Photography Archives - Page 4 of 23 - Books by Eric Douglas

Harvesting divers still dying all over the world

September 27, 2013 By Eric Douglas

In spite of efforts from various organizations over the last several years, men (and yes, they are almost exclusively men) use scuba equipment to harvest lobster, conch and sea cucumbers among other things from the ocean floor. They do this with little regard for themselves or the environment, often overfishing the area. In the process, nearly all of them have injured their bodies so completely only a few of them are even fit to dive at all. They all have various levels of paralysis and nerve damage.

When I’ve written about this before, I’ve had people comment that the divers should just stop diving and do something else. Or, people have said, it isn’t our fault, we don’t make them dive.

In a sense, we do make them dive. We insist on cheap seafood so we can “all-you-can-eat” ourselves into obesity. As long as we are willing to buy these products, without insisting on sustainable sources for them, we are responsible. There is no difference between this and sweat shops or child labor being used to create the cheap goods we use and throw away when we are done with them. Yet, the moral outrage that is directed at sweatshop labor is nonexistent for harvesting divers.

Nearly two years ago, I traveled to Honduras for the fourth time (There were additional trips to Brazil and Mexico to meet with other groups of divers as well) to meet with and talk to Miskito Indians who dive for lobster; this time it was with a crew from the NBC show Rock Center. In January of 2012, they aired a two part segment (with additional online footage) called Lobster Trap. They used articles I had written on the subject as background material and I was interviewed on the show as well. I just learned yesterday that Lobster Trap won the 2013 RFK Book & Journalism Award for International Television. The segment’s producer Catherine Olian and the reporter Natalie Morales were specifically honored.

The RFK Journalism Awards recognize outstanding reporting on issues that reflect Robert Kennedy’s dedication to human rights and social justice, and his belief in the power of individual action. Winning entries provide insights into the causes, conditions, and remedies of human rights violations and injustice, and critical analyses of the movements that foster positive global change.

I am proud to have a small part in this story and hope that this award will continue to draw attention to the problem of harvesting divers throughout the world.

If you want to read more about this problem, view a short film I put together on three groups of harvesting divers, or watch the NBC show Lobster Trap, you can find the links on the For Cheap Lobster Page..

Capture life around you

September 18, 2013 By Eric Douglas

Street photography makes a comeback

street photo 1 — This barely qualifies as street photography and is not in the same category as Maier or others like her.

If you’ve never heard of Vivian Maier, and you are even remotely interested in photography, do yourself a favor and Google her. No, she isn’t some star photographer or celebrity who takes “selfies” and posts them all over the web. She actually died before she was ever discovered.

Maier was, by all accounts, a very solitary woman. She worked most of her adult life as a nanny in Chicago. In her off time, she walked the streets taking photographs of people and places. She didn’t do it for a publication or fame. She did it for the love of the art. In the process, she captured historic landmarks and events in time that were thought lost.

Earlier this year, the Chicago Sun-Times fired its entire photographic staff with plans to teach their reporters the basics of iPhone photography. Many television stations air video footage from accidents taken by bystanders with their phones. The cameras in our smart phones are surprisingly good. And they are everywhere. Most people don’t even notice them anymore.

Adequate resolution does not make for a quality photograph, however. It is about framing, it is about composition and lighting. Photography is about capturing the moment. That takes practice, diligence and patience. One of my favorite quotes is from Henri Cartier-Bresson, a French photographer considered by many to be the father of photojournalism. “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” (I’ve probably shot more than 50,000 photographs and some days I still wonder what I’m doing.)

In some ways, the internet and digital cameras have cheapened the way we look at photography. Images are so ubiquitous they are disregarded. Digital photography also makes it easy to delete images we don’t like, erasing a record of awkward moments. Maier was discovered when collector John Maloof bought a container of negatives at auction after she died. Now that Maloof has reconstructed approximately 90 percent of her work, Maier’s “work is part of a renaissance in interest in the art of street photography.”

Good images and good photography will always have a place. Whatever tool you use, be it a DSLR, a mirrorless digital or a camera phone, street photography is about capturing unposed moments in people’s lives. It isn’t about embarrassing or exploiting, but honoring those lives with photography.

Out in the world, where everyone you meet has character and a story to tell, more street photographers need to be out like Maier. Local celebrities and the politicians get photographed regularly, but the average person on the street is much more interesting. There are street scenes and faces in every little town begging to be photographed. Doing so, you capture a little bit of local history.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to charge my camera battery..

Patriot Day is an opportunity to honor those who serve

September 11, 2013 By Eric Douglas

The 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon. Each lighted bench, designed to look like a plane tail, represents a person who died at the Pentagon.

Thousands of articles, columns, and blogs have been written about September 11, 2001 and how it affected everyone in the United States, regardless of religion, skin color or background. While I vividly remember where I was and what I was doing that day, and I would never suggest anything as trite as “moving on” or “seeking closure” I think it is time to honor the memory of those who died by remembering how they lived.

ambrose 2 — Dr. Paul Ambrose is one of many who died on 9/11 as his plane crashed into the Pentagon. Here his name is engraved on the 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero in New York City.

I didn’t know Dr. Paul Ambrose, but I took several classes from his father Dr. Ken Ambrose at Marshall University. Paul Ambrose was a promising young physician (who graduated from the Marshall University Medical School) and was on his way to a conference to give a presentation on preventing youth obesity. He died on Flight 77 as it crashed into the Pentagon. For every person who died that day, there is a story of people of someone who led a good life, whether living simply for their family or working toward a better future. To honor Paul Ambrose’s work, there is now the Paul Ambrose Trail for Health in Huntington.

Too often we get bogged down with crime and cruelty in the world and we forget those who serve us as a nation. I don’t know how many times recently I have said, with disgust in my voice, something to the effect of “people have lost their minds” when I have read a news story about another senseless killing or act of cruelty. On the whole, though, I think there are more good people out there than bad. The bad just get more attention.

There are good people who work to keep us safe, improve our lives and support others with little or no recognition for themselves. They just feel it is “what they are supposed to do” and they do it. They serve in the military, as first responders at home or at the local homeless shelter.

September 11, officially Patriot Day, is a day of mourning for our nation—as it should be. Today, take time to think about the people we as a nation lost that day and how we have changed since then. At the same time, rather than dwelling on the anger or hatred or grief of the day, remember those who served this nation and their local communities, and those who still serve simply because it is what they are supposed to do. If you get a chance, stop and say thank you..

The tiniest rose

August 25, 2013 By Eric Douglas

On August 21, I took the picture of this tiny rose in my yard and posted it with the comment that the tiniest rose bush in my yard is the only one that blooms. There are four other rose bushes, two on each side that tower above it, but they aren’t blooming. Earlier this spring I transplanted all five plants to a spot in the yard where they could get more sun. The others are thriving, just not blooming.

Later that same day, we got word Bev’s Aunt Maxine passed away. I didn’t know Maxine well. We had only met a few times, but she always seemed like a genuinely sweet lady to me. Today, sitting at the funeral and looking at the beautiful roses around her coffin, the pink outfit she was wearing and her penchant for “bling” I thought about my little rose. I think Aunt Maxine would approve.

It isn’t always the strongest

Or the tallest or luckiest

Sometimes the tiniest rose

Is the one that blooms

It takes the right mix of sunshine

Water and soil, wind and rain

Sometimes the tiniest rose

Is the one that blooms

Hardship and loss are part of life

Without it, nothing would grow

Sometimes the tiniest rose

Is the one that blooms

Strength comes from within

And shows up in the smallest places

Sometimes the tiniest rose

Is the one that blooms

Take a moment and look around

Remember to smile

Sometimes the tiniest rose

Is the one that blooms

Rest in peace Maxine.

Views of the real River Town

August 14, 2013 By Eric Douglas

River Town, a set on Flickr.

Views from the real River Town

(Images from the Kanawha and Elk rivers around Charleston, WV)

One thing I really missed when I lived away from West Virginia was the river. There were lakes close by, and for a while I lived less than 10 minutes from the Pacific Ocean, so it wasn’t like I never saw bodies of water, but there is just something cool about the river, the way it constantly changes and the way lights reflect off of it.

The Kanawha River was the inspiration and basis for the book River Town that just came out this week. The book is set at a time when everything revolved around the river; rivers were the lifeblood of everything west of the Appalachian Mountains and they were the driving force behind the westward expansion of the United States.

River Town isn’t an historical book, it is pure fiction. But with all great period fiction, there’s enough truth and history in it to make it seem very, very real. And who knows…maybe it is.