Photographers Blog

By Jason Reed

President Obama’s healthcare overhaul, signed into law two years ago, is his signature domestic policy achievement. It remains a divisive issue among Americans and is likely to be a key issue ahead of the November 6 election in which he seeks a second term.

For three days this week, the nine Justices heard arguments from both sides on whether the healthcare overhaul is lawful. A ruling is expected in June.

I covered the story and gathered pictures, sound and video from the circus-like atmosphere outside the Supreme Court, and compiled supporting images from other Reuters Photographers for this multimedia project. With a Zoom H4N digital audio recorder mounted to the hotshoe of a camera, I was able to capture some ambient sound of the debate raging between participants outside the courthouse.

Washington is a magnet for demonstrations and rallies focusing on the biggest social and political issues that face the United States. In any one year, hundreds of protests of all shapes and sizes dot this landscape around the nation’s capital’s landmarks. They are just a regular part of what we cover as news photographers alongside all the other responsibilities of Washington politics, including the White House, State Department, the Pentagon and Capitol Hill.

The challenge for any photographer is to try to keep it fresh, as in most cases it is the same actors, just a different play.

By Nir Elias

As an Israeli and a resident of “ultra” secular Tel Aviv for most of my adult life, Purim — the celebration of the Jews’ salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, as recounted in the Book of Esther — has always been a time of partying and dressing up, for me.

Images of Orthodox Jews celebrating Purim were always very familiar. But being present at one of these celebrations was a different experience altogether.

This year I went to photograph the Vizhnitz Hasidic community in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox city some 7 km (4 miles) from Tel Aviv. The Vizhnitz community members tend to emphasize the joyous gatherings and celebrations commemorated in the Jewish tradition.

Reuters photo editors Peter Jones and Sam Mircovich explain the process of transmitting hundreds of images from Hollywood’s premier event – the 84th Academy Awards. Photos created by Mike Blake in the Oscar photo room are quickly sent from camera to editor, reaching clients around the world.

Click here for a look at photographers covering all angles of the red carpet.

By Danish Siddiqui

London to me, as a photographer, is a uniquely diverse place to capture on camera in terms of its people and their stories. It amalgamates a lot of complexities that make for compelling narratives.

A couple months back I went to London from Mumbai as part of a short assignment, to get some experience out of my usual domain. I worked closely with the Reuters UK team and specifically Andrew Winning on the production of a multimedia piece that would tell the story of young Muslim converts in London.

In an age where there is a lot of skepticism around Islam, empirical evidence has proved otherwise. A study, for instance, has suggested that more than 100,000 people converted to Islam in the last decade. London is one such melting pot. And the city made for an interesting background to follow the life of one such convert.

Tuxedo-clad photographers and editors come together for Hollywood’s most anticipated night – the 84th Academy Awards. Mario Anzuoni, Lucas Jackson and Lucy Nicholson take spots on the congested red carpet to capture the styles of the stars, looking for glamour, intimacy and surprising moments.

In this multimedia piece, Lucas turns the camera toward the photographers themselves.

Oscar photographers:

Mario Anzuoni – Arrivals 2

Mike Blake – Photo Room

Gary Hershorn – Awards Show

Lucas Jackson – Orchid Court

Lucy Nicholson – Arrivals 1

Photographer Damir Sagolj won second place in the multimedia story section of the POYi awards for the following piece on the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011.

View more of Damir’s photographs from Japan here.

By Tim Wimborne

Coal Seam Gas drilling is controversial. It’s also worth billions.

Some Australians love it, some hate it. The issues are big and they are complex. The industry is expanding like wildfire and the story develops daily. To more effectively tell this very thin slice of the story I combined pictures with audio, text and time-lapse video.

I believe this sector of Australia’s massive resources boom has the potential to make major political shifts. While reporting on it a farmer, a traditionally conservative lot, said to me “thank god for the Greens”.

Gas & Water from Tim Wimborne on Vimeo.

By Mike Blake

Recording how we as a society advance and decline amid a changing world is pretty much what being a journalist is all about. The changes are mostly man made, sometimes nature, but humanity rolls along and each new generation brings with it change. Put a camera in your hand and record the events with images and you have a better idea of my job for the past 26 years as a staff photographer for Reuters.

That may be a strange introduction to a piece about a kid from Canada who follows his dream to be a professional skateboarder in California, but not really.

Skateboarding got started in the 60’s with clay wheels and surfers looking out at a flat ocean. But nothing really happened with skateboarding until polymer technology advanced and created urethane. Then along comes a guy named Frank Nasworthy and the skateboard wheel clicks in his head. From that point on technology has advanced, and along with it, skateboarding. To the point where you have a little story about Jordan Hoffart, who follows his dream.

In 2011, the life of Portuguese citizens changed.

Changes that appear to be hidden but are smoothly spreading beneath our toes. We feel them, we breathe them, but we don’t obviously see them.

Throughout 2011 we worked to gain a front row seat to the changes.

Is it a spring fog or an autumn drizzle? Sometimes in life things change so fast and dramatically but the skyline will still brighten with the same sunrise or sunshine.

Where did it start? The U.S.? Iceland? Ireland? Greece?

Through interviews, Fado songs and Portuguese guitar music, we present our view of Portugal’s fight to understand themselves and the global crisis as well as to change and move forward.

While covering Lisbon Fashion Week, photographer Rafa Marchante spoke with fashion designers, models, photographers and journalists, asking them if they thought the fashion world was frivolous.