An Insight into Photojournalism - Ben Lowy at Semi Permanent Sydney
Ben Lowy at Semi-Permanent Sydney 2014 - Photographer / NYC
We laughed, our jaws dropped, then our eyebrows scrunched in seriousness, then we laughed again. It was an emotional rollercoaster when Ben Lowy shared his story of becoming a professional photojournalist that started in a war zone.
Capturing death and destruction - Ben's career started when he covered the Iraq war in 2003. Right after a grenade attack on a commander's tent, this image of a wounded soldier appeared in Time magazine and became the spark to his photojournalism career.
Ben continued reporting in Libya in later years, shooting from a car, capturing civilian life to show the general public a different side of the war torn countries. He used dental floss to attach his camera to his night vision goggles. Genius.
Creating something to be noticed - With the flood of images on the internet, thousands of images are consumed per day. How do we create something unique that makes a pair of eyes pause and think? Create the element of mystery where people crave to dig out the story behind the image. Ben took this photo of an Iraqi man launching himself on the Al-Shuhada Bridge into the Tigris river.
The future of photojournalism - The future of image making is in independent journalism. To leverage the tools of social media to change the perspective of the wider audience. In Ben's case this meant attaching a wifi dongle on the frontline of a war zone and uploading images to tumblr in real time using his iPhone. His tumblr is now rich in Hipstamatic shots that allow him to literally 'point and shoot' and share his visual perspectives with the world instantly.
Ben's adventures and war tales were beyond inspiring. Thank you for the incredible insights and stories that kept all of us talking days after Semi-Permanent Sydney. Officially mind blown.
Image source:
www.robgalbraith.com
www.reportagebygettyimages.com
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