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

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Subject: Re: [Leica] OT- War Photography
From: RUBEN BLĘDEL <ruben@rhodos.dk>
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 07:11:16 +0100
References: <2867578BB7767E45B3C9E3CBA9C5A65F13F12A@smskpexmbx3.mskcc.root.mskcc.org> <3FDCA2CB.9040403@osheaven.net> <06E19AC4-2E80-11D8-988C-000A958F513A@jphotog.com> <3FDCEF3A.8060807@rhodos.dk> <20BC6B70-2E96-11D8-988C-000A958F513A@jphotog.com>

Eric,

I stand to be corrected - Stil it is not the same as being banned by the 
US - it was banned by an editor at the Associated Press! - but I agree 
with you it should not have been banned - it should have been up to each 
news paper to publish it ! I could have handelled it with my cornflakes, 
i konw someone who would have had a bad dream  after seeing it - I think 
the photographer also meant to say something about the horror of war by 
that picture so that would be ok then.

Eric Welch wrote:

> 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 Eric Welch <eric@jphotog.com> (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)
Message from Eric Welch <eric@jphotog.com> (Re: [Leica] OT- War Photography)