Photographing Protests

[Cryptoprocta]

1 hour ago, meanderingemu said:

 

thank you.  will probably have to use this with my own thoughts as i am hitting a wall currently

Our First Minister suggested donating to an anti-racism charity as a possible alternative to attending a protest.

[Harry Harrison]

Recording of a Webinar on the Photoshelter blog here entitled "Safety for Photojournalists Attending Protests", or there's an edited transcript.

 

 

[Chuck Nacke]

On 02/06/2020 at 23:44, Marianne said:

It's really hard shooting stock in any kind of political arena since you don't know how your photos will be used. It made me crazy that about half the photographs I took of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election ended up in right-wing media articles critical of her, but that is the risk you take. One even used a bogus quote about her and the way they used my byline it was easy to think it was something I said if you didn't read it carefully. That last bit really shook me, but it didn't stop me from taking photos,. However, she is a public figure and, more important to this discussion, the photographs themselves did not harm her.

 

But what happens if your photograph of a peaceful protestor is captioned in a way that makes it look as though they are a looter? Do they lose their job? Get arrested? If you are shooting for a reputable media outlet, and you take photos documenting what went on, including photographs of those who are looting, and you caption your images with the facts, you can trust that your client/employer will rely on those facts and properly caption the image. But you cannot always trust the buyer of a stock image to do so. That's what makes it so hard in this instance, at this particular moment in history - and it makes me both sad and angry that we have to worry about documenting the truth. If you are a photojournalist shooting stock, the integrity of your image can be turned on its head. That doesn't mean we don't have the right - or even the obligation - to document what is going on, but being mindful of how our images can be used when our country is literally burning, may understandably make us take a step back and decide not to take those photographs, or to take photos as part of the historical record, but not to release them now when things are so fraught. 

 

Photographs don't always tell the truth. They are open to interpretation. That doesn't mean we shouldn't take them - and I applaud those photojournalists out there - on assignment or shooting stock - who are taking a risk right now, with both protestors and the police turning on the media - but I also understand stock photographers here in the US, whether or not they have a photojournalism background - who worry about how their images may be used - and who chose not to document these protests. As stock photographers we are not assured that any of the images we take will even be published, nor can we control who publishes them and how.

 

The "media" has changed - there was always "yellow journalism" but today the "media" is so amorphous, so all consuming, and so out of control, and our country stands at the brink - it's incredibly scary right now - and we are rudderless. Those of you who don't live in the US, I believe, can't know the depth of the horror those of us who support the Black Lives Matter movement and the peaceful protestors feel as we see this essential movement turn into chaos, as we watch our country literally burning, and fear the instability of those in control, the threats that our own military will be turned on our citizens. You probably don't know the pain of having a child who can't see a future for herself in the country of her birth if things don't change. I wouldn't want to take a photograph right now that would ruin someone else's daughter's life because some unscrupulous editor captioned it wrong. I had a long talk with a friend today who is so frightened because her 22-year-old African American daughter is out protesting in California, she's proud of her but fearful for her safety, and reading this discussion I couldn't help thinking of how a photo of her peacefully protesting could effect her life.

 

I don't recognize the world I'm living in.

 

Our dystopian present started a while ago. I envy you Canadians, Brits, Dutch, Aussies, and all the rest. I can empathize with my African American relatives and friends but I don't really know what it's like to be them. And, lucky for you, you don't really know what it's like to be us right now, but we appreciate your empathy. We have all of us on this fragile planet gone through something so frightening and it should have brought us closer, yet here in the US it is causing an even greater divide. 

 

Let me make myself VERY CLEAR:  Any "Real Photographer" making images documenting an event is recording what happened in a fraction of a second. Photos are not enough to convey an entire event or story.  That is why it is called "Photojournalism"  words also matter and it is up to photographers, agencies or libraries and publications and now web sites to bring information to people.  

 

In the good old days of "Real Photo Agencies" they had a contract that VERY SPECIFICALLY stated that images could not be published "Out of context" or used to misrepresent the actual event or person appearing in an image.  I even worked for one news photo agency that would not license images to political campaigns.  

 

A big part of the problem is that journalism and photojournalism are professions that require training and there are now too many people out playing at journalism and photojournalism.  I also believe that Television is killing journalism and photojournalism.  Unlike Television, photojournalism is not entertainment and does not come with commercial breaks. I have to add that print journalism and photojournalism has made its share of mistakes and has created many misrepresentations over the years.  

 

I read something disturbing today on a professional photography web site about showing the faces of Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters in images.  In my opinion, if you want your voice heard, show your face.

 

Let me add: After a discussion with several professionals I feel the need to add that while I personally support BLM and in my over 30 years of working in magazine photojournalism I have never once allowed my information or images to be used against a private person exercising their rights as a human.  A professional photojournalist knows how to protect and if needed to stand with the people that they portray.

 

I also feel sorry for the young girl who created the video of George Floyd's death.  She deserves a medal and the United States and worlds gratitude.

 

In closing:  Think about the power of an image, specially when the "world is burning" 

 

Chuck

Edited June 12, 2020 by Chuck Nacke
addition

[sooth]

Not surprisingly, Faux News have been photoshopping and stitching images together of the protests in Seattle and presenting them as truth. Also showing a burning building in Minneapolis and saying it's Seattle. This is the right wing news outlet that a frighteningly high number of Americans rely on for their daily news.

 

 

Photojournalism ethics experts agreed.

“I think it’s disgraceful propaganda and terribly misrepresentative of documentary journalism in times like this, when truth-telling and accountability is so important,”

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/fox-news-runs-digitally-altered-images-in-coverage-of-seattles-protests-capitol-hill-autonomous-zone

 

Edited June 13, 2020 by sooth

[meanderingemu]

1 hour ago, sooth said:

Not surprisingly, Faux News have been photoshopping and stitching images together of the protests in Seattle and presenting them as truth. Also showing a burning building in Minneapolis and saying it's Seattle. This is the right wing news outlet that a frighteningly high number of Americans rely on for their daily news.

 

 

Photojournalism ethics experts agreed.

“I think it’s disgraceful propaganda and terribly misrepresentative of documentary journalism in times like this, when truth-telling and accountability is so important,”

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/fox-news-runs-digitally-altered-images-in-coverage-of-seattles-protests-capitol-hill-autonomous-zone

 

 

 

for once hopefully they didn't give any credits to the original photographer.   

[spacecadet]

31 minutes ago, meanderingemu said:

 

 

for once hopefully they didn't give any credits to the original photographer.   

At least in the EU they could sue on the manipulation for copyright infringement as a breach of moral rights.

[Chuck Nacke]

3 hours ago, sooth said:

Not surprisingly, Faux News have been photoshopping and stitching images together of the protests in Seattle and presenting them as truth. Also showing a burning building in Minneapolis and saying it's Seattle. This is the right wing news outlet that a frighteningly high number of Americans rely on for their daily news.

 

 

Photojournalism ethics experts agreed.

“I think it’s disgraceful propaganda and terribly misrepresentative of documentary journalism in times like this, when truth-telling and accountability is so important,”

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/fox-news-runs-digitally-altered-images-in-coverage-of-seattles-protests-capitol-hill-autonomous-zone

 

I have always "Intensely disliked" FOX, but the Seattle Times article shows them out of control.

G should also be speaking out about the misuse of images that they distribute.

 

This is BAD, VERY BAD and FOX has endangered all working photojournalists.

 

Chuck

[MizBrown]

5 hours ago, sooth said:

Not surprisingly, Faux News have been photoshopping and stitching images together of the protests in Seattle and presenting them as truth. Also showing a burning building in Minneapolis and saying it's Seattle. This is the right wing news outlet that a frighteningly high number of Americans rely on for their daily news.

 

 

Photojournalism ethics experts agreed.

“I think it’s disgraceful propaganda and terribly misrepresentative of documentary journalism in times like this, when truth-telling and accountability is so important,”

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/fox-news-runs-digitally-altered-images-in-coverage-of-seattles-protests-capitol-hill-autonomous-zone

 

 

I haven't contacted friends in Seattle to find out what they've seen, but one FB poster did go and photographed very peaceful scenes in the area that's been declared cop-free. 

 

When I photographed in 2018, I didn't get height of action shots, which is probably why none of them placed as news, but I did see that things were not as black and white as the narrative given in the US.  A couple of Wikipedia editors had to change propaganda the the Nicaraguan military had shot at protestors.  They announced in La Prensa that they weren't, and observations by various people showed that the younger troops were being kept in the barracks.  The photos of soldiers with guns in the street were taken at the airport, which they were protecting after opposition fighters tried to seize it (a friend was in a pro-opposition taxi leaving the airport and knew more Spanish than the taxi driver said).  The opposition circulated a composite of a tank on a street in Leon, but time stamps showed that other photos of that street didn't show a tank at that time.  The pro-Ortega government also did similar things.  350 dead, 24 or 25 of whom were cops, and no side significantly better than the other.  

 

Now, in this pandemic mess, the country has a shitty impossible balancing act between keeping people as protected as possible while understanding that a large portion of the population works day to day (I've frequently gotten my thyroid meds where two to five pills were cut off the cards in the box because someone needed thyroid meds but didn't have the money for a whole card or box) and can't shelter in place.   The opposition is claiming death rates several multiples higher than the official government figures.  Most of us suspect it's higher, but not five to ten times higher.  Photos from other countries have been circulated as being events in Nicaragua.

 

One of my friends cynically joked that we'll know a vaccine has been imported when the opposition starts claiming that getting vaccinated causes fetal deformities, hallucinations, seeing the dead, and atrophy of fingers and toes and limbs.

 

It's hard to find someone brilliant enough and connected enough, and trusted enough, to put together a more accurate account of what's happening here now and what's happened in 2018 (and now is an extension by other means of that).

 

 

[meanderingemu]

Just saw some of the images from London protest today, including attacks on photo/video reporters.... hope everyone is fine

[Avpics]

1 hour ago, Chuck Nacke said:

This is BAD, VERY BAD and FOX has endangered all working photojournalists.

 

Chuck

I chose not to go to London today for my own safety, and hear that there have been injuries to the media. Frightening times

[John Mitchell]

43 minutes ago, Avpics said:

I chose not to go to London today for my own safety, and hear that there have been injuries to the media. Frightening times

 

Don't blame you. As the  economic and psychological effects of the pandemic worsen, people are going to increasingly use protests as an excuse to take out their frustrations, not only on the police but on news reporters as well. Propaganda outfits like FOX are just fueling the flames. Scary times indeed. 

Edited June 13, 2020 by John Mitchell

[meanderingemu]

28 minutes ago, Avpics said:

I chose not to go to London today for my own safety, and hear that there have been injuries to the media. Frightening times

glad you are safe.  

[meanderingemu]

image in live news feed of member of press covered in blood

 

https://www.alamy.com/image-details-popup.asp?pv=1&stamp=2&liveData=1&imageid=EB7D6E36-024F-4A08-BCC3-D05A04629887&p=undefined&n=undefined&imageType=0&orientation=0&pn=1&searchtype=0&srch=foo%3dbar%26qt%3dcorbishley%26aoa%3d1%26news%3d%26sports%3d%26entmt%3d%26Videos%3d%26bb%3d4%26md%3d%26dt%3d%26gid%3d%26destxml%3d%26imglst%3d%26orderby%3dDT%26newsseq%3d%26userid%3d{8083FECD-3680-4216-B1FC-2E5B1033261B}%26rand%3d1592068184670

Edited June 13, 2020 by meanderingemu

[Chuck Nacke]

On 11/06/2020 at 17:14, Chuck Nacke said:

A big part of the problem is that journalism and photojournalism are professions that require training and there are now too many people out playing at journalism and photojournalism.  I also believe that Television is part of the killing of journalism and photojournalism.  Unlike Television, photojournalism is not entertainment and does not come with commercial breaks. I have to add that print journalism and photojournalism has made its share of mistakes and has created many misrepresentations over the years.  

I stand by what I wrote earlier above.

 

To Add: FOX is bad, but not the only offender.  There is also too much of a rush to move images out, mistakes both intentional and unintentional are made.

We all need to slow down, get information and convey that information accurately and the agencies or libraries that distribute those images have a responsibility

to make sure that images and pictures remain accurate to the event or people that they illustrate.

 

Chuck

[geogphotos]

Deleted.

Edited June 14, 2020 by geogphotos

[sb photos]

2 hours ago, geogphotos said:

These publications are no longer about news, they are about propaganda. And by that I mean most of the so-called 'newspapers' in UK.

 

They do not employ journalists they hire people to write click-bait for their target audience. They will not use photographs to fairly report an event : they will use them for a political means to show whatever they want in their cause.

 

I include virtually all of the UK newspapers but specifically the Mail, Sun, Telegraph, Express. I do not include the Times (  Murdoch owned but editorially independent, or the Guardian or the Independent). 

 

These newspapers are owned by billionaire tax dodgers who buy papers so that they can control politicians. 

 

Anything you produce in terms of photographs will be twisted to make a political message. 

 

In all but one image use the Sun has used most of my images for their own political ends. I'm just glad they are only credited to Alamy and not to me.

[geogphotos]

13 hours ago, sb photos said:

 

In all but one image use the Sun has used most of my images for their own political ends. I'm just glad they are only credited to Alamy and not to me.

 

 

 

I admire the bravery of you who cover protests and create an accurate record for history.

 

Apart from that best I keep my thoughts to myself about how the media use images for their own propaganda purposes. . 

Edited June 14, 2020 by geogphotos

[Harry Harrison]

Nice response by one of the subjects in a protest photograph by New York Times photographer Amr Alfiky:

 

https://twitter.com/alfiky_amr/status/1271886866506297349?s=19

 

[Harry Harrison]

Great picture by Reuters' photographer Dylan Martinez from yesterday's protests in London, but uncredited in The Independent:

 

https://twitter.com/terakopian/status/1271931986400153600?s=19

 

 

[Mr Standfast]

17 hours ago, geogphotos said:

 

 

 

I admire the bravery of you who cover protests and create an accurate record for history.

 

Apart from that best I keep my thoughts to myself about how the media use images for their own propaganda purposes. . 

 

 

How does this get a red arrow?

 

 

Which has now gone. Sorted.

Edited June 14, 2020 by Mr Standfast
Events dear boy...events

[spacecadet]

56 minutes ago, Mr Standfast said:

 

 

How does this get a red arrow?

There is at least one right-winger on the forum that I know of old. He occasionally lets his guard down but usually just looses the odd Red Arrow.

I'll be disappointed not to get one for this post.

[geogphotos]

1 hour ago, Mr Standfast said:

 

 

How does this get a red arrow?

 

 

I made the mistake of thinking this was a discussion forum - you know the role of photography in modern media, the role of the media in modern society and how  photography is used to further a political agenda set by the proprietors of newspapers etc etc.

 

As a response to the 'red arrow' I did go back and make that post completely anodyne, and completely deleted the longer one, because just what is the point?

 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2020 by geogphotos

[losdemas]

On 07/06/2020 at 21:02, sooth said:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/2020/06/what-protest-pictures-can-reveal-history/

 

a good read 

 

"A photograph can show a truth and yet contain within it a monstrous lie."

 

Sorry: only just getting to this thread.  Yes, a good article and article linked to (from 2015, recounting the unveiling of the Gen. Robert E. Lee Monument in 1890): https://richmondmagazine.com/news/news/monument-ave-history/

[IanDavidson]

On 11/06/2020 at 21:18, Harry Harrison said:

Recording of a Webinar on the Photoshelter blog here entitled "Safety for Photojournalists Attending Protests", or there's an edited transcript.

 

 

I watched some of this.  It may work in an American context but not so much in the UK.  I have undertaken security training in the UK and the approach is different.  I would also note that I have had no problems with the British police (I know some who have)  who generally know the rules regarding the press.  
 

situational awareness  get in take the shots and get out.  Keep moving while being aware of crowd dynamics and hot spots.  Know your exit routes and “safe” areas.  Maintain a low profile with non-aggressive body language. Always have an exit plan.  However, everyone will have their own views.  

[Harry Harrison]

57 minutes ago, IanDavidson said:

I watched some of this.

I didn't actually watch that, but I did read another, by Cengis Yar here. I'm afraid that any situation that is going to require me to take a First Aid kit and a respirator is not for me but I have the greatest of admiration for those that do.