Photojournalism: Is a photographer determined by his equipment?

In a world of DSLR cameras and interchangeable lens, it is perfectly normal to run into a professional photographer whose camera bag contents can cost more than their house. Award-winning photographers are very elitist about the appropriate equipment to use, and are quick to discredit those who do not utilize top of line cameras. Which leads into the question: is a photojournalist defined by his equipment? 


Damon Winter is an award-winning photographer for the New York Times. He recently was awarded third place in the Feature Picture Story category of Pictures of the Year Internationally. Winter’s story covers follows Delta Company, a US Army Infantry Regiment, on a six-day mission in Nahr-i-Sufi, Afghanistan. He documented their travels using the Hipstamatic app on his iPhone. 

Renowned photographers who pride themselves on the quality of glass in the camera bag are outraged that Winter was awarded such a prestigious award with photos taken on a cell phone. The photographs won because they provided an inside view to a US soldier’s life defending his county in Afghanistan. Does the apparatus with which the story was captured affect the story itself?

I agree that iPhone photography is not the most professional way to go about telling a story. However, for this particular story-- a behind the scenes approach-- the iPhone seems like an appropriate choice. The familiarity of cell phone photography allowed the soldiers to be more comfortable and continue their typical activities. If these photographs had been taken by a professional man with a huge camera, the same intimate approach would not have been achieved.

Photojournalism is the act of telling a story through photographs; not the profession of uppity photographers who care more about the aperture of a photo than the story behind it.

Secret Brutality: Should we broadcast it?

World Press Photo is an international, independent organization which seeks to encourage professional photojournalism and to promote the unrestricted exchange of information. Each year, World Press Photo selects one photograph to become the Photo of the Year. The photograph of the year for 2010 was selected by the World Press Jury last week, and they selected this photograph of Bibi Aisha was taken by Jodi Bieber for a Time magazine article about Taliban cruelty toward Afghan women.

[Jodi Bieber, South Africa, Institute for Artist Management/Goodman Gallery for Time magazine]

The image graced the cover of a August 2010 Time magazine. After the magazine was printed, thousands of Time readers opposed the publishing of the photograph, calling it too brutal of an image to broadcast nationwide. Many believe that after the Taliban overthrow early last year, such crimes ceased to occur. Sadly it takes a picture of a beautiful woman with a gaping hole in the middle of her face plastered across a magazine cover to raise awareness about the continued Taliban brutality toward women. 

The editor of Time admitted that the photograph was “powerful, shocking and disturbing,” but he also recognized the need to increase awareness of these secretive crimes. 

The only thing more powerful than the image itself is the story behind it. Aisha, age 18, was mutilated by her husband. After Aisha ran away from the slave-like environment of her husband’s home, the Taliban demanded that she be punished so other girls in the village would not think it was appropriate to run away from their husbands. In the middle of the night, Taliban officials banged on the door of her home and dragged her up to a mountain, where her husband pulled out a knife and sliced off her ears and nose. 

Although the men left Aisha for dead on the side of a mountain, she was found by the aid organization Women for Afghan Women, where she was given treatment and psychological help. She was eventually taken to America for counseling and reconstructive surgery.

In my opinion, if broadcasting images of the injuries that the Taliban have caused will raise awareness, then it is our duty to abused Afghan women to expose these secretive crimes and, hopefully, end such atrocities.

Kepler: A World Beyond

[mywonderfulworld.org]

Americans are continuously ridiculed in the media for our inability to recognize the world around us. We become so enthralled in our American dream that we fail to remember our surrounding countries and the problems that these countries are experiencing. As we order our grande Starbucks drinks, we forget to remember the Ugandans who are without clean drinking water. What would we do with the knowledge of life on other planets or in other galaxies?

[NASA]

NASA recently launched the Kepler Space Telescope into orbit. Although the $600 million telescope has been in orbit for four months, the Kepler has already located 1,235 potential planets. Of these planets, 54 planets are orbiting within what is known as a habitable or “Goldilocks” zone; meaning that they are located the correct distance away from the sun to have liquid water and support advanced life forms. Additional images and statistics from the Kepler in the coming months will allow scientists to determine approximately how many of these newfound planets are, indeed, planets and how many are simply large stars or other galactic imperfections.

[NASA via AP]

Due to the planets’ distance from Earth, we cannot send astronauts to research. Scientists expect to receive enough information to determine the existence of life on these distant planets as the telescope continues reporting back during its three-and-a-half year project. It will be several months before any confirmations of advanced intergalactic life can be made.

While the data from NASA is relatively indisputable, we have to consider what would happen with the knowledge of alternate life forms living lightyears away from our comfortable little slice of suburbia. We choose to ignore those living across an ocean from us and barely respond to those asking us to be globally aware. What will happen if-- or when-- we have to universally aware as well?

[NASA]

These images of a huge galaxy beyond our own causes one to wonder what life is like on these foreign planets. As technology increases, these planets will become increasingly accessible to us. Will churches send out missionaries to spread religion to these newfound planets? Perhaps trips abroad will change from international to interplanetary. Or will these new planets fade off into the back of our minds or will our entire mindset change?

Egypt: A War Zone

         Coverage of the crisis in Egypt has been plastered over newspapers, blogs and television headlines for days, but do we truly understand the intensity of the situation? When we hear that the government shut off internet across Egypt, we immediately think “Man, now they can’t even get on Facebook?” without even realizing that the protesting Egyptians have been left without even the simplest of freedoms-- access to the Internet.

It wasn’t until I came across these photos from the New York Times and saw the desperate state that the country has fallen into within the past few days that I realized the gravity of the situation.

 [photo credit: Ed Ou for the New York Times]

         As angry protestors throw bricks down into the trash-covered streets of Tahir Square in Cairo, Egypt, one can't help but to think of the poor mothers huddled in the corner of their home utterly terrified to leave their own homes in fear that their children could be the next victim of the protestor's violence.

 [photo credit: Ed Ou for the New York Times]

         Throwing rocks out onto the into the ironically named Liberation Square, the men use violence to try and solve their government's problems. Internationally, only slight helps have been suggested. In his state of the union address, Barack Obama suggested that "peaceful demonstrations" replace the violent outbursts instead of actually providing help for the struggling country.

 [photo credit: Ed Ou for the New York Times]

         An injured protestor took refuge in a house nearby the protest sight, head wounds similar to this man's are common among the protestors. While this man is injured enough to prevent him from participating in protests, he is lucky to be alive. As of February 1, 2011, a total of 158 deaths have been reported.

         These photographs make the Egyptian headlines come alive by showing the utter depravity within in the country. A UK reporter even called the situation "a war zone."  Today they are throwing rocks; tomorrow they are overthrowing the government.