Pulitzer Prize Winner

Very touching pictures, taken when the photographer is allowed to witness personal and emotional moments and record it as it happened. I admire her composure while taking these pictures. If it makes you cry just by looking at it on your screen, imagine how it feels like to be shooting under such circumstances. She has fulfilled her role as a photojournalist.

http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2007/feature-photography/works/

News Hunting on a Rainy Day

Seemed like it was going to be another wasted trip as I was on my way to the West. The instruction given was simple, "heavy rain in the west, go see if there is any flash floods etc". No exact location was given and I was ready to go rain-chasing. It pays to have the radio on in such circumstances. On hearing that traffic was affected on a street at Jurong, I headed straight for that. True enough, a tree had fallen right across the 2 lane road, probably up-rooted by the downpour. I shot a few frames before they started to bring in the chainsaws and dismembered the tree. I got to test the water-proofing of my shoes in 2 inch deep water. Job done, packed up and headed back to office. Listened to Dani California by Red Hot Chili Peppers on the way back. Felt like a victory song as I realized that this was the song I listened to when something gets accomplished for the day. Some songs just bring back certain feelings or is it the other way round...some songs come to mind when you feel a certain way. Never mind.

Quotes

Some food for thought for those in the trade.


The Decline (and Maybe Demise) of the Professional Photojournalist
December 4th, 2006 by Dan Gillmor

"The percentage of REAL news published has decreased dramatically, and has been replaced with an endless stream of celebrity news and programming consisting of lame wannabes with an over-blown sense of entitlement.
Look at your news-stand any day, and see how many magazines even mention Darfur, and how many have the latest inane details of “Britney and FedEx”.
Corporate media wants to keep the general populace uninformed - distracted from anything that might reduce advertising dollars; and with the masses helping to create their own opiate - we are further distracted every day from the realities that good journalism helps bring to light."

Read the full article here


More from Trevor Butterworth:

"What is more important to the future of photography is that newspaper editors push their photographers to do better work and allow them to be creative. The number of dull photos that show up on a daily basis is unforgivable given the talent out there. Think about how the launch of the Independent in London blazed a path for some truly great photojournalism. The dramatic spot news event will take care of itself."

"Photography isn’t dead, but it’s dying due to a lack of leadership or imagination on the part of the people vested with the authority to shape the presentation of the news in tomorrow’s news products."