The Revolution...This Time Through The Lenses Of Home-Grown Egyptian Photojournalists

Photo © Eman Helal-All Rights Reserved

Since the recent effort by BagNews's Assignment Egypt (Analyzing News Photo From the 18 Days Revolution) wasn't about featuring the work of Egyptian photojournalists, I thought I'd solicit submissions from young home-grown Egyptian photojournalists working for the local newspapers, who not only documented the Tahrir uprisings, but who also participated in the revolution...in their revolution, for this blog instead.

These photojournalists are far from being "khawagas" (a colloquial nickname for non-Egyptians), they are not well-known in the Western media, they are -to borrow a word from the US military- "grunts"...hard-working people with little support except their own small local network, and who've been mistreated and distrusted by the Mubarak authorities. They've worked, and continue to work, under difficult circumstances. The foreign photojournalists who "parachuted" briefly into Egypt at the first whiff of civil disturbances did a great job documenting the revolution, but they were still "parachutists'...they were not indigenous to the revolution....sure, they documented it with a good photographic eye...sure, some of them were badly beaten by pro-regime thugs...sure, their photographs were plastered on pages of major newspapers and magazines...but they can never understand the revolution as these young local photographers did.

I know that featuring the work of these Egyptian photojournalists here may start the ball rolling, and could soon lead to larger venues where their talent can be better appreciated...I also know that generous photographers such as Eric Beecroft, John Horniblow and Michael Robinson Chavez are planning such venues. When I have all the details I'll announce them here.

In the meantime, I will feature the work of a handful of these young professionals on The Travel Photographer blog during the coming week.

Trust me...they are not marquee names, but their work is as good as that of the world-famous photojournalists.

POV: My Name Is Mohammed....I'm A Driver

Tyler Hicks In Libya Photo © John Moore/Getty Images-All Rights Reserved

All of us who are connected to the world of photojournalism and photography were greatly relieved that Stephen Farrell, Tyler Hicks, Lynsey Addario and Anthony Shadid. were freed a couple of days ago from their ghastly ordeal at the hands of the pro-Qaddafi military.

The New York Times featured a compelling narrative written by the four individuals, and which describes in gripping details what they went through; suffering beatings, indignities, insults and more. The most personal cry from the heart came in the following:

From the pickup, Lynsey saw a body outstretched next to our car, one arm outstretched. We still don’t know whether that was Mohammed. We fear it was, though his body has yet to be found.

If he died, we will have to bear the burden for the rest of our lives that an innocent man died because of us, because of wrong choices that we made, for an article that was never worth dying for.

No article is, but we were too blind to admit that.

Mohamed was the Libyan driver who had been driving the four when captured by the pro-Qaddafi military, and there's no news of his fate.

While the great majority of the comments made on the article were extremely supportive, a few were not. However, this is the hard core reality of conflict and war. A split second decision may mean life or death...a turn to the left instead to the right may lead one to death or imprisonment...and being at the wrong place at the wrong time means being maimed or worse. The ones at fault for whatever happened to Mohammed are not Tyler Hicks' nor his companions, but whoever killed or imprisoned him.

Having said that, I wish Mohammed had a last name. Perhaps the article hasn't made it public for fear of retribution on his family...that would be understandable. Otherwise, not to mention it is doing him or his memory a disservice. Mohammed has a surname, has a family name...Tyler Hicks and his companions should have known it.

Photojournalists would be unable to do their jobs if not for the vital support of local fixers, interpreters and drivers. And yet, little recognition if any is granted to them. Perhaps it's the nature of the local fixers to remain anonymous so that they get obtain further assignments.

I don't know for sure...but what I do know is that I felt really sorry for Mohammed to only be known as Mohammed...the driver. Perhaps The New York Times and their journalists will eventually be able to compensate him and his family.

John Moore: Libya, Egypt & Bahrain

The current upheavals in the Near and Middle East are providing substantial opportunities for photojournalists and conflict photographers to report on the latest battles, revolts and revolutions.

Here's a 6 minutes video interview of photographer John Moore who has just returned from Egypt and Libya as well as Bahrain, where he witnessed the uprisings first hand. This is a must-see for all emerging photojournalists and conflict photographers.

From the PBS NewHour blog: Photographer John Moore is no stranger to combat. As a member of an Associated Press team in 2005, he shared a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography for coverage of the war in Iraq and he's done extended stints in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, South Africa, Mexico and Nicaragua and elsewhere in the last 20 years.

Yet despite his relative comfort with being on the frontlines, Moore told the NewsHour from his hotel room in Cairo that his latest assignment -a six-week trip that took him to the uprisings in Egypt, Bahrain and Libya - might have been his most dangerous. Moore recorded the interview for us after sneaking out of Benghazi, Libya en route back to his home in Denver.

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