אשר סבידסנקי צלם | Asher Svidensky Photography - 1 views
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flrdorothy on 18 Apr 14This is the site of the photographer from the BBC News piece on "A 13-year-old eagle huntress in Mongolia." His own account is completely different from the BBC article. He is not, as BBC portrayed him, an ethnographer who stumbled onto a cultural shift in gendered activities-he is a storyteller who went looking for an unusual story, and made it happen. "I had gone looking for my eagle huntress. . .I was amazed by her comfort and ease as she began handling the grand eagle for the first time in her life." I have the same question I asked on the bookmark for the BBC article; why was it important to the BBC to represent this story as ethnography?
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Kyle McDaniel on 18 Apr 14I am not familiar with Svidensky's work so thanks for passing this along. Regarding the story of the eagle huntress: it's clear that many of the photographer's images are "posed" or, at least, were made during the "magic hour." What are the implications for this type of "portraiture?" Some of the images are supposedly "candid" (and some not), but I would question the degree to which Svidensky directed his informant's position/direction for the camera. Assuming the photographer's purpose was documentation, are there overarching ethical implications for this type of visual storytelling?
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emknott on 23 Apr 14I think perhaps, I read it differently. In the article he uses phrases like: " I also photographed him during sunset, on horseback, proudly holding on to his golden eagle."--This reads to me like he knows that it's posed and he isn't making any excuses for it. "I tried coming up with new ways of photographing the eagle hunters." This is when he talking about previous documentation that had been done. "photography session" Again, I read this as the photos being obviously posed. But that's just out I read it. If the article had been lacking phrases like this, then I would have to question the ethical implications.
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Kyle McDaniel on 24 Apr 14Agreed - and even without the quotes, a casual observer could tell that these images are posed. However, I think portraiture-as-documentary photography raises some intriguing methodological questions/concerns. Considering the original piece was published through a (well-respected) international media organization, my guess is that some interesting conversations occurred during editorial meetings regarding the nature of Svidensky's work. Maybe this example points to the blurring lines between traditional news photography and pictures made for ethnographic purposes?
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emknott on 24 Apr 14Quite possibly. And if that is the case, it is certainly evident in the two contrasting articles we have here. But I also wonder if we're not watching a paradigm shift to the photo-essay style that Svidensky is making use of. With the rising popularity of sites like Buzzfeed, I wonder if--in order to bring more interest to his work--he's utilizing that same style in hopes of being more "readable" for the masses. What will be interesting, though, is if we see a similar shift to the photo-essay from the sites that push traditional news photography.