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The Art Of Taking Great News Pictures Without Getting HurtViolence, danger, caution, anger and suffering were the recurring themes in the February episode of the FCC’s new Lecture Series, “Coffee With A Correspondent.” It featured Reuters Chief Photographer in India, Danish Siddiqui. The focus of the discussion was not surprising, as two widely acclaimed recent pictures of his happen to be from the clashes in Delhi. It was journalistically very enriching to know the details from behind the scene.
Our host Emily Schmall of the Associated Press asked Danish how he dealt with a dangerous and risky environment in Delhi’s February communal riots when journalists came under attack. He said he always carries protective gear that includes helmet and gas mask. More importantly, he said that, before taking any picture he interacted with the crowd as part of a confidence-building exercise that lasted for about two hours.
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Later on, while taking pictures, he always retreated with the gang rather than waiting to take a better angle. “At that time, you have to think about the picture that you have already got, you don’t want to lose that,” he said.
Danish also described meeting the man he photographed being beaten by a mob with sticks during the riot. The man hadn’t seen his picture.
Danish said that photojournalism is 80 percent about planning, 10 percent of it is making sure that you don’t lose your equipment, and the rest is luck. He emphasised the importance of hostile area training and strictly advised against taking undue risk while capturing any image. “If you miss one picture, it is fine,” he said.
At the Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, when a shooter fired at a crowd protesting India’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Danish was shocked to see other camera people walking in front of the gun. He knew from hostile environment training to place himself on the side to click the image with policemen in the background. “These are once-in-a-lifetime moments for a lot of people, but it is just a picture, which is not worth your life or injury,” he said.
The sequence of pictures of a Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh that won him and other Reuters colleagues the Pulitzer Prize in 2018 was also discussed in detail. So was his experience of being arrested in Sri Lanka after the Easter suicide bombing terrorist attack on charges of trespassing.
During an hour-long discussion, Danish agreed with a fellow journalist that photojournalism by nature is more objective than print. “It is like take it or leave it,” he said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
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