Following on from his controversial video about Steve McCurry’s iconic Afghan Girl video, Tony Northrup has published an update on YouTube, and the original video is now online again.
Northrup's first piece sparked considerable debate in the photographic community, and no doubt this update will bring further discussions. In my original article, I personally should have presented Northrup’s video as a version of what happened, rather than offering it as a new narrative that transcended a previous one. The title should have had a question mark and the concept of what constitutes truth should have been subject to much greater scrutiny. I apologize for having presented Northrup’s video as fact rather treating it as a version of events based on research and then letting others decide its integrity.
As consumers of information, we should continue to question how information has been gathered, whether it stands up to proper scrutiny, and whether we need to be more critical in the manner that we choose to share that information. Photographer Ted Forbes recently published this excellent video that discusses how contemporary news media functions, why it sometimes has a tendency to fall short, and why it’s important to acknowledge publicly when things should have been done differently.
My personal earnings from these two articles will be donated to Afghanaid, a British charity that has been working with refugees in Afghanistan since 1983.
This thing got ugly real fast...internet warriors.
I see nothing wrong with having a conversation about lightning rod issues, as long as corrections etc are made when new information or clarifications come to light.
I strongly suggest Ted Forbes vidéo about the issue.
Tony Northrup isn't really credible. He is the boy who cried JPEG is better than RAW and ISO is fake.
Stop sharing his channel
Also... that CPLs don't do anything that can't be replicated in post....
Actually he said that cpls were one of the few filters that you couldn't replicate in post.
Eh yes and no. He greatly misrepresents the point of using a CPL and literally said "It's really easy to replicate the effects of a polarizing filter by using software..." He says that after mentioning how the CPL makes the sky darker... that's a really shallow argument against why you'd use a CPL and more of an argument against ND filters.
The point of using a CPL is to cut down on glair and states his opinion that removing glare makes the image worse... So all of the commercial automotive photographers who use CPLs regularly must have missed Mr Northrup's lesson.
i only want to point out that your use of the word "really" is misplaced. instead of reading, "... isn't really credible," it should read, "... really isn't credible."
I think your wording here is spot on. Short, sweet, and well said.
he bashed another photographer for the entire world to see. he himself has 1.2m followers. you have to be responsible for what you say. this has all kinds of wrong in it.
There's a long list of all kinds of wrong in it -- http://bit.ly/2tVA1PG
and what anonymous wonnabee is the auther of that doc? it has no credibility at all.
It's nice to see an apology from you Andy. I gotta say, the way you presented the story made refrain to engage with it.It was obvious and shameful clickbait, presenting information in a way that forces you to stand with opinion A or opinion B and nothing in between. I roll my eyes at many of the titles on Fstoppers but still click to read the full story but this one was the worst.
Lots of people, me included, avoid the news cause it's annoying to constantly be forced to have a strong and radical opinion on every issue existing. It's sad to see blogs and youtubers embrace this notoriously toxic way of presenting content. I don't think it'll change cause that drives traffic and that's all that matters, but damn that's sad.
And concerning Tony and Chelsea, it seems to me like they're only interested in stirring controversy to have their names constantly in people's comments, and it's working. I wish there was a reliable way to block a YouTube channel.
There is a reliable way to block channels. I did it for one particularly prolific Tuber who was annoying as h*** and haven't seen him pop up since unless I do a search on a topic he's covered.
I've done it as well with Onision. You go to their about section, click the flag and block them.
I DON'T USE YOUTUBE BUT I HEARD ONCE THERE WAS A WAY THOUGH I HAVEN'T TRIED IT MYSELF. HOPE THIS HELPS.
before this post, i would never, ever neg another comment, even if i completely disagreed with it. however, you've earned my first ever neg because you pulled a Tony Northrup.
You have 4 negative ratings, and one is on a comment I made months ago ;)
Hit that dislike button and smash unsubscribe.
You should probably edit the original article to include this mea culpa.
Although I learned 1 thing. Not clicking on Northup's videos. How much attention do you need to go from that "ISO is fake" dumbassery to this one in barely a week?
No one needs this much drama in their life...
Watch Ted Forbes video......https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gjHhOi3wak&t=110s........
Please! Stop giving this hack more attention, it's all he seems to be about lately.
I really like the articles you write, Andy. All well written and thought out. The apology is nice, but please stop supporting this clown that many fervently hate/dislike. He creates drama when there isn't a need, wraps it up in a sponsored bow, and retracts when called out. You guys can do better than Tony, Jessica and some of the other YTers you religiously post about.
Simple solution, never post anything by Tony Northrup again. Either he's paying Fstoppers or you guys are way too lazy on slow news days. There is much better content out there.
Who is Tony Northrup? I've seen a few photo exhibitions of Steve McCurry, but who is Tony?
He's a photographer who runs a popular YouTube channel with his wife
And a notorious clickbaiter too.
In short: a wannabe.
Not really. He's achieved a much higher level of commercial success than most rank and file professionals. The fact that he has a YouTube channel doesn't detract from that.
I just come across this video..............https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf5ks-oLb3w posted by Jennifer Brecheisen Photography
Hey..........You(and that includes you Andy) really have to watch her video........it was done with respect...........https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf5ks-oLb3w
"I apologize for having presented Northrup’s video as fact rather treating it as a version of events based on research and then letting others decide its integrity."
your use of the word "research" is clearly being used very, very loosely.
there was no research done by Tony and what little supporting evidence was featured made no reference, even obscurely, to his "version" of the events in question.
and after watching ted forbes' video on the subject, his guest hits the nail on the head regarding this.
what i'm curious to know is this: how many people still trust Tony Northrup despite this being just another in a long list of times he's purposely not gotten it right and, if you do, why?
and what would it take for him to finally lose credibility in your eyes?
Woo, some sharp comments. Is this time for Shakephere. “He doth protest to much”
Spot on. The McCurry acolytes are out in force here!
"too"
and it's a bit odd to see someone, anyone, arguing against too much facts and evidentiary support. i guess that's just indicative of the times we live in.
Tony Northrup is not even a decent photographer. All he cares about is clicks for his site. Bye Tony..I am gone....
I think people are forgetting one thing. As a photographer Steve McCurry is a master. The Afghan girl is a wonderful portrait. First of all he got into the school, secondly he photographed a girl with very piercing eyes in greet light and such a strong expression on her face. Could anyone who reads this page have done better? Steve's photographs are stunning pieces of work. I do not know of any other photographer who is producing such consistently striking photographs.
Looking at the photo of the Afghan girl with 2019 eyes we may disapprove of the Great Western World photographer on assignment. Plus in the 1980s' we in the west we were not as a-tuned to the sentimentalities of Muslim women covering their faces. So Steve photographing a girl with her face exposed and not waring a vail may not have resonated with him.
As a photojournalist, here are also issues with Steve, or his team, photoshopping images (https://petapixel.com/2016/05/26/photoshopped-photos-emerge-steve-mccurr... and https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-mccurry-photo-editing-scandal-2016...). However does it matter, he is still a brilliant photographer and his photographs do tell a story. It is up to the viewer to decide if it is the right story.
I will say, Steve now describes himself as a Story Teller and not a photojournalist. http://time.com/4351725/steve-mccurry-not-photojournalist/
McCurry characterised himself as a photojournalist for many years, until it was discovered he never was. From early on he brought in props and models, staged shots, arranged re-shoots, had distracting elements removed from images in post-production. I think most people would say it matters if someone's whole career is based on a lie.
He can call himself anything he likes now, but that doesn't magically rewrite history.
Tony Northrup characterized himself as a journalist breaking a "disturbing true story" but grossly violated journalistic ethics by relying on false statements, misrepresentations and claims without support, while making a number of dumb mistakes. Thank goodness the notorious clickbaiter's methods have been exposed: http://bit.ly/2tVA1PG
You are linking to an anonymous doc, with no sources to back it up.
How on earth is this any better than anything Tony have done?
All I can see is, you are just another envious hater.
How many people commenting here actually watched BOTH videos all the way through?
Tony DID do research. He contacted both NatGeo and McCurry BEFORE posting the first video. He pulled the first video the moment McCurry replied to him, and WAITED for there official response. He reposted his original FACTUAL video, with supporting evidence, and errata for the couple off things he got wrong. (No burqa, just a veil, since she was in an all-girls school at the time, and not fear of McCurry, but anger at McCurry and her teacher). He, like Andy, also posted a follow-up article.
If you are going to crucify Tony for getting two facts wrong, (and calling her name incorrectly), what do you all do with yourselves, now that all the facts are out? We have Sharbat Gula's version of the story, (and it has been out for quite awhile). It matches Tony's (since his side is mostly just retelling her side), and McCurry's team still refuses to comment or clarify certain statements they made, (despite having Sharbat Gula's story for years).
McCurry admits to not trying to get to know anything about the girl. He admits to it being a portrait shoot. He admits to not speaking directly to the girl. McCurry made opinionated statements of “facts” about the girl. Tony got facts FROM Sharbat Gula's statements.
Why is Tony the bad guy here? Oh, because he monetized the video to send all profits to an Afghan charity. Hmmm. Suppose Andy had done that…. Nevermind.
Andy, you are right. Tony's article was not a new narrative. It is Sharbat Gula's narrative, retold by Tony (who only just heard it for the first time). Sharbat Gula's narrative is the one that transcended the previous opinionated, un-researched narrative of McCurry. Had the Nat Geo cover said, “Portrait of an Afghan girl in a refugee camp,” and had McCurry not characterise her as a shy, twelve year old, orphan whose parents were killed in a bombing, things would have been different.
Tony did research? So how did he get so many details wrong? ... See http://bit.ly/2tVA1PG
Two details; Scarf, not burqa, (which he got from his research), and anger, not fear, (which he got from Nat Geo).
And, no, I will not be going through every piece of that anonymous, slanderous document, to counter anything. NMJ.
He got more than two details wrong, but the details he got wrong were the very basis for his attack. Getting those details wrong reveals what an unethical hack he is. Anyone applying even minimal diligence would have seen those errors before publication. I'm not surprised you won't be addressing the whole list. Just label it "slanderous" and close your eyes. Of course, why bother when it's impossible to defend Tony Northrup's unethical behavior. Don't waste your time trying.
You only appears like another envious hater... and I bet you are the one created that piece of garbage doc just to try to look more trustworthy...
Sorry to say, you FAILED!
Northrup comes back with all of his source, anyone care to check it out before comment?
Massive fail. A number of people checked. Key claims have no source, just Tony's slandering.
That clickbait shark is back for another slanderous bite at McCurry's great name.
All posters need too watch this.............#note- it has an irritating six second commercial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IABRgZH12YA
Is it me.. but does Tony always come off as a snob. When I come across his videos, he's always talking down on photographers, editing, etc.. His reviews don't feel like reviews.. they feel more like he's doing them a favor by talking about them. But that's just me.