Perspective

Superman waits on the sidewalk for his mother to emerge from the bookstore

I've been looking at thousands of news photographs lately, shot by some of the industry's most notable photojournalists. What's intrigued me is the varying perspectives.  In other words, a rather mundane shot can be enhanced into something incredibly  interesting if the photographer simply changes the perspective.  I viewed some of James Nachtwey's works where he shot an average street scene through the jagged opening of blown-out wall, the rubble of the wall framing the shot, making it far more interesting.

I believe this is where photography can lend itself to life, i.e., if we work to change our perspective than we may see things in a more interesting or enlightened way.  For many, they are attached to their own perspective, seeing it as the one and only truth of the world.  If they could only release themselves from that grasp and move a few inches either way it may open up an entirely different world for them.  What would happen if perspective were applied to politics, religion, social morays, etc.?  I contend that we would have a much more inclusive, tolerant, and compassionate world.  Move a little to the right or left and see what the world looks like then.

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

Not Here

A third staffer for Reuters was killed this week. According to The Committee to Protect Journalists in New York an estimated 149 reporters and media assistants have been killed since 2003.

Conflict journalism has become a dangerous occupation. Media no longer enjoy the battlefield immunity that protected it in the past. Western journalists are not considered “journalists” by the insurgents, but rather as high profile westerners who are lucrative and often easy targets for kidnapping and assassination. Freelance journalists need to consider this before venturing into a combat zone such as Iraq without extensive support.

A media friend of mine spoke to me about an email that he received the other day from an aspiring journalist who wishes to come to Iraq to cover the conflict. My friend told me that this was often typical of young journalists that believe they need to cover a conflict zone in order to build up their personal media credentials. This particular young guy intended on arriving in Iraq with no support at all; just show up and figure it out.

Even the most austere journalists here work with support. They hire local fixers, translators, and drivers. Most have their own bodyarmor, medical kit, communications, and move around secretly in armored vehicles. They hire stringers to shoot in places that they cannot get to, and live in secure areas often under the security of a hosting organization.

Iraq is a dangerous place, much more so than it used to be. Everyone’s movements are highly restricted. You can’t just jump in a cab or hire a car to take you up to Tikrit or down to Basrah. Journalists have to understand that there are large groups of people out there that are literally hunting them, and they are very good at it.

Blogging Ethics

A man sits in his courtyard, his back turned on the street.

We interviewed Nuri al-Maliki last night in the Iraqi Prime Minister's first interview since President Bush’s press conference of the progress in Iraq. I’m struggling with the ethics of documenting my personal observations. While I was part of the interview team my responsibilities were not those of news gathering, hence I feel as if I would be under-cutting the media organization that I work for by taking advantage of it’s exclusive opportunity to publish my own, independent thoughts.

I have a rule when it comes to ethics; if it feels wrong it is. I don’t know enough about the ethics of journalism to make a sound judgment, so I think it best just to keep my opinions to myself, at least for the time being.

Are bloggers journalists? Should they receive the same constitutional protections that traditional journalists have enjoyed? This is a debate that is raging in the blogsphere right now, and I haven’t quite resolved it for myself. I believe that low-level bloggers like myself document what they see for their own enjoyment, and are held to no ethical yardstick other than their own personal standards. Other bloggers, who have audiences in the tens of thousands, are de facto journalists and owe it to the people who read their work to adhere to some sort of defined ethical code.

It’s an interesting debate, and one, which the journalism and blogging communities will have to wrestle with. Until then, I think its best to listen to your little guiding voice and apply your own personal code of ethics.