September 26, 2013 Watch Out for Lasers Since many of my students shoot concerts, I now need to have a discussion about laser beams. Which is both cool and terrifying … Categories Photojournalism/Tech Talk
September 25, 2013 First Amendment Trampled in California I was not surprised at the legislature, I am a little surprised at the governor, but now the courts will have to decide if a new “children’s privacy” law is constitutional in California. My bet? It’s not and will be struck down on its first challenge. Celebrity is a choice – if you don’t like the consequences of it, don’t... Categories Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism
September 25, 2013 Smile … or Not Robinson Meyer has an interesting piece over at The Atlantic about why no one is smiling in old photos. Many of us had thought it was because of the length of time those photos took to make, smiling required more effort than not. Turns out, they scoured and frowned to look more important. Who knew? (Thanks to Michael Johnston at... Categories Advice & Learning/Photojournalism
September 24, 2013 McGill Symposium on Journalistic Courage For those near Athens, on Wednesday, October 9, we will be having our annual McGill Symposium on Journalistic Courage here at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. This is a series of four discussions, the opening one being with the Boston Globe’s John Tlumacki who was at the finish line of this year’s Boston Marathon.... Categories Journalism/Photojournalism
September 24, 2013 The Value of IDs My good friend Billy Weeks was interviewed by WUTC radio about a nearly 60 year old photo of a Chattanooga, Tennessee, couple. Why the interest? It was shot by Robert Frank for his The Americans project – but no one knows who they are. Frank never collected caption information and this couple, shot in the mid 1950s in the south,... Categories Good Work/Journalism/Photojournalism
September 23, 2013 Not in a Million Years … … do I think I could do what The New York Times’ David Frank did to get this story on a window washer. And that’s why he’s at the Times … Categories Craft/Photojournalism/Tech Talk
September 20, 2013 Why Model Releases Matter The New York State Division of Human Rights, photographer Jena Cumbo and Getty Images have a pretty big problem on their hands. Cumbo shot a photo of 25-year-old Avril Nolan for a fashion shoot a while back, then sent the file to Getty to be put in their stock catalog from which the Division of Human a Rights licensed it.... Categories Photojournalism
September 19, 2013 When Pretty Drives Aren’t That Pretty Over on Jim Romenesko’s site, there’s an entertaining discussion of photo ethics going on regarding a cover of Down East magazine. So, if we allow (and this is a BIG allowance) that covers of lifestyle magazines shouldn’t be held to the same ethical standards as news coverage, when your cover story is titled “Maine’s Prettiest Drives,” shouldn’t your image show... Categories Craft/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism
September 18, 2013 The Killing of a Photo On Monday, the Associated Press picked up and transmitted a photo that was allegedly of victims of the Washington Navy Yard shootings. Shortly thereafter, unable to confirm that the images were related, they sent a kill order advising members and subscribers to not use the images. Late on Tuesday, the Poynter Institute’s Andrew Beaujon updated the story saying it appeared... Categories Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism
September 18, 2013 John Stewart on the Washington Shooting Coverage The Daily Show’s John Stewart on the coverage of Monday’s shootings in Washington, D.C.: So my final, not initial, conclusion is: This is deliberate. The chaos, the vomit onto the screen, the very thing we thought news organizations were created to clarify, is a feature not a bug. This is worth part of your day. Unfortunately, the need to fill... Categories Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal/Journalism