“I wanted to show the range that photojournalists do, and I wanted to somehow grasp the idea that they could be doing a basketball game in the afternoon and going to Haiti that night. I think it’s one of the most remarkable things that these people are able to do so many things and do them so well.”

In Deadline Every Second, director Kenneth Kobre did exactly that. Following 12 photographers from the Associated Press, Kobre captures the working lives of those journalists on assignment in locations across the world, from Downing Street to Gaza. Lefteris Pitarakis, one of those featured in the documentary, joined Kenneth at the Frontline Club for a screening of the film and a Q&A session on 21 September.

The wide ranging discussion with the audience opened with AP photographer Pitarakis defending the emergence of citizen journalism:

“It’s great if everyone’s able to take pictures on the spot and report what he or she sees especially local people in areas where I can’t go, then it’s great for all of us. The mainstream media has very strict ethical rules about how we validate the work and make sure the truth is there so there are some issues that have to be addressed every time.”

Kobre added that professionals always bring a different perspective to a story and produce quality work:

“During the Arab Spring, the first pictures out were those citizen journalist pictures but very soon afterwards you saw the professionals start to arrive and the quality of the photos improved immensely. Photojournalists see the world in a very different way than an amateur sees the world and even if the equipment is the same, the pictures are rarely the same.”

The discussion then touched on technological developments and their impact on the profession. Pitarakis acknowledged the benefits and the downsides of digital technology and rolling news coverage:

“For me the most important thing is that I’m able to stay in a place for longer … because I have a satellite modem and I can send my pictures right there. Sometimes it causes trouble because of the volume of pictures. Personally it causes me overload and I over work. I’m lucky if I sleep three hours.”

Turning to a question on the power of photography, Kobre stressed the cumulative impact of a series of photographs.

“No single picture changes history. A picture doesn’t end a war, but they start to add together. They are used over and over again and become burned in to our minds. I can’t point to any picture that’s changed history recently except for one and that’s the one in Somalia, with the dead soldier being dragged, Black Hawk Down. That caused Clinton to have a fear of that ever happening again and when Rwanda occurred he didn’t send in American troops in part, they say, because he feared that kind of publicity. But short of that I don’t think individual pictures do, it’s like drops of water that add up.”

How do you keep your distance in a war zone? How do you switch from covering a fashion show to photographing the collapse of the Twin Towers after the 9/11 terrorist attacks? How do you remain a fly on the wall when civilians are being injured? Or make a unique picture of the British Prime Minister on Downing Street?

In Deadline Every Second, we see Tadra Todras-Whitehill in a flak jacket and gas mask photographing Palestinian protesters clashing with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank town of Ramallah; Lefteris Pitarakis photographing the then British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Richard Drew on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Every day newspapers, magazines and websites around the world show photographs distributed by the Associated Press. Deadline Every Second follows 12 top photographers in eight countries as they cover war, political clashes, the financial markets, natural disasters.

The film gives the viewer a peak behind the scenes of the world’s largest news picture agency working to meet the demands of a non-stop news cycle.

In these 12 unique portraits, filmmaker Kenneth Kobre follows the photojournalists as they share their strategies for capturing just the right moment, explain their working procedures and tell the stories behind well-known shots taken in the past.
Director: Kenneth Kobre
Duration: 58′
Year: 2011

Eight of VII Photo’s 23 members will be available to review photography portfolios at the Royal Institution of Great Britain.

Budding photojournalists, experienced photographers and students of photography will all benefit from a review from VII Photo’s respected members. 

To book a review, click book above and follow the instructions on screen. Once you have paid you will be emailed a slot between 15:00 and 17:00. Each slot is 30 minutes long. 

Confirmed portfolio reviewers are as follows, with more on the way:

If you are not able to attend your slot, please email events@www.beta.frontlineclub.com to change the time.

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Having won a Pulitzer Prize in 1965 for his unflinching images of the conflict in Vietnam, as AP’s picture editor he was responsible for the publication of two of the most abiding images of the conflict – the notorious picture of the “Saigon Execution” by Eddie Adams and Nick Ut’s “Napalm Girl”

During his last visit to the Club in 2007 it was noted that “old friends and competitive rivals of Horst Faas need not worry that he’s lost any of his wit, cantankerous behaviour, and trenchant, often controversial views about photojournalism and the world of media”.

A members-only reception was held for Horst Faas and there was also a public event, which was held in the Club restaurant.

Neither event was filmed, but you can read about his appearance at Frontline Club on our website. If you have any memories of Horst Faas – either of that night or of working with him, we would like to hear from you.

For 25 years photo agency Panos Pictures has been covering stories the mainstream media won’t. The commercial arm of the development NGO the Panos Institute (now Panos London) has had photographers documenting history as it unfolds, with a focus on social and development stories globally.

“We like to poke around in corners other people don’t go,” said Adrian Evans, Director of Panos Pictures.

“Photography is the idea of ‘don’t look over there, look over here’, and we’re not afraid to take a stand. 

 

“We step aside from the main news and can pursue stories when they are not under the media spotlight. We cover stories we think are important.”

“In media terms, there is this attitude that once the UN goes in, everything finishes. I think staying longer in a place and covering the aftermath [is important].

 

"After the war in Kosovo there was an orgy of violence.”

“It shows the passing of time, and how things are not being resolved in a quick way,” Testa explained. 

 

“In Kosovo everything has moved on, but for these mothers they are frozen. For the soldiers who killed [the missing] it only took a second, for the mothers, time has stopped.”

 

“With ideas of oil companies being corrupt and evil, to see it as a health remedy… well, a photograph can make you reassess your views.”

 

“Photographers are like little NGOs themselves, they have to be able to write proposals and go out there,” he said, adding that many photographers now look to displaying their work in galleries for a fee. 

“Nowadays it’s not just about the photographs. It’s about who you’re working with and why. 

 

“We communicate to the world our interest, our passions, our desires. I’d like to think Panos does this.”

LET’S CELEBRATE 365 allows us to glimpse the diverse, colourful and sometimes obscure festivals, ceremonies and rituals celebrated around the world.

Artful and anthropological in equal measure, Jeremy Hunter‘s photographs are a snapshot of a world of truly disparate cultures and their celebrations, many of which have remained unchanged for centuries.

Hunter has travelled to more than 60 countries in 30 years, collecting images that explore the cultural landscape of the world that may help to create a better understanding of the essential “glue” that binds all societies together.

Hunter will specifically explore, through their celebrations, the cultural DNA of North Korea, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea and India.

This event will be moderated by Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House and the Frontline Club’s First Wednesday strand.

Picture credit: Jeremy Hunter, North Korea

Forty percent of Egyptians live on less than $2 a day, and Egypt receives an average of $2 billion a year in foreign aid. Yet millions of people are preparing to migrate away from the centre of Cairo and into newly constructed suburbs for the super rich.

Jason Larkin, a photojournalist, and Jack Shenker, the Guardian’s Egypt correspondent, spent two years collaborating on Cairo Divided, an in-depth project documenting this increasing disparity between rich and poor in Egypt’s capital.

Larkin presented the work in an event moderated by Max Houghton, co-editor of 8 magazine and once his photojournalism tutor at the University of Westminster. He gave an astonishing insight into what was largely an unreported area of the world until this year’s uprisings (of which Shenker’s coverage won an award). His real concerns were for what was going on in plain sight, but not being discussed at all by either the public or the media. He said:

"This is the largest city in the middle east, and five million people could move into these new districts, which represent an area twice the size of central Paris on either side of Cairo. Villas are fetching between $700,000 and $1.4 million each, but the average wage is around £20 a month – it’s astonishing that there are enough people who can afford these plots, but they do exist. Some of these developers have $80 million in deposits before they’ve even dug the land. This is an exit strategy, but only for a few people. This is what we wanted to explore."

In addition to presenting and discussing some of the most telling images from his time in Cairo, he also spoke about some of the issues facing photojournalists today, and the difficulty in getting Cairo Divided published:

"Magazines and newspapers tend to follow each other, and I wanted to present a different side of the story. The Guardian and Internazionale Magazine both eventually published versions of it, which helped recoup some of the costs, but it had already been rejected by National Geographic, The New Yorker and Harper’s Bazaar – some of the few places that would have been able to publish it in its full form."

"You have to prepare yourself for what you do and don’t want in life – you’re constantly travelling, and not making much money. Everybody talks about the death of photojournalism, and whilst I enjoy it I do wonder if it’s sustainable – you can’t rely on it to pay the rent. I was taking commissions and working all over the place alongside the project in order to fund it."

And although Larkin laments the troubles facing photojournalists, he takes solace in the fact that as a free publication Cairo Divided has reached thousands of people in its full form. He now hopes that once the dust settles, the Egyptian people will be able to explore the issues themselves through the Arabic translation of the work that they have made available.

Copies of Cairo Divided are available to pick up from the Frontline Club’s reception desk.

 

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Over the past century, in common with many capital cities, Cairo’s population has increased exponentially. In recent years luxury private developments have popped up in the desert surrounding Cairo, making room for Egypt’s business elite with backing from the Mubarak regime. The boom in the construction of wealthy suburbs away from the chaos of the over-crowded city is sharply underlining the vast gap between rich and poor in Egypt.

Photojournalist Jason Larkin chose these desert construction sites as the subject for his latest project, Cairo Divided. His two-year collaboration with journalist Jack Shenker has produced a long-form essay, accompanied by Larkin’s pictures, which has challenged traditional publication methods. Larkin will be speaking at the Frontline Club about photographing Cairo Divided and the means through which it was published.

Released just before the much-anticipated November elections in Egypt, the publication is a free paper supported by academic institutions, cultural centres, architectural organisations and Panos PICTURES. Its production is a novel attempt to bring long-form journalism and photojournalism to a wider audience.

The talk will be moderated by Max Houghton, Course Leader of the MA in Photojournalism at the University of Westminster and co-editor of 8 magazine. Larkin was one of Houghton‘s first students at the University of Westminster and she takes a particular interest in photographic projects that combine images with the written word.

Jason Larkin is a British photojournalist who specialises in under-reported issues in the Middle East and Africa. He was recently awarded the Arnold Newman New Portraiture Award.

A youthful Kate Brooks moved to Pakistan after September 11th 2001 to document the conflicts that flared in the region and make a name for herself as a photojournalist. 

The ten years that followed took her through Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and beyond. Brooks’ images have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Time and Newsweek, and she has received a number of international awards.

Her new book, In the Light of Darkness, records the major conflicts in the Arab world in the past decade, from the mountains of Tora Bora in Afghanistan, to this year’s Arab Spring. The book includes essays she has written to accompany her photography, describing her experiences as a female photojournalist in the Muslim world.

Brooks will be speaking at the Frontline Club at an event moderated by Ramita Navai, reporter for Channel 4’s Unreported World.

 

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Espen Rasmussen, Norwegian photographer and picture editor for Norway’s largest daily, Verdens Gang, has spent nearly seven years compiling the TRANSIT project. TRANSIT documents the plight of some of the 43 million refugees and displaced people around the world today. On the run from conflict, political persecution or natural disasters, desperate people, uprooted from their communities, undertake arduous journeys to find safety for themselves and their families. From the displaced of the war in Georgia, to the Janjaweed who kill and rape in Darfur, Rasmussen traveled to 10 different countries, recording the lives of individuals trying to make new lives for themselves after fleeing their homes, and the hardships that set them on the run.

TRANSIT has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and the Independent amongst other publications and is currently on display at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo. Updates about exhibitions and articles relating to the project can be found on the TRANSIT Facebook page. Copies of the TRANSIT book will be for sale at a signing after the event.

Rasmussen has won multiple awards including two at World Press Photo and is represented by London based agency, Panos Pictures.