Rangefinder Magazine
December 2005
Click Here for printable version of this article.
Insight/On the Cover by Bill Hurter
The pictures of the year celebrate not only the best of photography, but also the
images that have had the most lasting impact on our lives. Who can forget the
Eddie Adams 1968 Pulitzer-prize winning photograph of Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan
executing a Viet Cong prisoner in Saigon? It is often credited as the defining moment
that helped end the Vietnam War. Such is the role of the pictures of the year.
Our pictures of the year come from a number of noteworthy sources: the 62nd
Annual Pictures of the Year International (POYi) competition, sponsored by
the Missouri School of Journalism (page 8); the Canon Australian Professional
Photography Awards (page 22); the WPPI Awards of Excellence print competition
(page 54); Nikon’s Small World Competition (page 94) and the World Press
Photo Contest (page 104). Also featured is a story on Deanne Fitzmaurice of the
San Francisco Chronicle, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for
2005. Fitzmaurice’s photo essay is about an Oakland hospital’s effort to save the life
of Saleh Khalaf, a nine-year-old Iraqi boy nearly killed by a random explosion. Her
pictures portray the courageous spirit of Saleh and his father and shear away stereotypes,
making his story a universal tale of human survival. It is the kind of journalism
that changes people’s attitudes—as seen by the great outpouring of sympathy and
financial support in the Bay Area for Saleh’s family. Of no less importance are some
of the other great photos appearing in this issue, like James Nachtwey’s heartbreaking
image of a mother and her dying son (page 20) in Darfur in Western Sudan,
which epitomizes that nation’s humanitarian crisis. Then there’s the surreal portrait
by David Swanson of The Philadelphia Inquirer (page 17) of PFC Eric Ayon of Echo
Company, which has suffered more losses than any other company since Vietnam.
Three days after Swanson’s photo was made, Ayon was killed at the same intersection
in Iraq. Our congratulations and heartfelt respect go out to these fine photographers
whose efforts help define the world we live in.
Bill Hurter, Editor
ON THE COVER:
PHOTOGRAPHER: Damien Bredberg
TITLE: “Scooter Man”
CLIENT: Self-assignment for APP Awards
COMMENTS:“With two awards images down,
one scooter on its way on a two-hour hire, and two
days to go for final submission [to the APPA], I had
to pull through with something special, quirky and
striking. As the day wound down, I called upon my
dad—a funny geeky character he is. But other than
his odd expressions, I needed another element that
was going to impress the judges or, in fact, do the
opposite. Now, with a scooter in my possession
and an oldish dude of skin and bones, the pressure
was on to create. It was obvious to me that Dad
had to be shirtless, it was missing a vital ingredient—
complete nudity. So I requested, much to my own disgust, ‘Dad you need to get
nude!’ From there, it all happened, and the image was born. Conceptually, the image to
me was perfect and needed little alteration. But to lift its appeal and complement the humor,
I added a green duotone layer over the color and then screened it using Photoshop’s
blending options to create a light, pasty feel. Seven hours later, at 4:38 a.m., I had exactly
12 hours left to print, mat and deliver my final competition print—heaps of time!” For
his efforts, Damien was awarded the AIPP Australian Editorial Photographer of the Year
award. For more information, see page 22.
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