‘Freelance mobile media maker’ Christian Payne (aka @documentally) discusses the multimedia benefits, and potential for journalists, of his new Lumix GH1 hybrid digital camera (with video and audio) in this AudioBoo recording:
Watch out for Christian Payne at our news:rewired event next week.
In this promotional video, HSBC attempts to identify itself with the moral high ground by portraying an ethical dilemma for a professional photojournalist. One can’t help wonder, in the real world, what might have been the outcome had the photographer been facing foreclosure on his mortgage…
Mail Online is coming under renewed criticism for its use of online images, following a story on ‘moneyfacing’ (people using banknotes to create self-portraits).
A tweet from @alisongow alerted us to the Mail’s article ‘Creasing up: Banking on a funny photo with the ‘moneyfacing’ craze sweeping the web’ on which commenters have alleged the paper has used the images central to the story without permission.
Comments include:
“As the photographs are a pretty intrinsic part of this so called feature, I’d say that asking permission to use them is the very least this so-called newspaper should’ve done.”
The creator of the images, Thom Shannon, has now reposted them to Flickr with a watermark protecting them, adding he has never felt the need to use watermarks before, but that requests to the Daily Mail to remove the photos have not been answered.
The Mail isn’t the only site making use of the images: the Sun has a 12-image slideshow and Telegraph.co.uk features just one image, though it does give accreditation for this to a website (something Shannon has disputed).
This is not the first time the Mail’s use of online images has been challenged, but issues of copyright aside, Kevin Anderson suggests that there is a bigger opportunity being missed by newspapers at large (scroll down to the comments):
“[T]his is another example of the news industry missing an opportunity to build community around what they do. When I use Creative Commons photos from sites like Flickr, firstly, I honour the terms of the licence. Secondly, I drop the Flickr user a note letting them know that I’ve used a photo on our site. It’s not only a way to use nice photos, but it’s also a way to build goodwill to what we’re doing and do a little soft touch promotion of our coverage. It takes a minutes out of my day to create that email, but instead of a backlash, I often get a thank you. They let their friends know that the Guardian has used their picture. It’s brilliant for everyone. There are benefits to being good neighbours online, rather than viewing the internet as a vast repository of free content.”
Young photojournalists at London College of Communication (LCC) were this week told to ‘be slinky’ to stay afloat in the industry today.
The advice came from a debate, ‘The New Ecology of Photojournalism’, on the first night of the degree show for this year’s MA Photojournalism students.
American photojournalist, Ed Kashi, told graduates they needed to be ‘slinky’ and that adaptability was a key skill for succeeding in the media at the moment. He said: “Photojournalism has never been more exciting than now.”
Other panellists included: Lucy Davies, the Telegraph’s photography critic; Simon Norfolk, photographer; David Campbell, professor of geography, Durham University.
All the panellists gave a positive outlook for photojournalists, but also advised young photojournalists not to rely on editorial photos and magazines for their income. Norfolk gave the example of British photographer Stephen Gill who makes his own photography books and sells them on eBay.
One of the students on the MA is Ian Buswell whose collection, ‘Silence in the Salween’, is part of the exhibition. The photos give a glimpse of life for the persecuted Karen community of Eastern Burma.
He said: “This is my first exhibition in London. I’ve spent three years in south east Asia as a freelance photographer, but sometimes felt isolated in Bangkok. In London, I’ve been exposed to more photography and had the chance to get better involved with the city’s art scene.”
The exhibition, called ’28 Stories’, runs from 10 – 23 December and 4 – 15 January, 10am – 5pm, at the LCC, Elephant and Castle.
The issue of resolution aside, Richard Koci Hernandez takes a look at photography apps for iPhones that can offer journalists and photographers room to experiment with their images and picture-taking.
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Photographers feel they have come under attack ‘from all sides’ when covering demonstrations and public order situations, warned photojournalist and investigative reporter Marc Vallée last weekend.
Vallée, a spokesman for campaign group I’m a Photographer not a Terrorist, suggested that photographers have been affected by the police’s attempts to create a hostile environment for terrorists in such situations.
At the same time photographers also feel that they have been unjustly targeted by protestors, who misunderstand their role.
Photojournalists on the ground are workers, said Vallée, adding that it’s a common law right for photographers to take photographs. Protestors do not have to co-operate with this and can turn away if necessary, he said.
Vallée made his comments during a panel discussion held as part of ‘Signs of Revolt’, an exhibition at the Truman Brewery in Brick Lane to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the massive protests against the World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle.
But Vallée saved most of his condemnation for the police, suggesting that there were a number of reasons police officials would not want photographers at protests.
The Met and the Home Office issued new guidelines, but these have not filtered down to other groups, such as the TSG [Territorial Support Group], he said.
Damien Gayle is a postgraduate journalism student at City University, London.
Brought to our attention by FleetStreetBlues, this site’s title needs little explanation.
Its author (Scaryduck aka Alistair Coleman / @duckorange) introduces ‘Angry people in local newspapers’ thus:
“I feel sorry for local news photographers. They are hugely skilled and poorly paid, and sent out to photograph miserable people pointing at dog turds. Here, we celebrate their work.”
Journalism.co.uk recommends its first post ‘Dog Poop’ on October 22, to give a flavour of the whole blog.
Photography site EPUK publishes a report by law firm Swan Turton on a celebrity photographer’s copyright victory over Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).
“In a judgment issued on October 16 which has potentially important ramifications for the photography industry, the High Court held that Daily Mirror publisher MGN Ltd had infringed copyright in photographs included in back copies of newspapers it was making available online to paid subscribers.”
Funny (sweary, you have been warned) stuff from animation site xtranormal and user trott57 on ‘how to conduct yourself when offered a photo assignment’:
Just for fun – though I may be able to rustle up a prize from my desktop – if you can top this for comedy and accuracy on a journalism theme, send it our way.
Photojournalism body World Press Photo has launched an online archive of more than 10,000 images from 50 years of its annual photography competition.
The archive can be searched by categories, year or alphabetical list of prize winners.
“It includes photos that have become icons, by some of the leading names in the profession. World Press Photo has put them online with the aim of sharing our knowledge, resources and experience with the widest possible network,” says the site.
A great resource and way to see how trends in photojournalism have changed over the last half-century.