Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/12/14

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Subject: Re: [Leica] OT- War Photography
From: Eric Welch <eric@jphotog.com>
Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2003 16:32:13 -0800
References: <2867578BB7767E45B3C9E3CBA9C5A65F13F12A@smskpexmbx3.mskcc.root.mskcc.org> <3FDCA2CB.9040403@osheaven.net> <06E19AC4-2E80-11D8-988C-000A958F513A@jphotog.com> <3FDCEF3A.8060807@rhodos.dk>

No, what happened one mid-level Associated Press photo editor decided 
to decide for all those photo editors. It's true most would not have 
thought the photo passed the corn flake test (do people want to see it 
while eating their corn flakes in the morning?) but they each should 
have been given the chance to show it. And by the time it did hit 
distribution, it was a bit old.

It was a tough image, but I would have run it. I did run a body photo 
once in my career as a newspaper photo editor. It was a man who killed 
a police officer and shot three other people before being shot in the 
head himself (By an amazing shot from 75 yards with a 9-mm handgun by a 
very lucky police officer - the perp. had a hunting rifle!).

We ran the photo small on the front page so that most detail was 
obscured by distance and the dark (police officers shining their 
flashlights on him) and then much larger inside in black and white. The 
front page had a warning about looking inside the paper. A few days 
later we asked our readers if we made the right decision (the executive 
editor left the decision up to me in the end) and we got over 225 
emails and only one was in the negative. I even got a very nice email 
from a Sheriff in Montana telling me I did the right thing.

But most of the time, bodies are off limits.

On Dec 14, 2003, at 3:16 PM, RUBEN BLĘDEL wrote:

> The very picture from the first Iraq war with a burnt Iraq soldier 
> dead  trying to get out of the amoured truck was shown in an early 90 
> issue of American Photo and i recall it very well - shocking image ! 
> It was not banned but the newspapers did not want to print it because 
> of its very strong impact -
Eric
Carlsbad, CA

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by 
little statesmen, philosophers, and divines. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Replies: Reply from RUBEN BLĘDEL <ruben@rhodos.dk> (Re: [Leica] OT- War Photography)
In reply to: Message from "Saganich, Christopher/Medical Physics" <saganicc@MSKCC.ORG> (RE: [Leica] OT- War Photography)
Message from sam <sam@osheaven.net> (Re: [Leica] OT- War Photography)
Message from Eric Welch <eric@jphotog.com> (Re: [Leica] OT- War Photography)
Message from RUBEN BLĘDEL <ruben@rhodos.dk> (Re: [Leica] OT- War Photography)