travelling to London for the special preview opening of control

Journalists and photographers witnessing atrocities and world events. Or why you never hear the world photojournalism anymore.

Sky News are running a great set of ads on their channel at the moment. They feature their own journalists whoa re based in various parts of the world, such as Holly Williams, speaking of their dedication to storytelling and responsibility to tell the world the events they have witnessed.

Then there’s this talented photographer called Yuri Kozyrev. Born in Moscow, he now works for Dutch agency Noor, covering major conflicts around the world.

In the last nine months he’s been in Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt and Libya. He said of the 2011 uprising in Yemen ‘it was important to be there and witness what was happening’.

He produced some amazing images which were on display at this year’s Visa pour l’Image. They won the Visa d’Or News award.

What Zozyrev and the Sky reports have in common is a huge desire to tell the stories they witness. They often risk their lives to do so, as photographers Tim Hetherinton and Chris Hondros proved when they were killed in Misrata, Libya, earlier this year.

But it’s not enough. Not enough impact. Not enough to risk your life for. Modern-day life hardly allows for any consideration of other people’s lives. Too many people show too little interest in what’s happening in their own country, nevermind in Yemen.

For example there has hardly been any public outcry over the atrocities currently taking place in Syria. In Libya, the revolution has hardly been the subject of office debate. Not in my office anyway.

Yet these journalists and photographers are passionate and dedicated to their jobs.

We just don’t see it. We don’t see it in their three-minute news reports on Sky. We don’t see it in the images of photographers like Kozyrev – mainly because these image-makers struggle to get their work seen at all.

Should these people be writing down their experiences? Would the written word make a difference? If Kozyrev thinks it is so important to witness important world events, why doesn’t he write about them also? Doing so would increase the impact of his work. He would immediately be doubling the possible media outlets for the vents he has covered.

But more important than that his words would serve as written evidence when events are digested at a later time. They will become historical evidence, ultimately enhancing his imagery.

There is little doubt that people like Williams and Kozyrev and their equals are witnessing world events or covering important stories. But, with a Sky News report, blink and you’ll miss them. With a set of images you’ll be lucky to get the chance to see them. There are way too few outlets for documentary photography.

This is a major problem. And with all the new outlets for photography and video: websites, blogs, iPads, tablets and mobile phones, there is still one major problem.

And that is no-one, absolutely no-one, has found a way to make these outlets pay.

Adding text to images or a diary to a news report infinitely enhances the importance and impact of a piece of work. But there will be no financial pay off in doing this – just a moral duty to document what has been witnessed for all to see.

Is that why photographers and news-makers don’t write down what they see? Is this why you never hear the term photojournalist anymore?

NOTE: Hetherington tried this diversification technique with his documentary film Restrepo. It ended up being nominated for an Oscar. It possibly made more impact than any of his photos. 

 

Journalists and photographers witnessing atrocities and world events. Or why you never hear the world photojournalism anymore.

Sky News are running a great set of ads on their channel at the moment. They feature their own journalists whoa re based in various parts of the world, such as Holly Williams, speaking of their dedication to storytelling and responsibility to tell the world the events they have witnessed.

Then there’s this talented photographer called Yuri Kozyrev. Born in Moscow, he now works for Dutch agency Noor, covering major conflicts around the world.

In the last nine months he’s been in Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt and Libya. He said of the 2011 uprising in Yemen ‘it was important to be there and witness what was happening’.

He produced some amazing images which were on display at this year’s Visa pour l’Image. They won the Visa d’Or News award.

What Zozyrev and the Sky reports have in common is a huge desire to tell the stories they witness. They often risk their lives to do so, as photographers Tim Hetherinton and Chris Hondros proved when they were killed in Misrata, Libya, earlier this year.

But it’s not enough. Not enough impact. Not enough to risk your life for. Modern-day life hardly allows for any consideration of other people’s lives. Too many people show too little interest in what’s happening in their own country, nevermind in Yemen.

For example there has hardly been any public outcry over the atrocities currently taking place in Syria. In Libya, the revolution has hardly been the subject of office debate. Not in my office anyway.

Yet these journalists and photographers are passionate and dedicated to their jobs.

We just don’t see it. We don’t see it in their three-minute news reports on Sky. We don’t see it in the images of photographers like Kozyrev – mainly because these image-makers struggle to get their work seen at all.

Should these people be writing down their experiences? Would the written word make a difference? If Kozyrev thinks it is so important to witness important world events, why doesn’t he write about them also? Doing so would increase the impact of his work. He would immediately be doubling the possible media outlets for the vents he has covered.

But more important than that his words would serve as written evidence when events are digested at a later time. They will become historical evidence, ultimately enhancing his imagery.

There is little doubt that people like Williams and Kozyrev and their equals are witnessing world events or covering important stories. But, with a Sky News report, blink and you’ll miss them. With a set of images you’ll be lucky to get the chance to see them. There are way too few outlets for documentary photography.

This is a major problem. And with all the new outlets for photography and video: websites, blogs, iPads, tablets and mobile phones, there is still one major problem.

And that is no-one, absolutely no-one, has found a way to make these outlets pay.

Adding text to images or a diary to a news report infinitely enhances the importance and impact of a piece of work. But there will be no financial pay off in doing this – just a moral duty to document what has been witnessed for all to see.

Is that why photographers and news-makers don’t write down what they see? Is this why you never hear the term photojournalist anymore?

NOTE: Hetherington tried this diversification technique with his documentary film Restrepo. It ended up being nominated for an Oscar. It possibly made more impact than any of his photos. 

 

Photography book: Garry Cook's 6x9

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Istanbul. Pretty decent city actually

Istanbul. Massive city. Massive. Thriving, exhilarating, welcoming.

What it is not, is dusty, dirty, dangerous and daunting.

So pack away your pre-conceptions and send them to Cairo while you head for the delights of the city that straddles two continents.*

Having just spent a few days in Turkey’s biggest city of Istanbul, courtesy of Swissotel, I had my own preconceptions blown away.

I expected a sprawling city of busy streets clogged up with sand where tourists are treated like victims, to be parted with their cash by fair means or foul.

In reality, there were clogged-up roads. There is so much traffic in this city it seemed like the entire 12.5million population were trying to get to the same restaurant as me.

But the negative points stop there. Tourists are treated with respect. No areas are no-go to tourists and the history, culture, shopping and leisure trades were fantastic. That’s not to mention the tremendous food.

From the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia to a Bosphorus boat trip and the Istanbul Modern, this place is fantastic destination.

It’s like experiencing the grand scale Cairo without fear for your safety and without pestering from locals.

And here are the pictures:

The Love Town podcast from Istanbul coming soon at www.lovetown.eu A full slideshow will appear at www.gazcook.com shortly which will feature images from the 2011 Istanbul Biennial. 

Swissotel The Bosphorus can be seen here.

*Those two continents in full: Europe and Asia.

 

The Love Town zine – an experiment in the promotion of photography

Photography books are a wonderful thing. They present images in bold and physical way, bringing photography as close as possible to the viewer.
Zines – hand-printed or limited run magazines – are an affordable and colelctable way to produce photo books or present themed work and projects.
If you ever get the chance to go to a book fair, and there are quite a few of them around the country including the 6th Manchester Artists' Book Fair organised by Hot Bed Press on October 21, 2011you will see an amazing assortment of zines made by artists from many disciplines. The fair is part of a Symposium being held on the same day and includes talks by Preston is My Paris's Adam Murray, the British Journal of Photography's Diane Smyth and Yorkshire photography Ian Beesley (probably the best lecture-giver I have witnessed and believe me I've seen a few).
Of course, Long Lens is interested only in photography which is why, through Love Town, it has recently launched the Love Town zine.
The second issue, featured below, focuses on Liverpool nightlife. This full-colour 12-page A4 publication, printed entirely independently on my eBay-acquired hugely-heavy Epson printer, is designed to be as collectable as it is eye-catching.
The documentary images have been collected by one photographer – me – over many lonely nights. Hours have been spent on the deign of the zine, not to mention the selection of the images. And all you have to do is look at it.
As with all Love Town strands, the aim is introduce new people to photography by producing photography that is accessible to those who enjoy their images without huge dollops of theory.
If you've ever stopped to look at a photograph in a newspaper or a magazine and went, 'Whoooah, that's great', then a copy of Love Town could be for you. It could open up a brave new world of images, books and prints.

Postage options

UK £2.00 Europe £3.00 Rest of World £4.50

And Issue One of Love Town is still available:

Postage options

UK £2.00 Europe £3.00 Rerst of World £4.50

Each of the first two Love Town zines is limited to an edition of 100 copies.

Racists – it's the conference you've been waiting for: Populist Racism in Britain in Europe

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Populist Racism in Britain in Europe since 1945 – it’s a two-day conference being held on September 22 and 23.

It’s one of the subjects close to my heart – racism. I’m as perplexed that people in fairly well-developed societies are racist as I am that Facebook repeatedly fails to delete the accounts of those making racist comments which I report.

When the University of Northampton releases their comprehensive report on the English Defence League – The EDL: Britain's 'New Far-Right' Social Movement

– images taken at an EDL march in Preston last November (2010). And, yes, I did take them.

My interest in racism comes through photography, including an interview I did with BNP leader Nick Griffin in 2008, where I have tried to highlight different forms of prejudice and the reasons behind this slightly disturbing aspect of human behaviour.

This latest report examines the EDL’s influence on far-right terrorism and extremists such as Anders Breivik the lone killer who killed almost 93 people, mostly teenagers, in Norway on July 22, 2011.

Dr Matthew Feldman, Senior Lecturer in Twentieth Century History and Director of the Radicalism and New Media Research Group at The University of Northampton, says of the report: “The EDL, perhaps the best representative of a new far-right dynamic this century, uses new media to organise support and protests on the one hand, while on the other, act as a social movement rather than a traditional political party.

“These features, along with the demonisation of Muslims, are very different than the far-right parties of the past, especially those of fascism's heyday between the wars. But for all the smoke and mirrors, the EDL may still be considered a far-right movement – and just like the past, is ultimately one that incites violence, prejudice and division in our communities. 

“For these reasons, our report is intended not only for policy-makers and officials, but also for the wider public - so affected by the disorder brought to towns and cities across Britain as a result of EDL 'protests'.”

Very handily, the report will be available to download for free from www.radicalism-new-media.org The conference will also be available as podcast.

Dr Paul Jackson also launches his book Far-right.com (Searchlight’magazine’s Gerry Gable is co-editor) at the conference.

The book is looks at how British far-right groups use the internet to develop extremist policies.

NOTE: Not all the images shown here are included in the report.

London Design Festival at the V&A featuring Bespoke and Garry Cook's images

The London Design Festival takes place over nine days between September 17 to September 25.

As far as brilliant design goes, it’s a very important festival. There are 280 events and exhibitions in the programme. There were 350,000 visitors to the LDF in 2010.

One of its major venues is the V&A (that’s the Victoria and Albert Museum for you lesser-educated souls) which hosts 13 specially commissioned installations and includes some of 2011's most important landmark projects. 

Amongst all this is the Bespoke Project, a two-year ‘multi-partner collaboration between a community in Preston and journalism, social science and design researchers – will explore how a new method of 'Insight Journalism' can be used for social innovation and engagement’.

That quote was taken from the Bespoke website where you can also read the full press release. My own interpretation of Bespoke is that a few universities got together and tried to introduce technology as a way of engendering better communication and social cohesion on a rough estate in Preston, Lancashire.

The BESPOKE project was been funded by the Research Councils UK as part of the Digital Economy Programme and is a collaborative project between five UK research institutions with Paul Egglestone (University of Central Lancaster), David Frohlich (The Digital World Research Centre, University of Surrey), Justin Marshall (Autonomatic, University College Falmouth), Patrick Olivier (Culture Lab, Newcastle University)  and Jon Rogers (University of Dundee). 

I got to know the area quite well over the past two years as I photographed a lot of the work Bespoke did. Some of these images are included in the display at the V&A

The Digital Buskers, Wayfinder and Viewpoint were three of the designs which were realised around Callon and Fishwick.

These designs are at the V&A during the London Design Festival, including a special talk by the designers on Tuesday September 20 at around 4.15pm work at the Hockhauser Auditorium, Sackler Centre. 

Two of the Universities involved have their say:

Justin Marshall, Associate Professor of Digital Craft at University College Falmouth, said: “For me this project has opened up an exciting new space.

“A space where the digital capabilities for creating individualised products and services have been re-orientated away from the burgeoning market for unique personalised goods, towards crafting responses to wider, and I would argue, more important community focused issues.”

Jon Rogers, Senior Lecturer in Product Design at the University of Dundee, said: "All of these design prototypes act as demonstrators for how a future could look if we engaged with our communities better.

“It is the first test and the first showcase of how Insight Journalism, a radically new method of community engagement, has been researched, implemented and tested. 

“While we present a method that has led to a collection of community design responses, we think this has potential for any responsive way of working with people.”

I have to confess I did not take this photograph of the digital buskers - though I did take the image from which the digital buskers cut-out was made. If you follow me.