in response to the "dear photojournalists" email going around now about bridging the POY and NPPA contests, there was a bit of brilliance off the listserv today from david holloway. here are a few snippets.
"the contest is that you are being recognized by your peers (or your superiors, however you look at it) and don't get me wrong, that is awesome. it's always great for someone to pull your work out and say "this kicks ass." but the bottom line is these are the opinions of people who do this work not the opinions of the people the work represents.
i feel contests did a lot to raise the bar of photojournalism, they presented others with a chance to see what people they don't even know are doing. it fostered the sharing of ideas and helped bring everyone up together, but it has stagnated, because for the most part there are styles that win contests, you can adhear to that, or learn to shoot that way and it will bring you up to the level that so many really good photographers are at, but if you are shooting for contests, then you'll hit a self imposed ceiling, because more often that not contests don't have room for honest innovation or creativity.
so screw the contests, i'll have my own. i've always thought that the best judges of art should be the people that inspire us, so i want to have a contest and have it judged by the people who have moved me in my life. so if you guys want to enter my contest too then feel free to send me your work. the categories are:
1. things that move me.
2. more things that move me.
3. still more things that move me.
4. things i did cause i needed money.
5. pictures of rocks.
there is no entry fee, but you have to pay for your own shipping, and you can send the work anyway you want, but i would suggest delivering it in person because:
a. i'd like to hang out.
b. i think instead of captions you should just talk about the work as you show it, so you can explain why this work is important to you.
fight the power."

In case you missed the NPR interview about the documentary movie "War Photographer" which has been nominated for an Academy Award, all you really missed was a nice interview with director Christian Frey about following photogod James Nachtwey around for two years with not only a video crew, but at times with a microscopic video camera hooked to Nachtwey's film camera to record every breath and click. So if you did miss it. you're in luck. It's been archived. Listen to it here -- scroll down to War Photographer.

"The Committee to Protect Journalists has released its Attacks on the Press 2001 report. There's some really interesting stuff in there, including press freedom facts and a list of the 10 worst enemies of the press. Reading this stuff reminds me just how lucky we are in the US to have the First Amendment, and it makes me realize how thankful I am to all the men and women who risk so much to bring us the news." [via megnut]

... still in shock...
wow. ok. ::: deep breath:::
so it's official. "a photo a day" rawks!! haha. or at least it did well in the NPPA's Best of Photojournalism competition.
"For developing a unique photojournalistic sense of community, its interactive listerv, and overall quality of photographs, the judges award an honorable mention to aphototoaday.org. "
AND... "Kids in Chaos" is an emotionally and visually rich insider's view of a family on the edge. The simplicity of the black and white presentation is refreshing and the judges found themselves engrossed in the story. However, this piece fell to second place because it lacks deeper context and captions. The images are outstanding."
super huge thanks to all the folks on the aphotoaday listserv for making this little dream of a photo community a reality.
in the infamous words of a former boss of mine.... "Rock on!"

Made for the Medium is a pretty interesting read in this month's digital journalist.
BONUS: We even got a mention in the links section at the bottom.

Can you imagine millions of people licking one of your photographs?
Tom Franklin on September 11, 2001 captured the image of New York City firefighters raising the American Flag amidst the rubble of the World Trade Centers. Six months later, Franklin attended a ceremony in the Oval Offcie during which President George Bush unveiled a new postage stamp based on Franklin's photograph. A staff photographer for the Bergen (NJ) Record, Franklin's photo has been selected by several journalism organizations as the "photo of the year" and has been the most enduring public image to come from the terrorist attacks. [story and link via NPPA.org]

A few months ago i heard an NPR story about this guy, Jacques Lowe, who was JFK's personal photographer. He took all the memorable images we've come to love showing the former president as a person, and his access was amazing. The interesting thing was how protective he was of the images, NPR said that if someone needed a negative to make a print from, like for a magazine or book, he would go to the safe deposit box he kept his 40,000 negs in, retrieve the one they needed, personally deliver it to them, wait for them to use it, and then take it straight back to the safe deposit box. He understood their value and wasn't taking any chances.
Unfortunately thought that safe deposit box was at JP Morgan Chase, which is now a part of Ground Zero. On NPR his daughter, also a photographer, who's main job was maintaining her father's archives, said that they hadn't been recovered, but she was hopeful that something would be salvaged. The box was recently recovered, and "contains nothing but ash". Eeesh. Sorry to hear that. What a huge loss.

"Iris patterns are even more individual than fingerprints. So the Geographic turned to the inventor of automatic iris recognition, John Daugman, a professor of computer science at England’s University of Cambridge. His biometric technique uses mathematical calculations, and the numbers Daugman got left no question in his mind that the haunted eyes of the young Afghan refugee and the eyes of the adult Sharbat Gula belong to the same person.
how neat. [thanks for the link bob!]

unexpected images from a "magic camera."

view the winning images from this year's POY competition. brian plonka and james nachtwey are definitely deserving of their first place wins.

PDN's 30

more eye candy in that fun, nice escape from pj kinda way:
frankieboots.com
sunshine hotel - a documentary film
quarlo.com

People have been looking at us from as far away as Argentina, South Africa, Romania, Mexico, Australia and Singapore. (Somebody take a little trip to Antarctica and hit our site so we can say we've got viewers on all 7 continents, ok?)
The site is now averaging 2,000 unique hits a month -- and we here at a photo a day would like to thank each and every one of you.

The Camera Museum has a ton of goodies for your viewing pleasure, and enough plastic and toy camera to evoke a sense of jealousy in any kid (like me!). [link via john l. white]

Logan Wallace has an exhibit of her recent work at City Stage, 21 N. Front Street in Wilmington, N.C.
It's 18 photos of some pretty eclectic stuff -- from her post 9/11 trip to D.C. and New York City, a roadtrip to Mexico and Texas, as well as N.C. tobacco auctions.
So, if you're in the area support your local artists and check it out.

The POY winners were announced today. Congrats to all!

Vincent Laforet does the Olympics. [link via justin best]

"Most people thought it was crazy for photo-journalist Deborah Copaken Kogan to take her six-year-old son to Pakistan to meet with Afghan refugees. But she brought her camera, he brought Legos, and they discovered a world of women, children, damage and hopes." [link via gerik]