duh. and by that i mean wow. i didn't realize nachtwey had his own website, seperate from vii's. this is a compendium of images from the last 20 years, some that i have never seen and some that haven't been seen in a long time. www.jamesnachtwey.com

matthew smolinsky's korean portfolio: part one is up over at visual diaries. and it's just great. i love the intentional pairings of photos that are causing my brain to stretch a bit, and the photography is beautiful, as well.

to all those photo friends in the midwest:
Spend an evening with James Nachtwey, Tuesday, April 29, 2003 in the Colwell Playhouse at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. Mr. Nachtwey will be giving a talk on his work as a conflict photojournalist at 7 p.m.
There is no admission charge for this event.
The Academy Awards nominated documentary film "War Photographer" about Mr. Nachtwey will be shown at the presentation. Please feel free to spread the word. Mr. Nachtwey is (will be) just back from Iraq and should have some interesting things to say about his recent travels.

"Getty Images staff photographer Paula Bronstein recently left Kuwait following a "nonvoluntary disembedment"--the same sort of dishonorable discharge for the press that got Geraldo Rivera kicked out of Iraq.
Geraldo lost his embedded slot for drawing a map in the sand outlining the current position and future movements of his platoon during a live broadcast. According to the military, Bronstein's offenses were entering a restricted area and tampering with live ordnance.
To hear Bronstein tell it, her only offense was writing an anti-war slogan on a missile."

this sunday is world pinhole photography day. it was established to allow people to take some time off from the increasingly technological world we live in and to participate in the simple act of making a pinhole photograph, as well as to share their visions and help spread the unusual beauty of this historical photographic process. so to participate all you need to do is find some time to have fun, make yourself a pinhole camera and go make some nice images.

as the email alerting me to this said, "to say i was a little shocked would be an understatement".
and i second that.

the degree confluence project has the lofty goal of visiting each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections around the world, taking pictures at each location, and then blessing us with pictures and stories on the website.

thats right... the Eddie Adams Workshop is coming again, and the deadline for applications has been extended to May 19, so those of you who haven't gotten your applications in should do so. For those of you who have already been to the workshop but want to be involved again, the hunt is also on for black team members and applications for this need to be in ASAP. Those interested (you need to be an EAW alum) can apply by emailing Jessica at adamsworkshop@aol.com and include the year you attended the workshop as well as what you are currently doing. Good luck to all!

eight dark days in an iraqi prison

Doing a nice job in supplying the world with multimedia content, the washingtonpost.com compiles a daily gallery of photos from the war as well as links from their own correspondents. Jahi Chikwendiu, Lucian Perkins and Michael Robinson-Chavez, who are shooting stills for the paper, and Travis Fox, who is shooting panoramas and video for washingtonpost.com. Their multimedia site will lead you to that as well as some additional work.

things have been a little crazy in the photo world, as we are inundated with images of war on a daily basis and a new contest announces their results every week. so, you may have missed the big one.
the pulitzer prize for feature photography was awarded to don bartletti of the los angeles times for his amazing images of how "undocumented central american youths, often facing deadly danger, travel north to the united states."
and the prize for breaking news photography went to the staff of the rocky mountain news for its coverage of colorado forest fires.
now i'm sorry, i don't want to take anything away from the rocky mountain news, but i'm a little disappointed about this one. for one, i've seen better fire photos this year. and two, i was hoping for an l.a. times sweep of the pulitzer, not only for barletti's stuff, which was solid and amazing and something seldom seen -- and well deserved.
but also because i was certain the breaking news award would go for what was probably one of the biggest visual stories of the year -- carolyn cole's images from inside the church of the nativity while it was under seige. so while i'm happy for the staff of the rocky mountain news, i can't help but feeling that carolyn cole was robbed.

<editorial bitchiness>
this is enough to get me all riled up, for the second year in a row... it's a contest people. jusge the best of what's there. i can't believe you won't award something because it doesn't meet your standards of what you think should have been entered....
</editorial bitchiness>
For the second consecutive year of this two-year-old Best of Photojournalism contest, judges did not honestly feel they could award prizes in either the Sports Story category or Sports Photographer of the Year.  Three of those judges actively shoot sports (one exclusively).  Another runs an agency that has a sports service under its umbrella....
If there is one message I would like to deliver it is this:  understand the judges' utmost need and desire to see the best work, well edited, well cared for, well presented.   NPPA wants to make this work and supports sports photographers in every sense.   Please help us achieve this goal -- do not give up.

here are some pretty amazing images of war.

more on walski: here's how he did it

11 journalists die in 21 days of war and only 20 journalists died in all of 2002 alone. if we have any illusions about the safety and neutrality of our profession in conflict, this war should shatter them. The US attacked the Palestine Hotel today, temporary home to many journalists in Baghdad, and killed two television cameramen. A Jordanian journalist was killed after an American missile attack on Al-Jazzera's Baghdad headquarters. How many journalists will flee after these events, and what are the chances for fair and balanced reporting when only the embeds are left?

maybe you missed it, because they hid it very well but poynter has the BOP winners list for the web. some worth looking at: the washington post's best picture story winner "in the company of heroes" dave cone's speedway hearts & thunder gives you the whole racetrack experience. la times' enrique's journey

getty and afp team up to take over the world.

oh the stories they can tell... or as the email to me so noted, it's "an interesting read about chris hondros in iraq and almost getting his clock cleaned."

BOP winners are up!
special congrats to APADer stephanie cordle who had the 3rd place feature picture story.

from the nppa website: Winners of the National Press Photographers Association's Best of Photojournalism 2003 contest will be named this week (March 31-April 4, 2003). Ami Vitale of Getty Images was named Magazine Photographer of the Year, and Rick Loomis of The Los Angeles Times was named Newspaper Photographer of the Year.
congrats to both! i'll post a link to the winning images when they're finally up online.

more on brian walski, including excerpts from his 214-word apology that he wrote to his coworkers.

When Cindy Brown asked the rest of the listserv, "What makes someone think a little stronger composition is worth giving up one's sense of personal ethics and possibly throwing away a career?" I thought it was the perfect blend of a rhetorical question and a nice, polite way of asking " what the hell was he thinking?"
"On Monday, March 31, the Los Angeles Times published a front-page photograph that had been altered in violation of Times policy.... ...it was noticed that several civilians in the background appear twice. The photographer, Brian Walski... acknowledged that he had used his computer to combine elements of two photographs, taken moments apart, in order to improve the composition," according to a Times-Post wire report. He has been fired for his actions and violation of Times policy.
Summing it up for us, Bob Croslin said, "I think the thing that is saddest is that Walski seems to be a really talented photographer. Google his name and you'll find he's won a ton of awards and done some serious work overseas that's deserving of praise. All of that now carries an asterisk next to it."
Sad, but true. Mention his name and no one is going to remember all the amazing pictures that he's taken now... and if they do they'll be wondering whether or not they too were altered. Cast that shadow of doubt upon your work and it may never see the sun again.

travis fox at the washington post has apparently hauled a 360 degree panoramic camera all the way to iraq. and now we can look at his images from the basra checkpoint, in quicktime format.

good news!
the missing newsday journalists have been found:
"The two had been missing since last Monday night. McAllester, a reporter, and Saman, a photographer, were covering the war for Newsday in Baghdad. For several days, Newsday editors said they believed the pair were in the custody of Iraqi authorities.
"We're are just euphoric," said Newsday Publisher and chief executive Raymond Jansen, shortly after learning the journalists were safe. "They told us by phone that they are safe. It will take us a while to get the details, but we want them to enjoy their freedom and get a good night's sleep."