Sunday, December 11, 2011
HELP-PORTRAIT IS A GLOBAL MOVEMENT OF PHOTOGRAPHERS USING THEIR TIME, GEAR AND EXPERTISE TO GIVE BACK TO THOSE IN NEED
The Albuquerque Journal
More than 15 families had their portraits taken Saturday – many for the first time – as part of an international project that gives needy families free professional photos.
The event, organized by Journal photographer Morgan Petroski, drew 10 photographers from the Albuquerque area who spent the day shooting photos of young families. Each family received an 8-by-10-inch picture.
One of those families was Bettielen Kasuse and her children, 6-year-old Elizabeth and 2-year-old Nathaniel. Kasuse dressed up her little boy in a tie and put her daughter’s hair in curls for the special occasion.
“It feels good because we’ll have memories of them when they get older,” she said. “It was awesome.”
Kasuse said this was the first portrait they took as a family.
“I got up at like 5 this morning and got them all dressed up,” she said.
Like the 16 other families who were photographed Saturday, Kasuse received a gift certificate to clothing store Other Mothers for outfits for the special occasion. Local restaurants also donated food for the families while they waited to have their picture taken, processed and printed.
Sandra Contreras was waiting to have her portrait printed while son Xavier, 2, and daughter Julyssa,4, played in the lobby of Cuidando Los Niños, a nonprofit that works to end homelessness.
Cuidando Los Niños partnered with Help-Portrait, which was held worldwide Saturday, to bring together the families and photographers. Contreras said her family had never been photographed professionally. She said it was the first time she’s dressed up her little boy.
“It was fun to dress up,” Contreras said. “It was a neat experience.”
The Contreras family picture was taken by local photographer David Randall, who said it was the first time he’s taken part in Help-Portrait. This was the second year the event took place in Albuquerque.
Randall said he loves photography, volunteering and helping people, and that participating was “a great way to combine those three.”
He described the family’s excitement at the professional setup and photo session.
“When they first come in, they seem to be a little in awe of all the stuff going on,” he said. “Once they see the pictures, I hear little ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ and (see) smiles, and that’s a reward in itself.”
It was that sense of excitement Petroski was aiming for when she decided to organize the event. Petroski thought it was time to start giving back.
“I’ve always felt that giving back to the community is the best. After living here for two years, I hadn’t done anything,” she said.
Many of the families who were photographed told her this was their first family portrait.
“To hear something like that,” Petroski said, “it makes it all worth it.”
Exhibition of photographs from the largest fire in New Mexico state history
Flames and Forest
In Los Alamos, inspiration rose from the flames.
The Los Alamos Historical Museum is showing 44 images from 30 photographers capturing the beauty and agony of last summer’s Las Conchas Fire, the largest wildfire in state history.
Opening at 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, the photographs encompass wildlife and mountains, charred trees and helicopters, night skies and daylight licked by flames.
Reflecting part of the town’s history, the show features works by just three professional photographers. The rest are amateurs, museum specialist Judith Stauber said. All are from around northern New Mexico. The photos tell the fire’s story through powerful visual landscapes sharing themes of the battle against smoke and fire as well as the surreal impact of the fire on the quality of light, land, night sky, mountain skyline, wildlife and people.
Area photographers submitted about 60 images.
“We chose at least one from everybody that submitted,” Stauber said. “The quality of the images really surprised me.”
The photographs are primarily landscapes, with few shots of people, including firefighters.
“One of the themes was the very surreal landscapes,” Stauber said. “How the smoke affects the light – the exhibit’s up now and I was looking at it with my mouth open.”
Photographers captured moments of helicopters diving and disgorging from a multiplicity of angles. One produced a haunting scene of a young doe standing amid blackened trees.
Los Alamos resident Ken Hanson shot an aerial image of felled and charred trees resembling the microscopic texture and detail of bacteria or threads of finely woven fabric.
“The texture of that really struck me as a close-up,” Stauber said. “Just the pattern of that charred landscape was striking. You don’t really know what you’re looking at. It’s this beautiful weaving. When you realize what it is, it’s shocking.”
Santa Fean Amanda Jay captured an eerily purple sun at dusk.
“She sent me a note that said, ‘This is not color corrected’,” Stauber said. “There’s a lot of different pigments in the photographs –– like a pink sky, colors you’re not used to seeing.”
Los Alamos’ Salvador Zapien created daylight views of the Pajarito ski lift against a backdrop of blue skies and churning smoke.
“There’s this gorgeous blue sky and the ski lift, and then you see these ominous clouds in the background,” Stauber said.
Corby Wilson, also from Los Alamos, documented the fire fighters dropping a load of red fire retardant into the trees.
The museum organized a photography exhibit for 2000′s Cerro Grande fire, but those photographs focused on what was lost.
“Our archives also collected pictures of every home that was destroyed,” Stauber said. “This fire had a very different effect on the community than the last one. While still frightening, it was much less personally painful. People are moving on more quickly and seem more resigned to living with fire in the mountains and canyons.
“There are some powerful images in the room,” Stauber said. “I just stand there in awe.”
The exhibition will be up until Jan. 5.
If you go
WHAT: “Las Conchas Fire Community Photographs”
WHEN: Opening reception 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 13. Through Jan. 5.
WHERE: Los Alamos Historical Museum, 1050 Bathtub Row, Los Alamos
CONTACT: 505-662-6272
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Charlie Rose Interview With John Loengard: "A great photographer has the knack of putting a great picture in front of his camera"
John Loengard appeared on the Charlie Rose program to discuss his new book: "Age Of Silver - Encounters With Great Photographers". Watch the interview here, as Loengard recounts photographing Annie Liebovitz, Henri-Cartier Bresson, and Jacques Henri-Lartigue; and Charlie Rose airs part of an interview with Henri-Cartier Bresson.
View John Loengard's photography here.
Photo District News: John Loengard - Photos of the Day
John Loengard: The Development of Photography
La Lettre de la Photographie: John Loengard: Age of Silver
Thursday, December 8, 2011
John Loengard: Encounters With Great Photographers
William Wegman. All images © John Loengard/Courtesy Monroe Gallery
PDN Photo of the Day displays photographs selected by the editors of Photo District News, a publication for photo professionals.
The photos on this blog come from a variety of sources. All images are published with permission of the photographer or copyright owner, are handouts provided for press use, or are images known to be in the public domain. PDN cannot give you permission to copy or publish these images. Whenever possible, we provide a link to the copyright owner or publisher of the original image.
PDN Photo of the Day, December 8, 2011:
A new exhibition of the work of LIFE magazine staff photographer and editor John Loengard’s black-and-white photographs is currently showing through the end of January at the Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Full post here.
"We firmly believe and we maintain that nothing can be more powerful than the truth”
Reporters Without Borders - Le Monde Prize for Press Freedom
Published on Thursday 8 December 2011
2011 Press Freedom Prize awarded to Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat and Burma’s Weekly Eleven News.
With the support of TV5MONDE, Reporters Without Borders and Le Monde are pleased to award the 2011 Press Freedom Prize to two symbols of courage, Syrian newspaper cartoonist Ali Ferzat and the Burmese newspaper Weekly Eleven News . The award ceremony was held today at the Le Monde auditorium in Paris.
“This year we are honouring a courageous journalist who has been the victim of brutal repression by an obsolete government,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said. “Ali Ferzat fully deserves this award. His cartoons target the abuses of a desperate regime with its back to the wall and encourage Syrians to demand their rights and to express themselves freely.
“We are also honouring a newspaper that has never bowed to Burma’s censors. Weekly Eleven News has always stood up to the military junta, using extraordinary ingenuity to slip through the censorship net and inform the Burmese public. Its editors and reporters have taken considerable risks and deserve our encouragement. At a time when Burmese political life and society seem to be showing signs of opening up, Weekly Eleven News has more than ever a key role to play.”
Ferzat was chosen as 2011 Journalist of the Year because of the quality of his cartoons and his commitment to defending media freedom. Original and rebellious, his non-conformist attitude and creativity earned him powerful enemies such as Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, who threatened to have him killed after an exhibition of his cartoons in Paris in 1989. He was banned from visiting Jordan, Iraq and Libya for years.
Al-Domari, the satirical newspaper Ferzat launched in 2000, was the first independent publication since the Baath Party takeover. The authorities forced it to close three years later. Since this spring, the street protests and ensuing crackdown have been at the centre of his work. For denouncing the corruption and abuses of Bashar Al-Assad’s rule, he was attacked in August by masked gunmen, who broke his hands as a warning.
“I would have liked to have been with you this evening to take part in this beautiful event,” Ferzat said in a letter read out by the French cartoonist Plantu. “I dedicate this award to the martyrs, to those who have been injured and to those who struggle for freedom. May thanks be given to all those who have turned the Arab Spring into a victory over darkness and repression.”
Presenting the 2011 Media of the Year prize to Weekly Eleven News, the writer and journalist Jean Rolin, winner of the Albert Londres Prize in 1988, paid tribute to Reporters Without Borders’ local correspondents and to all journalists working on the ground in difficult parts of the world.
Burma is one of the world’s most repressive countries for the media, and the staff at Weekly Eleven News often risk prison by daring to run stories on subjects that the authorities regard as sensitive. In August, it paid a high price for defying government orders not to cover the flooding in the northern city of Mandalay. Several of its journalists were arrested and it was forbidden to publish for several weeks.
“At Weekly Eleven News, we firmly believe and we maintain that nothing can be more powerful than the truth,” the newspaper’s spokesman said. “We are honoured to receive this award, but we are also very sad when we think of all the Burmese journalists who are still in prison. We must never forget the sacrifices that some have made so that change come to Burma.”
The American photojournalist Stanley Greene, founder of Noor Agency was the guest of honour this year. He paid tribute to his fellow photographers who died this year, especially Tim Hetherington, Chris Hondros and Lucas Dolega.
The Reporters Without Borders Prize has been awarded every year since 1992 to a journalist and a news media in different parts of the world that have made a significant contribution to the defence and promotion of press freedom. The prize winners are selected by an international jury of journalists and human rights activists.
Le Monde decided to become a partner in the prize this year. The newspaper’s publisher, Erik Izraelewicz, explains : “From Sidi Bouzid to Sanaa, from Rangoon to Benghazi, from Damascus to Cairo, there has been no shortage of major developments in 2011. The international media have covered them without forgetting that local journalists, often at risk to their lives, have for years been combating the constant violations of media freedom in these places. For 20 years, the Reporters Without Borders Prize for Press Freedom has been reminding the public that their struggle is also our struggle. Le Monde is pleased to join Reporters Without Borders in this undertaking.”
Press Freedom Prize received the support of TV5MONDE. Marie-Christine Saragosse, director general, added: “This is a logical involvement for a French-language TV station whose universal values are transmitted every day in the 200 countries where we are present. TV5MONDE has decided to participate in this prize and thereby join with those who constantly strive to bear witness, often at the cost of their freedom or their lives, to a world in rebellion and to the realities of war.”
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
The Post, NYT and WSJ show same scene of Kabul carnage via different photos
Intersting discussion amongst photoeditors, via The Washington Post
"The images that came out of the suicide bombing of a Shiite mosque in Kabul on Tuesday were graphic, showing dozens of people killed. One scene in particular stood out from the rest. At the center a woman in green was standing, surrounded by the injured and dead, including several children and a baby.
We spoke to Post visuals editor David Griffin, director of photography Michel Ducille, and deputy director of photography Sonya Doctorian about the Post’s photo choices, as well as NYT photo editor Michele McNally and deputy photo editor Meaghan Looram, and Wall Street Journal director of photography Jack Van Antwerp about their choices"
Full post here.
See also: "Amid a Horrific Scene, Tears": Massoud Hossaini recounts making Tuesday's photos of bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan
"The images that came out of the suicide bombing of a Shiite mosque in Kabul on Tuesday were graphic, showing dozens of people killed. One scene in particular stood out from the rest. At the center a woman in green was standing, surrounded by the injured and dead, including several children and a baby.
We spoke to Post visuals editor David Griffin, director of photography Michel Ducille, and deputy director of photography Sonya Doctorian about the Post’s photo choices, as well as NYT photo editor Michele McNally and deputy photo editor Meaghan Looram, and Wall Street Journal director of photography Jack Van Antwerp about their choices"
Full post here.
See also: "Amid a Horrific Scene, Tears": Massoud Hossaini recounts making Tuesday's photos of bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan
The most unforgettable images of the year / Best photographs of 2011
UPDATED Dec. 30, 2011
"2011 was a year of global tumult, marked by widespread social and political uprisings, economic crises, and a great deal more. We saw the fall of multiple dictators, welcomed a new country (South Sudan), witnessed our planet's population grow to 7 billion, and watched in horror as Japan was struck by a devastating earthquake, a tsunami, and a nuclear disaster. From the Arab Spring to Los Indignados to Occupy Wall Street, citizens around the world took to the streets in massive numbers, protesting against governments and financial institutions, risking arrest, injury, and in some cases their lives." Via The Atlantic
National Post: 25 best Occupy photos of 2011
The White House: 2011 Year in Photos by Pete Souza
NOOR: 2011 Year in Review
Telegraph: Pictures of the year 2011: weird news photos
Washington Post: Iconic and Memorable Images From 2011
The Guardian: Cameraphones capture the images of the year – in pictures
LA Times Framework: The Year in Pictures
Via Bag News Notes: The Best 2011 Photos We Never Saw – Reuters Edition
The Frame: Looking Back at Images From 2011
Review of the year 2011: pictures of Libya and Egypt by Telegraph photographers
Photos: 2011 The Denver Post Year’s Best Photos
BBC News Pictures of the Year 2011
The Guardian: Pictures of 2011
The Guardian: Favourite Photographs of the Year 2011
Wall Street Journal: Photos of the Year 2011
AP Video Sights and Sounds: Looking Back at 2011
Yahoo: Top Viral Photos of 2011
The Guardian: iPhone photos of 2011 - in pictures
US News and World Report: Best News Photos of 2011
Globe and Mail: Pictures of the year: The best photos from 2011
Globe and Mail Photojournalists pick their favorite images of 2011
Bloomberg: 2011: A Year of Firsts Remembered
The Telgraph: Pictures of the year 2011: UK news stories
Best of Washington Post Photojournalists 2011
New York Daily News Top 100 Photos from 2011: A Year In Review
The New York Times Lens : New York The Year in Pictures
New York Times Sunday Review: 2011 Year in Pictures Arab Spring
New York Times Sunday Review: 2011 The Year in Pictures
TIME’s Best Photojournalism of 2011
TIME Looks Back at The Best Photos… of Photos from 2011
Getty Images: Year In Focus: The Images That Defined 2011
2011 Getty Best News Photos Of The Year from Around The World
NPR Picture Show: 2011 Replayed in Iconic Photographs
The Big Picture: 50 Best Photos from The Natural World
The Big Picture: The Year in Pictures: Part I
Part 2
Part 3
Unicef photo of the year 2011
Reportage Year in Review 2011
Via BBC: The story behind the news pictures of 2011
Part 1: A year in the life of a press photographer: Leon Neal
Part 2: Matt Dunham looks back at his year covering the biggest news
stories for the Associated Press
Wall Street Journal: Photos of the year 2011 (10 catagories)
Wall Street Journal: New York Photos of the Year 2011
MSNBC The Year in Pictures 2011
Chicago Tribune Photojournalist Scott Strazzante - 2011 best news photos
TIME Picks the Most Surprising Photos of 2011
Pete Muller: TIME Picks the Best Photographer on the Wires
The Guardian UK: The best photography of 2011: Sean O'Hagan's choice
The Atlantic 2011: The Year in Photos (Part One)
Part Two
Part Three
TIME's Top 10 Photos of 2011
TIME Picks the Best Viral Photos of 2011
Buzzfeed: The 45 Most Powerful Images Of 2011
Best News Pictures of 2011: Your Picks From Nat Geo News
Reuters: Best Photos of the Year 2011
UPI: 2011 News Photos of the Year
International Business News Year 2011: Best Photographs From Around the World
LIFE: 2011 Pictures of the Year
David Schonauer's Annual World Tour Part 1
Part 2
Vanity Fair’s Year in Photos, 2011
Obama, Euro Crisis, Buffett, Tsunami, NYC Demo: Bloomberg Best Business and Finance Photos 2011
Conscientious: My favourite photobooks this year
Bookmark this page to see additions as they are published from around the world.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
"To flip through the pages of this handsome book inevitably elicits a wave of nostalgia, a desire to roll back the years to a time when print was king and a dime could buy this singular curated version of the world"
Sunday Book Review
"Now comes “75 Years: The Very Best of Life,” a coffee-table behemoth weighing nearly seven pounds, featuring unforgettable photographs (Alfred Eisenstaedt’s famous kiss, “V-J Day, Times Square, New York City, 1945”) as well as never-before-published photos from the archives."
Read full article here.
75 YEARS
The Very Best of Life
Illustrated. 224 pp. Life Books. $36.95
"Nothing makes a better case for the First Amendment than good video of a police officer behaving badly"
Via American Journalism Review
Arrested for Doing Their Jobs
The rising tension between news photographers and law enforcement officials. Mon., December 5, 2011
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