Newspapers are fading. News media is in a limbo of redefinition. Now we can add photojournalism to that list of defunct media, said Neil Burgess, head of London-based photo agency NB Pictures. Burgess is also the former head of Network Photographers and Magnum Photos, and twice Chairman of World Press Photo, and has spent much of his life working on social documentary photography and 25 years as a photojournalist.
Zoriah Miller, commonly known as Zoriah, is an award-winning photojournalist and war photographer whose work has been featured in some of the world’s most prestigious galleries, museums, and publications. Check out his website, blog, one-on-one photojournalism workshops, and Wikipedia article.
PetaPixel: Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?
Zoriah Miller: I began photography when I was 15 years old and within the first year of shooting I won a national award and was pretty into the idea of becoming a photojournalist. Three years later I was shooting abroad and had all of my equipment stolen…well, actually I had everything stolen and ended up having to spend some time in a homeless shelter until I could get money and documents to get out of the country…but that is another story. The point was that my camera and lenses were gone and I pretty much gave up. I graduated college, moved to New York, was in the music industry for six years, gave that up to go abroad and study disaster management and humanitarian aid to developing countries, hated that and then picked up a used camera and a plane ticket and have been shooting ever since then.
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It happens all the time, but does that make it acceptable? According to a court decision this week, what Current TV’s vice president Michael Streefland calls “standard practice in digital media” is legal after all.
Current TV and photographer Ken Light have been entwined in a legal debate over an image which belongs to Light but was used without his permission on the media company’s website.
Light brought his case against Current TV to small claims court, charging the company with unfair competition. The photographer won initially, which included $500 for compensation and $88 for court fees. Soon after, Current TV appealed the decision, which was subsequently reversed by a San Francisco Superior Court judge.
According to Light, the court’s change of heart stemmed from the technical details. Current TV’s chief technologist testified that the site used in-line linking to the image on the New Yorker’s site, and did not technically copy the photo.
Furthermore, the court ruled that the image qualified as fair use, and the root issue was over the photo’s copyright, which is a federal court case. Light told PDNPulse that he is at the end of the line in state court and doesn’t know whether he will proceed with a copyright suit.
Although the case may not make it out of the state, the suit has garnered national attention, including a piece in the New York Times. Times writer Scott James wrote in favor of Light, calling the case a “David vs. Goliath” situation, and suggesting:
“Imagine if Mr. Light’s photograph had been in a frame — few would say it was O.K. to borrow it without permission, deny the artist credit and exhibit it and collect sponsor fees.”
In spite of the loss, Light said he is pleased with the widespread publicity and ensuing discussions the case has sparked. He says he hopes the case sets a precedent for other photographers and journalists to fight for due compensation.
“Yes, I lost, but I think waving the flag is important,” Light said. “We have to keep [pushing] this until we get some protection.”
A video released on WikiLeaks.org shows disturbing footage taken in 2007 from an American apache helicopter as they circle and fire upon a group of people they identify as armed hostiles in the street.
As it turns out, the two men who appear to be armed are actually working Reuters employees: photographer, 22-year-old Namir Noor-Eldeen, and his driver, Saeed Chmagh, who was 40. The two men were walking in the street with camera straps hanging from their shoulders. One of the men has a long lens, misidentified as an RPG.
According to a New York Times article published yesterday, Reuters had heard of a military raid in the area — the same raid that the military was attending to, and the two men went to investigate. Their mere proximity to the raid proved to be fatal.
The military fired upon the men and other individuals, who were later confirmed to be civilians, among them two children and the two Reuters employees. The attack killed 12, including Noor-Eldeen and Chmagh.
In a United States Central Command report:
“[The men] made no effort to visibly display their status as press or media representatives and their familiar behavior with, and close proximity to, the armed insurgents and their furtive attempts to photograph the coalition ground forces made them appear as hostile combatants to the Apaches that engaged them.”
Reuters news editor in chief David Schlesinger said in a statement:
“The deaths of Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh three years ago were tragic and emblematic of the extreme dangers that exist in covering war zones. We continue to work for journalist safety and call on all involved parties to recognize the important work that journalists do and the extreme danger that photographers and video journalists face in particular.”
(via New York Times)
