China’s “wonderful” Communist village
By Jason Lee
Growing up as a Chinese national, I leaned a lot about Communism through text books. On Monday it only took a one and a half hour flight and one hour drive to travel from China’s modern cultural and political center, Beijing, to the small communist society at Nanjie Village.
Honestly, I didn’t expect it to be so easy. There were no entrance tickets, no security guards, and no one had to check our vehicle. We drove all the way to the village center, where a giant statue of the late Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong stood in the middle of a square, waving at me. Next to him were four portraits of his communism comrades: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. The loudspeakers at the square repeatedly played the classic revolutionary song “The East Is Red”; the same song played in outer space in 1970 after China’s first satellite was put into orbit.
The entire Nanjie village consisted of dozens of factories and several main streets. Faces of Mao Zedong were everywhere. There were very few people or cars on the street, which might have been the reason why all the traffic lights in the village were not working, not even at the crossroads. I jumped up and down with my cameras in the middle of the street to get good angles, which could easily get me killed if I were in a different town. But luckily the people of Nanjie seemed to move at a slow pace and be pleasant.
There were no entrance tickets, no security guards, and no one had to check our vehicle. We drove all the way to the village center, where a giant statue of the late Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong stood in the middle of a square, waving at me. Join DiscussionBelles of the ball
By Olivia Harris
I had thought that ‘debs’ belonged to the pre-1960s days before the pill and equal pay. But at Queen Charlotte’s Ball last week there were eighteen young debutantes who had volunteered for the London Season, the symbolic right of passage to mark their entry into ‘society’ as young women.
The ball was the high point of ‘the season’; six months of parties where young women of money and class were premiered for the marriage market.
The young women at Friday’s Queen Charlotte’s Ball didn’t think it was old fashioned or sexist. None of them would admit they were looking for a husband – or not quite yet, anyway.
I had thought that 'debs' belonged to the pre-1960s days before the pill and equal pay. But at Queen Charlotte's Ball last week there were eighteen young debutantes who had volunteered for the London Season, the symbolic right of passage to mark their entry into 'society' as young women. Join DiscussionChina in color or black and white?
By Carlos Barria
I have heard this question asked a million times: would this picture be better in color, or in black and white? I grew up in the color era, but I do remember seeing television programs in black and white. That was before 1990, when my parents bought a color television to watch Argentina’s national soccer team play in the World Cup in Italy. (We won the Cup in 1986… in black and white.)
I find myself wondering sometimes whether a particular story, or a particular picture, would be stronger or clearer in black and white, or in color. To some degree, the answer is imposed. I work for a media organization that provides clients with color pictures, so I photograph in color.
But sometimes I like to experiment with converting pictures to black and white, just to see how they look. Recently I visited two Communist Party schools in China where trainees attended courses to reaffirm their foundation as Communist Party members. During the trip I went first to Jianggangshan in Jiangxi province, a historical area where former Chinese leader Mao Zedong fought the Nationalists, as a leader of the newly created Red Army. Then I visited a modern school in Pudong, in the cosmopolitan hub of Shanghai.
I find myself wondering sometimes whether a particular story, or a particular picture, would be stronger or clearer in black and white, or in color. To some degree, the answer is imposed. Join DiscussionLove the B&W conversions. I think black and white draws you into the story much more. I always try to tell the story using some black and white images in my wedding photography.
Nick Rose | http://www.nickrosephotography.com
The king of the Amazon
By Bruno Kelly
It was a dream come true for me to accompany the men who fish the pirarucu, South America’s largest freshwater fish. It was even more so to do it in the region of the Juruá River, one of the most inhospitable, winding and virgin rivers in the Amazon Basin.
The pirarucu, also known as the arapaima, is considered a living fossil. The adventure to fish them began from our departure from Manaus in an amphibious plane able to set down on dry land or water, called a Grand Caravan. Our pilot assured us that this is one of the few light aircraft certified to transport the president of the United States, and that left us much less nervous since we were heading into a region with nothing more than jungle and rivers below us.
During the flight I learned that the fishing would only take place during the night, which was a shock as I knew there would be absolutely no light.
We were received by the villagers in São Raimundo in a fiesta atmosphere, something close to a Christmas or New Year party. Fishing the pirarucu is permitted only once a year by the government’s environmental protection agency, IBAMA, so everyone awaits that day with great anticipation. For me, the energy surrounding our arrival excited me about what I was about to experience.
In the first hour we already had three large fish at least one and a half meters long. The pirarucu is the true king of the river, as they are called in the Amazon. It took more than one man to pull each one into the canoe. Join DiscussionAmazing!!! Great photos, great story about these two giants: Amazon and pirarucu fish.. Congratulations!
Of gain and loss (and the longest story I’ve ever done)
By Rick Wilking
In the summer of 2011, as a chapter in a broader two-year project on obesity in America, I started a photo story on an almost 300 pound teenager who was planning bariatric surgery as a last resort to lose weight.
When a photojournalist starts a project like this there is always a lot of doubt. How much time will it take? Over how long a period and with how many visits. Will the subjects (and their friends and families) get tired of having me around? Will they cooperate in giving me the access I need? Since it’s a medical story will the hospital and doctors involved cooperate too? And most importantly will the time investment from both my subjects and me produce quality images that convey a compelling story?
SLIDESHOW: JAZMINE’S TRANSFORMATION
After bariatric surgeon Dr. Michael Snyder told me he had a candidate for the project I was introduced to Jazmine Raygoza. Just 17-years-old at the time she was preparing to have a lap-band placed, a highly controversial procedure for a teenager.
In the summer of 2011 I started a photo story on an almost 300 pound teenager who was planning bariatric surgery as a last resort to lose weight. When a photojournalist starts a project like this there is always a lot of doubt. Join DiscussionNYC view atop Columbus
By Shannon Stapleton
In my 15 years of living in the New York City metropolitan area I’ve probably passed by the Columbus Monument in Columbus Circle at least a 100 times. Whether it was the numerous Thanksgiving Day Parades, going to the Whole Foods at Lincoln Center for lunch or just walking into Central Park to be honest I never really took that much time to sit and enjoy the beauty of the Columbus monument and the surrounding fountain.
So when I was asked to cover the 810-square-foot living room atop the Columbus Monument art installation titled “Discovering Columbus,” by Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi, I thought where is that? On 72nd and Columbus or 59th? It really didn’t strike any visual bell in my memory.
SLIDESHOW: A ROOM FOR COLUMBUS
Living in New York you take a lot of things for granted that you walk by every day. Every now and then a hipster artist will find a way to take something fairly mundane and turn it into a wacky way of seeing the city from a totally different view. Join DiscussionFive stars or no stars, life is a beach
By Desmond Boylan
The variety of options and price range for vacationing in Cuba, for either Cubans or foreigners, is vast. Let’s take the average Cuban family, with an income of roughly $20 (500 pesos) per month from the husband and around $10 from the wife. Summer comes and they need a break with their two children.
For the equivalent of $5 (120 pesos), this family can have a short, three-day break in a popular campismo, or rural cabin for four people in a natural park or near the sea, with round trip transportation included. Conditions are spartan and unsophisticated, but clean and agreeable. Obviously the Cuban state is not making a profit on this and subsidizes the cost to make it possible for average people to enjoy a holiday. Average still means the vast majority of Cubans, as in this communist economy there are still few incomes above or below the mean.
At one campismo I asked if foreigners were allowed to pay the same $5 for a stay, and the person in charge, Arelis, answered, “Of course everyone now is welcome. Before, only Cubans were allowed, but now anyone can enjoy these facilities.”
Five dollars is the cost of two coffees in any five-star hotel in Havana or in many hotels around the world. In Cuba it is also enough to pay for a three-day vacation for a family of four people in a tropical destination. At the same time, it is also possible to pay several hundred dollars for one night in some 5-star all inclusive beach resorts in Cuba’s premier resort, Varadero.
Five dollars is the cost of two coffees in any five-star hotel in Havana, but it is also enough to pay for a three-day vacation for an average Cuban family in a tropical destination. Join DiscussionRecent photos from Cuba:
“See See Havana”
http://www.efn.org/~hkrieger/cuba.htm
Where the people rule
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
By Jorge Dan Lopez
I was listening to the alarmed voice of a radio commentator. Once I realized what he was talking about, I began to worry about how long it would take me to get to the location.
Within minutes, all local radio and TV stations were talking about the man who had killed two children inside a school in Tactic and who was lynched by exasperated and outraged villagers. It took me three hours from Guatemala City to get to Tactic. In those three hours, the climate changed several times and so did the language.
While driving I started to remember the stories that are told in this part of Guatemala, in Alta Verapaz and Quiche, where people are predominantly of Mayan descent. Where “the people rule” and Mayan law is applied.
Now, the Mayan law of today has very little to do with the Mayan law before the arrival of the Spaniards. It has adapted to modern times but it is basically the legal order that most members of villages from the area will adhere to.
While driving I started to remember the stories that are told in this part of Guatemala, in Alta Verapaz and Quiche, where people are predominantly of Mayan descent. Where “the people rule” and Mayan law is applied. Join Discussion“Gatekeeper” systematic suppression of viewpoints and it’s contribution to prevention of social progress:
Certain viewpoints as to the possible relationship of the vigilatante justice to the violence that initiated the incident in the first place are apparently not being allowed to be expressed in this media.
Such systematic suppression of viewpoints and opinions as to roots causes and contributing factors severely limits the debate and has no valid place in a supposed democracy.
Protecting an iconic image
In conversation with Corbis Images’ Ken Johnston
It’s 80 years since this iconic image was taken during the construction of New York’s Rockefeller Center at the height of the Great Depression.
Below, Historical Director of Photography at Corbis Images Ken Johnston answers questions about the photograph.
When/how did you come across the photo? What state was it in?
It comes from the Acme Newspictures archive which Corbis acquired in 1995 as part of the Bettmann Archive. The negative is glass and at some point long ago was broken into 5 pieces. These things are delicate and breaks happen.
It's 80 years since this iconic image was taken during the construction of New York's Rockefeller Center at the height of the Great Depression. Join DiscussionCORBIS EFFORTS TO TAKE CREDIT AWAY FROM CHARLES EBBETS FOR TAKING THE FAMOUS PICTURE “LUNCH ATOP SKYSCRAPER 1932” IS NOT BASED UPON ANY FACTS AND IS PATENTLY WRONG.
Stories and interviews released on the 80th anniversary of Charles C. Ebbets’, photograph of men eating lunch during the construction of the Rockefeller Center on September 20, 1932 are not based upon any new facts and are entirely misleading. All of the information in the possession of Corbis’ employee, Ken Johnston were not provided to news medias and he did not advise them all reasons behind his earlier “professional” opinion as a photo historian that the evidence of the Ebbets family, which included receipts for payment, photographic negatives, letters, and corresponding newspaper photographs, all of which were reviewed in the light of his “body of work,” conclusively established Charles C. Ebbets as the person who took the famous photo.
In the above article, he refers to evidence “presented by the family” in 2001 that led to him crediting Ebbets. It was Johnston who asked to come to the home of Ebbets’ daughter, in order to review all of the documentation that supported Ebbets taking the picture. At that time, Johnston reviewed other photos taken during Ebbets’ work at Rockefeller Center, and he reviewed an untouched scrapbook from the period that included not only an original news article containing the famous image, but also many other images taken while Ebbets was working for the Rockefellers promoting the construction of the Center. Johnston examined professional work orders and receipts on my father’s own letterhead. At the time the photo was taken it is unquestioned that Ebbets was working as the “photographic director” for the Rockefeller Center. The article suggests that this photo was a staged promotion for Rockefeller Center. This is entirely accurate, as Ebbets was hired to do promotional work. Among the evidence presented to Johnson was a letter of recommendation from Mr. Merle Crowell who was the Director of Public Relations for the Rockefeller Center commending him for his work as the official photographer for the construction’s promotional campaign. Corbis was shown the original glass negative of Ebbets on the beam where the photo was taken holding his camera, and originals of other images (such as the ones below) from his body of which are consistent with an a “fingerprint” of Ebbets style and the genius behind the famous photograph.
As a result of Johnston’s conclusions, Corbis capitalized on these facts by paying for members of the Ebbets family to travel to New York for the unveiling of the fact that Ebbets was the photographer and that this fact would showcase their celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Bettmann Archives collection. The reason he states to news media for his change of mind is the “recent discovery” of other photographers being present at the time. These statements are misleading in that this is not a recent discovery and the conclusions he draws from this fact are not based upon common sense or investigative science.
In addition, Johnston lead Corbis to take Ebbets credit off the photos based upon his erroneous opinion that this famous photo, as well as a “sister” image, were likely taken by other photographers because they were published in competing newspapers. The media should be aware of the fact that Corbis and Johnston had open lines of communication with the Ebbets family that were available at all times. Johnston never contacted the family at any time before this sudden declaration or a change of his opinion. He never asked if there was any further evidence to refute his own forced conclusions. If he had done further investigation he would have learned that the Ebbets family has proof that Ebbets not only worked for the Rockefeller Center at the time, but he also worked for the Associated Press, and freelanced for The New York Herald Tribune, The New York Sun, and others. He would have found out that the family had documentation showing that he submitted images to multiple newspapers and news wire services on a regular basis.
In the evidence collected showing that Ebbets was the photographer of this famous work, there is another photograph shot at the same time depicting a lone worker in silhouette that Ebbets supplied for publication in the New York Times that week. As a photo historian, Johnston knows that it was not at all unusual for a photographer to sell his work to multiple outlets, especially during the post-depression days when any sale of a photo meant food on the table.
According to the news media, Johnston is stating that the decision he lead Corbis to make in removing Charles C. Ebbets as the photographer who is credited with the photograph is the fact that there were two other photographers present at the time. This is not new information, but is something that has been known to Johnston for quite some time. Johnston knew that other photographers could have taken the photo and it was this fact that caused him to come to the home of Ebbets’ daughter to review the rest of Ebbets work. He immediately discerned that the work of Charles C. Ebbets was different for any of the other photographers that “may” have taken the photo.
One of the other photographers was an 18 year old young man who was still learning the trade (who likely knew Ebbets from his own work at the AP offices in NY), and the other man was a photographer who worked in New York throughout 1940s-1950s. There is however, no evidence whatsoever that either of these men took the famous photo. In the past 15 years, during its worldwide circulation, neither they, nor any of their family members has ever come forward to claim any association with the photograph. In fact, all of the evidence has always pointed to Charles C. Ebbets as the author. Mr. Johnston neglected to tell any of the news agencies that were provided this recent news release that Corbis’ own private investigators from the prestigious firm of Marksmen Investigations, a world leader in intellectual property claim investigations and used by 75 of the Fortune 500 companies, investigated everyone ever associated with the image, including the estates of the Hamilton Wright family and the Lewis Hine foundation, and found no evidence of anyone but Ebbets as the author.
The “news release” was provided as an “80th Anniversary of the Photo” promotional release by Corbis, which at the same time peppered several blogs with interviews surrounding their change of opinion on the matter, and even changed the name of the image to “Lunch in the Sky” on its website. Changing the name doesn’t change the truth. This issue is not about any new discovery of other photographers being present, but instead it is about the money that has been generated by the iconic photograph and the fact that it will continue to generate a vast sum of money for Corbis. It should also be noted that no news agency or information service of any kind contacted the Ebbets family at any time prior to releasing the Johnson interviews or news release. The work of Charles C. Ebbets, inclusive of the Men on a Beam photograph and the photo of Ebbets the day he took the photograph is easily accessible through their widely-viewed internet site, Ebbets Photo-Graphics.com.
One has to ask, why didn’t anyone contact the Ebbets family for comment?
Other Ebbets images which show his work at the Rockefeller Center that day, as well as his trademark style of grouping subjects for promotional and news stories. As the saying goes, “these pictures are worth a thousand words,” and should in large part dispel the reversal of an opinion by Ken Johnston, an employee of Corbis.
Occupy Happy Birthday
By Lucas Jackson
It has been one year since a group of protesters began sleeping on the ground in Zuccotti Park to protest growing income inequality, corporate influence on politics, climate change, and a number of other issues.
One year ago no-one had heard of Occupy Wall St. and it was fascinating to watch the excitement and size of the protest grow over time. What began as a rag tag group of people who came together to make a semi-permanent presence near Wall St. to spread their message in the heart of the New York financial district quickly grew. For those of us who live and work in New York it was a refreshing change to have a news story grow organically in a city where everything is always polished and shined to dullness in order to present to the media.
For the first time since living here there was a story that allowed you in to cover not only the unplanned demonstrations and actions but also the participants as they sat in Zuccotti dreaming and planning the direction of this movement. Most of the time demonstrators have to pre-approve everything they did with the NYPD and the city but Occupy was refreshingly obstinate in not pre-approving anything and took advantage of their constitutional right to assemble and demonstrate their displeasure with the direction of the country.
One year ago no-one had heard of Occupy Wall St. and it was fascinating to watch the excitement and size of the protest grow over time. Join Discussion-
Resident Photographers Blog Expert
-
The Wall
