My most miserable day
When asked about covering South Sudan and its journey to independence, a story that was largely reported as a positive event, photographer Goran Tomasevic had the following to say in a recent interview:
“Honestly, it was one of the most miserable days in my life. It was so disorganized.
The day before, there was still construction going on in the place where the Independence Day celebrations were to be held. Everyone had to queue for some press passes for maybe 3-4 hours but they gave press cards to NGOs and to everyone. Somehow, they managed to finish the construction but then totally screwed up with security in general. We didn’t know where to go. There were some stands up so we pushed here and there. They would kick us back and we would run around and they would pull us back again.
One moment, the bodyguards started to push everyone as they had invited so many people and they didn’t have seats for all of them. They weren’t hostile to the journalists but it was just so disorganized. It was so hot that there were people collapsing all around. I brought my water but there were no facilities anywhere – no toilets. The food was bad; everyone had problems with their stomachs. It was just a nightmare.”
Libya, Goran and the photo that went around the world
Chief Photographer Steve Crisp tells how this picture from Goran Tomasevic appeared Monday on front pages across the world.
“Goran, as ever, was up at first light and on the road heading south from Benghazi after the first night of western bombing. The Reuters multimedia team came upon a convoy of troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who had been attacked. Goran carefully took up a position near the smoldering vehicles when munitions exploded and so was able to capture a wide selection of dramatic and iconic pictures. This coverage was the climax to Goran’s outstanding front line reporting from the rebel advance, retreat and western intervention.
His images scored an amazing number of online and newspaper front pages worldwide, with this defining moment published as widely as another historic Reuters war picture, a 2003 photograph of a U.S. soldier standing beside the toppled statue of Saddam Hussein – a picture also shot by Goran Tomasevic.”
For more information on Goran, here is a selection of his work with comments on Full Focus.
So busy I didn’t even notice the lens was broken
Covering wars is the hardest, most dangerous and most exciting part of my job. This is not only shooting pictures, it is a way of life. To follow the story, make contacts and be respected by soldiers I am following is hard and complex job. Photographers who are doing the same job as me will understand my thoughts. Others may never have that privilege. Words can only explain. With pictures I am trying to show the reality. Nevertheless, I want to explain what happened behind some of my pictures I took during my recent time with U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
On March 21, I arrive at Kandahar Air Field (KAF). On my way out of the KAF flight terminal, I find my good friends U.S. Army Colonel Ed Kornish and Sergeant Major Andy Bolt waiting for me. Soon after, over coffee and cigarettes, Colonel Kornish says there is a mission planned in Zabul province and we’d better hurry.
Just a few hours later we are on our way in four Humvees. Around three in morning, we stop to take a rest in a small base near the village of Shajoy and at first light we move to join the Afghan National Police (ANP) at one of their bases nearby.
Then we all move off towards another village, where the soldiers and police hoped to surprise a group of Taliban fighters. The convoy of four ANP pick-ups and four Humvees soon leaves the tarmac and heads into the desert, avoiding even dirt tracks to escape the ever-present danger of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices). I can’t see anything. Dust is everywhere, coming in through the gunner’s position on top of the truck. I cover my face with part of my scarf and with the other part I try to protect my cameras from the dust.
A few times the convoy stops for soldiers to observe the area or for the ANP to question villagers. An Afghan villager resists the ANP when they find his motorbike has no papers. The officer quickly detains him and punches him few times for good measure. I watch it from a distance but I’m too far away to take pictures.
About 20 minutes later, I see an ANP foot patrol in front of a mud-wall compound carrying rifles and RPG-s, and I jump out of the truck and run to join them. The ANP soon find a PKM Soviet-made machinegun, the other policemen start to shout and run towards a hill-top. I start to follow him.
Your photo of the puppy under the soldier’s hat in Baquba is one of the most beautifull I’ve never seen. Thank you for your hard work, I really appreciate it. Erica, Italy
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Resident Photographers Blog Expert
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The Wall
Love the photos but the copy just comes across like whingeing I’m afraid, and fuels criticism of photojournalists flying in, moaning about the heat the food and the mosquitos, then jetting back out to their airconditioned hotel rooms in Nairobi. $10 for breakfast, what a hardship. Ask some of the subjects of your photographs what THEY had for breakfast before standing all day in the hot sun to celebrate their new country and no longer being seen as refugees in the eyes of the world and they would most probably be quite happy for what you begrudged $10 for.