World Press Photo of the Year - BJP March 2012

Samuel Aranda's photo of a mother holding her injured son in a mosque in Sanaa, Yemen, has won this year's World Press Photo of the Year.
A stunning shot and likened to Michelangelo's - The Pietà - s sculpture of Mary holding the body of Jesus. Described as ' a moving, compassionate moment' by Aidan Sullivan, the jury chair and from Getty Images UK.
I too find it moving and shows the despair of the people involved in the Arab Spring although it still holds a sense of mystery with the mother's face hidden by full veil, and yet her compassion is fully evident without the viewer getting a glimpse of her expression. We are left to imagine her heartache which can possible be more touching than seeing it in full.
Aranda mentions that the 'composition was unintentional' and just taken in the chaos of the situation. Which just goes to show the power of the photograph however it is taken, be it planned for weeks, months etc or snapped in a millisecond, it has the potential to be everlasting in our thoughts and provoke many questions to be pondered over and emotions to be checked.
A worthy winner by a long shot and hopefully I will manage to see it as it tours along with another 100 images from the competition in 2012.

The Photograph - Graham Clarke

Just started 'The Photograph' by Graham Clarke that was sent with the starting pack from OCA.
So far very eye opening, and enjoying the in-depth look at images and how to read them instead of look over them.
Roland Barthes identifies two distinct factors in our relationships to the image;
'Studium' - is 'a kind of general, enthusiastic commitment'
'Punctum' - is a 'sting, speck, cut, little hole.'
I'm confident in saying I have fallen into the 'Studium' bracket more often than not but the whole reason of me doing this course/degree is to become comfortable at finding the 'punctum' of the images I view and look to use it in my own work.
I'll add to this section of my blog as I continue to read through this and other books.

Paolo Roversi

A beautifully put quote from Paolo Roversi in the March issue of BJP.

Paolo describes his personal intimacy when shooting his models:

"The most important moment is when you open the shutter, it's like opening your heart; the moment where you take something, and you give something........
It's like if you write a letter, you put something of yourself into it. If not, it's just a postcard, 'Kisses from Paris' and nothing else."

I will keep this with myself forever, a beautiful way of thinking every time you open the shutter.