The Times has published a video today on YouTube which hears from deputy editor Keith Blackmore, design editor Jon Hill and deputy picture editor Elizabeth Orcutt, as well as communities editor Ben Whitelaw, about the thinking behind its Olympic wraps. As Blackmore says:
The first one was terrifying. Once you made a commitment to do it, and we’d committed right from the start to do this every single day of the Olympic games … you’ve got to do it.
The video includes a look at the decision behind the very first wrap, which wanted to visualise the dawning of the Olympics in London. The Times sent a photographer out every morning the week ahead of the Olympics to photograph the sun coming up over the Olympic stadium, before it was decided a shot of the London Bridge with its Olympic rings was the better shot for the job.
The video, which can be played below, also talks about the reaction to the wraps on social media from the community.
The picture, taken by Samuel Aranda for the New York Times, was among more than 100,000 photographs from the world over that were considered by this year’s judges.
Images of protestors in Cairo’s Tahrir Square celebrating Hosni Mubarak’s resignation, rebels holding out against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and the aftermath of the Japanese tsunami, also received top prizes.
Director Tim Burton surrounded by dictaphones at Comic Con 2009, one of 50 images made available by Wired as part of its new creative commons plan. Image: Wired.com
Wired.com has made what looks like a canny move in deciding to license its own images under creative commons in return for a mention and a link.
The technology site doesn’t currently sell the images, so the commons licence will cost it nothing but will probably generate some useful publicity today, like this, plus traffic and SEO in the long run.
Wired hasn’t stipulated where the link and mention have to go, so presumably it’s fine to put it either right next to the image or bury it at the bottom of your blog post.
The licence also allows users to edit images, as I have with the one above. Just a simple crop here, but mashups and other edits are also fine.
The move also raises a long-standing lack of clarity over the CC “non-commercial” licence. When we use CC images on Journalism.co.uk, we usually steer clear of images marked “not for commercial use” because we carry ads on the site and the site is a profitable entity.
But the distinction isn’t as clear cut as that according to some. Nieman Journalism Lab’s Joshua Benton has an in-depth post about the CC issue, read it here.
Journalists at the Manchester Evening News have responded to the news that photographer Sean Wilton was arrested after taking pictures of an incident near to the city’s magistrates’ court on Monday.
“I tried to explain I wasn’t obstructing and was just doing my job, but to no avail,” Wilton says in the report. “When I tried to speak to him about the situation, he arrested me for breach of the peace. As professional photographers, we do try to conduct ourselves as professionally as possible.”
In a statement (attributed to mother of the chapel Bethan Dorsett) his colleagues in the NUJ MEN chapel said its photographers always abide by industry codes of conduct.
To be treated in such a way by police is completely unacceptable and very worrying. Either police officers do not understand our rights and responsibilities or they sometimes choose to ignore them – either is disturbing and suggests some education would be useful. We are sure the NUJ and MENMedia would be more than happy to discuss and clarify these matters with the police.
The police issued the following statement:
A photographer was arrested to prevent a breach of the peace and on suspicion of obstructing a police officer. Officers brought the situation under control and the photographer was de-arrested and subsequently released.
The Rory Peck Awards, which recognises the work of freelance cameramen and women in news and current affairs, are now open for entries.
The awards consist of three categories:
The Rory Peck Award for News
Honours the work of freelance cameramen and women in the coverage of a news event where the focus is on the immediacy of the story. Rushes / un-voiced pieces are accepted in this category. Maximum duration: 10 minutes.
The Rory Peck Award for Features
Honours the work of freelance cameramen and women in news and current affairs features: in-depth pieces which look beyond the immediacy of a news story.
Maximum duration: 60 minutes.
The Sony Professional Impact Award
Honours the work of freelance cameramen and women in news or current affairs that examine humanitarian or social issues. Judges will be looking for entries that have had a tangible impact in one or more of the following areas: audience, press, policy or public awareness. Maximum duration: 60 minutes.
According to a release from the Rory Peck Trust, “the awards recognise quality of camerawork, but also take into account individual endeavour, initiative and journalistic ability”.
“We welcome self-funded work and entries from local freelancers, especially those working in regions where it is difficult to operate.”
The award is named after freelance cameraman Rory Peck (pictured), who was killed in 1993 while filming in Moscow. In 1995 the Rory Peck Trust, which organises the award, was established in his memory to help provide support for freelancers and their families.
All entries must have been first broadcast between 1 August 2010 and 31 May 2011. Closing date for Entries is Monday 6 June.
Last night news broke that a Western journalist was believed to have been killed in Libya.
It wasn’t too long before more details emerged from within the country and the UK Foreign Office was able to confirm the death of Tim Hetherington, a British born photojournalist – the first British journalist known to have been killed since conflict broke out in Libya earlier this year.
When news of his death came out three other photographers were also reported as being injured, and it was later confirmed by Getty Images that one of the trio, its staff reporter Chris Hondros, had died from his injuries late on Wednesday.
Hetherington, who was born in Liverpool but lived in the US, contributing to titles such as Vanity Fair.
He was said by his family to be in Libya as part of a multimedia project to highlight humanitarian issues during time of war and conflict.
Since his death, tributes have been flooding in across British and international press.
We have collected together just some of the examples of his work being celebrated, and the messages being given in his memory.
Panos Pictures, which also published work by Hetherington, also offered its condolences as news broke yesterday, saying he was “an irreplaceable friend and contributor to our agency since the earliest days”.
He combined a fierce intelligence with a deeply creative approach to photography and filmmaking that marked him apart from his peers.
He knew what path he wanted to follow, his work was direct and purposeful and stood as an example to many of his proteges.
We are still trying to come to terms with how someone so full of life could be stopped so cruelly in his tracks.
Speaking on Newsnight last night friend and fellow journalist James Brabazon called Tim, who had previously also worked with the BBC, as “a leading light of his generation”.
It really is not an exaggeration to say that his eye and his ability for what he did was unique, and his reportage really defined a generation of covering conflict.
The main thing about Tim to understand is that he was fundamentally a humanitarian.
A lot of the work that he did wasn’t just for the news or for magazines but was for human rights organisations as well.
He was a really passionate and an incredibly talented storyteller.
Some good photographs from Egypt here by 23-year-old photographer Andrew Burton, looking not so much at the moments of confrontation but the interim moments, the ordinary moments of life in the midst of a violent uprising.
The New York Times’ Lens blog has published photographs taken by one of its photographers Joao Silva just before and after he stepped on a landmine while working in Afghanistan that gave him internal injuries and destroyed both his legs.
A candid open letter from award-winning US photojournalist Chip Litherland to newspaper photographers everywhere: “It is now on you.”
Dear Newspaper Photographer,
If you think you are safe in your job, you aren’t.
I say that bluntly to make the point stick. You are a number. You are expendable. Your work will win awards. Your work will sell papers … I want this to be positive, but it’s hard to be in this situation. I’ve seen too many friends and colleagues come and go and that choice was never given to them. Some are still shooting freelance, some had to give up photography as a career and pursue other things – but, they are some of the most creative and beautiful people on the planet. It’s tough to watch photographers get drained through a funnel as they come into this field, and as they leave. Staying in the funnel is tough and proving to be tougher everyday.
I left my newspaper staff only a couple months ago on my own and loving every minute of it. It’s been busy as hell (knock on wood), but I’m learning everything on the fly which is exciting and nerve-racking. It’s a wonderful feeling. Open book.
