The one with the clothes on the rock from the massacre in Norway, is a rather average shot I think. Anyone could of taken it, right? Whether you had the opportunity to be in a boat near the time.
@azza_l I agree about the Norway shot...without the background info it could have been any lake anywhere, and somebody went for a swim or dropped the clothes.
@azza_l@shadesofgrey I think sometimes though, it's what you're NOT seeing in a shot that is impactful, and not the shot itself, yeah? No, it's not a great shot. But it's a very powerful one.
Also - I don't know why this just made me think of it, but have you seen Bang Bang Club? Fantastic true story movie that every photographer should watch.
@pwallis I guess I wasn't commenting on the quality of the photo so much as the "story" the photo told or didn't. Without the background story that photo doesn't really make sense (to me). The rhino photo or prostitute photo tell a story without any necessary background to make the photo make sense. The "behind the scenes" make the photo better but it stands on it's own. The only reason I even really commented on it was that it received an award. I feel like for a photo to receive photo-journalistic accolade it should tell a story......however looking at the caption again and re-reading it a couple times, the photo is put in there to represent a series that was done on the island and the events...I guess I think they could have picked a little better photo to represent the stories is all. I can't feel the emotion in that shot that I can in the others.
Let me ask you this....did that photo hurt your heart as much as the rhino photo? Why or why not. I know it didn't hit me as hard as the rhino photo or even the alzheimers photo because there is nothing in the frame for me to identify with. I can sympathize with someone or somethings plight/struggles when it is right in my face but I can minimize the impact when I don't have to see it. That makes a quality photo in a journalistic sense. I understand the significance of the events and I'm not being un-sympathetic to the island and the victims, just asking a question based on the merits of the photos.
@shadesofgrey good point, and question. Which kind of ties in to the movie I mentioned. It's a true story of photojournalists documenting the violence following the dissolving of aprtheid structure. The lengths they go to to get the "perfect shot" are astounding. And disturbing. And the aftermath they're left with is perfectly expected. There's a scene at the end where reporters repeatedly ask a prize winning photojournalist what happened to the dying little girl he was photographing, being stalked by vultures. He can't answer because he doesn't know. All he did was capture the moment, knowing that he was capturing an amazing scene at the time, and then move on. The photo had a huge impact when it went into publication, but it leaves questions hanging as to the role of photojournalists.
Kind of got sidetracked there - the rhino shot hurts my heart because I worked with animals in my previous career and my vivid imagination was imagining the poor animal struggling and bellowing while they maimed it's face with a CHAINSAW. And there it is, larger than life and gentle as ever, living out it's life as though that hadn't happened to it.
The prostitute shot was just a powerful powerful in your face shot. It's ugly, and the vulnerability in which she's presented brings new light to the streetwalkers you see in the downtown core here. It's not a side I would see to them, unless I was a john, and it makes me wonder how a man can be okay with paying to have sex with a woman who looks as though she's not even really surviving, but only existing. It's sick.
The Norway shot is only powerful to me because I can recall watching the story unfold on BBC news, and being horrified by it. If I wasn't familiar with the history, it probably wouldn't have had much of an impact at all. So, no, you're right, it didn't hurt my heart as much to see that. But I don't know that I want my heart hurt in that way. Seeing massacred children is too much for me.
Very interesting points Shades!
@pwallis@shadesofgrey I found the Norway very interesting...... There is a crazy guy running around shooting people. You can swim better without clothes, but in that time getting undressed you may very well be shot. Not sure what I would have done?
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
Other wise though, some pretty fine photos.
Also - I don't know why this just made me think of it, but have you seen Bang Bang Club? Fantastic true story movie that every photographer should watch.
Let me ask you this....did that photo hurt your heart as much as the rhino photo? Why or why not. I know it didn't hit me as hard as the rhino photo or even the alzheimers photo because there is nothing in the frame for me to identify with. I can sympathize with someone or somethings plight/struggles when it is right in my face but I can minimize the impact when I don't have to see it. That makes a quality photo in a journalistic sense. I understand the significance of the events and I'm not being un-sympathetic to the island and the victims, just asking a question based on the merits of the photos.
Kind of got sidetracked there - the rhino shot hurts my heart because I worked with animals in my previous career and my vivid imagination was imagining the poor animal struggling and bellowing while they maimed it's face with a CHAINSAW. And there it is, larger than life and gentle as ever, living out it's life as though that hadn't happened to it.
The prostitute shot was just a powerful powerful in your face shot. It's ugly, and the vulnerability in which she's presented brings new light to the streetwalkers you see in the downtown core here. It's not a side I would see to them, unless I was a john, and it makes me wonder how a man can be okay with paying to have sex with a woman who looks as though she's not even really surviving, but only existing. It's sick.
The Norway shot is only powerful to me because I can recall watching the story unfold on BBC news, and being horrified by it. If I wasn't familiar with the history, it probably wouldn't have had much of an impact at all. So, no, you're right, it didn't hurt my heart as much to see that. But I don't know that I want my heart hurt in that way. Seeing massacred children is too much for me.
Very interesting points Shades!