An internship with Brian Storm and MSNBC.com several years ago knocked into me the notion that if journalists were to survive in this tumultuous media business they had to evolve. It's as simple as that.
For some time now I have wanted to post this link to an article by Storm (it's a bit dated in only one small fact – Brian Storm is no longer with MSNBC.com) so that you too will see the writing on the wall.
Evolve or evaporate.
Via Donald Winslow
New York Times photojournalist Stephen Crowley's “Campaign Moments” debuts today on the NYT's web site. It's his first-ever Web show, and the photographs are compelling and the accompanying audio narration is great behind-the-scenes information from a veteran of covering national politics but with the intimacy of a grass-roots campaign. Crowley's photographs are known for their unique perspective and angles, his sometimes off-kilter view of things, and their “moments.”
The multimedia gallery “Campaign Moments” compiling twelve years of political coverage is online here. Click on “Photographer's Journal” towards the top of the page.
Another installment in New Internationalist via Shahidul Alam:
Iqbal Hossain had taken this picture in Dhaka Zoo in 2000. His statement related to the child in the photograph, a child he could relate to. “Often people cover their faces to protect themselves from the dust. But what mask will protect the sweepers?” Dadon, another member of their group “Out of Focus” felt a more personal statement should accompany the image.
Something he'd been told:
[While I was taking pictures a man remarked: “Look at the airs the shutkiwalla’s [dry-fish seller’s] son puts on.” That’s how my dad earned his living then. “A fish seller’s son, taking pictures, huh?”]‘I remember clearly, when I’d be going out to take photographs, Dad would be in the streets, selling fish.’
More work by this fascinating group of children can be seen at ZoneZero and Drik.
Via Shahidul Alam
“During my regular visits to the River Buriganga this particular bridge to Kamrangeer char often fascinates me. When the monsoon water comes, filling the river to the brim, children – all boys – are attracted to the suspended beams of this metal structure. The joy of a life infinite and with all the freedom in the world… It brings back memories of my childhood in a village with abundant water around it.
In city life children are stranded within the concrete blocks they call home. Adults forget that they, too, once had a happy life. They tell the little ones not to be too adventurous, always to be safe. I want adults to let children be what they are. I feel poor children at times are happier than the protected, privileged ones in the comfort zone. These boys made me feel like going back to the days of my childhood. For a photographer there are times when you don't think much: you simply rush to capture the moment.
Later I had a talk with the boys. They were all working children – they had money for themselves and to contribute to their family income. After they'd spent the morning collecting scraps from the streets and had sold their bounty they'd come for a jumping session. Who could jump from the highest point?
I work with my friends at the Map Photo Agency. We have been together as a team for 11 years now and work on social issues, advocating awareness through images. Going back to the community I work for, returning with the images I have taken and seeing the smile on their faces, is always rewarding.”
The observations above, in Southern Exposure, are from Shafiqul Alam Kiron who is a photojournalist based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Southern Exposure is Shahidul Alam's way of introducing photographers from what he calls the “Majority World.”
New Internationalist, which publishes Southern Exposure has an archive containing some very interesting photography. Odd as it may sound, at times, I am sometimes drawn more by the writing than the photography in there.
Interested in sending your work to be considered? Here is the call for entries:
Southern Exposure Photo Entries
We encourage all photographers – particularly women – living and working in Africa, Asia or Latin America, whose work addresses the broad aims of the NI magazine, to submit potential images for this page. The requirements are as follows:
Format: preferably portrait
Colour: black and white or full colour
Caption: a maximum of 150 words describing both the content of the image and how the photographer came to take it.
Enquiries and submissions: preferably by email or by post to:New Internationalist
(Southern Exposure)
55 Rectory Road,
Oxford OX4 1BW, UK
Please note that we cannot guarantee to return entries – originals should never be sent