Luck and life ...

Trixie Lee and daughter Sunni

Sometimes I have to remind myself how lucky I am.

Part of working at a small newspaper is covering events that recur year after year. I'm going into my fourth year at the Statesboro Herald, and often I find myself struggling to find new ways to record annual happenings. One of those is the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. A campaign that lasts several months culminates in teams made up of local businesses and organizations taking turns walking all night long around a makeshift track at the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fairgrounds.

It's mostly a joyful event, celebrating life and resolve with cancer survivors taking the first lap to rousing applause to kick off the evening. There is a somber element to the event, however, with the track being lined by candles memorializing those who have died of cancer. Mostly joyful, though. Families and friends and co-workers laughing, playing, selling and eating food. Survivors hug and make conversation after waving and slapping high-fives with spectators while making their victory lap.

And my pictures from past years have mostly reflected this. This year, I worried about making all the same pictures I've made in the past. However, at the very end of the Survivors Lap, I noticed two women holding hands as they stepped off the track and continued across the field. I followed them and noticed the their t-shirts, especially the younger woman's message: "I wear pink for my mommy." I caught up with them to get their names and they shared their story. The mom had been diagnosed with cancer in 2004, had licked it, but had recently suffered a recurrence. She has undergone treatment and is awaiting final word on remission. She traveled from from out of town to join her daughter, a Georgia Southern student, who was volunteering for Relay with her sorority. We were all choked up a little, and I thanked them for allowing me to share their moment together. "She's my life," mom said of daughter.

At that point, I was pleased that I had captured something showing a different aspect of the event than I had previously photographed, but I continued to shoot features to post on our web site. The evening light cast a glow and long shadows across the scene, so I decided to take advantage. I positioned myself on the ground beside the track, shooting up at walkers as they strolled in and out of the gorgeous light. In the foreground, in the bottom of my viewfinder, were the still-unlit candles in bags anchored with sand. I was going strictly for graphic effect. I could hear people chuckling at me as I lay prone on the ground. Didn't bother me. Happens all the time. Probably a hundred peopled sauntered past, and I was just about ready to move on when I saw her. And elderly woman, walking slowly, by herself, reading the names on the bags. I kept shooting. She was practically on top of me when she paused.

Betty Hood remembers her husband at Relay for Life

I knew she was looking at the names, so I asked her about it. She told me she was looking for her husband, who had died of cancer almost three years ago. She had stopped because she found his memorial – right in front of where I had set up to shoot pictures. I was going for visual interest. I lucked into something much more poignant. She was sad, but also grateful for the Relay and gushed about how great it was. She intended to stay the night with volunteers and walkers, and would later be joined by her sister from Savannah. Choked up again, I thanked her, too, for allowing me to share her moment and her story.

Like I said, sometimes I have to remind myself. I'm much luckier than I usually think I am. I'm lucky that life, sometimes surprisingly, keeps presenting itself to me and my camera in ways that I can share. In ways many people can learn from and reflect on. I'm lucky that I can bear witness to the human spirit.

And I'm lucky to have my own health and a family I can go home to and cherish every moment with.

I guess I'm just lucky.

Friday, April 16, 2010 | posted in behind the lens, commentary, daily work, personal | 2 comments [ More ]

The future of photography: Photographers not necessary ...

Adobe further undermining professionalism and journalistic ethics?

I am again piggybacking on Mark Johnson's content over at Visual Journalism, but this is worth sharing.

Software giant Adobe® is yet again updating their ubiquitous Photoshop® image editing software. One of the most significant new features is what they call "content-aware fill," which essentially allows you to select all kinds of objects within your image and almost imperceptibly delete them as if they were never there – easy as pie. Check out the YouTube video demonstrating some of the capabilities of this feature, which may have serious implications.

Pretty slick, eh? There are plenty of photographers, artists, and graphics professionals drooling over this capability. It's a real time-saver, they are saying. Maybe they shouldn't be so hasty. Content-aware fill doesn't do anything new. This kind of editing has been possible for a long time. What it now does is make this kind of editing easy for anyone to do very quickly. All that money and time spent on Photoshop® training could be down the drain for thousands of graphics and photography professionals who charge upwards of $150 an hour for retouching services.

Anyone notice the image used for the first example in the video? Poorly composed. Ugly light. Just an incredibly amateurish image, yet we were told this picture was for a real life client.  Amazing. Just what is Adobe really trying to sell? Don't want to pay for a professional photographer? That's okay, Photoshop will fix everything. Don't know anything about composition. Fix it in Photoshop. Don't know anything about lighting? Fix it in Photoshop. Don't have the right equipment for the job? Well, you know ...

Is this the future of photography? No photographer necessary? Funny thing is, this has been brewing for a while. The talent many clients seek out these days are those who know all the Photoshop tricks, rather than professional image makers. Now, Adobe is making it so easy, you don't need to know any tricks. No talent or knowledge necessary, either.

"Pictures have power when they are real, and real photographs have the power to change society."
John Long, Ethics Chair for the National Press Photographers Association

What does this mean for my profession? It further undermines the credibility of any image produced by working photojournalists. The public needs to believe that the images made by photojournalists are honest and accurate representations of the subjects and scenes they photograph. News photographers who change and alter their images to suit their personal aesthetic tastes or to further their careers are lying to the public. Every year we hear about these photographers and their ethical lapses. It may cost these photographers their jobs, but it costs the rest of us credibility – our work has little value if our audience doesn't not see our images as believable. With the new Photoshop CS5, it's now easier than ever to deceive the public with photographs.

Do you believe the images you see in the news are real? Technology is creating a new paradigm about information and about images. Only a fool would try and bottle up the techno-genie. So I ask you, what are the benchmarks of reliable information in this new, emerging digital world? Is my commitment to ethical newsgathering and presentation enough? What do you need from me, people, so you believe my visual testimonies are accurate?

If you are interested, please follow this link for a detailed, technical explanation about how I use Photoshop in my work and about the ethical standards which I abide by.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 | posted in behind the lens, commentary, ethics, photojournalism | 1 comments [ More ]