Citizen's using cameras

Asim:

thank you for the link….heart-distilling, ache-lunging bite….

i must say though that (irony?) what compels me is that you as a professional and the Guardian, still bring it forward: what does not depress me, is that you are still committed to the telling: you share with us (as does the Guardian) a story, not from pros, but from those whose lives are invested in the necessity to speak up…that you share this, is another example of your professional commitment :)).....

.that still unites me with my bretheren: that while most of the world (pick an issue) is left unspoken for, undescribed by the professional world of describers, the fact that you still share this with us, that Guardian prints, offers some small solace of consolation: the profession still is inerverated by those whose commitment to telling and showing has not lost in the face of so much that is not exposed, described.

there is a point to ponder: there are intrinsic limitations to being a “professional”...call it the architecture of being recognized (something, unfortunately) many professionals crave (“look at me, im a pro”), in whatever job they find themselves…but the point is, for me, get the stories told, in whichever fashion elucidates the difficulty of our collective cupidity ….

heart breaking…as professional and amateur: my dream: to see the end of the need for these stories…rather, to see the end of the division of who makes the story…(pro or am).;))

thanks for sharing the powerful link..

hugs

bob

Pros are stupidly over rated. Reference? Sure. Josef Koudelka was an absolutely unknown amateur when he recorded the invasion of his home, like a God traipsing among mortals.

http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/invasion

http://www.amazon.com/Josef-Koudelka-Invasion-Irena-orfova/dp/159711068X

stoop: agreed (generally)

b

Stoop: should we mention McCullin? :))..

http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/artandthe60s/images/theguvnors_l.jpg

b

No. Seems to be trying too hard. Josef is simply there, wherever he is at the time. No stupid agenda beyond that.

john filo at kent state.

Stoop:

ok, that might be true and yea, totally down with you about Koudelka….

Skippy: :)))))...damn, now why didnt i think of that ;)))....perfect!

b

On the other hand, sometimes nothing but an absolute pro pressing that stupid button will do.

Stoop:

have you seen the film Peter Davis’ Hearts & Minds?....

if not: GO GET IT/DOWNLOAD IT!....

in order to comprehend Adams photo…i mean, what lead to this execution, you’ve gotta see the film shot as the man was being escorted down the street before General Nguyễn Ngọc Loa exectuted Nguyễn Văn Lém, ....event the graven image, and the impact it had/has, is fraction of the the story…

pro or am?...

anyway…gotta run…would love to chat about Nam (just finished Bissel’s Father of All things)...a personal obsession (the war, the lives, the stories, the pics), but…maybe later…

b

Indeed. And Eddie never stopped trying to tell his story of the image, no matter what we seem to see. The stupid image will always speak for itself, louder than any words anyone could ever scream, using any means to amplify.

STOOP:

indeed…

running (late)

b

Hmmm…didn’t that citizen pic of a fireman carrying an injured child at the Oklahoma City bombing win a Pulitzer? Not a pro PJ but just dumb luck. Does that make him a PJ? Don’t think so. Serious photogs who have spent years of sacrifice to learn, improve, explore, and spread visual information about the world they see, are now being bundled together with camera toting tourists. This being done by the same media editors that demanded in the past photo seeing excellence. Maybe my point is that single photos do not a PJ make but media no longer cares. A thought.

Greg:

what matters, above all, is not who took the picture, who wrote the story, but whether or not that story spoke to us and broke us and gave us what we had not seen, what we had not known, what we must take, remember and turn it into our understanding and gesture and change of our lives….i dont care about who is what (pj/pro/am), but whether or not the act of speaking pointed to something we needed and were unable to see, to know and from that learned….

people qualify and separate…we need to absord and to learn from…that’s always been more important…

the pic from Oklahoma, an example…

we’re coming to ny…will write u in 2 weeks to let you know details…

running
b

Citizens sorta make up the bulk of the population, yea I am interested in what they have to say and show