Friday, September 5, 2008

Véronique de Viguerie Under Fire






A couple of weeks ago, a group of Talibs in Afghanistan killed 10 French soldiers (attached to the NATO forces), and were subsequently photographed by Véronique de Viguerie, a photographer working with the French news magazine Paris Match, wearing the French soldiers' uniforms.

A firestorm erupted in France following the publication of the photographs in the Paris-Match magazine, finding it indecent for a French magazine to show such images. Accusations that payment was made to the Talibs by the photojournalist were made, but rejected as false.

In the above clip (in French), De Viguerie explains her meeting with the Taliban fighters. 'It took some time, and we used some of our contacts out there'. She used a fixer/interpreter to get to the Taliban fighters, who will only meet with women reporters as they believe that men could be spies.

In her thirties, de Viguerie says that she wasn't too comfortable meeting them. 'But, when you follow the rules and when you have the authorization of their leaders, we become their guests'.

I'm not sure why it's Véronique de Viguerie who's under fire. Isn't it the decision of Paris-Match editors to publish?

Via The British Journal of Photography's blog (link)

New Canon To Eclipse Competition?


Canon added an intriguing teaser to its United States website. As you see, it's of a camera's silhouette against what I assume to be the moon, and the words 'Destined Evolution.' Click the image for a bigger version. If that's not an introduction to a successor to the Canon's 5D, I don't what is.

Rumors are rife all over the internet concerning the megapixel giants expected from Sony, Canon and Nikon at Photokina 2008.

Getty Images Grants-Editorial Photography

Photograph Lynsey Addario-All Rights Reserved

At the Visa pour l'Image in Perpignan, Getty Images announced that Lynsey Addario, David Gillanders and Eugene Richards were selected as the next three recipients of the Getty Images Grants for Editorial Photography.

Each recipient will receive $20,000 and collaborative support from Getty Images photo editors as they pursue their documentary photography projects.

Their portfolios were selected from a field of 153 applicants from 26 countries.

Lynsey Addario’s project, “Darfur,” will examine the ongoing conflict in western Sudan. David Gillanders’ project “Glasgow,” will focus on the culture of violent knife crime which earned Scotland’s largest city the title “Murder Capital of Europe.” Eugene Richards began work on “War is Personal” in 2006 as a series of photo and text essays focused on the lives of people in the US who’d been profoundly affected by the war in Iraq.