koven
Well-known
Homeless people, sadness, violence, unrest, dead birds, ect.
Its so easy to take a negative or shocking image. Its just a natural instinct.
Its way harder to take a picture that will make people smile.
Its so easy to take a negative or shocking image. Its just a natural instinct.
Its way harder to take a picture that will make people smile.
grapejohnson
Well-known
the world is a pretty unhappy place
Clint Troy
Well-known
All my photos are happy things and people. All!
(well almost).
(well almost).
John Bragg
Well-known
This can very often be true, but not always. I photographed a burnt out church many years ago, and the images were fascinating. Luckily nobody died, or was injured so I didn't feel bad documenting the results of an arson attack. I am proud to have made those photos, and they were put to positive use in helping rebuild the church.
Clint Troy
Well-known
Coooooooool
Rick Waldroup
Well-known
Actually, it is not as hard as you think. It simply requires looking at things a bit differently.
swoop
Well-known
Um, no. it's a lot easier to photograph happy things such as street fairs, parades, political rallies, grand openings, carnivals, sports, etc. But no one considers that photojournalism even though it's the bulk of what goes into community newspapers. Those images don't exactly linger in one's thoughts. people just have a habit of remembering the awful stuff. If you saw a photo of a high school basketball team celebrating their state win and a photo of their bus covered in blood after hitting a pedestrian, you'd probably remember the bus. Also people are just more accustomed to awful events being more interesting/dramatic because it's a rare event for most people.
noisycheese
Normal(ish) Human
Agreed.
The world is an unhappy place, filled with desperation and despair. The world is also a happy place, filled with hope and optimism. The world is also a place
that has many destinations along the continuum that runs from darkness to light.
It all depends on what you choose to focus on and how you choose to see it.
JMHO.
skibeerr
Well-known
Misery sells. It reminds the one legged person there are people with no legs.
daveleo
what?
That's not true really.
I think the "problem" is that (in general) reportage photographers want to be taken
seriously and they want to make dramatic pictures, not fun pictures.
mdarnton
Well-known
Exactly. I worked on a small local paper--four counties, 15,000 circulation--for about four years, won state news photo contests every year, and had my stuff wire-serviced all over the world BECAUSE it was positive and upbeat. I'm slowly working at ditializing my faves: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdarnton/sets/72157628767257187/ It was a small town, and no one was shooting at me, but it was real photojournalism, nevertheless. Really, it was a dream job--even my friends on larger papers envied the nearly total freedom I had to find my own material and see it in print.
koven
Well-known
Sorry I meant good photography. Technically great images that move you in a positive way.
I don't just mean taking pictures of balloons and fairs.
I don't just mean taking pictures of balloons and fairs.
Bill58
Native Texan
There's an old news adage that says, "If it bleeds, it leads".
pakeha
Well-known
I would suggest [ without meaning to offend the thin skinned] that it depends on 'where' the images are coming from, perhaps even where the photographer is from. Militaristic/ultra nationalistic, ra,ra,ra societies generate the negative stuff as part of their 'social' fabric.
There are many memorable images from 'other' places and I doubt these images were that hard.
Written solely as an 'observer'
There are many memorable images from 'other' places and I doubt these images were that hard.
Written solely as an 'observer'
thegman
Veteran
Well, many of the events you mention are not necessarily happy, political rallies especially. Grand openings are just ways for stores to bring in customers and get some publicity, often opening Yet Another Mall (YAM) is not necessarily a happy event.
I get what you're saying though, utter, profound tragedy is commonplace. Truly wonderful things are rare. Everyday happy events are common, but hardly newsworthy.
I do think that beautiful landscapes are happy scenes though, but most of us need to travel to get to them, get up at the right time for the light etc. Maybe trek for miles to get to the right spot, but there are certainly happy photos to be had once there.
OurManInTangier
An Undesirable
The following comes from Turtle's website and Thomas, I hope you don't mind me quoting it here as it suggests to me the approach that's required to produce fresh and interesting work that avoids what has become, correctly or incorrectly, deemed as clichéd and tired.
“Tom’s photographs from Afghanistan was an experience I was somewhat unprepared for. When a photographer approaches you and says that he or she wants to show their Afghanistan work, one immediately prepares to see the kinds of images that may have been once fresh and insightful, yet are now – sadly – part of the daily reports that come back from that troubled country. What Tom showed me was completely different. He hadn’t sought to photograph as much of the country as possible or to try to document swathes of its very recent history – no single photographer could realistically attempt that. Instead, he had brought his eye and his mind to bear on a small group of people living in a comparatively small part of Kabul and to tell of how they were living and what they faced. There were – from memory – no soldiers, no Taliban, no Kalashnikovs and none of the images that would fit into what we normally see of Afghanistan. Tom’s work is fresh and shows the signs of a photographer clearly finding his inspiration in the traditions of the ‘concerned photographer’. His images document real people rather than the cold, hard edges of ‘events’.”
—Andrew Sanigar, Publisher
“Powerful yet touching insights into a world read about in The Kite Flyer and shown all too often for solely grim reasons on TV , Tom really is like a private gumshoe photographer who hunts down his subjects with unique skills and delivers the goods in the form of hitherto unseen imagery. Families flying kites in chosen dusty sites in the hills above Kabul with achingly beautiful dusk light adorning the valley; boys and men playing football in an abandoned swimming pool in a blizzard in knee-deep snow; desperate addicts eeking out their days in the bullet-strewn ruins of a long-since disused Russian Cultural Centre. Life on the edge from our perspective but all quite normal for the local Afghans. Tom captures scenes of innocence and family lives against a nightmare backdrop of centuries of tribal conflict… It should also be said that despite outrageously trying conditions the technical quality of Tom’s photography is literally unsurpassable; beautiful observation married to obsessive pursuit of technical perfection. An aesthetic insurgence of the observer’s senses. A stubborn , determined and brilliant artist who loves his subjects, Tom has given me hours of pleasure and a vicarious glimpse into other worlds 1000s of lifeyears away.”
—Robin Bell, Master Printer, London
“Tom Stanworths images capture the brutal human reality of the drug
dependent’s existence in Kabul. Opiate addiction is reported to be
increasing in Afghanistan, a land torn apart by war, criminality and
corruption.
And yet Tom Stanworths photography manages the difficult job of
balancing the horror with hope. There is vibrancy to his photography
that is testimony to the resilience of the people of Afghanistan and
the craftsmanship of the photographer.”
Peter Cowe, Film Maker
Visit Tom's site. It's a beautiful balance of heartbreaking stories and tragic backdrops to the hope, joy and mankinds simple need to just get on and exist.
“Tom’s photographs from Afghanistan was an experience I was somewhat unprepared for. When a photographer approaches you and says that he or she wants to show their Afghanistan work, one immediately prepares to see the kinds of images that may have been once fresh and insightful, yet are now – sadly – part of the daily reports that come back from that troubled country. What Tom showed me was completely different. He hadn’t sought to photograph as much of the country as possible or to try to document swathes of its very recent history – no single photographer could realistically attempt that. Instead, he had brought his eye and his mind to bear on a small group of people living in a comparatively small part of Kabul and to tell of how they were living and what they faced. There were – from memory – no soldiers, no Taliban, no Kalashnikovs and none of the images that would fit into what we normally see of Afghanistan. Tom’s work is fresh and shows the signs of a photographer clearly finding his inspiration in the traditions of the ‘concerned photographer’. His images document real people rather than the cold, hard edges of ‘events’.”
—Andrew Sanigar, Publisher
“Powerful yet touching insights into a world read about in The Kite Flyer and shown all too often for solely grim reasons on TV , Tom really is like a private gumshoe photographer who hunts down his subjects with unique skills and delivers the goods in the form of hitherto unseen imagery. Families flying kites in chosen dusty sites in the hills above Kabul with achingly beautiful dusk light adorning the valley; boys and men playing football in an abandoned swimming pool in a blizzard in knee-deep snow; desperate addicts eeking out their days in the bullet-strewn ruins of a long-since disused Russian Cultural Centre. Life on the edge from our perspective but all quite normal for the local Afghans. Tom captures scenes of innocence and family lives against a nightmare backdrop of centuries of tribal conflict… It should also be said that despite outrageously trying conditions the technical quality of Tom’s photography is literally unsurpassable; beautiful observation married to obsessive pursuit of technical perfection. An aesthetic insurgence of the observer’s senses. A stubborn , determined and brilliant artist who loves his subjects, Tom has given me hours of pleasure and a vicarious glimpse into other worlds 1000s of lifeyears away.”
—Robin Bell, Master Printer, London
“Tom Stanworths images capture the brutal human reality of the drug
dependent’s existence in Kabul. Opiate addiction is reported to be
increasing in Afghanistan, a land torn apart by war, criminality and
corruption.
And yet Tom Stanworths photography manages the difficult job of
balancing the horror with hope. There is vibrancy to his photography
that is testimony to the resilience of the people of Afghanistan and
the craftsmanship of the photographer.”
Peter Cowe, Film Maker
Visit Tom's site. It's a beautiful balance of heartbreaking stories and tragic backdrops to the hope, joy and mankinds simple need to just get on and exist.
OurManInTangier
An Undesirable
Apologies, there was only supposed to be one quote on there but im on my phone...and struggling!
bobbyrab
Well-known
I hope you don't mind me adding to your input Simon, I just thought Id make it easier for others to find Thomas's amazing body of images. So here's the link to his site.
http://www.thomasstanworth.com/
http://www.thomasstanworth.com/
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Murchu
Well-known
Yes, have to agree, and pretty much the reason I stay away from most 'news' sources. News to me is what is new in the world, the news that most news sources paint tends to be only that which is new *and* negative in the world. All I can say, is I am really thankful for the web, where I can now source my own news, and not be dependent on the harbingers of misery that most newspapers & popular news media are.
Life is not always a happy place, but nor is it always an unhappy place.
Life is not always a happy place, but nor is it always an unhappy place.
bobbyrab
Well-known
Without intending to be critical as I think it is a natural direction to move towards, my fear is that by relying less on mainstream media and instead seeking out information on the web, you will find yourself pulled towards views and reports that sit comfortably with your pown redisposed positions, with no need to acknowledge uncomfortable truths or contemplate alternative points of view.
As it stands at the moment I would think that the major source of web based news and reliable information will be sourced from print based journalism, but as newspapers fail, and online subscription models still with low take up rates, where will the journalism of the future come from. Will we all end up in our own little corner of the web reinforcing our own particular views and prejudices.