I’ve said before that the long version of my life story (i.e. why I am a photographer, and why I’m interested in Russia and Eastern Europe) owes everything to the movie Top Gun. From four years old through high school I dreamed of being a fighter pilot, in the F-14 if I could make it happen. Things went a different way of course, but sometimes they overlap again: on Friday a Canadian CF-18 crashed during practice for an Alberta airshow. The pilot ejected and is reportedly fine. But the crash produced some tremendous video and some even more incredible still images shot by Lethbridge Herald photographer Ian Martens. Unbelievable.

Of course as a photographer who has a lifelong fascination with jet planes I have an eye out for this kind of picture. I’ll never forget this horrifying video of a Ukrainian crash into a crowd of spectators nor this award-winning image of an American F-16 pilot ejecting shot by USAF Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III. Both are slightly more dramatic than today’s footage from Alberta but its incredible to see such images again. Dangerous business.

Talking Points Memo has an amazing gallery of US Department of Energy photos of the last moments of Deepwater Horizon oil rig after an explosion and fire. This is the event that has led to a massive oil spill and threat to the Gulf of Mexico coastlines.

Apparently the images were just released by the US government, I wonder about the delay and how these images have come out now. I’ll update if I hear anything more about this.

“There is no one, nothing, no medicines,
no explanations for why my daughter is going to die.”
— Jeudy Francia, outside St. Esprit Hospital in Port-au-Prince, in the New York Times

Coverage of the earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, has been ramping up as responders have been able to get a perspective on the tragedy. Of particular interest, the New York Times’ Lede Blog has been compiling breaking news (1: huge amount of info, still being updated, 2, 3) in addition to what can be found on twitter and other sources for news on the ground beyond what the paper’s own reporters send back. Lens has photos from Tequila Minsky, who was in Haiti when the quake struck, and some historical perspective by Maggie Steber, who’s heading to Haiti on assignment for the Times. The Big Picture has a huge selection of photographs showing the devastation. The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting has a special report on Haiti, “Despite Years of Crushing Poverty, Hope Grows in Haiti“, produced last year. And Mother Jones has a piece about the problems caused by looking at Haiti only after disaster strikes, focusing particular blame on the Bush Administration’s relationship with the country (via dispatches).

Additionally: Here’s 6 ways you can help by donating (via Luceo).

Great to see a newspaper fighting for its rights, especially when so many news organizations are just fighting for their survival.  John Tully, a photographer for the Midland Daily News in Midland, Michigan, USA, was standing on a public roadway while covering a breaking fire at a Dow Corning (wiki) plant when he was approached first by Dow Corning security personnel and then by Midland Police officers at the end of October, 2009.  Tully refused to comply with orders to show his pictures to the security guards, who cited “homeland security” issues in their request.  Midland Police informed Tully that his camera gear could be confiscated for refusing to comply.  The Midland Daily News has a longer description of what happened and why the paper decided to fight the issue in a Nov. 1, 2009 editorial, Our view: Security vs. Freedom of the Press.

In the initial editorial, the paper called on U.S. Representative Dave Camp, R-Midland, to look into the issue and clarify “homeland security” issues as they apply to Dow Corning and the media’s ability to cover breaking news. Camp did just that, the Midland Daily News writes, and told the paper

“Like many other individuals that commented on this story, I too was concerned with the manner in which this situation was handled. In response, I contacted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to inquire about their policies for confiscating property, specifically cameras, for evidence. I was informed that DHS does not explicitly give companies or state and local police departments the authority to confiscate property.”

-US Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, quoted in the Midland Daily News

Count this as a win in the press freedom column in an era where photographers are frequently harassed while taking pictures of publicly-visible buildings, landmarks, and news. Be sure to check out the work of John Tully, the photographer in question, and his blog, while you’re at it.

(via APAD)

The first I learned about the tragic CCTV fire in Beijing was reading about it here in Matt’s post, despite being an 8 or 10 hour train ride from Beijing. That’s because, with only a few exceptions, the news was absent from China’s television and newspapers. News media and online forums and blogs were issued a gag order of sorts by the government, prompting one internet forum to cull it’s 2000 message thread down to 9. That night and the next morning, I saw nothing on Chinese television or in the newsstands about the fire.  The New York Times describes the Chinese domestic media blackout, which drew much anger from the public online and led many to snark that CCTV (China’s notoriously controlled and ironically named state media) created the biggest story of the new year and then failed to cover it.  The title of this post, by the way, comes from some Beijingers’ nickname for the iconic CCTV towers (which didn’t burn): Big Underpants.

I was in Haerbin that night, a bit to the north of Beijing, where Lantern Festival celebrations were in full swing. The fireworks were shooting up between the buildings, as in the picture above, but it was nothing like the view from an apartment building in Beijing:

 

The Big Picture has a few shots of the blaze and aftermath in their Lantern Festival post, and there are also numerous firsthand accounts with pictures and video that have made their way online. Some of the other heavy-hitting China blogs have their own analysis: Black and White Cat compares CCTV coverage early in the night with picture-less coverage after midnight, Danwei aggregates links and translates some reports, Chinasmack has additional pictures and more information on the censorship, and Shanghaiist has even more pictures.  The Architect’s Newspaper Blog also has extensive coverage of the fire and its aftermath.

CCTV eventually came clean and acknowledged responsibility for the fire, which killed 1 firefighter and injured others.  The television company hired a company to set off several hundred large fireworks to mark the holiday, but did so without a permit, which has now resulted in 12 people being arrested (the BBC has more details) including the chief of CCTV’s building construction.

And for good measure, here’s a post from Alex Pasternack in 2007 about the significance of the building and the process of its construction.

There is an incredible (and theatrical..) fire taking place right now in Beijing at the end of the Chinese Lunar New Year at the Rem Koolhaas designed Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which is part of the remarkable CCTV complex built for the Olympics. Link to New York Times’ story

I’ve started to peruse the images coming out, particularly from Getty Images Editorial (as of now you have to search ‘beijing fire’ to see), and they’re incredible and terrifying. Sounds like there weren’t many people in the building to be hurt, so there is some good news.

Keep your eye on this .. crazy event, insane visuals and plenty of interesting pictures to come. Hopefully too a big picture blog will pick this up .. cause I can’t find a decent sized image to see this anywhere! Looks like a Chinese lantern on its own, fireworks and all. Hell of a way the end the celebration… (pardon the joke..)