Photogs Up Close

 One of the really good things that has come out of my experience in Haiti is that I've had the opportunity to mingle with and observe dozens of professional photojournalists.  These guys and gals go out every day and document the thousands of stories, and then come back to the hotel and sit around the bar selecting, editing, and sending their work around the world.  It's been an unbelievable opportunity and privilege to watch this process up close.

As I sit here there are several photogs looking over their day's shots on small MacBooks, and editing in Photoshop.  They're serious and pensive within the process, and once the work is fed they grab a beer and relax for the remainder of the evening.  The ever-present question is how long they should stay, when does the story run out?

Here is what I've noticed from the photog community:

• Most use Cannon cameras, normally two, one slung on each shoulder
• Photo vests are for PSDs.  Security ruined the vests for photogs.  Now its backpacks.
• They all seem to edit in Photoshop
• There is not a lot of sharing or viewing other's shots, but they will show you if asked
• Way too much smoking going on during the editing process
• NGOs pay better than magazines
• There's a difference between shooting art and news
• During the moment, hold the hammers down, try to stay in composition and focus
• All have agents they send their photos through
• Macs are the laptops of choice
• Skype gets them back home at bedtime
• The average salary is extremely hard-earned.  This life comes at a price.

Leave It To Clint

Media team poses for a quick picture before heading out on an embed with the U.S. military

The media teams have been busy the last few weeks, doing embed after embed with the U.S. military. The correspondents, cameramen, and producers like getting out away from the villa and seeing other parts of Iraq. Embeds normally require that the military take control of the media team and move it to another part of the country, which quite often involves helicopter flights, much to the glee of the teams. The media guys simply love flying in helicopters, and all to often return to earth giddy and smiling, slinging terms around like, "chopper", “bird”, “helo”, “slick”, and “rotary-wing” like they stepped right out of a Hollywood action movie. I always caution them from using such terms on-air because they often use them out of context and it sounds awkward, and fake, like you’re trying to impress someone. Studio anchors, as an example, are forever using military jargon and it makes me cringe every time I hear it. You can’t go wrong using the proper name, don’t try to be cool and use slang. Let Clint Eastwood do that. So unless you’re aircrew, please just call it a "helicopter".

Coming To America

Iraqi boys kicking a tattered soccer ball around in the neighborhood dirt lot

We are getting word that the U.S. Government may be planning to implement a program that would grant refugee status to selected Iraqis that have assisted various media outlets and would ostensibly be in danger once the Coalition forces depart this country. As I understand it, these Iraqis, and their families, will be relocated to the United States and given economic assistance for up to eight months, after that they’re on their own to find jobs, housing, etc… Furthermore, they cannot return to Iraq for a set period of time, but will be earmarked for citizenship. On the surface it sounds like an outstanding offer.

I had a conversation with one of our young Iraqi employees yesterday, and he asked me if I thought that he should take the offer. He makes a very good living in Iraq, outside of his employment with us, buying and selling homes. He told me that he has $100K in the bank and believes that it would be enough to set him and his family up in the United States. His dream is to own a neighborhood market somewhere in America.

How do you explain the difficulties he would face living in the United States? This was my quandary. Any description of the high cost of living, increased taxes, language barriers, culture shock, housing shortages would pale when compared to what he and his family are currently living through. I wanted to describe what I believed reality would be like for him in America, but in the end felt stupid when I looked at his current situation here in Iraq.

In the end, his decision came down to what would be better for his 6 year-old son. My friend felt that the opportunities for his son would be far greater in the United States than growing up in what he envisions Iraq will be like in the near future. I felt that it was a fair and unselfish litmus test, and probably one that my ancestors made a century and half ago when they emigrated from Scotland. I hope that it works out for my friend and his family. He keeps threatening to visit me in Atlanta ☺

In-Coming

Early yesterday morning a series of mortars hit the heavily militarized International Zone or "Green Zone", the part of Baghdad that houses both the Coalition and the Iraqi national Government. Four rounds reportedly fell inside the U.S. Embassy compound, two hit the very busy helicopter landing zone, known as LZ Washington, and one struck the ever-popular Post Exchange (PX) car-park. I'm not aware of anyone being hurt, but I have to hand it to the insurgents, that's some pretty fair shooting.

Attacks like this used to be a daily occurrence, and were rarely lethal; more psychological than anything else. The same still holds true today as the number of rounds-to-fatality ratio is immense given the early warning systems and plethora of protected bunkers in the Zone. Nevertheless, the major news networks carried the story yesterday, internationalizing the psychological effect of the event. Overall, pretty good result for seven mortar rounds.

Anecdotal Information

Iraqi man that has been working at the same ancient history museum since he was fourteen years-old. There's something fitting about that.

One of our English correspondents was reading some anecdotal information online about the number of female prostitutes in Germany. After doing some quick math he shockingly announced that 1% of the German male population has a prostitute everyday.

At that, our German cameraman, in dead seriousness exclaimed, “Well, that’s not much, is it?” I fell over laughing.

A Day At The Museum

Today we visited an ancient history museum in Baghdad, one that was looted shortly after the Coalition took over the city five years ago. We spoke with the General Manger, who emotionally described her efforts to try to recover the stolen pieces as well as put an end to all looting of Iraqi's historical treasures. I couldn't help but think back to the first Gulf War when much of neighboring Kuwait's wealth and heritage was loaded onto trucks and driven back to Iraq by Saddam's regime. Karma applies to nations as well.

The museum itself reminded me of a prison; long dark hallways lined with East German-like offices, green painted bars on all of the doors and windows. Florescent bulbs lit the rooms, and only the best offices had plastic plants adorning the corners. The museum remains closed to the public for fear that a bombing or some other violent act will further rob this country of what ancient historic treasures it has remaining.

My Kingdom For A Horse

CNN reported that a tornado touched down in downtown Atlanta the other day, within yards of the front of CNN Center, the headquarters of the cable news network. I watched the CNN footage of the aftermath of the storm and was shocked that it was absolute shit. It looked like someone emerged from the building after the storm and shot the video on their cell phone. It was all over the map, shaky and dark. I was samazed that in that huge building CNN couldn’t scrounge up a proper cameraman with a camera to shoot the video. We all had a good chuckle, especially our cameramen.

Playing By The Rules

Little Iraqi girl captivated by the camera. I love her haircut.

The media habitually ‘embeds’ itself with the Coalition military to cover various stories around Iraq. As a written policy the Coalition does not allow any of the media’s organic security assets come along on the trips and therefore assumes complete responsibility for the news teams’ safety, security and well-being.

I suppose that it’s the Coalition’s party and it can make the rules, regardless of how much the news organizations rile against this. It’s rumored that some news agencies have gotten around this policy in the past by "labeling" their security guys as “field producers”. This, to me, seems disingenuous and intrinsically wrong, and can get people tossed out of this country very quickly if it goes badly, which things have a tendency to do here.

My organization plays by the rules, no matter how much we dislike ceding the safety and security of our colleagues, and often friends, to an unknown military organization. While I have a great deal of respect for the military units here on the ground, the fact of the matter is that none of them are trained to provide "close protection". It’s just not an Army skill set that any of the units here possess, and it’s either arrogance or ignorance that allows the military to think that it can simply because it poccesses a lot of guns and armor. It’s akin to scattering a bunch of AK-toting Iraqis on the street and claiming that you all of a sudden have security. Nonetheless, in a year when violence against the media is at an all-time high, the military is putting our media teams in greater danger than need be simply because of it’s own ignorance/arrogance. Believe me, as an ex-soldier, it hurts me to say that but it's the truth in this case.

Now That That's Over With...

Correspondent Courtney Kealy in the middle of taping a 'stand-up'.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Iraq yesterday afternoon after about 36 hours on the ground here in Baghdad. It was a hectic time for us moving around the city getting the reporting crews to the various interviews, ceremonies and press conferences. Today the Baghdad media is giving a collective sign of relief as the U.S. presidential election primaries are dominating the coverage for the next few days.

So Ya Wanna Be A Cameraman?

I play way too much with my camera

I'm in the wonderful position where I get the chance to watch correspondents, producers and cameramen work all day. I have to be honest and say that of the three the cameramen have the coolest jobs. Here are my thoughts on cameramen:

• When going out on an 'embed' with the military the producer and correspondent each have one bag, the cameraman has a bag...and 15 Pelican cases.

• Want to be a cameraman, learn Final Cut Pro. These guys and gals live on it. They know every shortcut key and all of the bells and whistles.

• There are cameramen that are technicians and others that are artists. Rarely will you find one that is both. Each have their value.

• Cameramen are all "gear queers". They love their "Gucci" pouches and bags. They're more attracted to good ballistic nylon than good glass.

• They work the longest hours by far.

• Cameramen love security because they know that while their eye is in the eyepiece that someone is watching their back.

• Cameramen have the best stories.

• The camera is like a rifle to an infantryman. It's never more than an arms-length away.

• All cameramen have a secret stash of bloopers on their MacBook Pros

Jumping the Shark in Iraq

An elderly Arab man makes his way down a dusty neighborhood street.

The American elections are dominating the news this week, and we've basically been told to "stand down" unless it's a major breaking story. I'm certain that all of the other American outlets are in the same situation.

Overall media coverage of the war in Iraq has fallen off precipitously. One of the correspondents told me that a year ago all of the networks were giving an average of 30 minutes a week to Iraq stories. Now it's more like four or five. Another of the staff likened American viewership of Iraq-based news as, "America's reality show that no one wants to watch anymore". Terms that are being bandied about the newsroom are, "surge burnout" and "jumping the shark". This last one I had to Google to understand it. Oddly, it was a Scotsman that used it in context.

In The Store

Some photos that I took of a neighborhood shop are being used for a web piece on the Fox News site. I was asked by the correspondent to write a couple of lines about the experience of shooting the store. Here’s what I said:

"Shooting photographs in the small roadside shop was a challenge. Everything was so tight and cramped that it was difficult to capture an overall feeling of the store. The adults nervously shied away from the camera while the children leapt to be in every shot. In the rear of the store was a doorway that lead to an open air storage area filled with all sorts of interesting subjects, antique scales, a corrosion-covered air conditioner, old tools spilling out of a dented and rusted toolbox. It became a study of gritty, age-worn objects still being used because nothing else was available."

International Villa

I’m the only American in the villa. We are truly an international crew comprised of Brits, Germans, Scots, Serbs, Jordanians, Poles, and of course Iraqis. My counterpart is a Scot, and makes me laugh on a daily basis with some of the things that he says. I’ll preface this by saying that Scots by reputation are very tight with their money.

Last night the Scottish contingent was commenting on what a useless gift flowers are. “They’re so expensive”. One of the Brits was laughed and retorted, “They’re only $3.00 at the local gas station” in the UK. The Scot was aghast and went on about the environmental cost of shipping them all the way from Colombia.

It’s a great educational opportunity to live in such an international environment. I spend a lot of time asking people about their native land or their culture. Being associated with the media have taken most of them around the world a few times so there are not many places that at least someone has not been. The stories flow freely at night sitting around the living room after the newsroom has been closed down. It’s always great fun.

Interview At The Palace, The Aftermath

I learned something about the media today. During the interview with PM Maliki two days ago the Prime Minister’s press team also set up a couple of cameras and microphones. Our producer initially protested but was told that the Prime Minister’s people always record the interviews for their own archives. I asked the producer why this was such a big deal, and he replied, “just watch”.

The next morning the entire footage of the interview with the Fox News correspondent was run on Al-Iraqia TV news, one of Iraq’s national media outlets. The Iraqi media team was either from Al-Iraqia or the Prime Minister’s office gave them the footage. Either way, it was extremely underhanded.

Interview At The Palace

Fox News correspondent David Mac Dougall sits down with Iraqi’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki

We interviewed Prime Minister Maliki yesterday morning at the Presidential Palace. He appeared much more at ease than the previous interview; hands calmly placed in his lap, the occasional smile. I walked away with the impression that he was a man who believed that the worst was over and that brighter days were ahead. Maybe it was that the “Patraeus/Crocker Report” was over and done with, or possibly the calmness that comes with Ramadan. Whatever the reason the Prime Minister was a different man than two months before.

Photo Essay

I was honored to see that Fox News used some of my photographs in a photo essay to support of a story by correspondent David Mac Dougall.

I feel very much out of my league having my work up on a major media outlet site. In part, it causes me to wrestle with my ego, which is always a good exercise.

Lunch With The Neighbors

Young Iraqi girl shying aware from the camera

We had lunch with an Iraqi family yesterday as part of a media report profiling the lives of average Iraqis. The family was hired as caretakers for a new and very palatial home not far from the Green Zone. The father, mother and four children survive on $100 a month while living in and looking after the home.

The visit was intriguing, and the correspondent got an opportunity to ask some very personal questions of the family. What struck me the most was that the father had watched General Patraeus’ testimony to the U.S. House on TV, and had some very informed opinions as to what he had seen.

The four children were great. The oldest daughter was not very keen on having her photo taken so I had to be a little sneaky. The two you boys couldn’t get enough of the cameras and begged to have their pictures taken at every opportunity.

A Bit Stir Crazy

We continue to wait for the curfew to be lifted. Everyone in the villa is getting antsy. Correspondents are waiting for flights home, while others are stuck in Amman trying to get in. The Iraqi staff that we use to cook and clean hasn’t been able to get into work; laundry is piling up and meals are getting pretty tiresome. The guard force has been doing 12 on/12 off, living in the same small room for four days, sleeping on mattresses laid out on the floor.

The Iraqi government is saying that the curfew will remain in effect until tomorrow morning, when we expect a backlog of services. It will take a week or so for the city to return to some semblance of stasis.

Through the Looking Glass

Normally we do our live shots from a position on the roof looking out across the city skyline. In the background is a very picturesque mosque and some palm trees, all very Baghdad-like.

Today, because of an active sniper threat, we had to move the position down to the relative safety of the villa garden. It’s still very nice, but doesn’t afford the great skyline shot that the viewers have grown accustom to.

It’s been a very active day today. Following the bombing of the Samarra mosque the city instituted a curfew in an attempt to head off Shi’a reprisals. Active firefights broke out throughout the city, one just a little too close for my liking. Reports flowed in from Iraqi sources that mosques were being burned and the retaliative murders had begun. At one point it seemed as if we were caught (stranded?) in the middle of an all or nothing civil war. Iraqis remembered well the last time this mosque was attacked. People were pulled off buses and shot in the street by angry mobs; thousands of innocents lost their lives.

Singing in Baghdad

Crooning an Iraqi ballad

I attended a performance of an Iraqi folkloric musical troop over at NPRs villas this morning. Like and idiot, I didn’t bring my Marantz digital audio recorder. Various media crews were there shooting video and stills as well as NPR recording the audio. I’ll link to the story when NPR publishes it.

The troop consisted of two older men singing while fingering prayer beads in between verses, and three younger musicians on various percussion instruments. In recompense for the performance NPR hosted a huge traditional Iraqi lunch. Everyone eats from a common platter with his or her fingers.