Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/10/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]on 10/23/00 9:22 AM, Emanuel Lowi at mano@proxyma.net wrote: > I photographed the Israeli withdrawal from populated areas on the Gaza Strip > in 1993, > for Black Star, with my Leicas (to keep things OT), and it was obvious that > numerous > incidents of rock throwing, flag burning (Israeli and U.S.), processions of > fatigue-cloaked gangs carrying Korans and chanting "Death to the Jews" were > staged > for the benefit and the delight of the assembled bovine photojournalists > there. > > You'd hear the night before that you should be in such-and-such a place the > next day > at 10:00 and presto! just line up and click away. After we were done, > everybody would > go home, me with my Leicas (OT) to stay with a Palestinian family in Rafah, > right by > the border with Egypt. > > The Israelis, too, were all too eager to allow unknowns like me join them on > jeep > patrols of refugee camps and all that. > > So while I don't blame the press for stirring things up, I resent deeply the > lazy > herd mentality that meant most picture shooters travelled together to all get > the > same staged images that simply serve to support stereotypes. Few went off the > well-trodden path in search of the stories of ordinary people - only extreme > positions (so-called Islamic extremists and the Israeli occupation forces) > were > considered newsworthy and this too is what editors back home were pressing > for. So > it's all a vicious cycle. > > Emanuel Lowi > Montreal In my earlier post I refered to the *pack* . Emanuel, you touch on an even more important influence on the images that the public sees...the editors who always look for the *safe* picture...the image that retains interest in the story that they have invested in by hiring PJ's to cover. It isnot just the photographers and their Leicas(OT) traveling in packs. Happy snaps, Steven Alexander