At the age of seven, Melissa Spitz first visited her mother in an institution. It was the first of many trips that inspired her project documenting her mother’s mental illness — a project that has now won her TIME Magazine’s Instagram Photographer of the Year 2017.
Netflix’s new eight-part documentary “Shot in the Dark” casts focus on three rival Los Angeles-based video journalists as they chase down the “story of the night,” all with the aim to sell their footage to the news outlets for the morning news. But as the city consumes itself through the night, does the slick production fail to address the morality of the journalists altogether in the hunt for a "Grand Theft Auto"-style brand of entertainment?
What started for native Coloradan Pete McBride as an excuse to go off on adventures became a career in photography that would span two decades, 75 countries, and earn him the National Geographic title Adventurer of the Year. In this installment of Adorama TV Spotlight, we learn about the incredible journeys upon which McBride has embarked, and about his passion for documenting and exposing the issues surrounding freshwater.
New footage has emerged of a starving polar bear surrounded by dry land. The heartbreaking video, picked up by National Geographic, sees the malnourished animal struggling to walk as it searches for food.
It was 1948. One aspiring actress tagged along with a couple of filmmaker friends, and ended up taking some of the most iconic photos the world has ever seen: black and white portraits of Albert Einstein. It had such an effect, she instead pursued photography, going on to take portraits of world leaders, and enjoying a career in photojournalism spanning many decades.
Over 56 million acres of land in the United States is owned and controlled by approximately 500 Native American tribes that received federal recognition and sovereign land from the U.S. government. Living on this land, although a blessing, has made us invisible to the public eye. In addition to the geographical invisibility, our history, modern culture, and social issues have been swept under the rug for decades by mainstream media and the U.S. government. They typically stay out of the reservations altogether, but unfortunately, people can't fix a problem unless they view it with their own eyes, after all, "seeing is believing." This is the reason our own cameras are crucial to healing our indigenous communities.
Largely based in London, the photo series by photographer Ritzo ten Cate aims to capture the faces of people he almost literally bumps into on the street, as they look up from their phones, often rather disorientated.
If you don’t know him by name, you’ll likely have laid eyes on his work. Getty photographer Chris Jackson is the man behind many of the official images of the British royal family and has now spoken of Prince Harry and Megan Markle’s engagement photos.
These incredible, apocalyptic-looking photos, taken by Axel Sigurðarson, show the scenes that occurred during the eruptions in Iceland between August 29, 2014 and February 27, 2015.
On November 13, a North Korean soldier defected through the demilitarized zone, eventually being shot 5 times by fellow North Korean soldiers before lying about 55 yards over the border, where he was dragged to safety by South Korean sergeants 40 minutes later. This video from the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission shows the harrowing escape from start to rescue.
The essence of channeling your inner muse to create amazing photo-journalistic images requires a very specific mindset. Here are a few tips I've learned on perfecting your photojournalism skills to create more powerful intentional images, and these tips can be adapted in other forms of photography to fit your purpose.
One photographer has begun capturing the moment that rats and mice born inside laboratories and used for testing are released to the outside world.
When I photograph events, I do my best to become a “fly on the wall.” I try to stay out of the way, to be unobtrusive, to not affect what’s happening around me and just document what I see. To be a photographer in the White House and be a fly on those walls — surrounded by high stress, classified this and that, diplomats, dignitaries, tragedies, and achievements, while being charged with capturing all of it, 24/7/365 — would obviously be a job that would take all you’ve got. And to do it for not one, but two presidents? That’s nuts. But there’s one guy who did it. His name is Pete Souza.
In the last two months, at least 10 journalists have been arrested while covering protests in St. Louis, leading to multiple press advocacy groups to call on Mayor Lyda Krewson to launch an investigation into the conduct of the police department.
Gregory Nolan doesn’t just have old photos, he’s got an extensive look into the abrasive music scene of London’s 00s. He’s recently dusted off the old hard drives and brought the best of 100,000 photos to the public.
A photojournalist is often called upon to photograph a scene at a moment’s notice. It can be a car accident one day, a music festival, the next and a protest the day after. With that in mind, there are two useful lenses that every photojournalist should carry in their bag to cover such a diverse range of photographic opportunities.
A few months ago, I took an overnight bus from Pokhara, Nepal, to Kathmandu. Arriving at five in the morning was not a part of the plan; nor was losing a night’s worth of sleep to dangerous curves, heavy rainfall, imminent landslides, and music that blared until shortly before arrival in the city. When I got there, I wasn't in too pleasant of a mood.
My heart sank when I first saw the headline that a photographer had been shot by a police officer because his gear was mistaken for a weapon on a rainy night. I didn't want to open the story because I knew it would instill some more fear in my own work while shooting around law enforcement and other potentially dangerous situations. After finally reading the news story, my curiosity led me straight to Andy Grimm's social media to see who he was. I only had to spend a few seconds on his Facebook page to realize that unlike the tragedy that struck him on the stormy night of September 4, his story was pretty beautiful and inspiring.
Being a photojournalist in the U.S. Air Force, there are often some pretty interesting opportunities to cover situations and events that most other photographers I know would probably never find themselves in. When new opportunities come up, there are usually two big questions to ask. One is, am I prepared for this? The other is, how do I even shoot this?
“It’s a photo that I wish didn’t exist but now that it does I want everyone to see it.” That is how the Wildlife Photographer of the Year finalist behind this photo describes his image, which illustrates the threat facing our seas.
Chris Jackson is the man behind the official photos of the Royal family, traveling the globe with William, Kate, and company to document their lives. And he's now revealed some of the details of his day-to-day schedule.
My heart is heavy as I write this tonight, 20,000 acres of my ancestors ceded lands and the very fir trees they once lived beneath, are burning to the ground. Not only is the Columbia River Gorge some of the most beautiful land in Oregon venture in to and photograph, it holds a special place in my own heart. Did you notice the red moon across the country Monday night? Many of you likely took a photo of it like I did here in Louisville, Kentucky. It was breathtaking but today I was devastated to learn the moon was painted by the tragedy in my home lands and across the Northwest.
In a story that could only happen in our current media saturated, social media crazed, 24/7 news atmosphere, a Brazilian man fooled established media outlets worldwide as well as 120,000 plus Instagram followers into thinking he was a United Nations war photographer for the past three years. After being exposed, he is supposedly "in Australia...spend(ing) a year in a van," and his identity still unknown.
Chain smoking indoors, flashy attire, extravagant ceremonies, and not so extravagant living quarters is what photographer Peter van Agtmael captured during his time hanging out with members of the KKK.
I'm sure by now everyone reading this is familiar with the work of photographer and interviewer Brandon Stanton and his long-running project Humans of New York. His crisp, shallow depth of field portraits and poignant interviews have gained international attention since the project's start in 2010. For the last four years, Stanton has quietly been filming his interviews, saving the footage for "something special." Now, that special something has arrived, in the form of a video series which will premiere next week on Facebook's Watch platform.
Stories like this one fill my heart back up with inspiration after times of discouragement. On August 16th, 2016 James Quigg, chief photographer of The DailyPress offered to cover the Blue Cut California wildfire as news of it came into the newsroom. They had just finished covering The Pilot Fire which had changed to a contained status that very day. He expected it to be a quick and easy story as he has learned over 25 years of being a journalist, the second fire was always smaller. When he arrived at the intersection of Interstate 15 and Highway 138 he stood in awe surrounded by flames in all four directions. As he observed the destruction he realized he'd be covering the largest fire of his career and this time he wanted to do something different that would be remembered for years.
The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) reported Bill Frakes, a former Sports Illustrated photographer and 1983 Photographer of the Year in the Pictures of the Year competition, will not return to his position as a lecturer at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln after a Title IX harassment complaint was filed against him. The complaint was accompanied by notes from "at least ten other students" including photojournalim majors and those from other universities who also worked with Frakes.
The inauguration of Donald Trump meant the end of Pete Souza’s position as official White House photographer. Stepping into his shoes, Shealah Craighead has spoken for the first time about the experience of shadowing President Trump.
A photographer recently completed a project that involved setting herself the task of taking a portrait of all 626 of her Facebook friends from across the globe.
The best photographs and films don’t just bring beautiful visuals to the table. They also place story right at the center of their very make up. “Killing The Rock” (KTR) is a five minute demonstration of this, and reminds us of how commitment to our craft combined with small collaborative like-minded souls can tell stories that go deeper and reach further than we ever could going at it alone.
Lukasz Palka, a Polish travel photographer currently residing in Tokyo, embarked on a photo series aiming to document the more intricate details of such a gigantic metropolis. We chatted with him to find out more about his thought process throughout the project.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has weighed in after several reports came from prominent news outlets that Capitol Police were blocking reporters and telling photojournalists not only to stop taking pictures, but to delete the photos.
After years of working in typical areas of photography, Eneil Simpson, has found his calling in a very surprising place: the operating room. As a former flight instructor, Simpson stumbled into very unique and rarely seen world of ophthalmic and surgical photography, after asking his eye doctor if he could sit in on and take an environmental portrait of him. This intended “one off”, resulted in further opportunities, as surgeons began to recommend him to their colleagues.
American renowned former White House photographer and photojournalist, Pete Souza, for his first ever audio interview hosted by Ohio University, speaks of his time documenting the professional and personal life of former President Barack Obama.
Perhaps no single photo is more symbolic of America’s troubles during the Great Depression than Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother.” Depicting an itinerant farm worker, Florence Owens Thompson, and five of her children apparently in the grips of despair on the side of the road, this single image came to surmise an entire era.
There’s no question that the New York Times photo of James Comey during his Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, where he detailed his uncomfortable and suspect dealings with President Donald Trump, is going to be one of the iconic ones of our time. There’s also no question about who overwhelmingly seems to dominate the photojournalism field based on this photo: white men.
This year’s Travel Photographer Society (TPS) competition culminated in a beautiful exhibition of interesting and unique work from travel photographers all over the world in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Surrounding the exhibition, TPS also held a series of talks by prominent travel photographers. In his standout presentation and follow-up blog post, Pics of Asia’s Etienne Bossot questions us deeply about the ethics surrounding travel photography and just what constitutes the genre.
When President Trump announced he would be skipping the White House Correspondents' Dinner to speak in Harrisburg, Pa., right in my backyard and on day 100 of his presidency, it was like the stars aligned. Among many avenues, I’m a stringer for a Harrisburg news journal, photographing politics and business news. Immediately after hearing the news at 10 p.m. on a Saturday night I applied for credentials and the wait began. A week later, on day 99 of the Trump Presidency, it was starting to look like I would be watching from my couch. With just 24 hours to spare, I got the green light. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at what it was like to photograph President Trump from a local photojournalist’s perspective.
A war photographer managed to capture the final second of her life by photographing the moment a mortar bomb accidentally exploded.
In what has the potential to be a landmark case in U.K. news history, a freelance photographer is taking legal action against the broadcaster for their usage of his photo, which they included by embedding a tweet.
Former Chief Official White House Photographer Pete Souza announced a new book chronicling his second presidential assignment. The book, titled, "Obama: An Intimate Portrait: The Historic Presidency in Photographs," will have more than 300 pages and as many photographs according to Souza's Instagram feed. The book is due out November 7, 2017, and is currently available for preorder on Amazon as well as at Barnes & Noble for $40 as a hardcover.
The 2017 Pulitzer Prize Winners were announced today at Columbia University in New York, N.Y. Pulitzer Prize Administrator Mike Pride made the announcement, and the following are a few of the many standouts.
Almost every photographer has created some sort of personal project in their time. In fact, many photographers’ work is comprised entirely of personal projects. Rarely though do I see projects that are truly personal. I mean that in the sense of their projects having a real emotional connection to the photographer that easily shows through in their images. Small Steps Are Giant Leaps, a father/son project started by photographer Aaron Sheldon and his son Harrison, is one of those projects.
Can photography be more than just work? Can it be a calling? How do you know? And what if that calling coincides with a transformational period in world history and you are called upon to document every move? Lauren Greenfield’s new exhibition and book, “Generation Wealth” is a time capsule a quarter century in the making.
When I first heard about Chase Guttman’s book on drone photography, I was intrigued. Not so much at the subject, or the photos, but in the person behind them. As a person who loves to travel and photograph while doing it, I’m always curious as to how people get their foot in the door in this very competitive industry, especially at a young age. The answer is: he didn’t do it alone, as none of us do.
One of the differences between a great image and a snapshot is story telling. If your picture doesn’t narrate anything, it won’t serve any purpose. It’s crucial that your viewers understand what you tried to say with your work, but it's not always an easy task! Thanks to Joe McNally, we now have three tips to keep in mind for stronger journalistic images.
Joe McNally is one of those photographers that almost everyone in our industry knows. Perhaps you’ve seen his name in a Nat Geo, Life Magazine, or Sports Illustrated, or you’ve learned from his educational content, or maybe you simply have discovered him through his role as Nikon Ambassador. McNally is really everywhere. He’s one of those versatile photographers who can do everything from commercial to journalistic work! He’s the proof that specialization is great but not always required to be successful. Recently, he sat down with Chase Jarvis and shared his experience as a professional photographer.
Photojournalist Mannie Garcia recently won a $45,000 settlement in a lawsuit brought forth over an incident in which he was arrested in 2011.
The story behind a photo of an impala a split-second from death has been dispelled as totally false by its photographer Alison Buttigieg. She describes how "a highlight of [her] photography career has turned into a nightmare."
Pete Souza has been extremely active on his new Instagram account to the extent that even CNN has taken notice. The former White House photographer for President Barack Obama, Souza's visual political and social commentary are arguably as relevant as ever. His activity and media recognition underscores the power of social media, especially when there’s a tremendous following and story to go with it. His most recent posts make note of current events including refugee camps, specifically of ethnic Albanians displaced from Kosovo, and Supreme Court Associate Justice Nominee Merrick Garland.