Til death do us bark
By Allison Joyce
Last week my editor forwarded me an email containing a cute blue invitation to a bridal shower and asked if I was interested in covering it. I immediately wrote back “YES!” because this wasn’t just any wedding shower, it was for Lucky Diamond, a Maltese dog.
I arrived at the Muse Hotel in Midtown for the big event. One table was set with bright blue cupcakes, teacups and finger sandwiches. There was another table set with 10 different kinds of teas for dogs, mini milk bones, and doggie cupcakes. Absorbent pads were placed around the room for the special guests to do their business. As waiters were serving champagne, the bride-to-be, decked out in a pink tulle dress and bonnet made of pink lace, pranced around the room with her canine guests.
The female human guests were walking around in bright, colorful cocktail dresses and hats – almost, but not quite upstaged by their pampered pets. Imagine dogs of all breeds and sizes dressed to the nines in stylish dresses accented by tutus, feather boas and hats.
Inside Kabul’s theaters
By Danish Siddiqui
I believe that sometimes you learn about a city and its society from its local cinemas and the genre of films they choose to screen.
Coming from the heart of the Indian film industry in Mumbai, popularly known as Bollywood, I had no idea what to expect from the cinemas in Kabul. I had several questions on my mind. Did families go out to watch films or was it only a getaway for men? Is watching films at the cinema as popular as it is in other parts of the world? What kind of films entice the Afghan cinema-goer?
There are only half a dozen cinemas in the whole of Kabul. Most of the theaters like Cinema Park and Ariana Cinema were destroyed during the civil war and were later shut down by the Taliban who had banned, among other things, going to the movies. Now every theater has three films shown every day with the first one starting at 10a.m.
Bollywood films from India, Pashto films from Pakistan and occasionally dubbed Hollywood films are played in Kabul’s theaters, but the genre of film is always the same; Afghan movie fans love action films. At every cinema I shot and interviewed in, action films ruled the roost.
Hooray for Bollywood! What the rest of the world cannot presently provide to Afghanistan, Indian cinema has made succesful inroads, with cultural offerings that speak to their identity. Will the day every arrive when President Karzai opens the floodgates of world cinema, so that all Afghan citizens can enjoy alternate views of international society?
Saving the Canon 400mm f2.8
By Murad Sezer
All photographers make plans to deal with possible clashes. They are ready to protect themselves and their equipment when covering a potential riot (or a May Day demonstration as I did a few days earlier). But you don’t expect to be doing that before a soccer match, or any other sports events.
While covering the May Day protests I don’t carry a camera bag or a laptop. I head out with my two camera bodies, spare memory cards, a gas mask and a wireless lan transmitter attached to the camera body to file my pictures – that’s all.. It’s more comfortable and easy to cover if any riots break out. But to cover a soccer match is a different story. If it’s a cup final or a decisive match like last Saturday’s Fenerbahce – Galatasaray Turkish Super League Super Final, we bring along much more equipment. I pack a hardcase with a laptop, 3 camera bodies, four lenses including a 400 mm f2.8 super telephoto, remote control devices to set up a camera behind the goal, network cables, a mini tripod etc. And usually we don’t even think about the safety of ourselves or our equipment. Normally during half time or at the end of the game we set our cameras down and rush to file pictures from the field or in the photographers’ working room.
SLIDESHOW: SOCCER FANS GONE WILD
However, in the shadow of the season-long match-fixing scandal, tension was high before the Fenerbahce vs Galatasaray derby. Fenerbahce had to win, while a draw was enough for Galatasaray to lift the championship trophy. Remembering when fans rioted two years ago after Fenerbahce missed out on the league championships at home, all the photographers were worried about the end of this match. But I didn’t see any photographer friends take any precautionary measures. It looked like they had no plan B, but I had one. My plan B was a padlock! The game started. It was a rough-and-tumble season finale. The two teams did not score and in the five minutes of injury time I felt that the match would finish 0-0. That would mean Galatasaray would become the 2011-12 Turkish champions, which may trigger some violence by disappointed Fenerbahce fans both on and off the pitch.
As a Fenerbahçe fan and a photographer, I can’t think of anything senseless than revolting because of a lost match, given the economic situation of the country where all the people are awkwardly silent. Condolences for the lenses, I’d also never brought those kind of materials to that day.
All hail the Queen
By Suzanne Plunkett
When Queen Elizabeth II makes a public appearance there is usually a long list of protocol rules for those handling the visit, but this clearly doesn’t include what to do when hailstones start showering down.
The Queen was caught in a sudden hail storm on Wednesday while meeting the public in Richmond Park, southwest of London. Dark clouds overhead unleashed a torrent of ice on the 86-year-old monarch and a bitter wind tried to snatch away her umbrella.
The burst of wintry weather caught many people off guard. There were squeals from school children gathered for the event.
From the early days of her enthronement as Queen, Elizabeth has always shown pluck and fortitude in dealing with situations as diverse as post-World War II reconstruction, to damaging public relations concerning her children, their wives, becoming less regal and more in-tune with the people. Abandoning royal yachts, riding on public trains, and even having her own personal website endear her more than half-a-century reign.
Village of joy
By Ueslei Marcelino
Deep in the Brazilian heartland, where the upper reaches of the Amazon Basin dissolve into the central plateau, I had the opportunity last week to spend a few days in the village of joy.
What I dubbed the village of joy is the home of the Yawalapiti tribe. One day last week, a group of us were escorted into the Xingu National Park by members of the Darcy Ribeiro Foundation and the Cavaleiro de Jorge cultural center, and arrived at the circular Yawalapiti village under an enormous full moon.
The mood was one of celebration. The Yawalapiti, one of the 14 tribes living inside the Xingu National Park, were preparing a new “quarup,” a ritual held over several days to honor in death a person of great importance to them. In its original form, the quarup was a funeral ritual intended to bring the dead back to life. Today, it is a celebration of life, death and rebirth. From the very oldest to the very youngest, all the members of the Yawalapiti tribe participate in the preparations.
They wrestled, danced, fished and prepared food for the main event which will happen in August. Yawalapiti warriors held wrestling matches in a sort of qualifying round to select the best team to confront warriors from other tribes. From the inter-tribal event during the quarup will emerge the great champion.
Tribute to Danilo Krstanovic
Last Friday our long time Sarajevo photographer Danilo Krstanovic passed away unexpectedly. He was buried on Monday in Sarajevo.Danilo began working for Reuters at the start of the siege of Sarajevo. His images were extraordinary and touching. There are many photographers who would brag about their war adventures, about what they did and how brave they were, but not Danilo. He would quietly go to take his pictures, endangering his life on a daily basis for four years. He always came back with amazing images, never complaining or boasting about any situation he was in.
Danilo is survived by his wife and daughter.
- Pawel Kopczynski
Danilo’s colleague Peter Andrews offers his thoughts below.
People say that it always hurts more when it is close to home and it is very true. Our group, who have spent almost 20 years in various dangerous places, is used to seeing death and dead bodies and somehow have become totally accustomed to that. We do not cry when we see destruction and mayhem and we work calmly. Perhaps each of us processes each situation in a different way inside but we all stay calm outside… unless we don’t.
Still, when it comes to the death of people who were dear to us, it always hurts and leaves a huge void in our souls. It is hard to even speak about that. Danilo was one of us, taking pictures in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War. That is where I met him and had the privilege of working with him for two years. The difference between Danilo and us (photographers who come from abroad) was that we, once in a while, were able to leave Sarajevo and rest in a normal place not touched by war and destruction filled with death, suffering, crying and funerals. Funerals that happen every day. Danilo did not have this kind of luxury as he was not allowed to leave Sarajevo for he was Bosnian. So what he did was walk the streets of Sarajevo every day – putting his life on the line to bring amazing news pictures showing the horrors of the siege. He never complained as he was probably the most modest and quiet man I have ever known and have worked with.
Alert Angelina Jolie and Woody Harrelson, who have a vested interest in Sarajevo!
Dumpster diving with freegans
By Ben Nelms
I never thought I would say “that’s delicious” after taking a bite out of expired and moderately warm cashew ice-cream. This was one of the many presumptions that would be broken in my time spent with this intriguing group of “urban gleaners.”
A “Freegan” is someone who gathers edible food from the dumpster bins of grocery stores or food stands that would otherwise have been thrown away. This is usually due to being past an expiration date or being damaged. Bread, fruit and vegetables, canned goods and even ice-cream is found and given a second chance.
I first met Robin through another story I was working on at a young women’s shelter in downtown Vancouver. Robin, who works there part-time, mentioned that she had quite different food habits than the normal 23-year-old city girl in Vancouver. I asked if I could photograph her on one of her “grocery shopping” outings and the rest fell together from that moment on.
Other than possibly picking up various vermin, lice, and rat/raccoon bites, this practice should not be allowed by city and building owners. There are too many dangerous variables to overcome. These containers should have locked covers, with only a wide window to deposit throwaways. Alternately, there is a wonderful and hilarious book called “Mongo,” about professional New Yorkers who early-morning scavenge the upper crust streets for amazing antiques, furniture, clothing, and other pricey, discarded objects.
Trekking to the Sukhoi crash site
By Beawiharta
I think this has been my hardest assignment to get photos since I began working for Reuters.
Wednesday Wednesday afternoon at the office I received news that a Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger plane with 46 people on board had lost contact with air traffic control at Jakarta’s Halim Perdana Kusuma airport during their demonstration flight over Mount Salak. After more than four hours of no contact, it meant the aircraft was lost, crashed or had made an emergency landing. I decided to spend the night at the office to figure out the fastest options for covering the Sukhoi news, and to prepare all the camera equipment in the pictures vehicle. After a discussion with Heru Asprihanto from TV and Indonesia bureau chief Matthew Bigg, we decided to wait until morning to head to the the nearby location Mount Salak.
Thursday After taking photos in the morning of volunteers preparing to climb Salak Mountain, I received information that the Sukhoi aircraft had crashed after hitting a slope atop Mount Salak. For Indonesians, it is common for aircraft to hit the mountain. Since 2004, four aircraft have crashed there, the worst an Indonesian air force aircraft in 2008 that killed 18 soldiers on board.
After eating lunch, I joined the first rescue team heading to the crash site. The team said it would need two to three hours to climb to the crash site from our position. I thought I would need between four to six hours to climb up and walk back down, before managing to send pictures to the desk at around 6pm local time. I joined the team, deciding not to carry a laptop and sat phone in order to lighten the baggage that I was carrying while climbing. It would also prevent any damage to the equipment should I fall. I had five chocolate bars, 1.5 liters of water, two camera bodies and three lenses, alongside a pocket knife, headlamp and rain coat in my backpack.
if the caption was ommitted, i would have thought that the pictures are for a military excercise, well some of the pics. i wish to have seen the debris.
Ghosts of Olympics past
By Toby Melville
The United Kingdom, London in particular, is cranking up the momentum with just over two months to go until the 2012 Summer Olympics begin. In the last few months myriads of sporting, political and business photocalls have taken place around the gleaming and glittering new venues in east London with many test events being held therein.
The last time London hosted the Olympics was in 1948, three years after the Second World War and because of that global conflict, it was the first Olympics in 12 years, since Berlin in 1936. The competition was labelled the Austerity Games, because of the post-war rationing and the economic climate of the time. With the 2012 Games also set against a backdrop of global financial and economic crisis, comparisons with the previous time London played host are easy to make.
In 2012, over nine billion pounds sterling (approximately US$13billion) has so far been channeled into building brand new stadia, with a whole new Olympic Park complex in east London. But in 1948, only existing venues and facilities were used, nor was there an athletes village. The total cost of the games then was £760 000 (approx £131 million, $210 million, in 2012). In 1948, British athletes had to buy their own kit and make their own way to events by public transport. Some of the venues used in 1948 are still in existence, so I thought it would make an interesting journey to track down and photograph them nearly 65 years later…
Front row at the Sarkozy show
By Philippe Wojazer
April 31, 2012 The day before French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s last big political meeting.
During a rally one month earlier I had the idea to place a go-pro camera on a television arm to capture general views of Paris’s place de la Concorde. I went to the TV production team to ask if I could hang the small camera under their camera without disturbing their images. The problem is that if you put something on the end of their arm, you need to add some weight to the other end so it is balanced and can “fly” over the crowd. Balancing weight can be long work. The team were really helpful and at the end of the day, I had my go-pro camera fixed up-there.
When I returned the next morning they explained that a rescue helicopter had to land near the arm and that all the adjustments had to be redone. We also needed to clean the camera as it was covered with dust from the helicopter. It took us an hour to re-balance, clean and check the go-pro settings (timed to take a picture every 10 seconds). I explained to the technician how to start the camera. Later, when I was among the crowd, I tried to see if the little red light was blinking every 10 seconds. I wasn’t sure it had worked until I got the camera back and saw it had taken more than 1500 pictures.
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Resident Photographers Blog Expert
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The Wall
This event truly outshines another bizarre ritual recently published, about a funeral service for a beloved dog, with invited guests and readings. Pet owners adore their nonhuman family members, and anthropromorphize them for everyday, normal human events. As long as there is no harm to the animals, why not celebrate these events in the spirit of which they are held?