Official | Gadget Lab | Wired.com:
The viewfinder has an accommodating 100% view and the read screen is three inches on the diagonal with 920,000 pixels. ISO runs up to 6400 with an emergency setting of 12,800, and of course the 7D will shoot HD video, and has an HDMI-out port.
Yelling ‘Beat Blacks’ Not Ethnic Hatred – The Moscow Times:
St. Petersburg investigators said Friday that the severe beating of a Kyrgyz teenager in February was not motivated by ethnic hatred, even though the attackers shouted “Beat the Blacks!” and “Russia for Russians!”
are you ready for some football? « shooting from the hip:
My least favorite type of person is the alpha male.
With Fwix iPhone App, All a Cub Reporter Needs Is a Scoop – NYTimes.com:
The site, Fwix, will release an iPhone application this week that enables its users to file news updates, photos and videos, live from the field. The items will appear on Fwix’s year-old Web site, which also collects links to local news articles from newspapers and blogs in 85 cities.
The Media Equation – At The Journal News, Everyone’s Laid Off and Welcome to Reapply – NYTimes.com:
Specifically, the 288 news and advertising employees at The Journal News were told that jobs were being redefined and that they all would need to reapply for the new positions and that by the time the re-org music stopped, 70 of them would be without jobs.
What fresh hell is this?
Photographer Antonin Kratochvil | Outside Online:
The world is full of bold photographers who earn their keep by traveling to rough regions. Kratochvil towers above them all, in large part because his extraordinary background gives him a preternatural cool—not to mention credibility—that can’t be taught. “In what we do, the most important faculties are instinct and intuition,” says photojournalist Chris Anderson, who calls Kratochvil his mentor. “Antonin is the embodiment of instinct. His persona is that of an ogre, but he is frighteningly intelligent, the most astute observer of human behavior I know.”
Ron Haviv: Saving film from Serbian warlord Arkan | RESOLVE — the liveBooks photo blog:
This month we have a story from Ron Haviv about an encounter with the Serbian paramilitary leader Arkan (at right) while he was covering the Bosnian War during the 1990s. With a little smoke and mirrors, Ron saved his revealing images from confiscation and helped share the horrors of ethnic cleansing he saw with the world. Much of the work is collected in his book, Blood and Honey.
Mellow actor gained intensity for gritty photojournalist
story:
And now he’s in Cannes to promote something a little less hunky and a little more serious: The Bang Bang Club, an upcoming movie, which may not be released for a year or so, about four real-life press photographers whose pictures of African suffering helped bring an end to apartheid in South Africa.
Kitsch plays Kevin Carter, a legendary photojournalist who took a picture of a starving child in the Sudan, dying, while a vulture perched nearby.
“By far the most challenging role I’ve ever had in my life,” he said, and for several reasons.
Showcase: Not Peace, but Not Always War – Lens Blog – NYTimes.com:
In his project, “Uncertain Identity,” the photographer Dhiraj Singh seeks to document a Kashmir that is defined by more than the decades-long dispute between India and Pakistan over the area.
PDNPulse: An Ugly August: 3 Videos of Angry People Attacking Journalists:
It’s a dangerous world out there. Maybe it’s the late-summer heat, but several violent altercations between journalists and subjects have been caught on tape this month. Here are three of them, including a scary incident yesterday in Pennsylvania involving several photographers.