Wednesday, September 5, 2007
"First Place"
As I looked through the POYI website, I was really drawn to the newspaper photographer of the year winner, Barbara Davidson. In each of her photos, she caught the emotion in the moment. I really liked her picture of Agatha Anene, a girl who attended Queen of Rosary secondary school located in a small village of Eziowlle, Nigeria. What intrigued me about this picture is the angle that Davidson took Anene’s picture. Another reason why I am drawn to this picture is the wall. Teachers and employers have always told me to never shoot someone right next to the wall and that there should be some distance between them. The reasoning behind that is because if you shoot someone away from a wall, it reduces that person’s shadow. When I look at this picture, I cannot tell if Anene is standing right next to the wall or not. If she is right next to the wall, I would like to know what kind of lighting she used or how many lights she used and if any filters were used while shooting this outside. Moving away from the technical side of this picture and more towards the journalistic side, you can see lots of emotion in Anene’s face. She looks tired and this could be because “Pupils have to trek long distances to class in rubber sandals or bare feet,” as said in the caption.
POY: Medell Stories From An Urban War
By Mu Li
Conflict and appeasement, decadence and vulnerability, wealth and poverty, religion and drug, life and death. These are the words that characterize POY magazine multiple page news story, "Medell Stories From An Urban War".
I was awestruck by the cover photo of this National Geography photo story when I first look at it, and knew I was at the front door of a great story. There are photos that really shows what you would normally would not see, and stories that people would recall right at hand, but this is a photo story that contains the most absorbing drama and penetrating social documentary, one that people do not normally see within hundreds of thousands of stories. This is a story about people, and their situation in a relatively small country in South America. And you will know much more about their lives even though you are thousands of miles away.
On the cover is a tell-tale photo of a child bride gazing into the camera with scornful desperation in her eyes. She holds two rotten bananas in one hand and the painted face of a smaller child in the other, against the background of a filthy street of fruit sellers and garbage cans. It is as if she has picked up a meal for she and her murky brother. The photo left readers something to think about: Why should children become plagued with hunger and desperation?
The second photo seems to be the answer to this question. The photographer captures portrays of a hive of gangs upfront and upward. The half-naked guys peers down to you as if they are ready to hit you in the face, and make you wonder how much damage has they brought to the city. Then an array of scene-setter and detail shot put you directly in the heart of Medell. Multiple layers of the city life -- partying young people, a mother who has been shot, the rich, the rebels. Then the wrap-up photo of a small girl fixing aside at the side of wires, looking stranded.
While the entire story is left to be narrated by the text, the photos tells you much more about what it is like to be in a drug-plagued city and the desperate struggle of people to survive. The most notable part of this photo story is how the photographer has manipulated visual elements--people, items, setting--to tell a complicated story. What he/she did was to break up the story in identical scenes, and put readers directly at the center of the story by giving them the real-life view. This is something that is worth learning.
Conflict and appeasement, decadence and vulnerability, wealth and poverty, religion and drug, life and death. These are the words that characterize POY magazine multiple page news story, "Medell Stories From An Urban War".
I was awestruck by the cover photo of this National Geography photo story when I first look at it, and knew I was at the front door of a great story. There are photos that really shows what you would normally would not see, and stories that people would recall right at hand, but this is a photo story that contains the most absorbing drama and penetrating social documentary, one that people do not normally see within hundreds of thousands of stories. This is a story about people, and their situation in a relatively small country in South America. And you will know much more about their lives even though you are thousands of miles away.
On the cover is a tell-tale photo of a child bride gazing into the camera with scornful desperation in her eyes. She holds two rotten bananas in one hand and the painted face of a smaller child in the other, against the background of a filthy street of fruit sellers and garbage cans. It is as if she has picked up a meal for she and her murky brother. The photo left readers something to think about: Why should children become plagued with hunger and desperation?
The second photo seems to be the answer to this question. The photographer captures portrays of a hive of gangs upfront and upward. The half-naked guys peers down to you as if they are ready to hit you in the face, and make you wonder how much damage has they brought to the city. Then an array of scene-setter and detail shot put you directly in the heart of Medell. Multiple layers of the city life -- partying young people, a mother who has been shot, the rich, the rebels. Then the wrap-up photo of a small girl fixing aside at the side of wires, looking stranded.
While the entire story is left to be narrated by the text, the photos tells you much more about what it is like to be in a drug-plagued city and the desperate struggle of people to survive. The most notable part of this photo story is how the photographer has manipulated visual elements--people, items, setting--to tell a complicated story. What he/she did was to break up the story in identical scenes, and put readers directly at the center of the story by giving them the real-life view. This is something that is worth learning.
"Final Salute"
It’s no surprise “Final Salute” won first place. The topic speaks to people’s emotions during our current situation with the troops in Iraq. The photos and captions alone gave me goose bumps, although some of them were hard to follow.
I thought the photos with the shadows were a little confusing. Others like the casket in the plane seemed grainy, but that could have been my computer. Regardless, they showed the effects of the war in a more compelling way than other stories can. With such a sensitive topic, I imagine few readers will be harsh critics of the photos.
I thought the photos with the shadows were a little confusing. Others like the casket in the plane seemed grainy, but that could have been my computer. Regardless, they showed the effects of the war in a more compelling way than other stories can. With such a sensitive topic, I imagine few readers will be harsh critics of the photos.
POY: Spot News
I looked through dozens of pictures on the POY website, and while all of them were emotional, informative, and beautiful, none left as big of an impression on me as the pictures for spot news. One of them, "Orphaned in an Instant," won the catergory for its portrayal of an orphaned Iraqi girl seconds after her parents had been shot by US soldiers. Looking at the picture as a viewer, I was automatically transported to the viewpoint of the girl: the blood on her body, the anguish on her face, the larger than life soldier standing next to her. The photographer perfectly captured the horror of the moment.
From a journalistic perspective, I appreciate the photo even more. It must have taken a lot of guts to be able to take that picture when the situation was so horrible and sad. But it told a story that needed to be told in a way that makes it very real for the reader. The use of light and dark perfectly sets a tone of grief and drama. I think sometimes we are concerned as photojournalists that we are invading people's personal space. Sometimes that might be true, but there are also times when uncomfortable emotions and situations must be captured and shared.
From a journalistic perspective, I appreciate the photo even more. It must have taken a lot of guts to be able to take that picture when the situation was so horrible and sad. But it told a story that needed to be told in a way that makes it very real for the reader. The use of light and dark perfectly sets a tone of grief and drama. I think sometimes we are concerned as photojournalists that we are invading people's personal space. Sometimes that might be true, but there are also times when uncomfortable emotions and situations must be captured and shared.
I was sure to look at all of the winners--everything in the collection is remarkable, especially to a budding photographer. The one that stood out to me--for the photography as much as the power of the story--was the "Final Salute" from the Rocky Mountain News, a multimedia story about the marines who deliver the news of a relative's death in combat. The story is, for lack of a better word, heartbreaking. And the photographs contribute greatly to the affect the story has on its readers. After reading the copy, listening to the audio, and looking at these photographs, I couldn't think of a more trying job to have.
They are pictures of the families of fallen soldiers, a segment of the population for whom this war is especially difficult. Further, they are pictures, among others, at the moment these people are told that their husband/father/son has died. Compelling material, made even more so by exceptional photography.
Many of the pictures capture the pain in the faces of both family and other marines. One that especially stands out to me is a detail photo of a white gloved marine holding the hands of a civilian. I love it for its simplicity and power. I imagine it was not a difficult image to capture, but it says everything about the situation. Another is a photo of a marine's casket being unloaded from what looks like a commercial airliner, complete with passengers in the window. I think the photo does a good job of contrasting the banality of the flight with the event of a wife waiting for her dead husband as the plane arrives. There are more pictures that floored me, but I could go on for pages and pages.
They are pictures of the families of fallen soldiers, a segment of the population for whom this war is especially difficult. Further, they are pictures, among others, at the moment these people are told that their husband/father/son has died. Compelling material, made even more so by exceptional photography.
Many of the pictures capture the pain in the faces of both family and other marines. One that especially stands out to me is a detail photo of a white gloved marine holding the hands of a civilian. I love it for its simplicity and power. I imagine it was not a difficult image to capture, but it says everything about the situation. Another is a photo of a marine's casket being unloaded from what looks like a commercial airliner, complete with passengers in the window. I think the photo does a good job of contrasting the banality of the flight with the event of a wife waiting for her dead husband as the plane arrives. There are more pictures that floored me, but I could go on for pages and pages.
Picture Perfect
I chose to focus on the Magazine photographer of the year, Tamas Dezso.
I found his “Romania – On Europe’s Eastern Edge” absolutely stunning. I thought the contrasting colours and the tone in these pictures was really effective and a lot of the pictures actually looked drawn or painted.
The couple standing in front of their home in Nanov village was my favourite of the lot. It gives you mixed emotions, obviously their house is destroyed, which is very sad, but the shape of the house (looks almost like a face) and the use of colour (blues, reds and greens) give it a hint of humour.
The other photograph that struck me was the 10th picture within that same series on Romania of they boy on his motorbike. The composition of this shot is very nice, it has layers and depth and lines traveling everywhere. The line of the horizon, crosses over the vertical lines on the road, at the same time you have fences and trees and mountains and it is extremely effectual.
These are just two photos in Dezso’s series, all of which say something different about the people and places that he captures. I think that they are definitely worthy of this award.
I found his “Romania – On Europe’s Eastern Edge” absolutely stunning. I thought the contrasting colours and the tone in these pictures was really effective and a lot of the pictures actually looked drawn or painted.
The couple standing in front of their home in Nanov village was my favourite of the lot. It gives you mixed emotions, obviously their house is destroyed, which is very sad, but the shape of the house (looks almost like a face) and the use of colour (blues, reds and greens) give it a hint of humour.
The other photograph that struck me was the 10th picture within that same series on Romania of they boy on his motorbike. The composition of this shot is very nice, it has layers and depth and lines traveling everywhere. The line of the horizon, crosses over the vertical lines on the road, at the same time you have fences and trees and mountains and it is extremely effectual.
These are just two photos in Dezso’s series, all of which say something different about the people and places that he captures. I think that they are definitely worthy of this award.
A true sobriety check...
For the Missourian this week I went to a sobriety checkpoint to shoot video for the Missourian website. This was my first experience shooting at night. After looking at the finished video, as well as receiving an e-mail from Karen, I saw that there was a tilt in a couple of the shots within the video. I have to be honest, I did notice something of a tilt while I was shooting, though I thought it was the view finder which was not straight, I felt my eyes were playing tricks on me. I don’t know why there was a tilt and this is something I need to learn how to correct. I did think that some of my video was shot well. I was able to get detail shots, and close ups of what happened. I learned that it is an ongoing process to continue to search for bits and pieces of the whole picture. The smallest detail can lead to a big sequence of events, like the guy I shot at the end, I saw he was struggling to pass the line test and the eye test so I continued to shoot and ultimately he got arrested and cuffed right in front of the camera. My frazzee died before the night was half over, so in the future I will use it more sparingly. The experience as a whole was great.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)