MOLLY, HARPER AND ALICE
I made a portrait of Mo;y and Alice when Molly when she was 9 months pregnant on a Sunday and then the next Tuesday the Harper came arrived into the world. Now that she just turned 2. I got to photograph them all again. Harper loves playing “Where’s the baby” with me. What a sweet child.
Portrait of an Indian Wedding Couple
I had the honor of making a portrait of a couple, Namita and Gauhar on their wedding day at the Golf Club at Newcastle over the weekend.
The golf club sits on a high point overlooking Lake Washington and the City of Seattle and the distant Olympic Mountains.
Their beautiful wedding garments enhanced the exotic of the portrait in the context of the setting. Especially the long wheat grass surrounding them.
Wind Power At Sea, Over the North Atlantic
Wind Power At Sea North Atlantic. Viewed from a commercial airliner on a trip from Europe. This photo is by my father-in-law Dusan Dorotka made on the way from Slovakia to visit us here in Seattle.
Bellevue Jazz Festival
Last weekend was the annual 2011 Bellevue Jazz Festival and I was once again asked to photograph the event by the producers. Here are a couple of my favorite images so far in my editing of the pictures. Above is a shot of the amazing bassist Evan Flory-Barnes with his group Threat of Beauty as part of the 2011 Bellevue Jazz Festival last Thursday. Also in the group is Jason Holt on drums and and Jacques Willis on Vibes. Here are a few images from their performance which I throughly enjoyed.
Preeminent violinist Regina Carter put on a fascinatingly beautiful performance last Weds night as she and her band kicked off the opening performance of the 2011 Bellevue Jazz Festival at the Theatre at Meydenbauer Centre. Almost every performance I covered was a joy to hear.
Little Shop Of Horrors Plant
Last week Salmon Bay School put on their annual musical play. The part of the plant. Audrey 2, in the Little Shop of Horrors was played by Claire. This was her second adventure in theatre. Last year she played the part of the dog Toto in Wizzard of Oz. She was directed by Glyde King and her costume was made by Cameron Mason
Special Olympics Washington
Saturday was a beautiful day with sun all day and warm temperatures making it the warmest day of the year so far. It was also the day that the King County Regional Special Olympics Track & Field tournament was held and I was honored to be their photographer. More than 300 Special Olympians and their coaches and families turned out and had a great time. Seattle Seahawk defensive back and special teams captain Roy Lewis made an appearance to help hand out the medals. He was one of a number of local stars that came to help out. It was the first time anyone could remember that it did not rain on the Shoreline Stadium grounds on the day of the tournament. Here are some of my favorite images from the event. If you would like to see all of the photos and order prints go to Photo Bucket by clicking here.
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Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan does corporate events and portrait photography for national corporations and publications and is a Seattle Wedding Photographer with an artistic photojournalist style.
Portrait of Ema
It has been a while since I made a portrait of Ema and she looks quite different from the last time. We were out on a boat in Lake Union and I made some like the one below, of Ema with her sister Claire and friend Yasmina visiting from Europe. Then Ema went down below to the cabin and I shot this one of her in the shade.
They grow up so fast. I should be shooting them more often.
Portrait Photography by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan creating portraits for publications and a Seattle Wedding Photographer with an artistic photojournalist style.
Portrait of Bill Frisell and Petra Hayden
I photographed Bill Frisell and Petra Hayden for an album they recorded together a few years back and tried using my tilt shift lens for a different look. This was the frame I really like best. The music they made together was a wonderful album I still listen to from time to time to hear Petra who has a smooth silky voice on top of Bill’s dreamy guitar licks.
Portrait Photography by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan creating portraits for publications and a Seattle Wedding Photographer with an artistic photojournalist style.
Zombies Set to Invade Seattle Again on Saturday
Last year around this time, I was out at a bar in Seattle having a beer at the High Dive in Fremont, watching “The Buckets”, a local band my friend Michael plays guitar in. When the show was done I headed towards the door and saw these Zombies at a table and photographed them and wondered why they had been let in to the bar dressed like that. Then I hit the streets and it looked like the Zombies had taken over the city. I started taking photos as they walked by. There were thousands of them around. I did make it out of Fremont ok. It turned out that more than 3 thousand people participated that Friday night in Fremont in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for most people in a zombie walk.
After the walk the zombies went for a viewing of some outdoor movies, Shaun of the Dead, and playing of Michael Jackson’s Thriller for zombies to dance to. More than a thousand zombies danced to Michael Jackson’s Thriller. The event was scheduled before his death, and so it turned into a tribute to him.
As it turned out, Fremont broke the world’s record for the most zombies in one place with the new official record of 3,894 zombies. Then England stepped in and took away the record. So this Saturday is the second annual Red, White & Dead event. Seattle can then lay claim to the “Zombie Capital of the World” once and for all in the “Dead” Center of the Universe. The goal is to outdo the Brits, who hold the zombie walk Guinness World Record through the Big Chill Music Festival in England. From noon to midnight Saturday at Fremont Outdoor Movies (3501 Phinney Ave. N.), there will be an attempt to beat Guinness Book of Records with most “zombies” in one location. 3,575 are expected. From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., zombies will dance and walk on sidewalks in Fremont, with North 35th Street closed from Phinney Avenue North to First Avenue NW. his year also marks the “Year of the Zombie” and Seattle seems to be the center of attention, as 2010 marks another first for Seattle with ZomBcon, the world’s first Zombie Culture Convention infecting Seattle on Halloween weekend at the Seattle Center and Experience Music Project with over 100 Exhibitors, 10 interactive fan workshops, panels, a SIFF-curated film series, and Halloween Masquerade , Zombie Prom party. We plan to have a collection of experts, authors, filmmakers, historians, celebrities and all the gear and fan fare for the Quintessential Zombie fan. Here are some pictures from last years zombie walk.
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Editorial photography by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan, who shoots corporate and editorial photography and portraits for publications and Seattle Wedding Photography with an artistic photojournalist style.
Madrona Modern – Seattle Homes & Lifestyles
I just found out that the July/August issue of Seattle Homes & Lifestyles Magazine is running my architectural photography of the Madrona Modern home I photographed for Seattle interior designer Robin Chell of Robin Chell Design and architects David Bennett and Kim Lavacot of Bennett Lavacot Architecture. In fact they have chosen the above picture for the cover of the magazine. It was a beautiful and sophisticated house to photograph with a quiet, simple elegance. Read the story here: Seattle Homes & Lifestyles
Architectural photography by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan, who creates architectural photography and portrait photography for publications and Seattle Wedding Photography with an artistic photojournalist style.
Terence Blanchard at Bellevue Jazz festival
Terence Blanchard put in a wonderful set Saturday night backed by a group of young and up and coming artists.
Sunday June 6th is the final day of the Festival. For tickets and more information go to the Festival website; Bellevue Jazz Festival
A world renowned trumpeter, composer, band leader and Blue Note recording artist, Terence Blanchard is the most prolific jazz musician to ever compose for motion pictures. Blanchard was born and raised in New Orleans where he studied with the Marsalis brothers at the famed New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts in 1980. Blanchard originally began performing on Spike Lee’s soundtracks, including “Mo Better Blues” in which he ghosted the trumpet for Denzel Washington.
Blanchard has established himself as one of the most influential jazz musicians and film score masters of his generation, a member of a jazz legacy that has shaped the contours of modern jazz today. With more than 29 albums to his credit, as a musician Blanchard is a multi-GRAMMY Award winner and nominee, winning in 2008 for his instrumental solo for “Be-Bop” on Live At The 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival. In addition to receiving the award, Blanchard performed live on the telecast along with other New Orleans artists including Lil’ Wayne, Allen Toussaint and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, who were all joined on-stage by singer Robin Thicke. Also in 2008, Blanchard won a GRAMMY for his CD, A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina), a beautifully haunting and impassioned song cycle about Hurricane Katrina and the ravages incurred upon the City of New Orleans and its residents.
As a film composer, Blanchard has more than 50 scores to his credit and received a Golden Globe nomination for Spike Lee’s “25th Hour.” In 2008 he completed the score for Lee’s “Miracle at St. Anna,” as well as the soundtrack for Darnell Martin’s “Cadillac Records.” Other film music written by Blanchard includes Kasi Lemmons’ “Eve’s Bayou” and “Talk to Me,” Oprah Winfrey’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Tim Story’s “Barbershop” and Ron Shelton’s “Dark Blue.” He is currently working on the score for George Lucas’ “Red Tails” and has already completed musical contributions for the score on Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog,” set for release this fall.
As Artistic Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, which he was instrumental in relocating from Los Angeles to New Orleans, Blanchard works with students in the areas of artistic development, arranging, composition and concert programming. He also participates in master classes around the world as well as local community outreach activities in his beloved hometown of New Orleans.
Jazz Photography by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan, who photographs jazz performances, and creates portrait photography for publications and Seattle Wedding Photographywith an artistic photojournalist style.
The Bad Plus at the Bellevue Jazz Festival
The Bad Plus drummer David King was all over his drum kit Friday night at Theatre at Meydenbauer Center as the Bellevue Jazz Festival continues. What a great show they put on. David King was outstanding as was bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson.
For tickets and more information go to the Festival website; Bellevue Jazz Festival
Forget categories and catch phrases. The sound of The Bad Plus is distinctive, eclectic and formidable. The Bad Plus have exploded all notions of what a jazz piano trio should sound like, whether at outdoor rock festivals, jazz clubs or symphony halls.
The Bad Plus is a collective made up of bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson, and drummer David King. All three are from the Midwest and they have known each other since their teens. Nonetheless, with the exception of one unimpressive meeting in 1990, it is only after spending their formative 20s apart — King as member of the seminal indie jazz group Happy Apple, Iverson as the musical director for the Mark Morris Dance Group, Anderson as a prominent up-and-coming player on the New York jazz scene — that they reunited in late 2000 to play a weekend club date in Minneapolis. The chemistry was immediate and obvious. They planned a second gig and a one-day recording session for the indie jazz label Fresh Sound and The Bad Plus was born.
The Los Angeles Times ranked the trio among the leaders of what might be called the Nu Jazz movement. Newsweek declared their 2005 release Suspicious Activity? to be “among the freshest sounding albums of the year”. And according to Rolling Stone, “by any standard, jazz or otherwise, this is mighty, moving music, hot players with hard-rock hearts”. In short, a diverse array of music lovers has been seduced by The Bad Plus and their earnest, dizzying musicianship.
The Los Angeles Times ranked the trio among the leaders of what might be called the Nu Jazz movement. Newsweek declared their 2005 release Suspicious Activity? to be “among the freshest sounding albums of the year”. And according to Rolling Stone, “by any standard, jazz or otherwise, this is mighty, moving music, hot players with hard-rock hearts”. In short, a diverse array of music lovers has been seduced by The Bad Plus and their earnest, dizzying musicianship. Jazz Photography by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan, who photographs jazz performances, and creates portrait photography for publications and Seattle Wedding Photography with an artistic photojournalist style. See more work from this Seattle Photographer.
Guardian (UK) Steals Photo from Photographer
This is Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan’s photo of Larry Ochs that the Guardian (UK) used without permission and without a photo credit on their website with an article headlined “Spanish fan calls police over saxophone band who were just not jazzy enough” All Photographs on this website Daniel Sheehan © 2009. All Rights Reserved. Please inquire for permission before using.
After discovering their unauthorized use a day or so afterwards I wrote to their music editor at music.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk but he has not yet seen fit to respond. I am now pondering what my next move will be. UPDATE: I have received word from the Guardian that they are sorry they used the photo without permission and offered payment and then some for for their use.
Click on jazz photography to see the original blog post on my jazz photography website eyeshotjazz where the photo was first posted last year.
Here is their story:
“Jazzman Larry Ochs has seen many things during 40 years playing his saxophone around the world but, until this week, nobody had ever called the police on him. That changed on Monday night however, when’s Spain’s pistol-carrying Civil Guard police force descended on the Sigüenza Jazz festival to investigate allegations that Ochs’s music was not, well, jazz.
Police decided to investigate after an angry jazz buff complained that the Larry Ochs Sax and Drumming Core group was on the wrong side of a line dividing jazz from contemporary music. The jazz purist claimed his doctor had warned it was “psychologically inadvisable” for him to listen to anything that could be mistaken for mere contemporary music.
According to a report in El País newspaper yesterday, the khaki-clad police officers listened to the saxophone-playing and drumming coming from the festival stage before agreeing that the purist might, indeed, have a case. His complaint against the organisers, who refused to return his money, was duly registered and will be passed on to a judge.
“The gentleman said this was not jazz and that he wanted his money back,” said the festival director, Ricardo Checa. ”He didn’t get his money. After all, he knew exactly what group he was going to see, as their names were on the festival programme. He added: “The question of what constitutes jazz and what does not is obviously a subjective one, but not everything is New Orleans funeral music.”
“Larry Ochs plays contemporary, creative jazz. He is a fine musician and very well-renowned.” ”I thought I had seen it all,” Ochs, who reportedly suffered a momentary identity crisis, told El País. “I was obviously mistaken.” ”After this I will at least have a story to tell my grandchildren,” the California-based saxophonist added.”
Jazz Photography by editorial photographer and photojournalist Daniel Sheehan who covers jazz performances, and creates portrait photography for publications and corporations. He is also a Seattle Wedding Photographer at A Beautiful Day Photography, a wedding photographer with an artistic photojournalist style.
Cannabis Crusader
For an assignment for The Chronicle of Higher Education last week I photographed Sunil K. Aggarwal, above, who is in his final year of an M.D.-Ph.D. program at the University of Washington. They were running an article on him because of his efforts to convince the American Medical Association to help get marijuana reclassified as a drug with medical benefits.
” For more than 30 years, the federal government has classified marijuana as a highly dangerous drug with no medical uses, and for more than a decade, the American Medical Association has endorsed that classification. But this month, the association called on the government to reconsider the drug’s current status alongside heroin and LSD, and to consider its medicinal potential.” from the article by Katherine Mangan in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Earshot Jazz Festival Closes with Evan Flory-Barnes
Evan Flory-Barnes conducts his ensemble in the premiere performance of his large chamber composition ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF A CELEBRATION at Town Hall in the final presentation of the 2009 Earshot Jazz Festival.
What a great performance by the orchestra moving through a fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and classical music, complete with modern dancers and freestyle break dancers. The Seattle bassist and composer is excited premiering the large chamber work, a snapshot of the abundance of inspiration that can thread artistic mediums together in Seattle. The premiere of Acknowledgement of a Celebration features 35 musicians and ten dancers set to Flory-Barnes’s new compositions.
Flory-Barnes performs with an inclusive passion and expressive intensity, as though he were completely immersed in music. He regularly brings his trio, The Teaching, to the Lucid jazz club in the University District for an open community jam and hang. The Teaching appeared in the 2008 Earshot Jazz Festival at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center.
A Whole Nother Kind of Jazz
WAYNE HORVITZ: THESE HILLS OF GLORY
Soloist Carla Kihlstedt (violin) and the Odeonquartet, a world-renowned chamber group featuring Seattle Symphony musicians, perform Wayne Horvitz’s new chamber-music work, These Hills of Glory
The Earshot Jazz Festival is in it’s final week and so I am looking forward to staying home in the evenings starting next week for a least a little while. It has been a lot of fun covering the festival. I have seen and heard a lot of different styles of mostly jazz being played but the music of Wayne Horvitz was something very special.
Pianist Cristina Valdes performs the world premier of Wayne Horvitz’s For Piano Alone in Four Parts
The Odeon Quartet consisting of Gennady Fillmonov, violin, Artur Girsky,violin, Heather Bentley, viola, and Helene Ferret, cello, perform the world premier of Robin Holcomb’s Carry Over
Wayne Horvitz joins the Odeon Quartet and Carla Kihistedt on stage at the end of the performance of These Hills of Glory
Ares I-X Launches
Smoke engulfs Launch Pad 39B as the Ares I-X test rocket takes off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:30 a.m. EDT Oct. 28. (NASA/ Sandra Joseph and Kevin O’Connell)
October 28th, NASA launched its Ares I-X prototype vehicle, the first launch from Kennedy’s pads of a vehicle other than the space shuttle since the Apollo Program’s Saturn rockets were retired. NASA’s Constellation Program’s 327-foot-tall rocket produced 2.96 million pounds of thrust at liftoff and reached a speed of 100 mph in eight seconds. The Big Picture blog has the coverage of 28 photos documenting its creation.
NASA’s Ares 1-X rocket lifts off from launch pad 39-b at the Kennedy Space Center October 28, 2009 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
A cone of moisture surrounds part of the Ares I-X rocket during lift off Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009, on a sub-orbital test flight from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-B in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara
Earshot Jazz Festival Opens
GARFIELD HIGH SCHOOL JAZZ BAND, With SPECIAL GUEST MIGUEL ZENÓN, under the direction of Clarence Acox, opened the 2009 Earshot Jazz Festival Friday night to a packed house at the Triple Door. What a great vibe to begin the festival. It is amazing to see some many talented young musicians coming up here in Seattle. What a fantastic show. Miguel and all of those student sax players were a delight to hear.
Miguel Zenon was back smokin at the Triple Door on Saturday night with his Esta Plena Quintet.
Allen Toussaint was at the Triple Door Sunday with his quartet and they were all in the comfortable New Orleans style rhythms and blues. It is amazing how many great songs he has put out over the years and how comfortable his feet must be in those open sandle shoes.
Composer, producer, pianist, singer, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Allen Toussaint is a living legend. His work in the 1960s and 1970s helped define the sound of R&B, soul, and funk as we hear it today. Penning such songs as “Working in the Coal Mine,” performed by Lee Dorsey, “Ruler of My Heart,” by Irma Thomas, and “Mother-in-Law,” by Ernie K-Doe, Toussaint’s contributions to modern music extend far beyond what is commonly acknowledged. Combined with the easygoing charm and style of his home city of New Orleans, Toussaint has established himself as a true joy of song and culture. Continue reading at Earshot Festival Guide
Portrait Of A Chair
I had to photograph a chair for a furniture designer and importer for a marketing campaign and decided to approach it much the same way I would approach making a portrait of a person. I wanted to show off its best side and have some of its personality come through. Both the client and I were happy with the resulting picture.
Red Mountain, Washington State Appellation
I had an editorial assignment over in the Yakima Valley last week so while I was close by, I decided to stop off to make some panoramas of one of my favorite sources of red wine, the Red Mountain Appellation. It is early in the growing season but the vines look very promising this first half of June. Today we have tied the record for the longest stretch without rainfall in Seattle: 29 days. It was also pretty dry over in central Washington. I saw the fire danger signs indicating high.
It’s funny that looking at the mountain in this photograph, you can not see anything red about Red Mountain. Here is some more information on Red Mountain:
The Red Mountain AVA is Washington’s smallest. The region is approximately 4,040 acres with approximately 800 acres currently planted. The name Red Mountain can be misleading for two reasons. First, it does not refer to the color of the mountain’s soil, but rather, some say, to a native grass with a red hue. Secondly, Red Mountain, for those with other mountains in mind, might be a disappointment, since its elevation ranges from only 500 to 1,500 feet. Even so, among the rolling hills of eastern Washington’s desert, Red Mountain’s sloping hillside is a prominent landmark, storing radiant heat for the growing vines of the valley floor. The Yakima River flows nearby, helping moderate climate extremes, as do so many major rivers in wine country regions throughout the world.
In the 1970s, John Williams of Kiona Vineyards and Jim Holmes, originally of Kiona then Ciel du Cheval vineyards, with advice from Walter Clore, (officially recognized by the Washington State Legislature in 2003 as the father of the Washington State wine industry) pioneered grape growing in the area. In the 1980s, wines made from grapes in the Red Mountain area began receiving recognition for their distinct flavor profiles though federal laws permitted only to carry the designation as being from the Columbia Valley AVA or Yakima Valley AVA. In the late 1990s, Lorne Jacobson from Hedges Family Estates started a drive to achieve federal recognition of the area as its own AVA, which was granted in April, 2001. The Hedges Family Estates’ appellation petition was joined by Kiona Vineyards, Blackwood Canyon Vintners, Sandhill Winery, Seth Ryan Winery and Terra Blanca Winery.
In 2007, Chateau Ste Michelle and Marchesi Antinori invested 6.5 million dollars in the appellation to purchase vineyards and establish a winery to produce their joint venture wine, Col Solare.
Some say Red Mountain Appellation has it all: slope, exposure, weather conditions, good air drainage, large swings between day and night temperatures, six wineries within a few miles, plenty of undeveloped land, gravelly soil with high calcium carbonate content and high pH (high alkalinity), both contributing flavor to grapes grown here. Sloping lands beneath the broad Red Mountain lie at the southeast end of the Yakima Valley, overlooking Benton City, where annual rainfall is only about six inches, and supplemental irrigation is usually provided a few months into the growing season. Wines made from Red Mountain fruit express the terroir with great strength and richness, while demonstrating exceptional balance of fruit, acidity, and tannin.
The Vineyards:Red Mountain is home to many of the state’s most prestigious grape growers such as Klipsun Vineyards, Ciel de Cheval Vineyards, Hedges Vineyards, Red Mountain Vineyards (RMV), Kiona Vineyards, Artz Vineyards, and Tapteil Vineyards. These vineyards sell their fruit to some of the state’s most celebrated wineries such as Bookwalter, Barnard Griffin, Soos Creek Cellars, Quilceda Creek, Andrew Will, Woodward Canyon, L’Ecole No41, DeLille Cellars, Nota Bene, Matthews Cellars, McCrea Cellars, Washington Hills (Apex, Bridgman), Waterbrook, Seven Hills Winery, and Canoe Ridge.
The area is known for producing powerful, tannic red wines. The wines are known for their balance in flavors, with an intense concentration of berry flavors.Compared to the Cabernet Sauvignon produced in other areas of the states, the Cabernets here are more structured than fruit-driven. Grapes from this area are in high demand and vineyards with notable reputations can receive as much as 30% above market price for their crops. The primary Cabernet Sauvignon clone planted is clone #8, which in Red Mountain produces a Cabernet wine similar in profile to a California wine, while the same clone planted in nearby Horse Heaven Hills AVA produces a wine similar in profile to Bordeaux.
100 point wines
Many of Washington “Cult wines” are produced from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes grown in this AVA including the 2002, 2003 and 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, which scored the rare 100 point rating from Robert Parker “The Wine Advocate” Only 15 other wines in the US have received this designation, all made from California grapes. Only five other previous vintages have received consecutive perfect scores in The Wine Advocate’ publishing history. The Quilceda Creek wines were a blends with grapes from three Red Mountain vineyards-Ciel du Cheval, Klipsun, and Taptiel-and one vineyard from the nearby Horse Heaven Hills AVA.
source: Wines Northwest, Wikipedia
Architectural Photography – The Jan Sewell House
Recently, I photographed Jan Sewell of Jan Sewell Design and Jan Sewell Real Estate and her beautiful home in Madison Park. Her place is like a museum with incredible art on all the walls and sculpture scattered all around the place. She does decorate and sell homes for a living after all, so it is no surprise that her place is drop dead gorgeous. I have to add that Jan is not your normal real estate agent. She will make you house look so good you very well might have to change your mind about selling it in the end.
So what do you from a real estate agent with great taste?
More Photos From Iran Election Protest
Supporters of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi demonstrate June 16, 2009 in Tehran, Iran.
The blog of the Boston Globe “The Big Picture”, has just posted some more photos from today’s demonstrations in Iran. They say”After the relatively free (if sporadic) flow of news, tweets, video and photographs from Iran the past several days, today saw a tighter clampdown, with the government officially banning foreign media from covering rallies and taking further efforts to block online communications. Though photographs from inside Iran are now more rare, there are still a few available. Collected here are three mini-collections: images of reactions from Iranians abroad and the international community, images of pro-Ahmadinejad rallies from Iran (allowed under current restrictions), and several photos from continued rallies held today in support of reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi.” They have added 27 new photos today. Go and check it out It is at The Big Picture
Landscape Photography
Crossing the Columbia I was heading back to Seattle from an editorial assignment in Spokane, Washington, when the sky started turning darker. I could see many miles ahead since the land is so flat and the rain storm was massive, but the sun would peak through in place. There was a rainbow but by the time I reached the Columbia River and a place to pull over the rainbow was gone. Just the mass of dark clouds and rain squalls over the Columbia running down in the gorge below
New York Times Runs Staged Photograph
The New York Times ran an unusual note from the editor last Friday stating:
“A picture on May 5 with the continuation of a front-page article about the porous Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and the strategic advantages it offers to Taliban insurgents fighting American troops, showed a silhouetted Taliban logistics tactician, who was interviewed for the article, holding a rifle, creating the impression that the weapon belonged to him. The Times subsequently learned from the photographer that the rifle belonged to the owner of a home in Pakistan where the interview took place, and that the Taliban tactician had held the weapon only for the purpose of the photograph.
“Had The Times known this information at the time of publication, it would not have used the photograph to illustrate the article.”
I was wondering about who had made the picture and what the circumstances about it were. I found out today well known and respected Washington DC photographer John Harrington posted some information he dug up about the controversy. I think it is especially interesting to read what he has to say about the relationship between what the NY Times stands for and what they pay the photographers who contribute to their newspaper.
He says:
“ Zackary Canepari has a pretty big problem. At the ripe old age of 30 or so, he is likely now persona non-grata at the New York Times, and his journalistic ethics will also likely give other editorial publications pause to hire him.” Then he continues ….Unfortunately, when publications pay a pittance for their photographers, and do not pay a living wage, the photographers with the integrity necessary to work for the top publications in the world do other things – their own projects, books, commercial work, and so on. Heck, even a few teach classes and workshops. Because the New York Times has not, well, pardon the pun, kept up with the times, in terms of pay, they have reapt what they have sown. I would not be surprised that there are others they didn’t catch, and in an era where photographers are driven to compete, whether Zack’s posed photo, which is over the line, to the Reuters photographer with the “enhanced” smoke , which is egregiously over the line, until photographers are paid fairly enough that they can do their jobs – and, it should be said, are staffers with job security, pressures like this will continue to errode the public’s trust in journalistic works. The problem is, once people realize this and think about course-correcting, it will be too late, and visual journalism will have been dealt a mortal blow around the world.
PDNPulse first reported, in New York Times Withdraws Posed News Photo (5/19/08), about the photo above, and the Times’ withdrawal of the photograph, including an apology that PDN ran.”
I used to do assignments for the Times over the years. In fact I believe my first assignment was back in 1981. The going rate for a days assignment was $200. The last time I worked for them was a few years ago and the rate more than 20 years later was still $200. I stopped because they stopped paying for the expenses of making the photos like reimbursement for film and digital processing they used to pay for and then a year later they demanded that all freelance photographers who wish to get work from them sign a contract that gave them the right to uses the photos again without paying any compensation, and they wanted to sell the rights to use the pictures to third parties and take a 50% share of the third party payment. I think my memory is correct on these details. I am sorry to see how they treat photographers because otherwise I enjoy reading their paper. It is sad that some succumb to the temptation to make their photos more sexy by staging news pictures in the hope of getting a good reputation as a photojournalist. All it takes is getting caught once to lose it all. This is only the most recent incident we have heard about.
Go to John’s excellent blog Photo Business News & Forum to ready the whole thing. It is at
http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com