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mediapunk

Listed below are comments made by mediapunk between Wednesday, 1st July 2009 and Wednesday, 12th August 2009.

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I'm a photographer... 11:54am on 12 Aug 2009 I agree with kodachromick7 and others about mobile phones. Train stations and other big tourist (and terrorist) attractions are full of people with cameraphones, all happily snapping away. But what happens as soon as a professional photographer comes along?

One trick I use, when confronted by a bunch of uniforms looking for entertainment is to show them a few postcards I bought of the location we are in. They usually show all the famous places like, for instance, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament etc. All free to buy on a stand, right opposite the building. I have had people try to confiscate them too.

My whole career has been one long story after another of bored uniforms (cops, wannabee cops and other frustrated types) upping their arrest rate at my expense. I could write a series of books with all the stories.

I know my rights as a journalist and there have been times when I quoted, verbatim, whole sentences of the various laws, to the cops, who then shouted me down, or later to discover I was totally correct, but gave no apology for their aggressive behaviour.

I would say that nothing changes.
It does. It gets worse.
Swapping sides 10:03pm on 22 Jul 2009 Zoe McConnell, a page 3 girl, does some good work.
The whole story 10:01pm on 22 Jul 2009 This tired old story pops up every summer when papers have pages to fill. What's next? The controversy over the photos taken during the bombing of Beirut during 2006 and after that it will be time to resurrect the Diana car crash photos.

I spent a lot of time with people who had worked with Capa and they said it wasn't his style to fake a photo because he was seeing enough action as it was without having to set up a shot.
Getting inside the scene 11:08pm on 01 Jul 2009 Last I heard, Eve Arnold was in an old people's home in Pimlico in London. She was described at the time, in I think 2005/6, as being physically frail, but still with a razor sharp mind. I loved listening to her anecdotes about Marilyn, Henri and the Magnum guys. A wonderful lady. Does anyone know how she is doing now?
Faces of revolution 10:23pm on 01 Jul 2009 There was a case a few years ago, where if I remember correctly, The Economist had a cover image of a young student protester at a student rally in Tehran. It was a powerful and symbolic image (aint they the best kind?), but then I remember The Economist changing editorial direction after the same student was picked up by security forces.

I don't recall what happened to him. Maybe someone should ask The Economist team, but I do recall that there was a conscious effort to reduce the risk to individuals in photographs used by and in The Economist. Commendable stuff in what is always a difficult situation.

It means that both photographers and editors have to think hard about the impact of the faces of revolution. Symbolism and its consequences, right?
Humanity in war 10:09pm on 01 Jul 2009 It reminds me of Gilles Peress' comment about why he is a photographer:

I don't care so much anymore about 'good photography', I am gathering evidence for history. - Gilles Peress - Collector's edition of Life, the Eisie Issue, spring 1998, page 100

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