Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography...

[Gogster]

The attack in Charlottesville is quite an image and possibly not for the faint of heart...

Amazing work by Ryan Kelly.

 

[DemiLion]

I'm far more impressed with the Feature Photography prize that went to Reuters for their work in exposing the Rohingya crisis and included two Brits, Cathal McNaughton and Hannah McKay, both of whom are stonkingly good press photographers.

 

[HoppyUK]

Sheer luck, demonstrating no photographic skill or art. If it'd be taken by an anonymous bystander on a smartphone, it wouldn't have won anything.

 

[Pound Coin]

Last month had a chat with Tommy Trenchard and Claire Thomas. Probably more in line with what DemiLion said above.

 

[DemiLion]

Sheer luck, demonstrating no photographic skill or art. If it'd be taken by an anonymous bystander on a smartphone, it wouldn't have won anything.

I fundamentally disagree. It's a breaking news image and those are often shot on the fly. The skill is in capturing the moment - there's an HCB quote on that exact point floating about somewhere.

Breaking news images (or spot news) aren't necessarily about art, they are about telling the story.

Burhan Ozbilici's stunning shot of the Russian Ambassador's assassin is one example (which won the WPP), as is Oli Scarff's photo shot in 2011 of the Notting Hill Carnival stabbing.

 

[HoppyUK]

I fundamentally disagree. It's a breaking news image and those are often shot on the fly. The skill is in capturing the moment - there's an HCB quote on that exact point floating about somewhere.

Breaking news images (or spot news) aren't necessarily about art, they are about telling the story.

Burhan Ozbilici's stunning shot of the Russian Ambassador's assassin is one example (which won the WPP), as is Oli Scarff's photo shot in 2011 of the Notting Hill Carnival stabbing.

He was there, and that's 99% of it for breaking news, then hammered it at 10fps. Given that Pulitzer is about press work it has to score highly, but I don't see any award-winning photographic skills at work there. That's my point, but for Pulitzer I guess you're right

 

[Bollygum]

Sheer luck, demonstrating no photographic skill or art. If it'd be taken by an anonymous bystander on a smartphone, it wouldn't have won anything.

L. I agree with Demil and I don't see why it wouldn't win if a bystander had taken it. I certainly tells a story. To think that the photographer should have made sure the composition was perfect or the person in the foreground wasn't in the frame is ludicrous. The whole point is getting the action first and everything else comes a distant second.

 

[munch]

Sheer luck, demonstrating no photographic skill or art. If it'd be taken by an anonymous bystander on a smartphone, it wouldn't have won anything.

So you must feel the same way about Nick Ut's photo of the "Napalm Girl"?

 

[Retune]

Tough crowd here! This will be one of the defining images of the Trump era. Yes, he shot it on instinct, but 'chance favours the prepared mind' (or photographer). The 'sheer luck' is that Kelly wasn't mown down by the car himself, as he'd been in its path seconds earlier.

 

[Gogster]

I disagree with a number of comments here.

The composition etc. are one thing, to have the wherewithal to maintain your composure and capture an historic image in that absolute split second, takes skill. Photographers like this chase down the action, others run away, as is seen on the video that someone was recording when the attack took place.

You may disagree with the choice, you cannot disagree with the other factors Kelly maintained to get this shot.

 

[Kodiak Qc]

•


The main task of a reporter photographer is not to experience
an event but to witness it THROUGH the chosen medium. Many
people would lower their gear to see what happens but will have
no record of it… of any kind.

to maintain your composure and capture an historic image in that absolute split second, takes skill.

I would not talk of skills but of attitude and Kelly's well deserves
the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography. In this, I agree
with Darryl!

 

[gcgraphs]

•


The main task of a reporter photographer is not to experience
an event but to witness it THROUGH the chosen medium. Many
people would lower their gear to see what happens but will have
no record of it… of any kind.

I would not talk of skills but of attitude and Kelly's well deserves
the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography. In this, I agree
with Darryl!

100%. It's about capturing the moment, not faffing about with perfect composition. It's a measure of the photographer's mettle.

GC

 

[DemiLion]

I would not talk of skills but of attitude and Kelly's well deserves
the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography. In this, I agree
with Darryl!

It's 100% about skill - and practice.

 

[Kodiak Qc]

It's 100% about skill - and practice.

I was 22 years with international press agencies and
I know what I am talking about but since it is you…
you may bend or suspend all logic, experiences and
common knowledges to your will and liking. Enjoy.

… /

 

[DemiLion]

Erm, yeah. I'm a press photographer. I sort of know what I'm talking about.

The skill is in realising and understanding the key moment. Capturing it well composed and exposed. Not panicking. Staying alive.

The art of running towards trouble is one that has to be learned and practised (again). It's against natural human reaction.

 

[Kodiak Qc]

Not panicking. Staying alive. The art of running towards trouble is one that has to be learned and practised (again). It's against natural human reaction.

 

[Bollygum]

•


The main task of a reporter photographer is not to experience
an event but to witness it THROUGH the chosen medium. Many
people would lower their gear to see what happens but will have
no record of it… of any kind.

I would not talk of skills but of attitude and Kelly's well deserves
the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography. In this, I agree
with Darryl!

I would say that it is a skill. It isn't natural to take a photograph of very dangerous things that are happening close to you, and get a decent picture. I know I have missed many, partly because of being frightened, but also because you need to have thought about possible scenarios before they happen. ie, it is, to an extent, planned. Just having the right attitude isn't enough. You need to know how you are going to take the photo and maintain a reasonable change of staying alive, or sane, or whatever the threat is.

 

[Ste_S]

I went to the World Press Photo exhibition in Amsterdam a few weeks back and Ryan Kelly's photo is stunning blown up.

Art in documentary photography makes me uncomfortable. I get uncomfortable finding an image beautiful when it depicts something horrifying.
Ronaldo Schemidt's Man on Fire photo being a case in point.

However it makes the image stay in my head longer, which I guess can only be a good thing when the photographer is highlighting troubling issues around the world ?

 

[Bollygum]

I went to the World Press Photo exhibition in Amsterdam a few weeks back and Ryan Kelly's photo is stunning blown up.

Art in documentary photography makes me uncomfortable. I get uncomfortable finding an image beautiful when it depicts something horrifying.
Ronaldo Schemidt's Man on Fire photo being a case in point.

However it makes the image stay in my head longer, which I guess can only be a good thing when the photographer is highlighting troubling issues around the world ?

Remember that photo of a starving child with the patiently waiting vulture in the background. Beautiful photo, but really shocking. I guess with that sort of photo you have time to compose and make it a good photo irrespective of the subject. The white supremacist thing didn't allow that luxury.

 

[Gogster]

Remember that photo of a starving child with the patiently waiting vulture in the background. Beautiful photo, but really shocking. I guess with that sort of photo you have time to compose and make it a good photo irrespective of the subject. The white supremacist thing didn't allow that luxury.

Kevin Carter - remember it well.

I think photos like this, and the Russian Ambassador assasination photo, make me admire these type of photographers very much, to remain composed when the worst of humanity is happening around you is something special.

I think of people Like Don McCullin, Tim Hetherington, Sabastio Salgado, Ken Oosterbroek et. al. have something special and it's to be greatly admired.

 

[Bollygum]

Kevin Carter - remember it well.

I think photos like this, and the Russian Ambassador assasination photo, make me admire these type of photographers very much, to remain composed when the worst of humanity is happening around you is something special.

I think of people Like Don McCullin, Tim Hetherington, Sabastio Salgado, Ken Oosterbroek et. al. have something special and it's to be greatly admired.

And Kevin Carter killed himself when he was only 33. Maybe this had nothing to do with his work, but it must be tough to deliberately expose yourself to these things. I don't think I would cope very well.

 

[Gogster]

And Kevin Carter killed himself when he was only 33. Maybe this had nothing to do with his work, but it must be tough to deliberately expose yourself to these things. I don't think I would cope very well.

I know, he did have a drug issue, but perhaps that was brought on my the trauma of seeing horrible things. Don McC wanders about photographing landscapes these days, perhaps that's how he copes?

 

[Bollygum]

I know, he did have a drug issue, but perhaps that was brought on my the trauma of seeing horrible things. Don McC wanders about photographing landscapes these days, perhaps that's how he copes?

I think most people who do these things eventually can't take it anymore. I remember reading once that the average useful life of a soldier in the trenches in WW1 was 6 months. After that he couldn't function as a soldier anymore (and perhaps not as anything). If he was neurotic, he may last a bit longer, maybe a couple of years (an example was a major who got upset with his soldiers for throwing tea leaves down the end of the trenches. It apparently helped him ignore the war).
If he was psychotic he may actually enjoy it.
I don't think there are many truly psychotic journalists, Most end up in politics (I don't really mean that - well - maybe I do)