NYT Freelance Contract Draws Photogs' Fire

From the NY Post:

The warm and fuzzy feeling that New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller is trying to create apparently does not apply to the paper's beleaguered freelance photojournalists.

The clock is ticking for the photographers, who must sign a new contract - which strips them of many of the old copyright controls they have enjoyed - by April 1, or risk never shooting for the Gray Lady again.

Posted by Jim at 01:54 PM

Tyler Hick's Images of Voice

If you missed the magazine in this past Sunday's New York Times you missed an amazing collect of photographs by old pal Tyler Hicks.

Tyler Hicks, who has worked as a news photographer for The New York Times in recent years covering the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, took a break from combat zones earlier this year to photograph choirs from the mountains of Bulgaria to the hills of northern Alabama, with stops along the way in both Georgia the state and Georgia the country. He photographed choirs with international followings and others little known outside their towns; choirs that sing folk songs of identity and belonging and others whose only motivation in raising their voices is religious devotion.

Grand Old Pals

Brilliant to see such great old pals this weekend in and around New York City. The local old pals were there as well, helping to rock it all along. Still recovering from it. The beautiful Aussie Karin Bryce flew in from Budapest while Charlie Hornberger attacked from the West. New York City spun until they flew on out. From the bars uptown and down to the fine gathering hosted by Jason Ross and his lovely wife Nicole to lunch with Karin on the Jersey Shore to pouring Charlie Guinness and Jameson in Hoboken Sunday evening, a grand time was had by all. Here’s the proof:

What Music Has Dave Barry Been Listening To This Week?

"Fought Down," by Ken Layne and the Corvids.

And when and why did Dave Barry start his blog?

"I started it in early 2003 or thereabouts because Ken Layne ordered me to."

China to Release Photojournalist

Photo District News reports South Korean freelance photojournalist Seok Jae-hyun is scheduled to be released on Friday after serving 14 months of a two-year sentence in a Chinese prison.

A contributor to The New York Times and GEO, Seok was arrested Jan. 18, 2003, while photographing North Korean refugees fleeing China by boat. Chinese authorities accused Seok of human smuggling, a charge he denied, and sentenced him to two years in prison.

Posted by Jim at 09:30 PM

An Evening With Ronnie Drew

Yesterday was a grand day. But the fun of it began the night before up at the Irish Arts Center on 51st Street. There the beautiful Angela and I and forty or so other souls spent an evening with Dubliner Ronnie Drew. The singer story-teller, formerly of The Dubliners, was accompanied on guitar by ex-Stockton's Wing front-man, Mike Hanrahan. What a brilliant laughing evening we had with the words and wit of Ronnie and some of Ireland’s best writers that he made larger than life and more real at the same time. Sure didn't Ronnie drink with Behan and Kavanagh.

The show runs until Sunday. If you are able, treat yourself to some proper Irish craic and culture.

After the gig, Angela and I ran into Ronnie in Druid’s bar on 10th Ave and he was kind enough to pose for a portrait. What a gentleman is he.

Happy Saint Patrick's Eve

Just in case I don't make it to one of these internet machines tomorrow, Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

I'll be in Manhattan watching the pipes and drums, cops and firemen stepping up Fifth Ave.

Only pray we have half the good weather as they did in Union County last weekend for their parade. Here are a few pictures from that brilliant afternoon.

Enron Code of Ethics Book Going Cheap

Up for auction is the ENRON Code of Ethics book and the TWO memo's that originally came with this book that were distributed to all employees. This is the July 2000 print of the ENRON Code of Ethics book with the KEN LAY MEMO AND THE CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE. This is a NEW, unused book in the original ENRON envelope.

Posted by Jim at 04:15 PM

Dreaming of a White Saint Patrick's Day?

The Story of Getty Images

USA Today has an interesting business story here about my old outfit Getty Images. It opens with the wild tale of old pal Joe Raedle in heavy combat in Iraq.

A jolting force slammed into the back of Joe Raedle's flak jacket, knocking the veteran photojournalist flat. Bullets, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades rained down on the U.S. Marines Raedle had accompanied into one of the bloodiest battles of the Iraq war last March.

Bleeding from a shoulder wound, Raedle picked himself up, scrambled behind an earthen berm and went to work.

Posted by Jim at 05:21 PM

A Sad Postcard From Spain

Two bloggers from Spain post about the horror in Madrid on Tim Blair's site.

As you already know, yesterday was a black day here in Spain. Some bastards planted 13 backpacks full of dynamite aboard several commuting trains in Madrid, programmed to explode simultaneously around 8:00 am (rush hour). They killed 199 people and wounded 1462 (dozens of whom are in a very critical situation).

The images and testimonies that we’ve been watching are absolutely heart wrecking. Last night some of the people who were working in the mass morgue that was improvised in a convention center needed medical sedation because they couldn’t cope with what they were watching: dozens of people inside black plastic bags whose mobile phones kept ringing all the time. Several children in a school nearby one of the explosions were waiting for their parents to take them home. Their parents never came.

Posted by Jim at 06:14 PM

New York Cops Head to Madrid

Heartbreaking Horror in Madrid

Reading the wire stories and looking at the pictures out of Madrid today was simply heartbreaking. The stomach dropped, the head spun, the heart ached and that deep, disturbing, sickening feeling at the core of the soul from more than two years ago returned. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Spain tonight.

Spanish Embassy Address, for Flower-Senders and Vigil-Attendees: (Via InstaPundit and Matt Welch)

2375 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037
tel: 202.452.0100

Consulate General of Spain
New York City
150 E. 58th Street, 30th Floor
New York, NY 10155

The L.A. Consulate is at:
5055 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 960
Los Angeles, CA 90036
tel: 323.938-0158/0166

NYT Freelance Contract Angers Photogs

From Photo District News:

The New York Times angered hundreds of freelance photographers last week when it distributed a contract some are calling "outrageous," "insulting" and just plain "sad."

The contract asks freelance photographers to assign joint copyright ownership to The New York Times, giving the newspaper the absolute right to exploit the photographs for the life of the copyright and collect all licensing fees, without payment to the photographer.

Posted by Jim at 07:58 PM

Internet Giants Go After Spammers

From the AP via the Daily News:

WASHINGTON — Leading Internet companies, in an unusual joint effort among corporate rivals, announced six lawsuits Wednesday against hundreds of people accused of sending millions of unwanted e-mails in violation of the new federal law against “spam.”

And my favorite part of the story:

Yahoo sued Eric Daniel Head, Matthew Head and Barry Head, all of Ontario, Canada. It said they run Golddisk.net and at least four other companies, all of which identify Eric Head as an officer or director. Yahoo accused the Heads of sending 94 million e-mails to its subscribers since Jan. 1, soliciting people to visit Web sites registered to false Chinese names and addresses.

The Heads also could not be reached for comment.

Posted by Jim at 02:21 PM

A Dangerous Country

Spanish television journalist Ricardo Ortega was shot to death while covering a demonstration in Haiti yesterday. In the same attack on unarmed demonstrators, where U.S. Marines returned fire, a Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel photographer was shot in the shoulder and face.

Old pal Tim Fadek and Les Stone tell Photo District News just how dangerous it is covering Haiti.

Ladies of the Blog

Old pal Rick Bruner had a fine piece in today's Daily News featuring some the best-read woman bloggers in New York City, including dear old pal Amy Langfield.

Men ruled the blog world early on (that is, about three years ago), but women are quickly catching up, finding the ability to write uncensored thoughts to the masses more liberating than a 1970s bra-burning parade.

All the blogs featured in Rick's story are worth a visit. I especially enjoyed the laughs from Eurotrash.