Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/09/01

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: Re: [Leica] PJ standards
From: Eric Welch <eric@jphotog.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 07:59:02 -0700

Having been a photojournalist for 15 years - I even covered John 
Ashcroft for UPI for a year - I guess my experience is that we have to 
force the issue. If politicians think they can get away with simply 
playing up to the camera, and taking powder-puff questions from 
obsequious press, they don't ever have to answer the tough questions. 
I've covered several presidential campaigns. I know how it works from a 
local point of view. There is no substance to it. It's not that the 
public can't tell it's fake, it's that there is no useful information 
being communicated and not only that, but outright lies are being 
spread.

That may sound cynical, but why do we love to photograph presidents 
reading "Green Eggs and Ham" to school children. Does that help us 
understand how he will handle the war on terrorism? (Would that one 
would use Dr. Seuss' approach!) No, all it does is cause a warm and 
fuzzy feeling about the candidate which might actually be the opposite 
of his true feelings towards children.

It just seems that photo ops are orchestrated to create an impression, 
regardless of whether they are true reflections of the candidates or 
not. Some are, obviously. Some are obviously not. For example, what 
about when George Bush visited Bob Jones University? Does it mean he's 
a racist?  Maybe, maybe not. When they go to a military base and drive 
a tank, what is the value of that? Why do they avoid debates and spend 
so much effort on photo ops? Becuase they are  deceptive. They are 
cheap ways to create false impressions! I  would go into some specific 
examples, but there are a lot of fans of the current administration who 
would be offended.

Plenty of editors want to not cover photo ops. But they are afraid to 
miss something that might happen or be said, and then their jobs are on 
the line. That's because the people at the top think they know better 
than the editors who should be making news coverage decisions. And so 
the marketplace of ideas is strewn with the fast food equivalent of 
political debate. The substance is behind closed doors where the public 
can not hear what's really going on. And the politicians like it that 
way.

Cynical? Yes. But it's not because I underestimate the public. It's 
because I know the politicians!

I am a photojournalist who one particular politician, with a 16-year 
career in the U.S. House, claims I helped end his career  with one 
photo. How ridiculous is that? It was not a photo that could be 
described as even close to negative. His opponent in the photo (it was 
during a televised debate, and he was off-screen when I took the photo) 
looks like a deer in the headlights. But he had to blame someone for 
his defeat. And he didn't think my photo was flattering. It wasn't, but 
it was darn funny. It showed his frustration with a particularly dumb 
response from his opponent. But he chose to blame me for hurting his 
image with the public. I figure after 16 years, the people knew him 
well enough to put my photo in context. Talk about underestimating the 
public's capability to know what's going on!

On Monday, September 1, 2003, at 06:31  AM, Jack McLain wrote:

> But... isn't polititians acting silly also news, and isn't the 
> exposure of
> this behavior relevent to good decision making by a voter.  It seems 
> to me
> that you are being a bit elitist and selling short the ability of the 
> public
> to make the distinction between spontaniety and cynical staging.
Eric

Carlsbad, CA

"Going to war without France is like going
deer hunting without an accordion. All you
do is leave behind a lot of noisy baggage."
- --- John and Alma Dunlap

- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html

Replies: Reply from frank theriault <knarf.theriault@sympatico.ca> (Re: [Leica] PJ standards)
Reply from "Jack McLain" <jmclainaz@comcast.net> (Re: [Leica] PJ standards)