Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Stephen Wilkes' Photograph on the Cover of National Geographic "America The Beautiful" Issue

 

Cover f September, 2022 issue of National Geographic with Stephen Wilkes ' photograph of the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah


Stephen Wilkes photograph of the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah is the cover of  National Geographic's “America the Beautiful” issue. "This photograph of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah is one of four Day to Night’s I created for the September 2022 issue. The spectacular landscape of Bears Ears Monument is a symbol of the risk to some of the country's unique and irreplaceable places. One president preserved it at the urging of Native Americans who hold it sacred, another tried to open it to drilling and mining.

A national monument rich with archaeological sites, it includes the Citadel, once a fortified cliff dwelling, now a popular hiking spot. I took 2,092 photographs over 36 hours and selected 44 for this image. Beyond the sense of awe and beauty, there's a palpable sense of history with every step you take.

Bears Ears was one of the most challenging Day to Nights I have created. After a long day of traveling my team and I hiked out over an hour with several hundred pounds of gear to our shoot location and set up camp for the next three days. Over the duration of our shoot we photographed while battling steady 45 mph winds, and were blessed to be able to capture the sunrise, a full moon and a rare alignment of the planets, Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn." --Stephen Wilkes






Sunday, August 14, 2022

We need great photojournalism more than ever

 Via Amateur Photographer

August 14, 2022


OPINION: WE NEED GREAT PHOTOJOURNALISM MORE THAN EVER


Deputy Editor Geoff Harris reflects on the worrying trend of people simply shunning bad news – and what it could mean for photojournalism, documentary and news photography.

As somebody who believes passionately in the importance of hard-hitting documentary and news photography, I’m worried. A survey, recently shared by the BBC, reveals that a lot of people are turning off from the news as it makes them depressed.

According to the report, from the respected Reuters Institute, almost four in 10 of those surveyed say they often or sometimes avoid the news, a sizeable jump from 29% in 2017.

It also found the number of people avoiding news over the past five years has doubled in the UK (46%) and Brazil (54%).

Considering the devastation that the corrupt Bolsonaro regime is inflicting on the Amazon rainforests and indigenous tribes in Brazil, this is even more concerning, but I digress.

Photojournalism tells the truth about what is happening

When you think of some of the most influential news images in the history of photography – Dorothea Lange’s record of dirt-poor US migrants, or Nick Ut’s Napalm Girl photo – yes, they are upsetting and depressing.

This is not usually because photographers are trying to make viewers feel bad or have any kind of agenda (Ut certainly wasn’t against the anti-communist South Vietnamese forces who dropped the napalm), it’s because they want to tell the truth about what is happening around them. If more and more people are actively turning away from the news in order to ‘protect their mental health,’ where does that leave the next generation of photojournalists? Will they still be able to make a living?

Then there is the environment.

I’ve been lucky enough to interview a lot of great nature photographers over the years, including Frans Lanting and Joel Sartore, and most still believe that their photography can help protect endangered species or habitats through awareness-raising.

But what if an increasing number of potential viewers of these images just throw their hands up in the air and switch to cute puppy videos on YouTube or silly dance routines on TikTok?

Indeed, another recent report from OFCOM shows that TikTok is the fastest-growing news source for UK adults. Of course, not all content on TikTok is trivial, but it’s an illuminating and concerning trend.

Then there are the unhinged conspiracy theorists who accuse much mainstream news of being fake, following in the footsteps of cynical politicians like Donald Trump. Predictably, attacks on news journalists and photographers have risen exponentially.

We need great photojournalism more than ever

We need great photojournalism more than ever, as it’s one of the pillars of a free society, where politicians, big business and the military are held accountable. Shackling the press is one of the first things authoritarian regimes do – just ask any photojournalist struggling to tell the truth in China and Russia.

I also think that mental health charities and ‘experts’ should be doing more to dispel this insidious myth that the news is somehow damaging to people’s well-being. Certainly, today’s 24/7 news cycles mean it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, but we can all control how much news we consume, and only consume it from reputable sources. Sticking our head in the sands is no answer.

A few years ago, photojournalists were fretting that the biggest threat facing them was the closure of a lot of print-based media and the increasing use of freelancers and ‘citizen journalists’ by digital outlets. These threats remain, and jobs continue to be lost, but a general turning away from bad news is an even more worrying trend.

As photographers, we should be doing what we can to support and speak up for photojournalists, and of course, getting out there with our cameras ourselves. Stories of death and destruction are not new, but however much they seem to be piling up in 2022, it’s important we all face up to what is going on the world. How else are we going to help to change it?




Tuesday, August 9, 2022

New documentary from CNN Films celebrating female photojournalists: No Ordinary Life

 Via RealScreen

August 9, 2022


CNN has scheduled a new documentary from CNN Films celebrating female photojournalists, No Ordinary Life, to premiere on the network on September 5.

Directed by journalist, documentary filmmaker and CNN alum Heather O’Neill, the feature doc tells the story of five courageous and trailblazing female photojournalists — Jane Evans, Maria Fleet, Margaret Moth, Mary Rogers and Cynde Strand — who documented major world events from Tiananmen Square to the Arab Spring, Sarajevo to South Africa and more. The film features all five women describing the risks they faced when reporting under fire — complemented by behind-the-scenes footage of situations in which they had to brave highly dangerous circumstances in order to get their story — as well as reflecting the challenges they faced working in a field that remains dominated by men.

The documentary had its world premiere at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, and later screened at Hamptons Doc Fest.

No Ordinary Life was produced by Array Films, with Rich Brooks serving as producer. The acquisition deal was negotiated for CNN Worldwide by Stacey Wolf, senior vice president of business affairs, and Kelly MacLanahan, assistant general counsel, on behalf of CNN Films.

Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Richard Skipper Celebrates the world of Bill Eppridge with Adrienne Aurichio

screen shot of Richard Skipper Celebrates the world of Bill Eppridge with Adrienne Aurichio YouTube page


Monroe Gallery is pleased to welcome Adrienne Aurichio to Santa Fe on September 30 for a talk about the life and career of legendary photojournalist Bill Eppridge. The talk opens a new exhibition of Eppridge's photographs that features many new, rare early works.

September 30 - November 20, 2022

 

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Imagine A World Without Photojournalism – Monroe Gallery Celebrates 20 Years in Santa Fe

 


Via The Arizona Photography Alliance

Mark Timpany

August 1, 2022


Most likely readers have seen some or all of the photographs hanging on the wall of the Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe, NM. Gallery co-owner, Sid Monroe will explain, though, that matting, framing, and gallery display transforms these images to something beyond their original use to document a current event. When viewed away from the newspaper or magazine page, multiple levels of meaning are conveyed through these photographs. They provide us with insight into a historical period in today’s world.

The exhibit currently displayed, Imagine A World Without Photojournalism, coincides with the 20-year celebration of Monroe Gallery’s presence in Santa Fe. Michelle and Sid Monroe opened their gallery in New York City but moved to Santa Fe in the aftermath of the terrorist events of 9/11. Their focus has always been on photojournalism. To that end, they have had the advice and support of some of the most noteworthy members of that community, the likes of Alfred Eisenstaedt and Carl Mydans. Some of the earliest advice was the suggestion that such a gallery could not succeed.

The gallery has survived. The current exhibit serves as a retrospective of the shows that have been hung in their transplant location in New Mexico. Viewers will find iconic photos such as Robert Capa’s images from Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944, Eddie Adams’s Saigon Execution, and numerous photos originally seen in Life magazine to photos from the present day Australian photojournalist, Ashley Gilbertson’s depiction of Officer Eugene Goodman holding back January 6th insurrectionists. The broad range of material serves to communicate the importance of photojournalism in our lives and for the several generations before us. The exhibit is important at a time when journalism is under attack (along with journalists) and lacking in funding.

This exhibit runs through September 18, 2022. For those who cannot make it to Santa Fe during the run of the exhibition, Monroe Gallery has produced a video sampler of many of the images on display. The presentation Threats to Photojournalism with photographers Nina Berman and David Butow took place in the gallery on Friday, July 22 but can be accessed on YouTube. Details on the presentation and the exhibit can be found at the Monroe Gallery website.

Link to article and photos here.



Friday, July 29, 2022

“I hope that the documentary can change the mentality of some people a little — make them understand that without journalists, there is no democracy,”

 


An early look at the new content is available, via Farrow’s interview with Jimenez in this 9-minute video clip


Via FORBES

July 28, 2022

CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez, at times, still looks a little stunned when recounting what happened to him in May of 2020 while covering a protest over the killing of George Floyd. All of a sudden, despite the press badge hanging prominently near his waist — to say nothing of the crew that was clearly filming him — Jimenez went from reporting a story to staring blankly at the still-rolling camera as police put him in handcuffs.

The cops in riot gear, standing in the background brandishing batons during Jimenez’ live shot, wanted the street cleared. And this reporter from CNN was another body standing in the way.

“As a reporter, it’s the last thing you’d expect would happen in the United States,” Jimenez says, by way of recounting his arrest during a conversation with investigative journalist Ronan Farrow. “I was in this professional mode of being a reporter at first … then trying to figure out, wait, what the hell is going on right now?”

That conversation is part of new footage HBO Max is releasing today in support of “Endangered,” an HBO Original documentary film that debuted in June about journalism in its current state of global crisis.

Directed by filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, with Farrow as executive producer, that documentary presents vignettes of reporters from around the world. From places as disparate as Mexico City, Miami, and Sao Paulo, where reporters like photojournalist SƔshenka GutiƩrrez grapple with recalcitrant public officials, death threats, an indifferent public, an uncertain business model, and other hazards to their livelihood and lives.

“I hope that the documentary can change the mentality of some people a little — make them understand that without journalists, there is no democracy,” GutiĆ©rrez told me. “(And) show them the different forms of violence that we face.”

In all, “The Endangered Tapes” includes six new pieces of content featuring Farrow interviewing journalists like Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post opinion writer arrested in Iran and held in the country’s notorious Evin prison for 544 days. As well as Selene San Felice, formerly of The Capital Gazette and a survivor of the newsroom shooting there.

"While we were producing ‘Endangered,’” Farrow told me, “I was guided by conversations with fellow journalists about their experiences and views on the state of the free press. I’m happy to share some of those behind-the-scenes exchanges with the world. These are bite-sized, informative glimpses into the lives of different kinds of journalists, facing different challenges. I learned a lot from them, and I’m so glad that the HBO Documentaries team — and the journalists I spoke with — are allowing others to see them too."

The documentary and supplemental content encourages viewers to not take for granted that the profession of bearing witness undertaken by reporters will always exist in its current form. That existential threats are ever-present. And that there is a man or a woman behind every byline, as well as a home and a family that the correspondent you see on TV will return to at the end of the day.

For journalists like Jimenez, there is also an everlasting tension between functioning as an objective reporter — and as someone with a life outside of that work, someone who’s not dispassionate about the people and things they encounter.

“A lot of times, being reporters, I think we fall into this pattern of — I have to be so objective that I am removed from the story,” Jimenez tells Farrow. “The story is over here, but I am back here.”

“This,” Jimenez continues, about his arrest, “was a situation where I couldn’t escape it.”


Related: Photojournalists Nina Berman and David Butow discuss threats to photojournalism.

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Thursday, July 28, 2022

Censorship Is a Missing Picture: Photojournalist Grant Baldwin discusses what we don't see

 Via  Charlotte Journalism Collaborate

Censorship Is a Missing Picture: Photojournalist Grant Baldwin discusses what we don't see

Justin Colasacco and his husband Bren Hipp kissing after Colasacco dropped to one knee and proposed in front of the crowd at the 2019 Charlotte Pride Festival & Parade.
Grant Baldwin: 2019 Charlotte, North Carolina Pride Parade, August 18, 2019


What is censorship? How do we recognize when it is happening, and how do we address it? Please join local photojournalist Grant Baldwin to discuss his photographs, their impact, and his experience with censorship.

The Gaston County Manager ordered the removal of a photograph on display as part of an exhibit titled Into the Darkroom at the Gaston County Museum of Art and History. According to the Charlotte Observer, "LGBTQ equality advocates are demanding officials in Gaston County reverse their decision to remove a photo showing two men recently engaged, kissing, from a museum exhibit. The photograph, taken by Charlotte freelance photojournalist Grant Baldwin, shows Justin Colasacco and his husband Bren Hipp kissing after Colasacco dropped to one knee and proposed in front of the crowd at the 2019 Charlotte Pride Festival & Parade. They married Oct. 4, 2020." According to the Gaston Gazette, the Gaston County Manager claimed that the photograph was political advocacy and wanted Mr. Baldwin to replace it with something else. The photojournalist chose instead to leave the display spot on the wall empty to demonstrate that something was missing.

Grant Baldwin is an award-winning freelance photojournalist based in Charlotte NC who focuses on visual story telling. His work has appeared in multiple local and national news outlets. He recently won the North Carolina Press Association's 2020 Best Multimedia Project for Black Lives Matter Coverage. 

Please join the Charlotte Journalism Collaborate to discuss what censorship means in our community.


Grant Baldwin's photograph is featured in the current exhibit "Imagine A World Without Photojournalism", on view through September 18. Monroe Gallery hosted Nina Berman and David Butow for a discussion on July 22: Threats to Photojournalism".

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Dallas Center for Photography Welcomes Back Renowned Photojournalist Ed Kashi with an Exhibition, Artist Talk & Book Signing

 

Dallas Center for Photography Welcomes Back Renowned Photojournalist Ed Kashi with an Exhibition, Artist Talk & Book Signing Celebrating Work from his Newly Released Monograph

Abandoned Moments Exhibition

DCP’s Community Gallery

Opening Reception: Thursday, August 4, 6-8pm

Exhibition on View: August 4 – August 27

For more information go here.


Artist Talk and Book Signing (DCP Speaker Series):

Friday, August 5, 7-9pm

For more information, go here.


For forty years, celebrated photojournalist Ed Kashi has delivered the world's stories through images that both imply, as well as directly show, humanistic challenges and joys. Abandoned Moments: A Love Letter to Photography (Kehrer Verlag) is a window into Kashi's unique voice and craft, and presents glimpses of ordinary life, as well as extraordinary events, struggles, and triumphs – the chaos of everyday life. 

The images selected for Kashi’s book and exhibition span the decades of his work and were taken around the world. Shot entirely from the hip, Kashi flips standard photography conventions by snapping these "abandoned moments" without looking through the viewfinder, seeking to capture moments shaped by serendipity and instinct, rather than objectivity and intellect. “They are free to be less controlled but for that very reason they may be more certain and more certainly true,” Kashi explains about the evolution of his style and methodology.


Ed Kashi's photographs are included in the current exhibition "Imagine A World Without Photojournalism" on view through September 18, 2022.