The Well: Covering Capitol Hill

A rare glimpse into the way press photographers cover the politicians of the United States Congress and the problems they face. Leading political photographers in Washington talk about the perills of the 24/7 news cycle and the increasingly sparce access.

"It's the genesis of the image as much as the ontological image itself that matters."- Dr. Kerric Harvey, Media Anthropologist at GWU.

Link to Video on Vimeo

An interesting behind the scenes video of photographers at Capitol Hill by Chris Gregory, who covered Capitol Hill for The Hill Newspaper. Its worth a watch to see how this competing business is driven by the overwhelming demand for information and fast paced coverage.

This has become an increasingly difficult job as the number of photographers granted access has grown significantly in recent years. It’s not just about getting that one good photo either. It’s about being the first one to get their photographs online, ahead of the competition.

Link

That was a very imformative video. In this new Information Age, with the internet connecting everyone worldwide, and phones that can do anything, news is coming all the time at the speed of light. (Not literally of course). Being a journalist is not the same as it was, when people got all their news from the paper when they woke up with their morning coffee. Their job is hard, but it is a job they must love to keep doing it, and it is a job that must be done, so good for them.

reply to post by ReVoLuTiOn76


Yeah it just goes to show the sheer speed of information processing in these times and how people are barely coping with it. This relate to another thread of mine called The implosion of meaning in the media. "We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning", Jean Baudrillard.

I really enjoyed that!

The well.

Heh, I'll never watch a hearing on the hill
in the same way again

Star for you.


Towards the end of the clip I found myself wondering
if there is a course for politicians on how to stay relaxed in the face of so much shutter snapping,
or if they just practice the art of ignoring things.



David Grouchy