Spectrum World press photo awards

grum said:
Imo a good photo should stand on it's own though.

I don't really get the 'England at Play' series on there either - some of them just look like very average snaps to me.

There's some amazing ones in there though - really like some of the South Georgia ones by Paul Nicklen.
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I'd normally agree with you about a great photo- but I do think many news photos need the context around them to give them real power - especially when they are part of a story we don't always have a great understanding of.

Agree about the Paul Nicklen photos though
 
grum said:
Anyone else not impressed by the overall winner? It's the one of Iranian women on a roof - I just don't really get anything from it.
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I'm looking forward to seeing your entry next year.
 
Voyager said:
I'm looking forward to seeing your entry next year.
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Oh so I have to be able to take award-winning photos too to have an opinion? Ok then.

I really admire lots of the pictures in there, like I said - I just don't see what's special about that one.

Oh and I don't 'get' the naked press-up pics or the Spencer Tunick stuff either - what does that say about me? :)
 
grum said:
Imo a good photo should stand on it's own though.
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Photojournalism rarely if ever stands on its own. These people are telling a story and it would be extremely hard to tell it with one image or with no words. This category of photography will always be an objective one with people not seeing the meaning in the picture. But the point of photojournalism is too intrigue or move you so much that you want to find out more about that situation. Thats the whole point, these photos arent for framing at home!

However if you are the kind of person who does not want to look beyond the picture and learn more about the story its telling, then 90% of this category of photography wont be for you.
 
grum said:
Oh so I have to be able to take award-winning photos too to have an opinion? Ok then.
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Of course you can have any opinion you like - but you have to put up with other having theirs.
grum said:
I really admire lots of the pictures in there, like I said - I just don't see what's special about that one.
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Which is why I wrote that I'm looking forward to see what sort of picture you take - and seeing what (or if) that does have something to say.
grum said:
Oh and I don't 'get' the naked press-up pics or the Spencer Tunick stuff either - what does that say about me? :)
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My opinion is that many of those, like you, who 'don't get it' are actually just not very well informed and will tend to not try to understand what the photographer is trying to achieve.
 
Vic said:
Photojournalism rarely if ever stands on its own. These people are telling a story and it would be extremely hard to tell it with one image or with no words. This category of photography will always be an objective one with people not seeing the meaning in the picture. But the point of photojournalism is too intrigue or move you so much that you want to find out more about that situation. Thats the whole point, these photos arent for framing at home!

However if you are the kind of person who does not want to look beyond the picture and learn more about the story its telling, then 90% of this category of photography wont be for you.
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I don't agree - I find a lot of photojournalism fascinating.

There are lots of other pics in those collections that work on both levels. They are artistically striking/interesting as a picture in their own right but are also interesting in terms of the context/background/story. I would have thought to win an award you would need both of those things.

Some of the pics of eg Gaza and the suicide bombing in Kabul do this much better imo.

Just my 2p worth.
 
Voyager said:
Of course you can have any opinion you like - but you have to put up with other having theirs.

Which is why I wrote that I'm looking forward to see what sort of picture you take - and seeing what (or if) that does have something to say.

My opinion is that many of those, like you, who 'don't get it' are actually just not very well informed and will tend to not try to understand what the photographer is trying to achieve.
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My opinion is that people who try and claim that anyone who doesn't like something they like is basically stupid are pretentious snobs. :wave:
 
grum said:
I don't agree - I find a lot of photojournalism fascinating.

There are lots of other pics in those collections that work on both levels. They are artistically striking/interesting as a picture in their own right but are also interesting in terms of the context/background/story. I would have thought to win an award you would need both of those things.

Some of the pics of eg Gaza and the suicide bombing in Kabul do this much better imo.

Just my 2p worth.
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Well thats your perogative and i'm not going to argue with it.

True that there are some very obviously powerful images in there and the winners photo may not be as obvious, however there is something to be said about subtlety. This photographer has obviously picked a photograph unlike the thousands we have seen before of people jumping about manically in the street after an election (much like all the pictures we have seen of Gaza and suicide bombings). In my opinion I like what this photographer has done with his opportunity and shown us a picture very unseen.

But different strokes for different folks.;)
 
I see what you're getting at about a more contemplative pic - I just don't find it that compelling. I like the one of the semi-destroyed front room in Gaza which is less action-based. The world would be boring if we all felt the same anyway. :)

@ Voyager - see this is a discussion, not just 'well you couldn't take as good a pic and if you don't get it you must be stupid'
 
grum said:
I see what you're getting at about a more contemplative pic - I just don't find it that compelling. I like the one of the semi-destroyed front room in Gaza which is less action-based. The world would be boring if we all felt the same anyway. :)

@ Voyager - see this is a discussion, not just 'well you couldn't take as good a pic and if you don't get it you must be stupid'
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its funny how different people have different tastes, for me, understanding some the story changes makes, what in my opinion, would be the weakest image on its own the most powerful. The before shot of the stoning with no context could be a shot of some mates having a laugh, but with the backstory takes on a large degree of power just in the terror of the guy who knows he's about to be executed using a biblical punishment in the 21st century
 
grum said:
@ Voyager - see this is a discussion, not just 'well you couldn't take as good a pic and if you don't get it you must be stupid'
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This is a discussion that you weighed in with the view of 'not being impressed by the overall winner' so I simply wondered what you would do that would impress me. And my comment about those who I consider somewhat uninformed 'not getting it' was only there because you asked - although at least with the more you write the more I'm convinced I'm correct.
 
Voyager said:
although at least with the more you write the more I'm convinced I'm correct.
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The more you write the more pretentious and pompous you sound.

Why not enter into the discussion with something constructive, seeing as you are so well informed, or is it beneath you?

:p

By the way I've posted plenty of pics on here if you want to criticise them - I'm not submitting them to newspapers or putting them up for awards though because I don't think they are that amazing either.
 
If you two want to carry on bickering may I suggest you continue round the back of the bike sheds at break time?
 
One of the captions from the series of the naked bloke doing press ups - "Ou Zhihang, China
’I want the world to understand China through these pictures.’"
Well, I'm sorry but those pics certainly don't help ME understand China at all!

Rob (Arkady), two words - Crispy Critters. Mean anything to you?
 
Voyager said:
Does this or this help?
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Yup explains more.

For me photojournalism usually needs the written word, descriptive narrative to enhance the photo and vice versa, the two go together.

I'd much rather see stuff like that than some of the pretentious rubbish at some galleries, where the 'artist' seems to have spent ten secs thinking of/taking the image, then 2 weeks writing the text about what inspired them etc.

but that's just me... ;)
 
Spencer Tunick is in the news again today. he's done another naked shoot on the steps of Sidney opera house
 
Voyager said:
Does this or this help?
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It helps explain the press ups but both pages are 18 months old. They also both put a question mark over the authenticity of the images - the first one refers to photoshopped images and the second to the naked guy being someone other than Ou Zhihang. Comparing the position and stance of the man in some of the shots, they do indeed look 'shopped.
 
Nod said:
Rob (Arkady), two words - Crispy Critters. Mean anything to you?
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Oh yes...lol...

I assume you don't mean the Breakfast Cereal...:lol:

I have to say that the 'Stoning' sequence was the most emotive for me - for the photographer to be able to stand back emotionally and concentrate on documenting what he knew was about to happen takes some sand, I can tell you...

The Nekkid push-ups did absolutely nothing for me whatsoever... I did catch myself thinking 'what a waste of pixels' as I scrolled through...
 
The individual shots, on their own, rarely did anything for me.

However when viewing the entire sequence there is some astounding work. The stoning, without a doubt, the most thought provoking. Although the Madagascar shots had a similar effect - enough for me to want to know more.

I think when it comes to awards there will always be a lot of people who think nothing of the winning shot, me included, but see some fantastic work in the gallery as a whole. We are all wired differently, so if someone doesn't get it then they don't - no snobbery needed really.
 
Arkady said:
I have to say that the 'Stoning' sequence was the most emotive for me - for the photographer to be able to stand back emotionally and concentrate on documenting what he knew was about to happen takes some sand, I can tell you...

The Nekkid push-ups did absolutely nothing for me whatsoever... I did catch myself thinking 'what a waste of pixels' as I scrolled through...
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Totally agree about the stoning shots.. think I'd feel somewhat exploititive and parasitic perhaps in the same situation. I have a lot of respect for those who can get past that.

The push-ups mean more to me now I've looked at a few of the links regarding their significance, although I'm not sure the nakedness adds to it. IMO shots like this will never have the immediacy or impact of true reportage stuff.
 
The stoning shots were probably unique - I assume this was a competition for best printed news photos - how many other bloody islamic stoning photos have ever been seen?

Don't think I've ever seen anything as graphic as that - maybe just not printed before?
 
tbm said:
IMO shots like this will never have the immediacy or impact of true reportage stuff.
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I agree about the immediacy of the stoning pictures, how can you not be shocked by that! Its in your face photojournalism at its height much like Eddie Adams picture, no messing about this is what happened. But I think your also right about it being reportage and maybe not so much photojournalism, this is a straightforward documentation of the event. I still prefer the winning shot, maybe more so that now I have seen more of how Pietro Masturzo has documented Iran. But anyway I'm rambling now....
 
arclight said:
Strange - me too.
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Because some purse-lipped neo-Puritan has decreed that, despite already being published in 'Spectrum' (the photo section of the Sunday Times magazine), that the pictures are 'unsuitable' for some who don't need to know the occasional brutality of life outside their own blinkered bubble? :shrug:
 
Voyager said:
Because some purse-lipped neo-Puritan has decreed that, despite already being published in 'Spectrum' (the photo section of the Sunday Times magazine), that the pictures are 'unsuitable' for some who don't need to know the occasional brutality of life outside their own blinkered bubble? :shrug:
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Yip - I tried to find them via a Google search and still could not get past 17.:bang:
 
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