[Leica] Sunday NYT Cuba photos — WTF?

[Howard Ritter]

Today’s New York Times has a cover story on President Obama’s visit to Cuba. It’s accompanied by a p. 1 color photo of a Havana barbershop, occupying 5 columns and most of the space above the fold. On p. 8 are six more. 

I immediately thought of Tina, although I didn’t suppose that they were hers, being presumably more or less current photos. What surprised me was the credit lines. The p. 1 photo was credited to “The New York Times”. The p. 8 credit was “Photographs By The New York Times”.

Aside from the amusing mental picture of a newspaper carrying a camera and prowling the streets of Havana looking for human interest tableaux, I was nonplussed by the lack of attribution in any case, but especially for a spread of seven photos starting on Page One. When, and why, did it become acceptable at the NYT to publish photos without attribution? 

Photos elsewhere in the paper are properly attributed. Would there have been some danger to the photographer? There seemed nothing offensive to the regime about the images.

Anyone?

—howard