Should this photo have been published?

Post by **tsmall07** » Dec 05, 2012 7:54 PM

BDK wrote: I don't know where the 3rd rail is located in reference to two rails.

In DC's metro system, the third rail is outside of the 2 and is on the far side from all the platform.

mooseheadm5 · Post by **mooseheadm5** » Dec 05, 2012 8:08 PM

Absolutely not. That hack rag has not got a shred of human decency.

Mark 88/M5 Houston · Post by **Mark 88/M5 Houston** » Dec 05, 2012 8:14 PM

Nope.

Wrong move for the photographer and the editors of that rag on so many levels.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Dec 05, 2012 8:20 PM

Newspaper has no decency. Shouldn't have published this photo.

Photographer has no decency either. There is only one picture he needed to take, and that was of the shitbag that did the pushing. After that was squared away, it should have been a dive to help pull the victim up.

Caveat: neither the paper nor the photographer should face any charges. Legally, the photographer has no obligation to help. But he should have anyway.

Duke · Post by **Duke** » Dec 05, 2012 10:16 PM

Matt wrote:There is only one picture he needed to take, and that was of the shitbag that did the pushing. After that was squared away, it should have been a dive to help pull the victim up.

MATT! You and I are eye-to-eye on this.

Maybe we could have a beer together sometime? Lets have it in a subway just in case we need to dive in to save another.

wkohler · Post by **wkohler** » Dec 05, 2012 10:22 PM

We better ban Matt quick-like.

Post by **tsmall07** » Dec 05, 2012 10:27 PM

tsmall07 wrote:What do you guys thing about the falling man? Is the feeling the same, or is it different since there is nothing that could be done?

Image not imbedded on purpose for those that don't want to see it. It's definitely a powerful image in a lot of ways. It made a deep impression on me the first time I saw it.

http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/image ... man-lg.jpg

I'm surprised there wasn't a single opinion on the above.

davintosh · Post by **davintosh** » Dec 05, 2012 10:28 PM

MicahO wrote:The douche photographer claims that the shot was somewhat inadvertent - he was actually trying to 'warn the train operator with his flash' and the shots of the guy in the tracks were a byproduct.

I read that line too... What a great idea; flash a bright light in the eyes of a train operator.

Pure BS. I hope that douche has visions of that poor guy dying every night as he tries to sleep. Tries.

davintosh · Post by **davintosh** » Dec 05, 2012 10:43 PM

davintosh wrote:
MicahO wrote:The douche photographer claims that the shot was somewhat inadvertent - he was actually trying to 'warn the train operator with his flash' and the shots of the guy in the tracks were a byproduct.
I read that line too... What a great idea; flash a bright light in the eyes of a train operator. Pure BS. I hope that douche has visions of that poor guy dying every night as he tries to sleep. Tries.

tsmall07 wrote:
tsmall07 wrote:What do you guys thing about the falling man? Is the feeling the same, or is it different since there is nothing that could be done?

Image not imbedded on purpose for those that don't want to see it. It's definitely a powerful image in a lot of ways. It made a deep impression on me the first time I saw it.

http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/image ... man-lg.jpg
I'm surprised there wasn't a single opinion on the above.

I didn't see that shot until today -- or maybe blocked it out -- and don't recall any furor over it. Was it plastered on the cover of Esquire? If not, that's the big difference between Esquire and the Post's despicable sensationalism. Both guilty, but differing by degrees.

WilNJ · Post by **WilNJ** » Dec 05, 2012 10:43 PM

tsmall07 wrote:I'm surprised there wasn't a single opinion on the above.

That's a tough one, maybe it was the anonymity of the photo or the fact that he was one of many or that it got lost amongst thousands of other difficult things witnessed on that day. For some reason the Esquire image strikes me as more disturbing than the NYP photo but I don't see the publishing of that photo as disgusting.

Maybe it's the fact that in the Falling Man inage there was nothing the photographer could have done other than record what was happening around him. The subway photographer should have tried to do something and didn't.

euro635gas · Post by **euro635gas** » Dec 06, 2012 2:03 AM

If that train was moving how much time would you have to do anything?

alijonny · Post by **alijonny** » Dec 06, 2012 3:55 AM

euro635gas wrote:If that train was moving how much time would you have to do anything?

I could say for sure that the Chicago blue line comes blasting in at stops. The front of the train is usually at the end of the stop, and I'm sure all those cars have emergency brakes. At that point, it could be a decision between "hundreds of injured riders" or "one dead man". I can't imagine conductors would be taught like this, but it ran through my mind...

w0014170 · Post by **w0014170** » Dec 06, 2012 7:08 AM

Seems to me a year ago or so many of you thought me wrong for raising hell about the photo of the kid dying from combat wounds in the sand box, published by a not so trash ridden rag yet this photo is wrong?

e28Sean · Post by **e28Sean** » Dec 06, 2012 8:10 AM

MicahO wrote:The douche photographer claims that the shot was somewhat inadvertent - he was actually trying to 'warn the train operator with his flash' and the shots of the guy in the tracks were a byproduct.

If the photo weren't in focus and properly exposed, i might be able to believe that, but, the account i heard on the radio stated that the photographer was "running towards the train, using his camera flash to warn the driver."

I dunno about you, but, i've never managed to take a not-blurry photo, in a dark environment, while running.

Also, it seems a less than brilliant idea to flash a bright light in the train driver's eyes, in my mind. I hope that photographer gets charged with something, or at least sued by the family. He should be ashamed of himself.

oldskool · Post by **oldskool** » Dec 06, 2012 8:24 AM

What if it was self-defense? Maybe he pulled a gun (gasp) on the guy who shoved his ass. What the media has is a minority going down and that is what sells.

Duke · Post by **Duke** » Dec 06, 2012 8:38 AM

Here is the deal -

The POS that took the pictures is a freelance photographer for the New York Post (the rag that published the pics). His name, R. Umar Abbasi. POS needs to go to jail.

Interview - http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/world/r-um ... -york-post

ahab · Post by **ahab** » Dec 06, 2012 8:39 AM

tsmall07 wrote:
BDK wrote: I don't know where the 3rd rail is located in reference to two rails.
In DC's metro system, the third rail is outside of the 2 and is on the far side from all the platform.

Same with NYC. The photos should in no way have been published, however I am in no way surprised at the Post.

Regarding Falling Man, he was a cook at Windows On The World, finally identified by one of the admins at the restaurant. His family was contacted and in the end it happened to bring closure and some kind of relief to them, knowing that he chose his fate. There's a recent docu on it. It's not similar to the subway photo on so many levels. My personal feeling is that the Falling Man photograph transcends judgment on the photographer. It happened. It provides a unique perspective into the horror and tragedy that affected so many people.

Post by **tsmall07** » Dec 06, 2012 9:32 AM

ahab wrote:Regarding Falling Man, he was a cook at Windows On The World, finally identified by one of the admins at the restaurant. His family was contacted and in the end it happened to bring closure and some kind of relief to them, knowing that he chose his fate. There's a recent docu on it. It's not similar to the subway photo on so many levels. My personal feeling is that the Falling Man photograph transcends judgment on the photographer. It happened. It provides a unique perspective into the horror and tragedy that affected so many people.

I knew there was speculation on who he was, but I didn't know they had confirmed it. I agree with you 100% about the photo.

Karl Grau · Post by **Karl Grau** » Dec 06, 2012 11:07 AM

Duke wrote:The POS that took the pictures is a freelance photographer for the New York Post (the rag that published the pics). His name, R. Umar Abbasi. POS needs to go to jail.

So you're saying it's a crime to take pictures or a crime to not risk your life to save another's?

WilNJ · Post by **WilNJ** » Dec 06, 2012 11:21 AM

Karl Grau wrote:So you're saying it's a crime to take pictures or a crime to not risk your life to save another's?

There are laws that address the failure to render aid but I'm not certain how they apply here if at all.

Interestingly, because of our disgust at his actions, the focus has been on the photographer, less so on the man who pushed the victim onto the tracks. He was charged with 2nd degree murder yesterday.

Duke · Post by **Duke** » Dec 06, 2012 11:26 AM

Karl Grau wrote:So you're saying it's a crime to take pictures or a crime to not risk your life to save another's?

Yes and yes. The POS sold the pics as stated in his interview.

mooseheadm5 · Post by **mooseheadm5** » Dec 06, 2012 11:44 AM

I'm not sure if it is a crime to stand by and take a picture (it was on Seinfeld, but I don't think it is IRL.) It potentially makes the photographer a very bad person, though.

Tammer in Philly · Post by **Tammer in Philly** » Dec 06, 2012 11:56 AM

Yeah, this is one of those instances where I agree with Matt. Photographer is the lowest scum, and the newspaper not much better, but nothing illegal happened other than the guy getting pushed in the first place.

-tammer

m-racer · Post by **m-racer** » Dec 06, 2012 12:15 PM

No. It should not have been published. There is no journalistic content. There have been many horrific photographs published. The Life Magazine photo of the Vietnamese girl tearing off her clothing after a chemical attack comes to mind. Many war time photos as well. The difference is that they conveyed an image that was part of the content and posed questions to be considered. This was a snuff pic, pure and simple. Part of the de-sensitising of our society. I am not a photgrapher, but for those who are, a question. Wouldn't you have been using your stobe to warn the guy driving the train?

wkohler · Post by **wkohler** » Dec 06, 2012 1:17 PM

That's what he claims he was doing. Makes no sense to me. Lets shine a bright light in the operators face! What will that do?! I'd like to say I'd try to help pull the guy out, but we don't know the extent of the situation.

mooseheadm5 · Post by **mooseheadm5** » Dec 06, 2012 1:19 PM

I can't take a non-blurry photo in a dark environment if I am standing still and not freaking out about someone getting ready to get killed.

wkohler · Post by **wkohler** » Dec 06, 2012 1:21 PM

Try it with flash. With the right settings, you can generally stop motion, then get it decent enough for newsprint (58 PPI) with some post processing in photoshop.

mooseheadm5 · Post by **mooseheadm5** » Dec 06, 2012 2:49 PM

Next time I'm watching someone about to die I'll make sure to turn on the flash. I haven't ever used Photoshop, so I'll have someone else do it. Then I'll think about helping them, or whatever.

GKLCPA · Post by **GKLCPA** » Dec 06, 2012 3:32 PM

I don't know if this has been mentioned already, but newspapers routinely pay for photos and film. No doubt the photographer saw a pay day coming and opted for the shot rather than a rescue. With the internet, newspapers are going the way of the dodo bird, so anything that helps circulation increases ad rates. That photo plastered on the front page would have certainly helped that as well. Basically, some folks are richer from one guy's death. For some life or death is nothing but a commodity.

pleasefixitup · Post by **pleasefixitup** » Dec 06, 2012 3:42 PM

quote from the boondock saints "Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men."

to stand and watch another man die....horrible. to try to save the man, honorable. to try to save the man and die trying, honorable as well.

this photographer was a coward. Can't even call him a "man"

I do like this prescriptive argument.

MyE28.com

MyE28.com

Should this photo have been published?