Iraq Dangers Increasing For Photographers

Photo District News features a disturbing report from the Committee to Protect Journalists this week.

A new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists lists Iraq as one of the deadliest place for journalists to work since the advocacy group began tracking such data in 1981.

According to the report, at least 35 journalists have died as a result of hostile action since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, 22 coming in 2004. Sixteen still photographers and camera operators have died in Iraq along with 15 reporters and editors, two producers and two technicians. Two journalists are still missing.

Iraqi journalists have experienced the highest number of fatalities, 17, versus only one from the United States.

President Zale???

Why does our president sound like Sgt. Zale from the M*A*S*H teevee show when he says the word 'vehicle'? Um, I mean "vi-hick-el."

JKF Art Exhibit Shut Down After Wild Party

A few days ago I mentioned how lame the Vanity Fair party at Terminal Five at JFK was... Well, two days later I missed a much worse party there--or much better. Depends how you look at it.

The New York Times reports:

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has shut down an art exhibition in Terminal 5 of Kennedy Airport after a raucous opening-night party on Friday that left broken glass on the floor, graffiti on the walls and further destruction in its wake, the agency said yesterday.

Pasquale DiFulco, a spokesman for the Port Authority, which operates the airport, said the curator of the show, Rachel K. Ward, had "failed to control the unlawful behavior of her guests" at the event. "We pulled the permit because the curator violated her agreement," he said.

Besides smoking in the building and defacing the walls with graffiti, some guests broke a door leading to a runway, Mr. DiFulco said. Liquor was being sold at the party without a permit, he added, and Ms. Ward failed to maintain the space to "an acceptable level of cleanliness." Vomit and broken glass were on the terminal's floor, he said.

Posted by Jim at 08:09 PM

Pete Hamill Remembers Eddie Adams

Thankfully, while trying to catch up and go through the ever-growing pile of newsprint on the floor, I came across New York Newsman Pete Hamill writing about his old friend photographer Eddie Adams. I would have been sad if I had missed it. Hamill also offers a few thoughts on war photography in Iraq and Afghanistan today.

Eddie Adams was not an amateur. He made one of those defining photographs of Vietnam in 1968, for which he won a 1969 Pulitzer Prize. It showed the South Vietnamese police commander shooting a Vietcong prisoner in the head on the second day of the Tet offensive. The photograph made front pages all over the world, but you could never find a print of it on the walls of Eddie's various studios. There is no simple way to explain why such defining images have eluded today's professional war photographers. One explanation is simple: sheer luck. You must be there at the moment. If you're around the corner or stalled in traffic, or stopped by soldiers, the moment vanishes forever.

A more important reason might be the ferocious nature of Iraq itself - a ferocity that, I think, has something to do with the war's religious context. Visions of God were not a factor in Vietnam. Marx and Lenin, maybe. Nationalism, of course. But not God. Eddie Adams and all the others lived each day with the possibility of sudden death. Some were captured, held as prisoners, and later released.

But they did not fear being kidnapped, held hostage, and then beheaded as "infidels." In the savage urban warfare of Iraq, the desire to stay alive creates understandable restraint. You cannot shout the Iraqi equivalent of "Bao chi!" at the insurgents and hope for the best. Some of them believe they are fighting in a holy contest between Islam and Christianity.

There are also several other factors: censorship and self-censorship. After Vietnam, the press in general, and photographers in particular, were never as free again to cover American wars. A rigid system of image control was imposed in Grenada, Panama and the Gulf war. Though the Pentagon's experiment with embedding loosened some of those controls, there were still limits. No soldiers bleeding in the sand, please. No body bags. No coffins.

Posted by Jim at 03:46 PM

Terminal Five

The Vanity Fair party the other night wasn't very good . As one guest put it, "No food, no wine, no party." There was vodka. Only vodka. And since I am on the wagon this did me little good. There were little pieces of hard bread with something light brown squirted on top but it was hardly food. Anyways, it was brilliant to see my Aunt Betty & Uncle Pat, both retired TWA employees who spend so many years in that Terminal 5. And the architecture was worth the drive out. Hopeful it will become a wonderful house of art permanently.

And I hope the next time Vanity Fair puts their name on a party they remember to serve decent wine and hearty food. Or any wine and food. They also need to ditch the kids in dirty jeans posing as paparazzi to greet guests. There is little worse than fake paparazzi.

Here are the annoying faux paparazzi with no film in their cameras and some of the terminal's excellent lines.

Jim Lowney Photo

Jim Lowney Photo

See Dick Talk

Rep. Richard Gephardt was in my home county today. Not much to say about him since he is on the way out but it was interesting enough to hear him campaign for the Dems and I got to take a few pictures, too.

Jim Lowney Photo

He's Back

Thomas Friedman is back writing on the Times' Op/Ed page.

Sorry, I've been away writing a book. I'm back, so let's get right down to business: We're in trouble in Iraq.

Posted by Jim at 07:32 PM

The Unfeeling President

This essay arrived in the inbox from a friend. I am guessing many, many people received it as well. It truly touched a nerve. Especially the first graph.

The Unfeeling President By E. L. Doctorow

I fault this president for not knowing what death is. He does not suffer the death of our 21-year-olds who wanted to be what they could be. On the eve of D-Day in 1944 General Eisenhower prayed to God for the lives of the young soldiers he knew were going to die. He knew what death was. Even in a justifiable war, a war not of choice but of necessity, a war of survival, the cost was almost more than Eisenhower could bear.

Click here for the complete essay.

Hitting the Shelves Soon

Old pal Tyler Hicks will have his first book on the shelves very soon. Keep an eye open for And Histories Are Mirrors: Iraq and Afghanistan. And when you see it, buy it. It is a fine collection of Tyler's best pictures from the recent wars. It also features an essay by John Burns of The New York Times.

Fall

What a brilliant Autumn day. I truly love this time of year. And the pumkins inspire still life art.

Jim Lowney Photo