it's a tough question somedays, but one worth considering. so, "what motivates you to get up every day, pick up your camera, and go shoot?"

i just stumbled across the work of simon norfolk. and i'm as intrigued by his words as i am by his pictures.

i came across a list of the top 100 works of journalism in the u.s. in the 20th century this morning. and it was a little disappointing to see that only 6 photographs earned a spot in the top 100:
#27 robert capa. ten photographs from d-day. 1944
#41 nick ut. photograph of a burning girl running from a napalm attack. 1972
#65 margaret bourke-white. photographs for life magazine following the defeat of germany. 1945
#68 joe Rosenthal. photograph of marines raising a u.s. flag on mount suribachi on the island of iwo jima. 1945
#73 robert capa. spanish civil war photos for life. 1936
#92 eddie adams and vo suu. photograph of a saigon execution. 1968
it kind of reminds me of how most newsrooms are run. dominated by the word side. and seeing photos as an after thought. i'd be willing to bet though that more people can conjure up one of those 6 images in their heads before they can quote a line from the #1 choice -- john hershey's hiroshima.
but i digress, and my biases toward how amazing and powerful photojournalism can be will always color my world. so, regardless, it is interesting to see how this list was selected as well as some nominations that didn't make it into the top 100.

Tying in niceley with yesterday's blog, "Overnight, [Sallie] Mann was tossed into the strange ranks of photographers—notably the late Diane Arbus—whose work leaves you squirming even as it holds you spellbound. While Arbus sought out such misfits as sideshow freaks and transvestites, Mann rarely looks beyond her own family, or her own backyard. Yet both artists cast you in the role of voyeur and then force you to question why you can’t turn away. But they also reward your struggle. While your sense of propriety is getting worked over, your sense of humanity is mysteriously expanding."
Photographer Sallie Mann offers us a new look at love, death and light in her new book What Remains.

"Mae West hated the pictures,'' Allan Arbus recalls. ''Because they were truthful.''
''What's left after what one isn't is taken away is what one is,'' Arbus wrote in a notebook in 1959.
''He [Margie Ponce Israel] was always interested in artists pushing as hard as they could toward their own obsessions or perversities,'' says the writer Lawrence Shainberg, who was a close friend.
Sometimes the work would buoy her spirits, but not for long. ''She was always, always both devoted to and loathing of photography,'' Mary Sellers says. ''She was always wondering not was it good enough, but was it true enough.''
The NYTimes Sunday Magazine offers a penetrating look at Diane Arbus' life and love.

"For example, one 20-year-old college student snaps several pictures a day with her camera phone: a picture of her new haircut to send to a boyfriend; a really large shell that she found on a beach; her pet in a cute pose; or a photo of an interesting view from an escalator at a station that she frequents. These are photos of everyday moments and events that are newsworthy only to an individual and her intimates."
I'm not quite sure it's going to bring about the transformation of journalism like the author hints at, but for some camera phones are changing the definition of picture worthy when the mundane is elevated to a photographic object.

Esquire Magazine examines one of the most remembered and most controversial pictures from the September 11 terrorist attacks, the man falling from the world trade center:
"In the picture, he departs from this earth like an arrow. Although he has not chosen his fate, he appears to have, in his last instants of life, embraced it. If he were not falling, he might very well be flying. He appears relaxed, hurtling through the air. He appears comfortable in the grip of unimaginable motion. He does not appear intimidated by gravity's divine suction or by what awaits him."
[big thanks to Seshu Badrinath for the link ]

blueeyes magazine was published today, in remembrance of 9/11. this issue was a special collaborative project: 90 photographs in 2 essays made by 13 different photographers, covering the terrible tragedy and the way it has shaped our country in the last 2 years.

david hume kennerly has teamed up with gateway to put a new gateway t-50 five-megapixel digital camera in the california gubernatorial candidates' hands. the resulting "candidate camera", is a new project providing a first-hand look inside the campaigns.
the deal is that all photos must be taken of and/or by the candidates themselves. and the candidates may submit one image per day for posting on candidatecamera.com. the site promises a mounting day-by-day photo diary of a campaign unique in american history. and looks to be a pretty neat project if everyone participates.

reporters without borders recently published the first worldwide press freedom index. at the top of the list four countries share first place - finland, iceland, norway and the netherlands. these northern european states scrupulously respect press freedom in their own countries but also speak up for it elsewhere, for example recently in eritrea and zimbabwe.
in the worst-ranked countries, press freedom is a dead letter and independent newspapers do not exist. the only voice heard is of media tightly controlled or monitored by the government. the very few independent journalists are constantly harassed, imprisoned or forced into exile by the authorities. the foreign media is banned or allowed in very small doses, always closely monitored. the five countries with least press freedom are north korea, china, burma, turkmenistan and bhutan.
the poor ranking of the united states (17th) is mainly because of the number of journalists arrested or imprisoned there. arrests are often because they refuse to reveal their sources in court.

acclaimed brazilian photojournalist sebastiao salgado recently announced that he is about begin a new ten-year project, genesis, chronicling parts of the earth which remain untouched by modern humankind. this endeavour will complete the trilogy, begun by the massive bodies of work -- workers and migrations.

this month's national geographic just arrived, and in it, is all sorts of visual goodness. including, but not limited to, jodi cobb's epic tale of 21st century slaves, more from africa via michael nichols' lens, zip code: 97210 (portland, oregon) a la photo composities and a really fantastic slices of iraqi life thanks to vii's alexandra boulat.
on the latter, the editor's note in the magazine says that after being inundated with so many images or iraq, they questioned their original plan to present part two of her story. "what more was there to see, or say?" then after receiving boulat's second shipment of photographs the editors realized that "in venturing out of her hotel each day for three months, she had captured what we hadn't yet seen: the war as it was experienced on the streets of baghdad."
it was presented as a diary of a war. 12 doubletruck photos, each date-stamped and with a personal, yet philosophical, narrative. there's also an audio-enhanced multimedia version available online that's worth your time.