Thoughts & Theory – Page 16 – Visual Journalism

August 31, 2014

Explaining the Coverage

The New York Times Magazine has a stunning photo essay shot in Gaza and Israel earlier this month by two Magnum photojournalists, Paolo Pelligrin and Peter van Agtmael, respectively. Any coverage that comes out of this region tends to inspire as much debate about the balance (or lack thereof) in the coverage as to the story itself. It’s the most...

Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal/Good Work/Journalism/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

August 29, 2014

Flipping Busy Week …

So, I have this friend. She’s brilliant and charming and funny and I would follow here anywhere. But I have to stop talking around her – every time someone says something interesting around Katy Culver, she asks them to Tweet about it. Or write about it. Or show up on a podcast. This week’s rundown: I did a Twitter chat...

Advice & Learning/Journalism/Photojournalism/Tech Talk/Thoughts & Theory

August 20, 2014

Killing Journalists Should Be a Crime of War

In a terse statement, appropriate in both its tone and style, the president and CEO of the Associated Press, Gary Pruitt, says: … we believe the assassination of a journalist in wartime should be considered an international crime of war. I would add that the killing of any journalist, at any time, should be considered, if not a war crime,...

Journalism/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

August 19, 2014

Is Humans Dehumanizing New York?

A significant number of my students love Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York project. And I’ll admit I dip into it from time to time, as well. But something about it never felt quite right. Daniel D’Addario has a piece up at Gawker that gets to the issue, I think – it’s the lack of depth, a skimming of the...

Business & Industry/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

August 15, 2014

The Imagery of Ferguson

A good thought piece by Randy Kennedy and Jennifer Schuessler at the New York Times about the similarities and dissimilarities of the images coming out of Ferguson, Missouri, and how they mimic those from the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago. The closing paragraph quoting University of California Santa Crus Professor Martin A. Gerger should give us all pause: “We...

Business & Industry/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

August 13, 2014

On Them, Us and We (Briefly)

Slate has posted a short video from a panel discussing the late photojournalist, Chris Hondros. It’s a little under six minutes and in now way is enough about him or his work, but this one quote from Hondros stuck out: We place these layers of culture and ethnicity on ourselves and it really doesn’t mean that much compared to the...

Advice & Learning/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

August 12, 2014

Disconnect From Time to Time … Please

I will admit I wrestle with this, too – my pocket computer/phone is a constant companion and leaving it alone is tough. But I want to get away from it, to connect with those around me not those connected to me. This comment from a New York Times piece by Nick Bilton indicates how bad it has gotten: For photographers,...

Advice & Learning/Business & Industry/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

August 12, 2014

Am I Making Things Better?

It’s a question I often ask and it’s one architect Bob Borson asks himself, too. As a parent, journalist and educator, I wrestle with that question quite a bit. What’s the point if I am not making things better? Mr. Borson goes deeper, delving into what integrity means: I have wondered if personal integrity has to do with predisposition –...

Craft/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

August 9, 2014

Those Left Behind

A touching column by Daniela Deane at the WashingtonPost about the killing of her husband, Mick Deane, last year in Cairo. We have to remember, then, that behind every number, on the back of every death, is a devastating loss for those left behind. And a very personal experience of grief. It would be easy to think of this as...

Advice & Learning/Business & Industry/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

August 8, 2014

The Gulf War Photo No One Saw

In 1991, Kenneth Jarecke made a startling image – an image almost no one has seen. I remember this image and still have the one magazine it was published in – American Photo. To hear the rest of the backstory now is pretty amazing and is a good example of how much has changed.

Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

Category: Thoughts & Theory