Photographer seeks legal advice over Kay Burley ‘clash’

Posted by Paul McNally on 22 June 2008 at 09:54
Tags: Photography, Television

Associated Press photographer Kirsty Wigglesworth is reported to be considering legal action against Kay Burley, claiming the Sky News anchor grabbed her by the throat in the press scrum outside Naomi Campbell’s court hearing.

Pictures published in the Mail on Sunday show Burley with a black eye after she was hit in the cheek by a camera. Wigglesworth is shown with bruises on her neck. The photographer has said she is certain it was not her camera that caused Burley’s injury.

Pictures from the press scrum made it into most of Saturday’s papers… except The Times.

‘Mr Paparazzi’ Darryn Lyons to publish autobiography

Posted by Paul McNally on 7 June 2008 at 13:52
Tags: Photography

The Guardian profiles Darryn Lyons, the former Daily Mail photographer and renowned paparazzo behind one of the world’s biggest agencies, Big Pictures.

Lyons is writing an autobiography about his adventures, described by the paper as “a less-polished, paparazzo version of Piers Morgan’s The Insider”.

“Fifty per cent of our celebrities today are famous for doing sweet FA,” he says. “I’m very cynical. I see what goes on in the celebrity world, and we’re fed so much absolute bullshit.”

Avon and Somerset Police caution journalist for supplying alcohol to children

Posted by Julie Tomlin on 6 June 2008 at 13:28
Tags: Journalism, Law, Photography, Regional Newspapers

Avon and Somerset police have announced that a journalist who supplied alcohol to children for a photo shoot has been cautioned.

Police said that in February journalist allowed the youths to keep the alcohol after taking the photographs in the Filton area of Bristol and that later in the evening there was a serious incident in Stoke Gifford involving some of the youths.

The Avon and Somerset police site said it was understood the photos were being taken on behalf of a national newspaper which had launched a campaign to tackle underage drinking.

Exhibition of Stoke Sentinel photographs set to open in June

Posted by Martin Stabe on 23 May 2008 at 10:19
Tags: Photography, Regional Newspapers

An exhibition of more than 80 years of pictures by photographers at The Sentinel, Stoke, is is to be opened next month.

The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent will display the photographs for three months, beginning on 27 June.

The exhibition, entitled ‘Dear Happy Ghosts’, will be opened by former Guardian Picture Editor Eamonn McCabe. It will feature 120 large photographs and 100 smaller images taken by Sentinel photojournalists over eight decades.

Sentinel Picture Editor Martin Elliott, selected the images along with long-serving photographer Steve Bould.

Elliott said: “This is an exciting opportunity for the public to view some of the archetypical images which have helped convey The Sentinel’s coverage of events which have shaped the history of the Potteries over the last 80 or so years.

“It is a socio-documentary covering not only international events such as the affects of war, but a record of the everyday lives of the men and women of the area in the true tradition of regional photojournalism.”

Aides ‘concerned’ by royal wedding deal with Hello!

Posted by Paul McNally on 17 May 2008 at 11:08
Tags: Magazines, Photography

Hello! will this week publish at least 20 pages of pictures from the wedding of Princess Anne’s son, Peter Phillips, and his Canadian bride Autumn Kelly, in a deal reported to be worth £500,000.

According to the Daily Mail, Buckingham Palace aides were concerned about the deal, and were not consulted about it in advance.

The Mail on Sunday says the celeb magazine was banned from taking photos of the Queen during the ceremony at St George’s Chapel in Windsor on Saturday.

Papers face ban on classic wedding register photos

Posted by Paul McNally on 11 May 2008 at 13:06
Tags: Law, Photography, Regional Newspapers

Local newspapers publishing photos of newly-wed couples signing the register could soon be a thing of the past, over fears that the pics breach data protection rules.

According to the Mail on Sunday, the Home Office is considering banning the classic wedding photo pose because “details taken from the wedding snaps could be used by fraudsters planning identity theft”.

For sale: A day of being hounded by paparazzi

Posted by Paul McNally on 4 May 2008 at 13:11
Tags: Photography

If you’ve always wanted to be hounded by the paparazzi, now’s your chance. According to the Independent on Sunday, a number of companies have sprung up in the US offering members of the public the opportunity to be illicitly recorded by a man with a long-lens camera. The cost: a mere $600 a day.

One such company is LA-based Celeb-4-A-Day, which can provide “one or more suitably invasive photographers as well as a limousine and even burly bodyguards”. The pics are then printed on the cover of a fake gossip magazine.

“Some people find it difficult to have pictures taken when they are posing,” one paparazzo tells the paper. “This way, they forget what is happening and they really aren’t self-conscious any more.”

Spash paparazzi named in Heath Ledger lawsuit

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 14 April 2008 at 09:02
Tags: Agencies, Law, Photography

Two paparazzi working for LA-based Splash News and Pictures have been accused of supplying late Hollywood actor Heath Ledger with cocaine and then secretly filming him snorting the drug, the Independent on Sunday reported.

Footage of the set up is reported to have been sold to various media outlets for more than £500,000. The accusations have come in a lawsuit filed on Friday by a woman who featured in some of the footage and has claimed her privacy was violated.

Splash is owned and mainly staffed by UK journalists.

Times searches for young photography talent

Posted by Paul McNally on 30 March 2008 at 11:08
Tags: Journalism, Photography

The Times has launched its seventh annual search for a young photographer, who will win a six-month contract with the paper.

The Young Photographer of the Year Award is open to anyone in the UK and Ireland aged between 19 and 25. The closing day is 10 May.

“We want someone who can show a little flair and imagination - we want to be visually excited,” says associate picture editor Bob Kirwin.

Veteran war photographer Philip Jones Griffiths dies

Posted by Paul McNally on 21 March 2008 at 11:18
Tags: Journalism, Photography

A former Guardian photojournalist who captured the human cost of war in Africa, Vietnam and Northern Ireland has died, aged 72.

Philip Jones Griffiths, who went on to become president of New York photo agency Magnum, died at home earlier this week, according to the Guardian.

OK! makes knockout £3m bid for Wayne Rooney wedding

Posted by Paul McNally on 3 March 2008 at 06:47
Tags: Journalism, Magazines, Photography

Richard Desmond’s OK! magazine paid a record £3.2m for the rights to cover Wayne Rooney’s wedding to Coleen McLoughlin, according to the Observer.

“Desmond’s determination to land the deal signals that hostilities between Hello! and OK! are set to resume,” the paper says.

Independent photographer wins fashion week award

Posted by Paul McNally on 3 March 2008 at 06:04
Tags: Journalism, Photography

David Sandison, a photographer for The Independent, has won an award for his work at London Fashion Week.

Sandison walked away with the prize at the annual ceremony which is open to all the photographers covering the event.

Kate Middleton considers legal action against paparazzi

Posted by Paul McNally on 24 February 2008 at 06:21
Tags: Journalism, Photography

Kate Middleton has threatened to take legal action against the paparazzi who, she claims, continue to follow her wherever she goes.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Prince William’s girlfriend has complained to her lawyers about the daily pursuit. Tabloid editors have assured the Press Complaints Commission that the photographers are not employed by them.

The Observer, meanwhile, has a piece from author Theresa Rebeck, who asks why female celebrities such as Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan are hounded by the media, while men in the same situation are treated differently.

Gossip site bans pap pics

Posted by Colin Crummy on 12 February 2008 at 09:28
Tags: Photography

UK gossip site Holy Moly, which prides itself on bringing its readers the stories the tabloids dare not print, has banned intrusive paparazzi pictures.

In an announcement on the site, its creator who prefers to remain anonymous said that “a definite change in the perception of paparazzi pictures” had occurred in the past few weeks and that Holy Moly readers had questioned its use of photos of stars like Britney Spears, who was “a mentally ill woman”.

(more…)

“Britney’s law” to protect celebrities from the paparazzi

Posted by Paul McNally on 10 February 2008 at 12:40
Tags: Law, Photography

Los Angeles city council is considering passing a new local law which would impose a 20-metre “personal safety bubble” around “paparazzi targets” such as troubled pop star Britney Spears.

If passed, the Sunday Times says the law would be the world’s harshest piece of anti-paparazzi legislation, and would give police the right to confiscate all the proceeds from photos taken illegally.

British photographer wins top prize at press pic awards

Posted by Paul McNally on 10 February 2008 at 08:58
Tags: Photography

Getty Images has won five prizes at this year’s World Press Photo awards, including one for its photos of the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, according to The Independent.

British photographer Tim Hetherington won the top prize at the ceremony for his picture of an exhausted US soldier in Afghanistan.

Copyright warning for photographers over Facebook

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 7 February 2008 at 17:03
Tags: Journalism, Photography

The British Journal of Photography has warned photographers this week that Facebook claims a licence over any images which are posted on it. The terms state that by posting content, Facebook is granted perpetual worldwide licence to use images for “any purpose”.

‘200 photographers’ in pursuit of Britney Spears

Posted by Paul McNally on 3 February 2008 at 08:31
Tags: Photography

The Independent follows the story that Splash news agency photographer David Stern has quit because he is ashamed by the paparazzi’s hounding of troubled pop star Britney Spears.

Andrew Gumbel reports from Los Angeles, where “200 photographers and television operators” are in pursuit of the former teen idol, who is currently in a psychiatric hospital.

(more…)

Haymarket buys sports photo agency

Posted by Rachael Gallagher on 29 January 2008 at 09:27
Tags: Photography

Haymarket Consumer Media has expanded its photographic portfolio by buying sports photo agency, Back Page Images, Brand Republic reports.

Haymarket already owns motor sport and motoring picture agency, LAT Photographic.

Kevin Costello, managing director of Haymarket Consumer Media, said: “These are exciting times for our photographic business. Building on the move into our own studios in Teddington and our expertise in motor sport and motoring, the addition of Back Page Images strengthens our editorial coverage and service in all sports.”

Getty Images sale could fetch more than £770m

Posted by Paul McNally on 21 January 2008 at 16:19
Tags: Photography

The world’s biggest photo agency, Getty Images, is up for sale, according to a report in this morning’s New York Times.

The company has hired Goldman Sachs to oversee the auction, which the paper says could fetch more than $1.5bn (£770m). Final bids are due later this month.