... pointless

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/04/27/realestate/0427-HABI_7.html

I get that this slideshow is part of the Real Estate section and all, but is it really newsworthy? The Ludlow building opened up over 3 months ago. It seems to me that the photographer just wanted some filler piece and found it in this sad lady. Also, all of her anti-male gear, including the "men don't protect you anymore" sign, seem pathetic to me as we learn that she has recently been separated from her hubby. Her feminism has sprung from hatred rather than any real feeling of woman-power. Plus, all of these photos are of things that are already interesting. Could the photographer have done more creatively, or are there just no opportunities for interesting and new shots in real estate?

and if you thought you took too many photos, check this out: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/photography/la-111807_gang-main2-fl,0,3893242.flash

latimes.com

scuba diving photographer? check this out: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/oceans/la-oceans-series,0,7842752.special

POPE

Hey guys. Are we doing the pope thing or not???

Let me know.

My email is sgb249@Nyu.edu

Photo Agencies to check out + Multimedia

Besides the high rollers of the photography world, such as Magnum and VII, there are quite a number of other photo agencies out there with absolutely a wealth of work to look through. Some really great ones to check out:

Noor Images

Aevum (brand spanking new-- some really young photographers in this one) 

Agence Vu

Oeil Public 

I'd also encourage any of you to check out all the events going on during NY Photo Festival Week if you are around for it, along with that will be VII's three-day seminar, in Brooklyn-- and a bunch of other things going on. 

----------------

Also just wanted to share some thoughts on the multimedia work we had to do for this week-- My piece is on an artist who's hung up a huge piece of art work in a cafe in Soho-- he's still working on it, so I thought I'd do a shoot on him in the process. I found it to be a bit of a struggle to shoot someone who was working on their artwork, most of the time he was stationary on the ladder, there was a big height difference, and looking for different angles to make it creative was hard. That and trying to get great audio or quotes doesn't come easy, especially when it's only supposed to be 1.5 mins. Working with a time constraint limits the audio quite a bit, so I think I've learned it really pays to be super picky, and you have to ask the spot-on questions. Hope everyone else's went alright... any thoughts to share? 

Modern Day 49ers

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/us/20080405_RUSH_FEATURE/index.html

This 2 minute and 37 second New York Times presentation was a great example of a multimedia presentation and included everything we talked about in class.

There were about 20 photos that varied from wide shot, medium shot and tight shots. Display times varied, but averaged to about 9 seconds per image. The speaker was identified by a "voice of" caption in the bottom right corner and a description of what was happening in the image was in a caption in the bottom left corner. Each picture was alive and showed something going on. There were both horizontal and vertical shots. And all photos were properly exposed.

I really enjoyed this presentation.

population

http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2007/multimedia/index.html

In my economics classes, we've been talking a lot about how population growth affects the world. This project, part of the United Nations Population Fund, combines music, captions and photographs in a 2 minute presentation to show the pros and cons and plug the UN's book (State of World Population 2007) to viewers.

I thought many of the pictures were powerful and it was interesting to see that the entire piece ran exactly 2 minutes, which is around the length we all agreed wasn't too long or too short.

Crane Crash

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/nyregion/15cnd-crane.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

This article has several powerful photos that captured the moments when the buidling in nyc crashed. Photos were taken from various places that created different point of views. Crashed cars and people's face impressions were powerful enough to explain the terrible moments. Although, I wanted to see more close-up photos of people and the firefighters.

Art of Shoes

ttp://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/fashion/20080322_STREET_FEATURE/index.html

This is a multimedia piece from NYT. Each photos contained uniquity of shoes on the street and this totally created enough variety. Some of the photos were shaky and the focus wasn't great, but seeing specially designed shoes was good enough eye-pleasure for the audience.

'Girl Power'

I highly recommend checking out these sites, two photo collectives made up solely of many award winning female photographers documenting a vast array of topics:

Eve Photographers

Photo Betty

The Week.

I saw this "week in photos" on the Mail&Guardian website. I thought it was a really well put together gallery. It should both the light-heartedness and tragedy that swept the world, and South Africa in particular, this past week. I think my favorite photos were of Hillary Clinton--the photographer just really caught this burst of childlike joy on her usual poker face, oh and also, the photo of the Iraqi municipality--the composition was really profound.

http://photos.mg.co.za/view_photo.php?pid=3005&gid=193

Post 4: Gregory Heisler

http://gregoryheisler.com/
In class, Prof. Handschuh brought up Heisler. This is a link to his webpage. He has many different categories (quiet, vibrant, simple, dynamic, strange, contextual, timecovers, banjoists and others) But even within each category, each image really shows something different from the last. It was interesting to see how he chose to show people in the portraits (sitting, standing, with props, etcetera...) And how he used light and color. I especially liked his pictures that are outdoors with the sky (mostly in the contextual group). In "other" he shows abstract photographs that show the liberties a photographer can take.

It was inspirational flipping through his work.

Battlespace: Unrealities of War

Gallery FCB presents: Battlespace - Unrealities of War

Amazing photos by amazing photographers. Opening is tonight, Feb. 28, and runs until end of April.

http://www.galleryfcb.com/battlespace.html

On the topic of motivation

I thought a little more thoroughly about what we discussed today in class, on what motivates us to make photo stories. Personally, I think what it comes down to is the natural inclination of each person to inquire more into the ways and the nature of the human condition, in whatever the situation it may be. I think we try to find things that connect or relate ourselves to one another, or it could just be downright curiosity and the quest to explore. It's for a variety of reasons we choose to shoot what we shoot-- and what's important is not merely to bare witness to something and press click, but ultimately feel what you shoot. 

Post 3

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/02/20/nyregion/20080221_BOWERY_SLIDESHOW_index.html

New York Times' Ruth Fremson followed John Cornelius Foley as he made the transition from his plywood box home into an apartment. This is an example of how we can find stories anywhere.

After the last class (when we talked about pictures being all in focus vs only the subject in focus), I find that I notice this more. I liked comparing page 6 with page 2 and 3: photograph 6 has out of focus cups in the foreground and Foley through a mirror sitting at a table--page 2 and 3 show his entire plywood home. Although it's obvious that an apartment is very different from a plywood box, it puts it more into perspective.

I would have liked if there had been a way to see him in his plywood home or his size relative to it. She shows him standing outside of it in page 1, but her angle exagerates his size relative to the box. We never get a clear image of exactly how uncomfortable his living conditions are.

A Nation Is Born.

Back in January, the uncertainty over Kosovo's future hung heavily in the air, amidst excited chatter in smoke-filled bars. The mood in Prishtina when I was there was one of unspoken tension, and the Albanians knew they were in for independence soon, but when was always the question. And finally it happened last Sunday: the province declared itself independent from Serbia, and here in NY, Kosovars were out in droves celebrating their freedom. It's a freedom that no outsider can understand, but being there with them in Times Square, and partying with them into the hours of dawn brought me back to Kosovo all over again, knowing that they lived for so many years, in a state of limbo, and now their land is theirs. I've been thinking a lot about the question of identity, and the Balkans is one particular place where it's often hard to define, but it's also something extremely close to peoples' hearts-- a kind of amorphous reality of sorts. The future for this new born nation is going to involve a lot of work-- not just economically, but socially, trying to set itself apart from the notion that they are 'Albanians' as a collective term, to being Kosovars.

Here are two photos from Kosovo in transition, a month before independence. The latter photos are from last week, of Kosovar-Americans leaving for their homeland, and others remaining here to celebrate in New York.

A bus on the way to the Presevo Valley waits at the Serb-Kosovo border check. Presevo is a municipality inside Serbia, inhabited by about 35,000 people, the majority of whom are ethnic-Albanians. 01.11.08

Serbs in Gracanica gather to celebrate Orthodox Christmas on January 6, 2008. Gracanica is a Serb enclave about 8km outside of Kosovo's capital, Prishtina, and is the site of one of the most important Serb monastaries.

Florim and Valon say goodbye to their wives at Terminal 2 of JFK, as they leave for the expected independence celebrations in Kosovo, 02.15.08
-----------------------------------
Celebrations took place on the streets of New York, just hours after Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia.

Argentina's Cocaine Problem

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/02/22/world/20080221ARGENTINA_index.html

This is from the New York Times multimedia/photo section about serious cocaine problem in Argentina. These photos told a story about how people get the paco, how they use it, who use it and how they try to treat the addiction. All these are represented by the photos and captions. It is very powerful piece especially when each addicted person's story was written with close-up photo. How camera captured the eyes of these people was just amazing.

Castro Resigned

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/02/19/world/0219-CASTRO_9.html


These are the photos of Castro who announced to resign as the president of Cuba.
His current photos were not as strong as his past photos.
It almost felt like photos are representing Castro himself, getting older and having less power.

NY Daily News: Riot in Belgrade

This multimedia piece is a captioned slide show of the riot in Belgrade after U.S. recognition of Kosovo's declaration of independence. Angry Serbians took their fustration to the streets in protest, as well as the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, in which one office was set on fire. These nine photos depict the protest as well as the riot that was to come.
The overall slide show is successful in capturing some chaos of the riot. Slide #7, however, is the most captivating. In the midst of a blazing fire there is a perfect sillohette of an upper human torso raising his arms in cheers and triumph at the burning U.S. Embassy. Also, in what should have been moments of chaos, dots of blue light can be seen among the crowd of onlookers who are all doing their best to capture this moment with the assistance of their camera phones. This photo was definitely one of a kind.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/galleries/riot_in_belgrade/riot_in_belgrade.html?c=0

Photographer's Journal: Jan Grarup


Jan Grarup's photographs cover the refugee crisis in Eastern Chad and Darfur. A lot of the images were strikingly beautiful and I was equally impressed by the message he conveyed through this multi-media piece. He took a strong stance on the severity of this particular refugee crisis and the potential for a regional conflict to spark. It's obvious that Grarup has put time into understanding his subjects. Though the quality of audio was less than wonderful, it's probably due to reporting conditions. Overall it's a really worthwhile piece.

Why to Shoot.

"Evidence of My Existence". This is the story of Jim Lo Scalzo, a man who has spent his life speeding towards being a foreign photojournalist. I think the class will really dig this story. It's an amazing multimedia piece. It blew my mind. It's for the world-hungry-at-heart, I suppose. Media Storm has really great stuff. Check out "Love in the First Person". You'll cry and fall in love. It's fantastic. Fantastic. Fantastic.


http://www.mediastorm.org/0018.htm


sarah conway

Treating Iraq’s Scars in Amman-Washington Post

Treating Iraq’s Scars in Amman

This slide show was heart wrenching to watch. It covers the aftermath or result of war in many ways. The photojournalist chose to focus on deformed children receiving Doctors Without Borders medical care in Amman, Jordan. I was disturbed by some of the photographs because they were so raw, so honest. The photos of Abdullah-a 7-year-old boy who lost most of his face in a suicide car bombing just felt like a knife in my heart. It was incredibly sad. One of the most poignant photos was of him locked away in his bedroom with a background window shot of downtown Amman. He looked like a trapped, wounded bird. I posted this because I want to know how you all feel about graphic war photography. I feel that sometimes in the main stream US newspapers, the photography representing war is just really bland. I remember reading once in a media studies class that many people complain to papers when they print a picture that is too violent. What do you think?


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2008/02/08/GA2008020803434.html?hpid=multimedia1&hpv=national

sarah conway

A new citizen votes

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/02/10/nyregion/thecity/20080210_VOTER_SLIDESHOW_index.html These eight photos walk you through 83 year old Matilde Ospina's first time voting as an American citizen. In class we talked a little about immigrants and voting, and this is that idea carried out. Not all the pictures were impressive, and I think it may have been interesting if NYT could have made the project a little bigger/looked at more people's lives. Also, this project seems like it easily could have had sound. It would have been a stronger piece if Ospina talked about her experience.They had a good idea, but the execution was not great.

7-yr war.....life-long devestation

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/02/10/nyregion/0210-PARENT_12.html

This slide show was taken from the NY Times. A compilation of 13 pictures and captions help to tell the lives of 2 mothers who are dedicated to caring for their sons, who were bothed injured in the war in Iraq. All taken in the hospital room of each son, the inclusion of hospital equipment and staff helps to add to the reality of this specific life-style. Although it was a bit distracting to go from caption to photo, the photos were able to relay the effort needed to care for people who are unable to care for themselves. I liked this slideshow because it dealt with its subject in a different manner. Instead of including photos of deep emotion and stress, the photos showed both mothers living their lives in adaptation to each of their son's injuries.

BBC's Desert Festival, Mali.

I was just enthralled with this slide show. The photos capture the many faces of this music festival in Mali's Sahara. This slide show came out about a year ago, but it's still a really great example of the beautiful portraits photojournalism can produce. Also, I think that the BBCNews' photo-loging is amazing. You can search by country/world region. Check it out!

Sarah Conway

Desert festival:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6310685.stm

Standing Assignment #2

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/fashion/20080209_MODEL_FEATURE/index.html

This is a multimedia piece from NYT. It focuses exclusively on a model who will be walking down the runways of New York Fashion Week for the first time. I just love the first part where the sound of footsteps start the whole slideshow. I could tell that it was a fashion story only hearing the first part. Also, I loved the fact that the photos showed not only high fashion vibe towards the end but also ordinary everyday life of a model in New York City. It was a unexpected surprise. Some photos were not as strong as I expected, but overall, this multimedia piece had great variety.

World Press Photo Winners

The winners of this year's World Press Photo have been announced. I'm particularly taken by Balazs Gardi's images. He's a Hungarian photographer, who won the 1st Prize Singles in the General News Section, and has also recently been included in the VII Photo Agency network. He's definitely got a powerful vision, and his photos strike an honest, simplistic chord-- they speak volumes for everything about the people in them. 

standing assignment #1

This is from the NYT. They are photos from Kenya after the death of a politician. In my opinion, among the 12 photos, photos that showed closed-up facial expressions of the civilians were much more powerful than the photos of broad scenes of local battles. These images just show us the big picture of how corrupted and disastrous the area is now. But the individual civilians' emotions are clearly shown by the tighter shots. I can almost feel how much helpless they are. I wished there could be more powerful or impacting images of scenes of the area.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/01/29/world/0129-KENYA_2.html

This Times piece has no sound, but rather tells the story through captions. I agree with Sarah... I wish there was sound. It's a bit distracting to have to look from the photo to the caption. It seems that more emphasis can be placed on the image when sound it attached. 

The piece is  about the demands placed upon the fitness of a dancer's body during the Carnival celebration in Rio de Janeiro. There are 9 photos. 6 of them are from the dance floor. I would have liked to have seen more about the process of getting fit, since that idea is what the piece hinges on. I hope the URL posted below... it looks like it might, but no promises.

Week in Pictures

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/02/01/nyregion/20080202_WEEKINPICTURES_SLIDESHOW_index.html

This presentation showed the range of New York City's people, activities and lifestyles with 12 photos. Rather than having a narrator or stream of voices, it had captions to the side. After sifting through projects this week, I've decided I prefer watching multimedia projects with sound. But I think in this case (because each picture told something different from the next) captions made more sense.

The photographer succesfully captures the action and life of everyday New York, which is what I tried to do for the St. Marks assignment.

I am new to multimedia-making and this slideshow gave me some ideas for where to start. And it showed me how just a few pictures can tell a big story.

PRIVATE Magazine

http://www.privatephotoreview.com

http://www.privatephotoreview.com/en/review/private.php/riv/60/page/1

PRIVATE is a print and online magazine published four times a year, and reviews only black and white photographs-- something pretty rare nowadays. Their latest issue features exclusively Pakistani photographers (save one of them, I believe). Look back at some of their older issues, they're good for generating story ideas. 

Have a look at this

Have a look at http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/specials/interactives/_lifestyles/garment_district/index.html?SITE=NYNYD&SECTION=MULTIMEDIA


This is the kind of stories I'd like for us to do as our class projects.

d

Requiem in Samba by Alex Majoli

When I saw this for the first time over a year and a half ago, I was taken-- it is a hauntingly beautiful piece shot and narrated by its photographer, Alex Majoli. I know we had discussions about using audio clips of the people in the photos, but somehow this one works amazingly well without any of that. At about the twenty-fifth slide, he gives his personal account of how and why he became a photographer... and on the twenty-sixth slide, absolutely nails a great point down about what being a photographer is, for himself personally. 

  

http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essays/samba.aspx

Welcome to the class blog!

'Visual Reporting Spring 2008 Syllabus: ALWAYS CARRY YOUR CAMERA TO CLASS!!! ALWAYS CARRY YOUR CAMERA TO CLASS!!! ALWAYS CARRY YOUR CAMERA TO CLASS!!!' 

Welcome to our Spring Photojournalism class blog. We're a class that is 6-strong and striving to be photojournalists/media savvy citizens of the world. Feel free to post up any of your work, links, suggestions, ideas, comments... everything goes here! 

p.s. a little house-keeping note: the visuals of the blog are still being worked on, trying to make it look a little less like a mess!