Photo News Blog

As read about here, the group project to create the world’s largest photograph has succeeded. They had originally thought the exposure would taken 10-14 days, but the exposure time ended up only being an hour.

OC Register story

A judge in Alaska illegally issued a search warrant for police to seize photos taken by an Anchorage Daily News photographer taken at a shooting scene. The newspaper was forced to turn over more than 100 photos from the scene, but after the police were contacted by the newspaper’s attorney and informed of the warrant violating federal law, the photos were returned.

CNN.com story

In an apparent attempt to maintain total control of its content, Fox announced that it will not allow photographers to shoot its news conferences at the Television Critics Association press tour. Instead, they will offer handout photos.

The AP didn’t like this too much, so they said they will not be sending any print journalists (writers too) to cover the tour unless Fox allows photogs. 

WP story

Not really sure what to think of this new online magazine from Trent Nelson and Grayson West called NoTxt. After going through the site, it isn’t hard to figure out how they got their name.

Photos and art can have the ability to speak for themselves, but sometimes I’d like a little background info to go with the story. Even a little statement about the inspiration for each month’s work would suffice.

It almost seems a bit elitist for a photographer to think that his/her photos can stand up alone without any words to explain the situation. Am I missing something here?

On a positive note, I do really love many of the photos in the magazine. Those by Matt Eich and Ashley Francell really stand out.  

We’ll wait to see if things stay the same for issue #2. The deadline to submit images is June 24. 

NoTxt issue #1

… But don’t get your hopes up thinking there are now nine empty positions to fill. The photographers are not being replaced. The newspaper is going to a smaller staff, so they offered early retirement to many in the newsroom. 70 in all took the package.

WP article 

PDN article

I saw this story on Yahoo! News yesterday, but the article didn’t make much sense, so it didn’t make it to the blog. It said Canon was planning on halting production of film cameras, but it also said they were going to continue producing current film cameras as long as there is a demand for it. Michael Tomkins at The Imaging Resource explains the mistake. Apparently AP wasn’t the only one who got it wrong. Reuters had a similar story, but has since corrected the article.

Imaging Resource

Also via Pocket-lint 

New Jersey aims to ban photography of "a power generation, waste treatment, public sewage, water treatment, public water, nuclear or flammable liquid storage facility, as well as any airport in the state." Getting caught doing so would be punishable by up to 18 months in jail. At the very least, the state wants to be able to detain photographers caught taking pictures of these places.

Geez, New Jersey. Paranoid? 

Gloucester County Times story

UPDATE:
NPPA sends letter opposing bill 
Bill shelved in committee

The photo staff at the Dallas Morning News was awarded a Pulitzer in breaking news photography for its "vivid photographs depicting the chaos and pain after Hurricane Katrina engulfed New Orleans."

And the Rocky Mountain News’ Todd Heisler won yet another award, claiming the Pulitzer for feature photography for his coverage of Colorado marines returning home from battle in caskets.

Both winners aren’t the least bit surprising and are very, very well deserved.  

Complete winners list 
DMN article  (subscription required) and the Pulitzer entry (no subscription required)
RMN article 

Renowned documentary photographer Eugene Richards, now formerly from Magnum, has been named the newest member of VII agency.  

Lightstalkers :: Eugene Richards joins VII
VII Agency 

To balance my other post today about citizen journalists, or ‘journazens’ as I like to call them, here is a story about the good things that can come from bloggers and the like: 

In another political photo controversy today, California congressional candidate Howard Kaloogian was exposed by a group of bloggers to have used a photo of an Istanbul street on his Web site claiming it was taken in Baghdad. Even worse, Kaloogian used the photo as an example of how things were returning to normal in the war-torn city. Kaloogian blames his webmaster for mixing up the photos.

San Diego Union Tribune article

The blog exposing the photo and here

Wiki entry on Kaloogian and the incident 

The Boston Herald published Justice Scalia’s controversial hand gesture on its front page today. For those not familiar with the story, read this. The Herald even talked to ‘The Sopranos’ star Joseph Gannascoli, AKA Vito Spatafore, who said it was an obscenity. I’ll admit that I’m a bit rusty on my studies of Sicilian hand gestures, but I’d have to lean on the side of obscene on this one. For a Supreme Court justice, regardless of obscene or not, it is certainly inappropriate. Click on the thumbnail to view a larger version of the page.

UPDATE: The church has apparently fired the photographer, who had freelanced for the church’s newspaper for a decade, for releasing the photo to the Herald.

The church newspaper editor explains the firing:
“It’s nothing personal,” added Pilot editor Antonio Enrique. “I need to try and find people I can trust.” 

Herald update story here

I love this photo taken by Josh Meltzer. Apparently the BOP judges did too. They named the Roanoke Times photographer the Photojournalist of the Year for the under 115k circulation. There must be something in that Roanoke water because fellow Times staffer Kyle Green won third place. AP photographer David Guttenfelder was the PJoTY for the above 115k circulation category.  

NPPA story

Full still photo winners list

UPDATE: I have to say congrats to my co-worker Eric Albrecht for winning an honorable mention in the Enterprise category for this photo. 

Forbes has compiled a list with photos of the most dangerous countries in the world. As expected Iraq and Afghanistan made the cut. Several African nations - Sudan, Liberia, Ivory Coast, etc. - also made the list. Forbes gives some rather obvious tips about what to pack if planning a trip to one of these countries:

We cross-referenced the resulting 14 countries with the Travel Warnings published by the State Department as part of its Consular Information Program. If you plan to visit any of them, we hope you get plenty of danger pay, are equipped with the latest body armor and have an excellent life insurance policy.

Full story here 

ASMP and other organizations are trying to gather support against a bill that will effectively make it easier for copyrighted photographs to be used without the owner’s consent.

ASMP Call For Action

Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star photojournalists Dave Ellis and Rebecca Sell talk about their experiences helping Hurricane Katrina victims restore damaged photos.

I’ve always wanted to do something meaningful in life. In my 37 years, I’ve hit many mile-stones. I served my country. Went to college and obtained a degree. Started a career in a field that I love. Married the best woman I’ve ever met and started a family that has become my universe. However, I was still searching for a purpose that would lead to greater individual achievement and personal fulfillment.

Full story here.

Dallas Morning News photographer Barbara Davidson was named POYi photographer of the year. Rocky Mountain News’ Todd Heisler was second. San Fran Chron’s Michael Macor was third. Winning portfolios found here. 

UPDATE: Dallas Morning News article here with quotes and more pictures.