View Full Version : why are photjournalists anonymous?
Tuolumne
12-30-2007, 09:42
After the assasisnation of Benazir Bhutto I saw a number of astonsihing photos in my local newspaper. One must rank as a candidate for Best of the Year with a man shrieking in grief surrounded by dead bodies, body parts, debris and chaos. This photo must have been taken moments after the explosion occured. The photo was attributed to "Associated Press" while the accompanying article had a real person's byline. This photojournalist captured an amazing and terrible moment and risked his life to do it. Why isn't he/she given any credit for it?
/T
Tuolumne
12-30-2007, 09:52
I assume the articles written by reporters are also owned by the AP, but they get bylines. So that can't be the only reason. Is this part of the devaluation of the image we are seeing?
/T
Why not ask the people at the paper why they didn't run the name?
Let me try this again. Here is the photographer that was at the assassination. Jon posted this on the thread I saw this photo in the critique forum.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/video/2007/dec/28/1.
Pherdinand
12-30-2007, 10:24
i don't understand. I clearly see the photographers name there in the headline.
Tuolumne
12-30-2007, 10:24
This is one of the reasons why Capa, HCB and the others formed Magnum, in order that the photogs got proper recognition for their work.
Not so long ago I still saw photographer attributions from AP and UPI. Suddenly it stopped. Why? Have photographers lost so much power. I still don't understand why the reproter gets a byline but not the photographer. If it's a matter of asserting copyright ownership the attribution could say "Photographer's Name copyright AP" or some such.
/T
Pherdinand
12-30-2007, 10:25
ok i guess it was not in that local newspaper, only here where the link of gb hill goes.
Here is a link to VII Photo Agency founded in 2001 by seven pj's. Like Magnum they share recoginition and their work has been shown in galleries. Perhaps the trend is changing to give more control back to the photographer.
http://www.viiphoto.com/
ClaremontPhoto
12-30-2007, 11:00
John Moore of Getty Images (if this is the photo you refer to):
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/12/27/world/asia/1227-ATTACK_4.html
Otherwise maybe the last photo in the link that gbhill gave you in post #10 above
If other publications do not byline the photographer I would imagine the photo agency would want to follow that up, as well as invoicing them.
newsgrunt
12-30-2007, 11:08
Almost every photo I checked on the wires had a photographer's name attached. The only place recently where photogs requested no credit was from Burma where being a pj was kept close to the chest and on a need to know basis. Border control was already cracking down on the various methods methods used to enter the country.
bob cole
12-30-2007, 11:10
As a long-time reporter for one of the best newspapers in the country, I can tell you from personal experience that photo editors at every leading publication and photo agency make a serious effort to credit the photographer of each picture... This is particularly done for exclusive pictures or extraordinary photographs...
IGMeanwell
12-30-2007, 11:16
Let me try this again. Here is the photographer that was at the assassination. Jon posted this on the thread I saw this photo in the critique forum.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/video/2007/dec/28/1.
That was pretty powerful .... thanks for posting that again
ClaremontPhoto
12-30-2007, 11:19
That was pretty powerful .... thanks for posting that again
Yes. If I was a judge on 'News Photo of The Year' I would choose that one.
I do not see a recent decrease in photo credits in the print media, and I look for the photo credits in everything I read. As sitemisitc has said, circumstances very a lot, so there are many reasons why an image may or may not be credited. What HAS changed is that newspapers (and the mega-media companies that own them) are becoming more and more focused on making as much profit as possible, and that often means giving up in-depth reporting or anything that does not appeal to "the lowest common denominator". I do not work for my local paper, which is a major US newspaper in the capital city of my state, but I know many photographers and reporters there. They tell me the management has decreed that the first, second, and third priorities are the web, the web and the web. This is happening all over the country. And for photographers it means getting trained in video and in audio. Things are moving towards the PJ carrying one camera that can generate video AND high-res stills (clips) for publication in the paper edition....
After the assasisnation of Benazir Bhutto I saw a number of astonsihing photos in my local newspaper. One must rank as a candidate for Best of the Year with a man shrieking in grief surrounded by dead bodies, body parts, debris and chaos. This photo must have been taken moments after the explosion occured. The photo was attributed to "Associated Press" while the accompanying article had a real person's byline. This photojournalist captured an amazing and terrible moment and risked his life to do it. Why isn't he/she given any credit for it?
/T
In my paper there was the name of the PJ, B.K Bangash/AP. Strange, isnīt it?
Not on RFF they're not! ;)
.
vBulletin® v3.6.8, Copyright ©2000-2013, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.