Tag Archives: Getty photographer

Benazir Bhutto assassination: the citizen and pro photojournalist takes

Mindy McAdams has highlighted some interesting pieces of photojournalism documenting the tragic events of last week when Benazir Bhutto was murdered after speaking at an election rally in Rawalpindi.

Two pieces of work of the same event effectively sum up the citizen vs pro debate.

The BBC has footage that it claimed shows the assassin firing shots into the back of Bhutto’s head before blowing himself up (effectively debunking the Pakistani authorities’ line that she broke her neck while trying to take cover and evade the bullets).

As you’d expect it’s grainy, wobbly footage, but that’s not so important as it’s the event rather the quality of the craft that’s makes this compelling.

Compare that with the professional slideshow put together for the New York Times by the Getty photographer John Moore who was covering the event.

He gives a spoken first person account as his pictures show the rally, the brutal attack from further back in the crowd and the shocking fallout.

Look at the video images from the amateur and the powerful stills from the pro, then if you can think of a better more succinct example of how citizen journalism and the work of pro-snappers complement one another, I’d love to hear about it.