RSS
 

Posts Tagged ‘photojournalism’

New York Times unveils prototype system aimed at inspiring confidence in photojournalism

10 May

Misinformation is a big issue online, especially with how quickly false stories are shared. The New York Times R&D team has worked with the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) on a prototype system ‘exploring tools to give readers transparency into the source and veracity of news visuals.’ If a picture is worth a thousand words, the picture must be verifiably truthful to its viewers.

As CAI points out, it used to be a given that a ‘photograph never lies.’ However, that hasn’t been true for a long time. It’s easy for an image to be manipulated and tell a story far from the truth. It’s hard to tell fact from fiction, and a fake or doctored image can make the rounds so quickly that you see it many times on your feed before you ever see the original image. That is if you ever see the real image at all. A study by Adobe found that there’s a lack of trust in images and that people are concerned about seeing doctored content. The study also found that photographers are concerned with image theft and plagiarism.

The NYT R&T team shows their ‘secure sourcing’ prototype visualization.

For photographers, it’s not just about the honesty of an image, it’s about credit. Someone can screengrab a photographer’s image and spread it around the web before the photographer ever has the opportunity to demand the financial compensation they deserve. After the image has been seen all over the internet, the value of their work has already been irreparably damaged. Santiago Lyon, Head of Advocacy & Education at CAI, writes, ‘Regardless of source, images are plucked out of the traditional and social media streams, quickly screen-grabbed, sometimes altered, posted and reposted extensively online, usually without payment or acknowledgment and often lacking the original contextual information that might help us identify the source, frame our interpretation. and add to our understanding.’

Scott Lowenstein of NYT R&D says, ‘The more people are able to understand the true origin of their media, the less room there is for ‘fake news’ and other deceitful information. Allowing everyone to provide and access media origins will protect against manipulated, deceptive, or out-of-context online media.’

Along with Adobe and Twitter, The New York Times Co. is a founding member of the CAI. The CAI and its partners ‘are working to develop an open industry standard that will allow for more confidence in the authenticity of photographs (and then video and other file types). We are creating a community of trust, to help viewers know if they can believe what they see.’ To this end, the new prototype outlines a ‘secure sourcing’ workflow, which will preserve metadata with secure signatures at each step as an image is captured, edited in Adobe Photoshop, and published. As an image is published, links to an original image will be attached and signed by a social media platform.

Photograph by Niko Koppel for the NYT R&D project, integrated with CAI Content Credentials.

Lyon writes, ‘This important work demonstrates how a well-respected news outlet like the NYT is experimenting with CAI technology, giving us a hint of what’s possible at scale. This aligns with our goal of displaying a CAI logo next to images published in traditional or social media that gives the consumer more information about the provenance of the imagery, such as where and when it was first created and how it might have been altered or edited.’

Lyon continues, ‘This will bolster trust in content among both consumers and capture partners (such as Qualcomm and Truepic), editing partners (in this case, our colleagues at Adobe Photoshop), and publishers, such as the New York Times and others.’

Eventually, the hope is that CAI logos can be placed next to images on traditional publishing and social media platforms, inspiring confidence in the provenance of images and explaining how an image was edited before being published. Ideally, viewers would be able to click on the CAI logo and find out about the image creator and see all the edits that have been made.

For the initiative and the NYT R&D prototype to work, widespread adoption is necessary. The overall distrust in the news and images will require considerable work to improve. Reliable, secure, and accessible records of image creation and edits will go a long way toward inspiring confidence in images.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on New York Times unveils prototype system aimed at inspiring confidence in photojournalism

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Special report demands ‘Me Too’ moment for photojournalism

19 Jul
©Darrel Frost/CJR. Used with kind permission

It won’t come as a surprise to anyone that there are some unpleasant, predatory men within the photography industry. However, a long-form, extensively researched special report in the Columbia Journalism Review about sexual harassment in photojournalism is still a depressing, eye-opening read. As the report bluntly spells out: “Photojournalism has a sexual harassment problem.”

“An issue that’s long been discussed in private was catapulted into the open: Photojournalism has a sexual harassment problem.”

The article details multiple female photographers’ experiences of being harassed by men in the industry: “many women in the industry say the behavior is so common that they have long considered it simply one of the realities of working as a woman in the profession,” it says. But looking beyond the specific examples, the insights it offers about the way the structure of the industry leaves young photographers (and particularly young female photographers) vulnerable to harassment are especially troubling. As the industry moves more and more towards the use of freelancers, young photographers are left with little support and no mechanism to prevent it happening to others.

“Many women in the industry say the behavior is so common that they have long considered it simply one of the realities of working as a woman in the profession”

Moreover, the individual examples given not only highlight that there are some male photographers willing to abuse their position, but also that there are plenty of other photographers willing to look away and say nothing when it happens.

Even if you don’t work in the industry, it’s worth a read.

Read the CJR Special Report on sexual harassment in photojournalism


A sample of some deleted comments on this article, as of 1:14pm:

“Every woman who tried to flirt her way to an extra payday will now re-invent herself as a victim.”

“Fake News”

“It will continue for as long as women allow it to happen and continue to work with people who do it. They are free to put a stop to it and walk out of any job. Men, society, laws, articles are not going to fix it for them.”

“This is just more trash. There are better things to discuss. Me Too is a very opinionated and political topic. No sense posting this trash here.”

“This garbage isn’t going to win you guys a Pulitzer. It’s been beaten to death. Give it a rest.”

“So what? Life is not fair and women are not special.”

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Special report demands ‘Me Too’ moment for photojournalism

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Light.co launches ‘Depth Collective’ to support photojournalism with the L16 camera

03 Mar

Light.co, the company behind the innovative (if still in its infancy) Light L16 camera, has announced a new initiative called Depth Collective that aims to support photojournalists in their efforts at “pursuing the truth.” The initiative revolves around the L16 camera itself, which Light.co presents as an inconspicuous alternative to DSLRs for photojournalists who don’t want to be noticed.

“In the past few years,” the company said, “we’ve seen some photojournalists swap their DSLRs for iPhones to stay inconspicuous in their reporting—but they sacrifice quality to do so.” The L16 is a better option, says the company, thanks to its 16 individual camera modules, computational approach to photography, and 52MP max resolution.

Depth Collective members are given multiple perks under the membership, including a $ 500 discount off the L16 camera, early previews of new L16 updates and features, a shot at a bi-annual $ 5,000 reporting grant, plus a free Peak Design pouch and wrist strap.

Any visual artist or photojournalist can apply for Depth Collective membership, but they must have a UK or US address to which the L16 camera can be shipped—shipping elsewhere will start “soon,” but a specific date hasn’t been provided. Applicants must provide a link to their website or portfolio, as well as a brief statement about how the L16 camera will help them with their photojournalism. A full Depth Collective FAQ is available here.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Light.co launches ‘Depth Collective’ to support photojournalism with the L16 camera

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Is this drone-toting concept car the future of photojournalism?

11 Jan

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_3973428980″,”galleryId”:”3973428980″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”standalone”:false,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”startInCommentsView”:false,”isMobile”:false}) });

Photojournalists, especially those embedded or covering remote and/or dangerous regions of the world would likely benefit from a vehicle specifically designed to help them overcome the daily challenges they face. Dillon Kane, an automotive design student at Lawrence Technological University, seemed to think so too. He recently won Magna International’s ‘Main Event’ design competition for his concept called ’30 degrees West,’ a futuristic car that we can only describe as an Inspector Gadgetmobile for visual journalists.

The competition is held annually prior to the North American International Auto Show, and this year, judges asked young automotive designers to dream up a new vehicle that might debut in the year 2030.

Sure, the vehicle rendering looks a bit like a riding lawnmower, but it would actually be packed with intelligent technology and design. Kane’s design features compartments for gear located on all sides of the vehicle (that apparently open and close in near silence) and a ladder pops out from the back of the vehicle to allow journalists a higher vantage point. Of course, if standing on the roof still isn’t high enough, the vehicle has a built in drone, also located on the roof, that can be launched for aerial coverage. Because duh, it’s the future and drones.

Additionally, the vehicle would be covered with smart sensors and cameras to record information about one’s environment, and a built-in ‘gentle light’ is also included in the design to create some flattering light for portraits on the fly. While some aspects of its design may seem like they need more hashing out (like the fact that it is not autonomous and must be piloted), it’s pretty cool to see a vision for a car designed specifically with photographers in mind.

So what do you think of Kane’s design, is it something you’d drive? Or better yet, how would you improve upon it to make it truly meet the needs of traveling photographers? Let us know in the comments!

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Is this drone-toting concept car the future of photojournalism?

Posted in Uncategorized

 

TIME to celebrate 175 years of photojournalism

04 Nov

TIME magazine is celebrating the birth of photography and photojournalism with a ‘multimedia experience’ telling the stories behind 100 of history’s most influential images. The project goes live at time.com/photos on November 17, but you can get a preview by way of the trailer above. A hardcover book is also available. 

Are there any photos you don’t see in the trailer that you expect to see in the top 100? Let us know in the comments.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on TIME to celebrate 175 years of photojournalism

Posted in Uncategorized

 

The Art of Photojournalism: Tell a Story with Your Image

15 Jul

Many people don’t think of photojournalism as being an artistic pursuit. In many ways, it isn’t. Documentary photography is often utilitarian in nature; the photographer’s job is to tell a story plainly, honestly and efficiently. A person might argue that approaching this job with other intentions, such as producing great art, could potentially sully the images. That is, if the Continue Reading

The post The Art of Photojournalism: Tell a Story with Your Image appeared first on Photodoto.


Photodoto

 
Comments Off on The Art of Photojournalism: Tell a Story with Your Image

Posted in Photography

 

Jet Set: The travel photography and photojournalism of Mark Edward Harris

12 Apr

With nearly thirty years of photography as well as almost ninety countries under his belt, travel, editorial and reportage photographer Mark Edward Harris has dedicated his eye to capturing life. His career in photography began as a still shooter for the Merv Griffin Show, but it was a four month trek through Asia when the show ended that first ignited his true love; travel photography. Read more about Harris’ photography as well as his tips on traveling light in our Q+A. See gallery

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Jet Set: The travel photography and photojournalism of Mark Edward Harris

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Nikon-Walkley Awards for Excellence in Photojournalism finalists announced

02 Nov

The 2014 Nikon-Walkley Awards finalists and the Photo of the Year winner have been announced. The Walkley Awards seek to recognize excellence in Australian media, and in partnership with Nikon, highlight outstanding work in photojournalism across a number of categories. Take a look at this year’s finalists and Photo of the Year winner. See gallery

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Nikon-Walkley Awards for Excellence in Photojournalism finalists announced

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Ricoh to give away cameras for ‘photojournalism’ competition

28 Mar

THETA-diagonalv2.jpg

Ricoh Imaging Company has announced an advertorial feature on cnn.com called ‘Spherical Report 360’, where 360 people will be selected to receive a free Ricoh Theta spherical camera to shoot local news and events. Images taken with the Theta will then be judged for a Pentax K-3 grand prize. To be considered for a free Theta camera visit the Spherical Report 360 website for application guidelines. Applications will be accepted between March 27, 2014 through April 10, 2014. Learn more

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Ricoh to give away cameras for ‘photojournalism’ competition

Posted in Uncategorized

 

A Day in the Life of the KKK: Anthony Karen talks trust & photojournalism

15 Aug

5.jpg.CROP.original-original.jpg

Photographer Anthony Karen has built a career around gaining access to ostensibly inaccessible societies. After a trip to Haiti documenting Vodou rituals, he has gone on to photograph white supremacist groups, the infamous Westboro Baptist Church and the Ku Klux Klan. His compelling photos and unrestricted access to the KKK resulted in a collaboration with the Discovery Channel, and slate.com has published an interesting profile of his work, in which he explains his approach. Click through for extracts, and some of his compelling images. 

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on A Day in the Life of the KKK: Anthony Karen talks trust & photojournalism

Posted in Uncategorized