Angkor Photo Festival Siem Reap Cambodia

The 6th Angkor Photo Festival is being held in November, 20-27, in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This week-long festival showcases exhibitions and slideshows celebrating international and emerging Asian photographers.  This year there's a special Asian Women Photographers' Showcase including an exhibition by Jean Chung who I interviewed at Foto Freo earlier this year. Jean's exhibition is Korea's Forgotten Women - Comfort Women for US Army. To find out more visit Angkor Photo Festival  or follow the Asian Women Photographers' Showcase on Facebook 

Moscow by Night

One of Stalin's Seven Sisters - Moscow University

One of the great joys of returning from foreign lands is to select my favourite photos. A great panacea for jet-lag and warding off the post-holiday blues.

More on the debate on the lifeline of photojournalism

Another interesting take on the notion that photojournalism is dead can be found on the New York Times Lens blog -  New York Times - thanks Tasj!

Beijing 2009 Alison Stieven-Taylor (C)

David Dare Parker

One of my forthcoming feature articles in Pro Photo is on Australian Photojournalist David Dare Parker, pictured here on the Mekong Delta, Vietnam


Photo by Ron Blackford September 2010

Is photojournalism really dead?

In an article by Neil Burgess on the website Editorial Photographers UK, he writes an eloquent obituary to the death of photojournalism. I agree with him to a certain extent - photojournalism as we know it as in magazines commissioning photographers to create photo stories and essays, may be diminishing, but photojournalists are nothing if not adaptable. 

As an interviewer of photographers I have a particular interest in the genre of photojournalism. If ever there was a time in history for the professional photojournalist it is now. The communication conduits may change, but photos that 'keep the bastards honest' and that prick the conscience of the viewer, will always have a place in the dissemination of news.

Christian Blanchard and Me at Melbourne Spring Fashion Week

Look out for my profile on Christian coming soon . . .

Smog City

Forbidden City, Beijing, October 2009

Photography Alison Stieven-Taylor

Beautiful Lucca, Tuscany

Christian Blanchard

Saw Christian's Animalia short film last night, totally blown away, loved it. See a preview of it here, and some of his other work Christian Blanchard and look out for my profile on Christian landing later this year . . .

First Look Rock Chicks Updated Edition

Out November 2010

Post Election Blues

The 2010 Election may go down in history as the biggest non-event in Australian politics that left an electorate at once disillusioned, incensed and depressed at the thought that either of the cardboard cutouts that were put forward as leaders will represent our country.

But rather than pointing frustrations at the politicians who by virtue of their vocation are prone to lying and to studiously not answering questions, the collective finger of disappointment and annoyance is pointing at the media. And it’s about time too because the mainstream media in this country has quite frankly lost the plot.

Just consider the ad for Channel Nine’s election night coverage, with an expert team led by… Karl and Lisa from the Today Show. Come on! If that isn’t an indication of how low the media has sunk in terms of credibility taking two morning-show hosts and positioning them as political experts, then I don’t know what is. Or was Nine’s election night coverage meant to be a joke? Given the tone of the coverage in the lead up to the election which could be likened to the same celebrity nonsense that you would expect in a story on what Lindsay Lohan’s mother had for breakfast, maybe it was a joke. But I don’t feel like laughing and nor do many other citizens if the chatter on talkback radio today is anything to go by.

I tuned into ABC radio this morning to hear three callers in a row, and respected political journalist and commentator Mungo MacCallum, say the media were the worst offenders in this pseudo-election campaign. The media turned this election into a tabloid headline worthy of nothing more than lining the Budgie cage. So-called political journalists didn’t nail either Gillard or Abbott on any of the hard questions.

What happened to the media’s traditional role in keeping the politicians honest? Of asking hard hitting questions about policy and intention, rather than the state of Julia Gillard’s relationship with her hairdresser boyfriend, or Abbott’s choice of swimwear? Are these really questions that Australians want answered about the next leader of our country, the person that is going to represent Australia on the global stage, the person that has the power to make critical decisions that will affect our future?

When both ‘leaders’ talked about stopping the boats, no one asked basic questions that might help the Australian people to make up their own minds about the need to stop the boats or not. No one asked how many people flee to Australia each year risking their lives and their families in hope of a better future? Nor did they ask either party how they proposed to stop the boats. There was little if any reportage that gave both sides of the argument. Bias was rampant and information given in sound bites. How can anyone make an educated decision when you get 30 seconds of paid political rhetoric?

On the economic questions there was equal silence from journalists on both sides of the political fence. How many journalists wrote stories and filed reports on how the Libs were going to create a bigger surplus than Labour? What were they going to cut from essential services to facilitate this surplus?  Where was the money coming from? 

Whereas the politicians stuck to their script and remembered everything they’d learned in media training, journalists clearly forgot the basics of their profession – research, ask questions, check facts, check them again and then write an unbiased report.  That may be hard to do if you work for News Corporation, who surprise, surprise supported the Libs again this time around (what concessions Mr. Murdoch may get if Abbott gets in are not made public but you can bet he isn’t touting the virtues of the Libs out of the goodness of his heart). Or for Fairfax who, said one news report, sided with Labour. The mere fact that the media acknowledge the blatant bias should send alarm bells to every thinking person in this nation. Can we trust the media?

Now we have two weeks or so to wait until we find out which Party will form government. And you can be assured the media will treat that debate with the same diligence, scrutiny and impartiality they’ve shown for the election campaign. Why don’t they save us all the trouble of tuning in to the nightly news and reading the newspaper and fast track to the question that is no doubt on the lips of our most intrepid reporters - what colour curtains will Gillard’s partner, or Abbott’s wife, choose for the Lodge?