we produce beautifully crafted multimedia » David White

Photojournalism and ‘What is the point of ‘exclusivity’ these days?’

David White — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:58:51 +0000

Like many, I have been glued to my computer watching the epic events in Egypt unfold. Images coming in from all over, different views every day, a plethora of images.

Visually I have a great handle on things thanks to the amazing power of the tintertwizzle.

I noticed Time shouting that they had an exclusive set of images from Dominic Nahr. Now, don’t get me wrong, Dominic is a quality photographer. He knows his shallots from his red onions. I’m not talking about him. The point is, what value is there, in an online environment, from having an exclusive set of news pictures? Especially if they come a few days after all the live stuff people have seen?

The power of an immediate, maybe blurry, a bit noisy, but live image snapped on a ‘phone as it happens totally beats the crap out of a beautiful image posted online a few days later.

Totally.

I can understand exclusive access, a unique story…that has a value to me.

A set of images, however good, however exclusive after an event now seems a bit pointless.

You can’t leverage the exclusivity to get punters to buy your product…they are free, online.

LINK TO PIECE

duckrabbit ‘Imber, the ghost village’ photofilm on the BBC

duckrabbit — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 07:09:18 +0000

Good to see David’s photofilm about the abandoned village of Imber finding a home on the BBC Website.

A big THANK YOU to the BBC’s Photo Editor, Phil Coomes for publishing the story.

WOW … just …WOW

duckrabbit — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:43:25 +0000

I found this again whilst cleaning up round t’back…it is amazing, and funny, and you need to watch it. Again.

Photograph of Jesus by Laurie Hill in association with the Getty Images Short & Sweet Film Challenge from Hulton Archive on Vimeo.

Climate change Bangladesh

David White — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:27:38 +0000

Bonjournio mon amigos,

Couple more pics for you fine folk. The first one was taken in a tiny village called Forki. I had been walking through the village to take pics of where the water had taken the land, and had found myself quickly surrounded by the local kids. After distracting the youngsters by pointing them towards Ben ( he is very distracting, it can’t be easy being 6’8″ with long blonde hair) I had scooted off away from everyone. On my little journey towards the old school house (see pics below), I came across this lad. He is proudly sporting the latest fashion accessory for young Bangladeshis, the plastic cobra head clamp. I got one myself, but I chose the wrong size, and now I can’t get it off. As usual, the subject held my gaze…I have never known anywhere like Bangladesh for that, it is wonderful. If I put a camera in a strangers face here in the UK it would be embedded in mine quicker than you can say cheese. The lad is standing in front of an upturned, recently tarred fishing boat.

Climate change, Bangladesh, 9.2009. A young boy in Forki village proudly displays his plastic cobra 'hat', his back against the tarred bottom of a fishing boat.

The next one is a lot more sombre, but no less odd methinks. Taken at Alimoddi village, Bhola, this picture just doesn’t make sense. The day previously the cow would have been in a field. The river had burst into the village, destroying the mud dam protecting the village and it’s crops. When you see a flood, you imagine it to be deep…I do at least. Often in Bangladesh the water was no more than a few inches or so deep, but so full of sediment (about a third of the waters that reach the Ganges delta are sediment by the time they get there) that you could not see where the land was, whether it was a foot below the water or 20. It’s quite pretty this picture, in a terribly wrong way.

Climate change Bangladesh 11/2009 Water levels around Alimoddi village on the island of Bhola create the wrong landscape. Image © David White ------------------NO UNAUTHORISED USE------------------------- 07866 361695 0044 (0) 117 9710423 www.nospin.co.uk dave@nospin.co.uk

Bangladesh – the reality of climate change.

David White — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:57:21 +0000

I have decided to put up a selection of images that I shot in Bangladesh over the couple of weeks that Benjamin and I were there. I have chosen to present this selection in mono as I feel that works best for most of these images. Originally of course they were all spat out of the camera in RGB, and indeed many of them will be presented again in colour depending on the end use. There is no audio to accompany these images…just the captions beneath them. The audio will come soon when Ben and I have decided how best to present the pieces. They form part of the journey that Ben, Rajib and I took trying to get a handle on how the effects of climate change are affecting the people of Bangladesh.

I hope the pictures convey the seriousness of the situation for the people of Bangladesh. I would ask you to try and look through the photos. Click the full screen icon (bottom right) to view the set more clearly, and click the image for the next one.
DW
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Zen and the art of Sandcastles

duckrabbit — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:46:07 +0000

Sometimes the real art is in letting go …

“It was like being a proper journalist again …. turning up in a town you’ve never been to and not being allowed to leave until you’ve got a story.“

Last Weekend duckrabbit ran its first multimedia training course at the Trinity Arts Centre, in Bristol, England.

We threw our two students right in at the deep end, unleashing them on the British seaside town of Weston super Mare. We gave them one day to sniff out a story, collect the photographs and audio, and another day to rough edit the material.

“When we went to Weston super-Mare with duckrabbit we had no idea of what we’d come out with, but there’s little more satisfying in that situation than pulling something out of the bag.

After a wander around the town centre to weigh up subject potential, we agreed a plan of action and with the help of Benjamin and David each did our thing. After just a few hours we returned home with a huge sense of achievement and the raw material for this finished piece.” Ciara Leeming.

The finished result (above) is a powerful, evocative and warm meditation on loss. We also hope it shows what magic can happen through training, as well as the undoubted talents of our trainees.

Please be aware to fully appreciate this feature you need to watch through right to the end.

What our students Ciara and Oliver have to say:

‘Thanks again for a great weekend, I was thinking the other day that it is well worth the money as I learned so much more than I would have done on any other form of photographic/software/audio training. I have been having lots of ideas to use it commercially.

I will stay in contact and give you guys a ring from time to time if that OK, also if there is any work or help training, or recommendations, or photographs you want me to do, I will be happy to oblige if I can get the time off work as I really think duckrabbit and multimedia is going to take off and I would like to be one of the original photographers working on high quality multimedia in the UK.” Oliver Edwards, Photographer.

‘I’m really pleased to have been one of the first to learn from duckrabbit because I love what they’re about and would love to capture even a tiny bit of that spirit in my own work. Audio interviewing was probably the biggest challenge for me but I’m now actually looking forward to integrating this into my own storytelling and being able to make my subjects’ voices heard.‘ Ciara Leeming, Freelance Journalist

For more information about duckrabbit’s training just give us a shout.

YOU RESPOND

ED KASHI

What a sweet little story that gives one a sense of the place and wonder of the event, yet conveys a deeper and universal message through the excellent audio. The images are wonderful as well. Great job!

jonwild

I am amazed at the quality of this. The layered soundtrack is a wonderful achievement in its own right, but add a consistent and varied selection of images with some superb individual pictures, and it reaches a level of professionalism that really astonishes for a first attempt. And that’s not even mentioning the journalistic nous to craft a narrative that turns from jolly seaside spectacle to a little parable on the frailty of life and relationships. Well done Ciara and Oliver for producing a great testament to duckrabbit’s skill and inspiration.

Miki Johnson

Fabulous! It is SO hard to elevate a little story like this past the simple visual wonder of the sculptures to something vast, no less than a commentary on humanity and mortality. The juxtaposition of the children/father’s comments and the kicker at the end is brilliant. Thanks guys.

MARK PAGE

I thought this was again a masterclass. Duckrabbit, storytellers supreme, and generous with their craft. Lessons well learnt by Ciara & Ollie……….

JUNO

Beautiful photos and audio! Places one right in the scene.
Who would have thought there’d be a great lesson to learn from sculpting sand. Thanks.

LISA

Woah, this is an absolutely fantastic little story. So gentle and humane…

My beautiful, wonderful Tinka dog, who was my best friend for eleven years passed away suddenly on Wednesday morning and somehow this wonderful meditation on life and loss appears on the inimitable Duckrabbit site just a few days later…

It has hit all the chords with me, not sentimental, but feeling and knowing and well, it just has the perfect tone really…

Wow, the more I know about these rascally Duckrabbits the more I appreciate their absolutely gorgeous hearts

LITTLE SIS HANNAH

Fabulous slide show – you weren’t kidding when you said it was a masterclass!

CIARA

wow, thanks everyone for the lovely feedback…we had such a great time making this, so it’s great to know that we got it right.
once again, a HUGE thank you to Benjamin and David for all their support and advice )

OLLIE

Thanks for all the comments everybody, was a great weekend and thanks again for everything I learned.

How to do it

David White — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:09:20 +0000

Ok…after looking at mediocre photography day in day out for what seems ages, I was sent an email by Marco Vernaschi.
He’s had a lot of exposure recently, and rightly so. His work is of a rare quality. He is technically totally in control, aesthetically he’s bang on and the stories he covers are epic. He deserves his coverage. If you are learning (aren’t we all?) then take a look at Marco’s work. You can look at it through the Pulitzer centre or on his site.

Respect from duckrabbit.

Come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough…

David White — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:20:04 +0000

Well, it’s not often a pic like this one gets posted to you. Melvin Bunclarke sent me this awesome shot. Thanks Melvin.

Can you guess what it is yet?.

Here’s a clue: Melvin and his wife are trying for a baby. It’s not working, they need some help.

Melvin has to provide the IVF lab with a little seed or two. Are we there yet?

This is the wank room. Or, for those of a more gentler disposition, perhaps it’s the masturbation station.

I can’t imagine it’s much fun having to shuffle about in that environment. Luckily for us Melvin has given us a glimpse
inside such a secret place. Looks fun!.

This is fine art photography at its very best. Melvin has written paragraphs of very obscure nonsense explaining and justifying why this pic is so awesome, but I’ll spare you. Bloody fine art photographers

Melvin did say that the IVF establishment need to update their, er, reading material. According to him, he’s paying £4.5k
and all he gets to read in that room is 3 old copies of FHM, a two year old copy of Men Only – and a copy of the TV Times.
Slackers. They could at least have provided a copy of the Wisden cricket annual.

I wish Melvin and his other half the best of luck in having a baby, and here’s his wonderful pic:

IVF masturbation room.

Bye Huw

David White — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:14:44 +0000

Below is a shot of Huw, whose funeral I was at today. Huw was proud of this picture.
It was taken at a Reclaim the Streets demo in Bristol back in the day, in the middle of the M32 motorway into the city. There is going to be a big party tonight in Huw’s honour. When I say big, I mean BIG. The city will probably come to a stop, again. I know none of you readers knew Huw, nor probably even care…fair enough. I would just like to say again that if you find yourself in a place where you can’t cope, and you want to finish it all off, please don’t. Find someone to tell, to talk to, to shout at…but don’t keep it to yourself.
Peace and love to everyone, but especially those feeling depressed or alone.
Rest in Peace Huw.

No related posts.

Surfing Liberia?

duckrabbit — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:11:08 +0000

Photojournalist Glenna Gordon has a nice story about surfing in Liberia running on the BBC website but it barely scratches beneath the waves.

The Liberians are literally portrayed as shadows whilst the expat NGO workers step out into the light. Drawn to Liberia by the ‘the waves’.

Why?

Maybe its the BBC edit because Glenna has a great track record at capturing Liberian life.

This would have been much better as an audio slideshow. It’s just crying out for the crash of the waves and the stories of the young men who are riding them.

Audio engages us in a different way, it can move us much more powerfully, beyond spectacle, towards understanding. Photographers shouldn’t be afraid to learn the basics of audio, especially if they want to reach a wider audience. They could start by coming to our training in Bristol next month.

Hey I wish more of our readers would get in touch