Category Archives: News

W. Eugene Smith Fund – Deadline 15 July

The W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund wishes to remind
all that call for submissions to its 2008 Grant in Humanistic Photography is still open for entries.

Application deadline for the coming W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography is July 15, 2008. Photographers interested in applying may download an application at:

http://www.smithfund.org

We hope you will spread the word by email to photographers in your communities and to emerging photographers who might still not be aware of the Grant.

The W. Eugene Smith Grant is presented annually to a photographer whose past work and proposed project, as judged by a panel of experts, follows the tradition of W. Eugene Smith’s compassionate dedication exhibited during his 45-year career as a photographic essayist.

For 2008, the Smith Grant will be $30,000, with an additional $5,000 in fellowship money also to be given at the discretion of the jury. The Grant recognizes photographers who have demonstrated a commitment to documenting the human condition. The grant program is independently administered by the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund and is funded in part with contributions from Digital Railroad, Getty Images, The Mona Fund, and Open Society Institute. Winners receive their awards in a ceremony held in New York City in October One of the most prestigious honors in photojournalism, the Smith Grant was established in 1978 following the death of Smith, the legendary photo essayist, by his friends Howard Chapnick, Jim Hughes and John Morris to perpetuate his work and spirit. The grant program provides photographers with the financial freedom to envision and carry out major photographic studies.
Applicants must include a written proposal, which should be, concise, journalistically realizable, visually translatable and humanistically driven.

Applicants are also asked to provide a resumé of educational and professional qualifications along with evidence of photographic ability in the form of photographic workprints (8”x10” prints preferred, and no more than 40), and/or photocopies, duplicate transparencies, contact sheets and clippings of published stories. Digital images will be considered only if delivered as low-resolution jpegs on a CD or DVD (no RAW files, TIFF files, or on-line applications).

The Smith Fund’s executive committee appoints a three-person jury each year to review the applications and proposals. The jury meets twice, first to select finalists. The finalists are then asked to submit a comprehensive photographic portfolio, to write a more details and focused proposal and to answer questions about the project.

At their second meeting, the jury reviews the new material and selects the grant recipient and the recipient of the additional fellowship. The recipient must warrant that the project in progress is ongoing, and agree to provide the Fund with a set of photographs when the project is completed. The photographs will be housed as part of the permanent W. Eugene Smith Legacy Collection at the ICP.

There is no entry fee. The application advises that preliminary material will be returned only when accompanied by appropriate packaging and sufficient U.S. postage or its equivalent in U.S. dollars or prepaid return Delivery Form by courier. The Fund is not responsible for loss or damage.

Please send all submissions to:

W. Eugene Smith Fund c/o ICP
1133 Avenue of the Americas
New York, 
NY 10036 — USA

For any and all questions please email:

EugeneSmithFund@mac.com

New Nikon Full Frame Camera

It certainly seems the folks at Nikon have been busy. There had been a few rumours on the net about the Nikon D700, and now the full facts are out:


12.1 Megapixel Full Frame
ASA 100 to 25,600
51 point / 15 cross-type focusing points
5 FPS shooting speed (8 FPS with optional grip)
Colour AF Tracking
Built in sensor cleaning
Priced at US $2999.95

Its good to see Nikon taking a U-Turn in its original stance of refusing to consider full frame cameras as it used to insist that its DX format was the way to forward. I guess the Canon 5D’s sales have proved to the manufacturers that there is a huge market and need for full frame.

For more details and pictures head over to DPReview and Rob Galbraith.

Clash of the Titans: Canon Vs Nikon

Who will take the crown of best DSLR; the Canon 1D MkIII or the Nikon D3?

“Being a working press photographer in London, I come into contact with a lot of photographers. Strangely, photographers from competing news organizations are best of friends once the action of the assignment dies down. Even stranger, Canon and Nikon users live in perfect harmony. Amongst press photographers, brand loyalty is perhaps not as strong as amongst other groups of photographers, and we speak quite openly about issues with gear; both good and bad.

For several years, colleagues who have shot on the Nikon D2 series of cameras have constantly complained on its noisy images and the fact that they can’t shoot at anything approaching 800 ASA and upwards. There were also complaints that Nikon refused to look at full frame cameras and kept insisting that the DX format was the best way to go. Canon users on the other hand were worried about their brand new 1D MkIII cameras and shooting in AI Servo mode in bright light. Thankfully for both camps, it looks like the two giants of DSLR manufacturing have been listening”.

I have done a hands on review of both these cameras for the BJP (British Journal of Photography) out on July 2nd. If you’re interested to read the rest of the article, get yourself a copy. Also in the same issue is coverage of the winning images from PPY (Press Photographers’ Year), showing the best of British press photography from 2007.

46664 Concert: In Celebration Of Nelson Mandela

Lets face it, this is without a doubt the best job in the world. Yes, the days can be long and the stress plentiful; its occasionally dangerous and often unappreciated, however, its still the best job.

I was fortunate enough to cover the 46664 Concert, in celebration of Nelson Mandela’s life, achievements, birthday and his charity. It was an amazing experience.
As always, there were some issues. The photographers’ area was around 50 meters from the stage which meant my standard lens became a 500mm! The slightly bigger problem was that there were several hundred people in front of our position – which wasn’t raised high enough. This brought its problems of trying to avoid the tops of people’s heads (there’s always someone very tall around in these situations!). It became worst as the crowd put there arms up, and even worst when camera phones and compact cameras were brought into play.
Still, it was an absolute joy to be there and a bigger joy to photograph it. We had two photographers covering it, two runners (taking our CF cards back and forth – many thanks Nina and Eli) and two AP editors back in the press room (Dejan and David – top job gents). Its such a joy to work with professionals. There was even some time for a little bit of fun!

EXIT Gallery Show

The EXIT Gallery private view of “A Looking Glass Eye – 21st Century London” exhibition took place on the 26th of June. Its by far the most unique exhibition opening I’ve ever been to. The concept of the show is an interesting one; modern day London as a melting pot of all that it is is mirrored in the montage of images capturing the diversity that is London.

What a week!

Its been an amazing yet ridiculously busy week!

I’ve had three assignments, one of which was the Mandela concert, given two seminars and a full day workshop and had a gallery show opening!
However, as is the life of a freelance news photographer, next week so far has one assignment in the diary!