Response to Katrina Email (see previous Blog Entry)

The response to the "Can Documentary Photography Make a Dent" email has been very interesting. It has opened up a dialogue within our community and we are encouraged to see this.

The main intent of that editorial piece is this:
Pictures are a vital part of telling a news story. We expect photos to show us what's really going on. When actual news photos are getting suppressed or photographers are being threated while doing their job, we are not provided with access to the truth.

Of course FiftyCrows did not generate or re-touch the photos;
Of course FiftyCrows did not approve of the fake images;
The re-touched photos were used as an example of how a very chaotic situation was made even more confusing by the use of imagery that did NOT show an actual news event. Our ability to discriminate between REAL and FICTION is constantly being challenged in today's fast-paced world. It was amazing, though not entirely surprising, to learn that some people did not comprehend that the photos were retouched—even asking how it was possible that the Bushes could be catching fish in the floodwater?!

FiftyCrows can only continue to be a source of honest and provocative photography as long as photographers are allowed to do what they do: take pictures. When fake images are being passed around the internet while at the same time we hear reports of serious photographer's cameras being destroyed, we need to speak out.

It's a very disturbing pattern that will require education and vigilance on the part of those of us who want to "make a dent." If we don't act, it's just another tacit agreement that the truth will not be neccesary, thank you.

For more provocative coverage of these events please click on the following important stories:
http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2005/09/hurricane2.html
http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0509/ethics.html

more ACTUAL photo coverage;
http://www.digitaljournalist.org


If you'd like to continue the dialogue, please click on the comment link below.

Can Documentary Photography Make a Dent?

The following was sent to our email sign-up list on September 13th...

Dear Friends,

Over the past few days someone with an excellent command of digital-manipulation and a sharp sense of irony has been emailing "photo commentary" of the Bush response to the Hurricane Katrina Disaster. As you will see below, Bush & Son are pictured happily engaged in leisure activities on the backdrop of a devasted New Orleans. It's a fitting and frustrated response to a very serious situation.


But these photos speak to a deeper problem: our ability to get at the TRUTH is under siege. If you happen to be carrying a camera or a microphone in New Orleans right now, it is almost certain a gun will be raised in your direction. There are reports of photographers having guns pointed at their HEADS; their cameras confiscated. Yes, even the corporate media is feeling the pinch. WHY are mercenaries patrolling the streets of New Orleans with M-16s? WHY are they are using a natural disaster as an excuse to implement martial law? WHY, while doctors, nurses and more than a thousand patients waited in the Charity Hospital for rescue, was the National Guard busy clearing the area of the "enemy"?

The private security firm Blackwater, professional mercenaries, have been contracted by the Department of Homeland Security (paid for with our tax dollars) and deployed to the streets. These are fully-armed, trained killers freshly imported from the streets of Iraq. To bypass the decree that only "law enforcement officials" are allowed to carry weapons, the Louisiana governor is "deputizing" them.

How many more examples of betrayal, lies, strong-arm tactics, and general disregard do we need to experience before we demand more from ourselves and our leaders? These retouched photos offer up sardonic commentary, but how can we answer the call more responsibly?

Documentary photographers are some of the bravest and most earnest people I have ever encountered. We need to hear their stories, see their pictures. It is their unadulterated work that is especially important at this time. Citizens all over the world are struggling to find ways to get clear and accurate information about the conditions that affect their lives—let us be part of telling the story with authenticity and truth. We remain steadfast in our continued support of documentary photography and independent media as a responsible action in the recovery of our civil society.

Sincerely,
Lillian Sizemore
Program Director
International Fund for Documentary Photography


For more background:
• AlterNet: "Overkill in New Orleans"
• Editor & Publisher: "Journalist Groups Protest FEMA Ban on Photos of Dead"
• Democracy Now: "Is the Government Trying to Stem the Tide of Images From New Orleans by Threatening Journalists?"
• Information Clearing House: "New Orleans on a hair-trigger"
• Blackwater USA's website

See Thomas Dworzak's extensive photo coverage

All Roads Photography Awards

ALL ROADS FILM FESTIVAL GIVES VOICE TO NEXT-GENERATION STORYTELLERS OF GLOBAL CULTURES

Filmmakers, Photographers and Artisans Are Part of Dynamic Multimedia Event on Sept. 22-25 in Los Angeles at the Egyptian Theatre, Sept. 29-Oct. 2 at National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.

National Geographic will celebrate the work of indigenous and under-represented minority-culture filmmakers and photographers from around the world at its second annual All Roads Film Festival, to be held Sept. 22-25 at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles and Sept. 29-Oct. 2 at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The All Roads Photography Program will exhibit the works of four photographers at this year’s festival. They are Mexican photographer Marcela Taboada, Brazilian Andre Cypriano, Indian Sudharak Olwe and South Africa’s Neo Ntsoma. Each was nominated for the All Roads Photography Program based on their documentation of their native cultures and communities and selected by a preeminent group of editors and photographers within the industry. The All Roads Photography Program awards winning photographers with seed money, cameras and photography equipment to assist with their fieldwork.
Photographers will receive equipment from Olympus, Epson, and Lowepro.

Andy Patrick, Founder and executive Director of FiftyCrows was a member of both the All Roads Photography Program Nominating Commitee and Jury for this last year and this year.