photojournalism under scrutiny

Check this out
look here

Pressmen strike again

On track again
"Those kids are realy scary"

Aliens

I was out last night and was looking for Mars as it is suposed to be close by very soon.
What did I find! was it her majesty or was it aliens?

Cuban Retreat

Far away in Cuba some lovley old buildings and cars

Here is a nice spicy little number I took in an Egyptian souk
It shows some great Vibrant colors. Just needed the proprietor selling to finish of the shot. But he was no where to be seen.

Bloody neighbours

Not much else to say, is there?

Crank up the old Weir

I took this at Dobs weir whilst on a cycle ride up the lea Valley canal on a nice sunny afternoon, a nice water shot depicting movement but serenity.

the back stroke

Other times, an image can be entertaining because of what it portrays. Whales have long fascinated us and this is one of my favourites, not because it is a technical masterpiece, but because the whale looks as if just enjoying life. The is a Beluga doing a back stroke.

Sometimes people get too technical

Some photos are just fun and the technical don't really matter. History has shown that these are frequently the most valuable to society. While this may never have any historical significance (that I can determine) it seems to please some people.

review of reuters bias

An example of what has been found so far. The analysis by this particular writer is driven by his own agenda. The pictures cover a conflict that produces highly emotive views and opinions.

It is important that over and above all this, these reporting organisations are failing to stick to their basic values of objective reporting. And for sure examples can probably be found over the years of a lack of objectivity. It still seems that these organisations are not even bothering to try and maintain their standards in the race to cover stories. The need to sell content at all costs is becoming paramount. journalists under massive time and danger pressures are failing to reflect on their own prejudices, accepting unquestioned assumptions as if they are the truth. Then we the public are told a story that is not objective reporting of a conflict but a narrative that is unashamedly bias. And one wonders if some of the journalists even realise this fact. it is possible to point to journalists who don't maintain any modicum of objectivity but I think there are quite a few who just seem incapable of questioning what is happenning around them. And this becomes a threat to the very fabric of representative democracies, which to function properly depend on an informed public.

taking pictures is not enough. it is not simple. There are no ready made easy answers. But the situation at present is appalling.

another photographer explains why he photoShopped

Explanation Here.

the Times on reutersgate

The Times story
Here

reutersgate

Personally I think the cloning tool lacks subtlety

Dog ate my gater

Vicious Dog Pack Attacks Gator
At times nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and
even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty.

The alligator, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally
considered the "apex predator" in it's natural ecosystem, can still fall
victim to implemented 'team work' strategy, made possible due to the tight
knit social structure and "survival of the fittest pack mentality" bred into
the canines over the years.

Not for the squeamish - But very interesting!
it's a remarkable photograph courtesy of Nature Magazine.

david seymour photographer

Here is a link to david seymour one of the co founders of magnum photos and here you can find his photos

always carry your camera

check out this link here, story of how a photographer got a story by chance.

shoreditch festival

Shoreditch festival in the park off new north road in N1 on saturday was really excellent for a festival which could not have had a massive budget. There was a superb moving metal elephant by emergency exit arts. Lots of stalls,rides,games,food and much dancing. The main stage had some great music and exhilirating flamenco dancers. Pictured is a street dancer from a local street dancing school. All credit and respect to the organisors who pulled off a very good event. Much fun was had by all.

reuters sing the photoshop blues

Have a look here http://michellemalkin.com/archives/005669.htm A blog looking at the manipulation or not of photojournalists. to reuters or not to reuters?

reuters in doo do

Regarding a REUTERS photo taken by Adnan Hajj. Apparently reuters have withdrawn a photo by adnan hajj after bloggers claimed the photo had been doctored. The blogs accused Reuters of distorting the photograph to include more smoke and damage.A series of close ups are then posted on the blog, showing that it’s not only the plumes of smoke that were 'enhanced.' there are also cloned buildings. The close ups do appear to show exact replicas of buildings appearing next to one another in the photograph.

If this is true,it shows what can happen. For whatever reason a photographer making his photo more sensational. Not some artistic shot where someone just changes the exact color of a sky to enhance the shot for artistic purposes. A blatant attempt to make a shot appear far worse than it was in order maybe just to sell the shot or maybe to advance a particular political viewpoint. Back in the 1960's academics were arguing that the media was creating the news and framing stories in a way that shaped the underlying message. Maybe it is commonplace. Even so it bothers me.

'gollum' photography

have a look at this an interview with a japanese photographer in ping magazine. and yes, gollum, orcs tunnels.

The ballet of David Soul

One of the steet performers at Covent Garden picked out a volunteer but didn't know of a certain T.V. series. Well this particular volunteer was pretty damm good and joined in with all the fun including a spot of ballet.

photographic propaganda

Saw this quote from Robert Capa "The truth is the best picture, the best propaganda." After I mentioned lying this sounded apt. I am not connecting Capa to this negative thought I just was interested by his use of the word propaganda. For those of you who don't know he was one of the most famous war photographers of the 20th Century, have a look here to find out more. There were some interesting thoughts in the comments section re lying. I intend to explore this over the next few weeks and to give some references I have found re this on the web. Look here to see a code of ethics from one photographic association I liked this point - "Strive for total and unrestricted access to subjects, recommend alternatives to shallow or rushed opportunities, seek a diversity of viewpoints, and work to show unpopular or unnoticed points of view."

What happens when you are in a dangerous situation,the authorities have your passport,you are paid to get good photos,you have a family to feed,deadlines to meet,sensationalism is a key goal. where do you draw a line in the sand? certainly a challenge.
Do photojournalists become as opinionated as some journalists and so sure of their truth. Robert Fisk, who often writes for the Independant, even has a negative idea named for him, Fisking. The definition can be found here.
report or create the news? by text and pictures.

lying photographers

Do photojournalists stage manage their photographs to get newsworthy shots? Note this article which raises some questions Only some questions? how far is the news being manipulated? Do all photos show what happened? do photographers get people to do things in order to get their shot. How much freedom does a photographer have when working in an area run by a totalitarian government. How far will a photographer bend the truth to get that winning shot?

Reading the news at present, i am asking these questions. I am beginning to feel that the whiff of lies is growing. However I don't know for sure.

Camel Love

This is a picture I took in Tunisia using my video Camera which only has 1.25 mega Pixels.When I saw this on the computer I was well happy.

girl on stairs

tim liked this from a wedding a few weeks ago so we decided to post it.

Here is a London Eye pod (get it?) through a 14mm equivalent lens. It was a great day with the sun shining and a few clouds to decorate the sky. Camera was an Olympus E1 with a 7-14 mm zuiko.

Cheers

tim

feeling puffined up

I recently spent some time on Skomer island in Wales where there are puffin colonies. I put the longest lens I had on my camera and tracked the puffins that were flying around until they came within range, and then, like any good human, I shot them. As you can see, this one was carrying food for its young. The Olympus E1 I was using is not really known for its focussing speed, but it worked fine for me. The lens was a 200 + 1.4 multiplyer (566mm in 35 mm equivalency) and that seemed like a good compromise between reach and hand-holdability. Let me know what you think.

Cheers,

tim