It can be argued that photojournalism is the most versatile form of mass communication. Written and spoken language requires knowledge of a certain language, and the image in most cases can be understood by everyone. Facial expressions, emotions, body movement and position, as well as composition, light and shadow can tell a story as well as any words.
This tutorial is not meant to be a rush to convert you to a photojournalist, but hopefully it will give you a better understanding of the craft. It can help you understand the professionals who practice in this field, find out what it costs to create the pictures you see on the news, or make an informed decision about introducing photojournalism into your photographic life.
Definition of photojournalism
Let's first define what photojournalism is. Simply put, she tells stories through photographs. But in addition, the stories created must follow the rules of journalism. They must be truthful, and the journalist must try to convey the story in the most fair, balanced and unbiased way possible.
Photojournalists are different, but they are usually found in newspapers, magazines, news stations and websites, and an increasing number of them now work for other, traditionally non-visual news media, such as radio stations that have expanded their reach on the Internet.
Working in photojournalism
A staff photographer is one who works for a particular publication, shooting for this publication is full or part-time. Freelance photographer, or freelancer, shoots for a variety of publications. A number of different organizations may turn to freelance services for a specific assignment or for a limited period of time. Freelancers usually have a list of clients they work for.
The third most common employer for photojournalists is news outlets such as the Associated Press or Reuters. Newspapers and other news media receive information from these agencies by subscription. They provide news coverage for such media outlets as they often cannot afford to send their own reporters to remote regions.
The photo below is a typical assignment. My editor said that there is a great teacher at the local school who integrated the principles of “character building” such as honesty, wisdom, kindness and honor into my gym class, and I had to make a picture that fit the story.
Photo assignments
The life of a photojournalist can be exciting. You can be sent anywhere to meet anyone. More than photography and journalism in isolation, this versatility and diversity of experience is perhaps the most valuable part of the profession. General news assignments are just like that. General news is all that is planned. Dinner parties, fundraisers, protests, press conferences, awards ceremonies, tree planting are all kinds of general news appointments.
The key to covering these events (as with most others) is to try to tell a full story through images. For example, the photo below accompanies a report on a science class that helped nurture a sick thrush chick. My assignment was to visit the class and see what they were doing. The photo displays all the elements of the story: class, teachers, blackbird and how they helped him.
Sports activities
Sports photography is a specialized version of general news. It's about fast-paced action and the photographer must have a great sense of timing. In sports shots, you need to show conflict and emotion. This usually means fixing the players of both teams in the frame and the thing for which they are fighting (usually the ball). Emotions can be shown through the faces of the players. It can be tough with waving hands or helmets, but the best sports photos capture not just action, but emotion.
Breaking news
Breaking news is, in a sense, the opposite of general news. They represent unplanned events such as a car accident or fire. During these tasks, the most important thing is information. You need information to stay safe and take the shot that best tells the story.
You need reporting skills to get information about who is involved and what really happened. In such situations, it is often required to have experience in dealing with law enforcement and emergency services. You can see this kind of photo later in this tutorial.
Portraits
Photojournalists also take portraits. While they usually never take staged shots, portraits are an exception. Journalist portraits usually show a person in his environment: a judge in his office, an artist in a workshop. The subject usually looks directly into the camera so that viewers know it is a portrait. Usually, a person does nothing at the same time, again so that the viewer does not fall into a misunderstanding about whether this photo is a staged portrait or a real, documentary part of journalism.
Photostory
The last type of assignment is a photo story, or long-term documentary project. This type of work requires the photographer to spend a long period of time documenting the subject's actions. Photo stories usually include several photographs put together. Examples include following a refugee family or documenting the life of a family with a sick member.
Great
Photojournalism has never been a profession for fame seekers. But when it comes to industry fame, there are hundreds of amazing photographers out there. I'm going to focus on my three favorites. I chose them because they cover most of the history of photojournalism.
Before I continue, let me say that I am American, so I am better acquainted with American photographers. There were other great photojournalists not listed here, such as Henri Cartier-Bresson of France, Robert Capa of Europe, Shisei Kuwabara in Japan, and Sebastiao Salgado) from Brazil. The three photographers I have chosen are men. But there are also many outstanding women in the profession, such as Annie Leibovitz, Margaret Bourke-White, and Susan Meiselas.
William Eugene Smith
William Eugene Smith was born in 1918 and died in 1978. Smith's specialty was in the photography of history, at a time when magazines like Life filled their pages with documentary work. He covered the events of World War II in the Pacific Ocean, but became famous thanks to his later work. My favorite Smith series is The Country Doctor, published in 1948. It is often referred to as the first modern photo essay.
Eddie Adams
Eddie Adams was born in 1933 and died in 2004. He has covered 13 wars. He is best known for his photograph of General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Vietcong prisoner in Saigon. His sense of timing, or luck, led to the fact that he was able to capture a shot showing the exact moment when the bullet enters the prisoner's head. For this he received the Pulitzer Prize. Eddie Adams also opened a photojournalism workshop. Places in his workshop are perhaps the most requested by students in the United States, and the standards for admission are very high.
James Nachtwey
James Nachtwey was born in 1948 and is still shooting. In 2007, he received a TED Award that guarantees the winner $ 100,000 and the opportunity to make a "wish that will change the world." He was, first of all, a war photographer, and the documentary filmed about him is called “War Photographer”. In the film, a small video camera is attached to his camera, allowing you to see the action through the eyes of James Nachtwey. Some of my favorite works by Nachtwey are his photographs of people suffering from AIDS in Africa, and his current TED Prize focuses on the fight against drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Skills
Photojournalism is a highly competitive field. Having the right skills is essential to building a successful career. First, communication skills are very important. A photojournalist must be able to quickly gain people's trust and do his job in a way that does not destroy that trust.
Good journalism skills go hand in hand with this factor. Knowing how to identify the most significant moments in a story and how to communicate them to the public is critical. This means that most photojournalists are also proficient in other areas of journalism, including writing articles and conducting interviews.
Photographic skills
A person applying for the position of photojournalist must also have an impeccable portfolio. The portfolio should contain many images from the above types of assignments, and these photos should demonstrate the ability to work in difficult situations. Many aspiring photojournalists fail in low-light situations.
The photo below was taken at night without flash. The shutter speed is about 1/8 of a second. I practiced stabilizing my own body and knew how to use a motorized camera to reduce shake, I got a sharp image from just the candlelight.
The three elements of a great shot are light, composition and moment. It's important to know when to use flash and when to use dramatic natural light. Also, knowing the basics of composition such as the rule of thirds, leading lines and repetition of forms will do you well. But the most essential thing is finding the perfect moment. Look for the peak of your emotions.
Technological skills
The modern photojournalist must be able to shoot and transmit images digitally and be well versed with online tools such as blogs and social media. The trend now is to increase the number of videos on the Internet. Photojournalists now often carry video equipment with them to use when they need it. This also assumes the need to have a basic knowledge of video editing software.
Ethics
The main thing that distinguishes photojournalism from other forms of photography is trust. Viewers need to trust that the image they are looking at will allow them to get a true picture of what happened. It boils down to two main issues: intervention and manipulation.
A photojournalist should never interfere with a situation. He / she can never direct or ask people to pose in the frame, except in situations where a portrait is required, in which case they follow the rules mentioned above in the section on photo assignments. Portraits are also marked as such in the description, using phrases like "Mr. Smith posing" and the like.
It can be argued that the mere presence of a photographer can already make a difference. While this is sometimes true, interference can be minimized with patience and practice. People usually get used to the presence of a photographer, and in the best case, they all forget about him. A photojournalist must be good at explaining their goals so that the people being filmed understand whether they should pose or change their behavior.
Post-processing ethics
Photo manipulation is strictly prohibited. This is especially true for post-processing. Nothing in (or on) the photo should be edited. Post-processing can only deal with correcting color distortion, problems with exposure and width of photographic material, and slight imperfections in sharpness. Cameras are still not as good at reproducing images as the eye, so sometimes we have to compensate for that.
Cropping is also allowed. But we leave wrinkles, leave bags under the eyes, leave spots on shirts. The photojournalist cannot move the basketball in the frame, remove or insert it. Adding dramatic effects like vignetting, art filters and the like is also against the rules.
Ethical approach and attitude
Another side of ethics is how the photojournalist takes pictures and portrays people. This requires compassion and genuine interest in the attendees and the topic covered. This part of ethics is more difficult to talk about, so I would like to describe a situation that I once found myself in, which happens all the time in the world of journalism.
I was called to the scene, so this falls into the breaking news category. The little girl was hit by a car. It was an accident, the driver was not drunk and did not intentionally injure the girl. When I arrived, the driver was still there, as were many of the victim's family. Both sides knew each other and we grieved together. I took the photo below. It is quite descriptive because of the blood on the driver's T-shirt.
The image is obviously convincing, but what's the point? Is this news? Often times, you cannot make this decision from the scene. Upon returning to the newsroom, the reporter discovered that the apartment complex where the accident occurred had recently sent a letter to all residents asking them to be very careful while driving for the safety of children and pedestrians. This is how we released the photo.
The girl died in the hospital later, but the point of the news was not to exploit her death, but to draw attention to the problem. This is a fine line, you need to think and discuss a lot before making a final decision.
Access
Without empathy and trust, you will never get access. By access, I mean convincing people to let you document their lives, to get into their history. The best stories don't come from press conferences or media announcements, they come up when you go out and look for interesting people. Asking these people to let you follow them, at times for months, can be difficult. There are several points to consider here.
Risk / benefit analysis
First, the photojournalist must determine how the subject's story will help society. Secondly, you need to understand how this reportage will affect the people being filmed. Will it help to achieve something or, on the contrary, damage their reputation and make their life harder?
Each story has its own unique factors, but the photojournalist must present this balance between public good and personal harm or benefit to those he wants to photograph in a way that they understand. After that, the decision is theirs. However, when a journalist is allowed inside the situation, it depends on them whether they will behave in such a way that he was provided with constant access. In theory, they shouldn't be kicked out ... well, at least not for good.
"Vaughn"
But it's still a very good idea to give people the opportunity to kick you out for a while. Let me explain, many photojournalists allow their models to say "get out." They tell them that if they feel uncomfortable and want to be left for a while, that's okay.
It is important to give people the opportunity to temporarily hide from the public eye, but usually just knowing that they have the power to drive you away without getting upset is enough. It is often more important to have the opportunity than to use it.
Devotion and compassion
Finally, people need to know that the journalist is committed to their story. It helps a lot to spend a lot of time with them, and this goes hand in hand with trust and compassion. The photo below is part of a report I did about a mother raising her little daughter with cerebral palsy. The daughter, Lyanna, was about 5 years old, and she could do little herself.
The mother had to feed her, bathe her, wear her, raise her and interpret the signals from her eyes to understand what she was trying to explain because she could not speak. Because I spent a lot of time with this family, her mom gave me access to everything, even bathing, to show the extent to which Lyanna relies on her mom.
Storytelling
As I mentioned earlier, photojournalism is about telling stories through photographs. Most newspaper and magazine reports only allow one accompanying shot, so the more you can tell through it, the better. There are many ways to do this, but I will focus on two of the most powerful tools in the photojournalist's stock.
Layers
Layers are often used to bring context to a photograph. A photo of an enthusiastic musician playing can be taken anywhere, but the same musician captured with a crowd of people in the background is history. Maybe the crowd is huge and the musician feeds on their energy, or, on the contrary, the crowd is small, and the musician gives them everything he has. In any case, the “layering” of the content adds a lot to the story. Layers don't have to be as large as in this example, small elements and details will also create context that enriches the content.
Emotions
Another important aspect of the story is emotion. A photojournalist must be an expert in reading and, more importantly, at predicting facial expressions. Tears, a thoughtful look, a wide joyful smile - all this shows how the people in the photo relate to what they are doing. From childhood, we learn to recognize the faces of people who are near us, using this skill in photography can be a very powerful tool.
Pictured below is a WWII veteran. He fought in the Pacific Ocean and was awarded a medal for his service by the local Foreign War Veterans Association. The medal and other people's badges in the frame create layers and I'm sure his face expresses appreciation, hopefully it's easy to read by the audience. I also hope this tutorial has given you a deeper understanding of the world of photojournalism.
Photojournalism - a special form of journalism that uses photography as the main means of expression. Photojournalism differs from related genres of photography (such as documentary photography, street photography, and celebrity photography) in the following ways:
- Time - pictures are important in the chronological context of the development of events.
- Objectivity - the situation assumes that the photographs will be honest and will accurately reproduce the captured events.
- Narrative - pictures combined with other news elements inform and give the reader or viewer an idea of \u200b\u200bthe essence of the events.
Photojournalists must act, make decisions and wear photographic equipment in the same conditions as those involved in events (fire, war, riots), often at the same risk as them.
Photojournalism, as a descriptive term, often implies a certain crude style or approach to the creation of images. Photojournalists' approach to impartial photography is becoming a popular and distinct style of commercial photography. For example, today many wedding photographers shoot unbiased chronicles of wedding events in a "reportage" style.
Origin of the term
Invention of the term photojournalism usually attributed to Cliff Edom (1907-1991), a 29-year professor at the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri. There Edom organized the first photojournalism group in 1900. Others call the dean of the School of Photojournalism Frank L. Mott.
History
Start
Until 1880, printing equipment could not reproduce photographs correctly. Usually, the artist made an engraving from a photograph, with which the print was made. First reportage photographs from the Crimean War fields (-) taken by British reporters such as William Simpson of Illustrated London News or Roger Fenton, were published in this way. Similarly, Matthew Brady's photographs of the American Civil War were engraved for publication in Harper's Weekly... The original images were usually shown at exhibitions or photocopied in a limited number of copies.
Photojournalism in the modern sense emerged as a result of improvements in printing and photography between and. First Halftone - Reproduction of a news photo was published on March 4, 1880 in The daily graphic (New York) . Invented in magnesium flash (eng. Flash powder ) allowed photographers such as Jacob Riis to shoot indoors with ease. Since 1887, it has become possible to reproduce halftone photographs on printing equipment.
Modern photojournalism became possible with the invention of the small-sized camera and high-sensitivity films. The introduction of the 35mm watering can, which was created in 1914 and launched in Germany in 1925, brought many significant changes to every area of \u200b\u200bphotography. The new camera allowed photographers to see common and familiar objects in new, bolder perspectives and expanded their ability to better see and appreciate their outlines and shapes in space.
Aristide Briand points to a photographer who can even get into a secret meeting. Paris. 1931 year.
Backstage footage of renowned international politicians at League of Nations conferences in the late 1920s was filmed by an excellent multilingual lawyer, Erich Salomon, who was one of the first to use a small camera for information purposes. This was what they meant when they said that "three conditions are necessary for holding a conference of the League of Nations: several foreign ministers, a table and Erich Salomon." Newspaper and magazine photographers have since followed his style, filming as the events progressed, without waiting to pose.
Although photography became a part of the news in newspapers and magazines from 1897, until 1927, many sensational news (in the yellow press were illustrated with engravings. The first phototelegram (en: wirephoto) was transmitted by Western Union in 1913.
In Migrant mother Dorothea Lange produced the seminal image of the Great Depression. The FSA also employed several other photojournalists to document the depression.
At first, the name of the photographer was not indicated under the photographs in the newspapers. Perhaps this was not considered necessary, or perhaps the photographers themselves were not eager to be named, because for a long time even the most outstanding photographs were very difficult to reproduce in newspapers.
Until the 1980s, most newspapers were printed using letterpress technology, using easily mixed oil paint, yellowish low-grade newsprint, and crudely engraved images.
The text was readable, but the dots of the photo-engraving from which the images were formed were almost always blurry and indistinct, so much so that even when the photo was large, the muddy reproduction often forced readers to re-read the caption to understand what was depicted on it.
In the 1980s, most newspapers switched to offset printing, which allowed photographs to be reproduced more faithfully on white, higher quality paper.
By contrast, Life, one of the most popular American weekly magazines, from 1936 to the early 1970s, was full of photographs, beautifully printed on gorgeous large-format glossy paper. Life often published photos of UPI and AP agencies, which were also published in other publications, but a high-quality magazine version was a completely different matter.
The magazine's photographers became famous largely because their photographs were intelligible enough to be recognized, and their names always appeared alongside their work. Life has become the standard by which the public judges photography, and many modern photography books talk about photojournalism as if it were the exclusive domain of magazine photographers.
The Best of Life (1973), for example, opens with a center-page group photograph (1960) of 39 famous Life photographers. But 300 pages later, in the contributor list, it is revealed that many of Life's "best photos" were taken by anonymous photographers AP and UPI.
Recognition in the art world
Since the second half of the 1970s, photojournalism and documentary photography, side by side with art photography, have increasingly taken up space in art galleries.
History of photojournalism in Russia
Genres
News photojournalism
Daily shooting of current events, whether local or international. News related to international events is supplied to the world market by agencies such as Reuters and AFP, while local news is the prerogative of smaller and specialized agencies or just starting freelance photographers.
Reportage photojournalism
Reporting is the same work with news, but stretched out in time - on average for a week. A good report is a story, and a photographer must be able to tell the story in a compelling and vivid way.
Documentary photojournalism
In fact, this is the same reportage, but no longer enclosed in a rigid time frame and editorial framework.
Professional organizations
Some other organizations:
News organizations and journalism schools have established a wide variety of awards for photojournalists. Since then, the Pulitzer Prize has been awarded in the following categories of photojournalism: Feature Photography, Spot News Photography and Capture the Moment. Other awards include World Press Photo, Best of Photojournalism and Photo of the Year.
Photographers surrounding the star at the Cannes Film Festival.
Ethical and legal issues
Photojournalists work within the same framework of objectivity as other journalists. What to shoot, how to crop and how to edit are the questions that the photojournalist constantly decides.
Often an ethical conflict can be mitigated or intensified by the actions of an editor or photo editor, to whom the pictures are transferred as soon as they are sent to the editor. The photojournalist is often deprived of the opportunity to influence how his photographs are used.
The National Association of Press Photographers in the United States and other organizations have created a Code of Ethics.
The main ethical aspects fit into general legislation. Laws related to photography can vary greatly from state to state. The situation becomes more complicated when a photo reportage taken in one country is then published in many others.
Photojournalism crisis
In 2009, Jean-Francois Leroy, founder and director of the Visa Pour l'Image photojournalism festival in Perpignan, France, condemned major photo agencies (primarily Associated Press, AFP, Reuters) for “diligently digging a grave for their profession ”, offering the mass media subscription schemes based on very large discounts. Leroy argues that this makes the situation worse for photojournalists who have to conclude that this kind of creativity is unnecessary:
| Many agencies now use flat rate and subscription schemes, which magazines and newspapers like very much (...) These schemes are invented by people whose goal is only profit. By proposing such schemes, they are digging a grave for the profession. We hardly need to mention the magazine photography departments with profit-seeking management who use amateur photography websites and pay one or two euros per frame. Such technologies are becoming more widespread, and as a result, photojournalists find themselves unable to fund their work on photo stories that require in-depth work. This year, I can count less than a dozen photographers who have magazine assignments to create real-life news coverage that allows the photographer to live off his job and pay the bills at the end of the month. |
In August 2009, one of the world's leading journalistic agencies, Gamma, which had existed since 1966, declared bankruptcy. According to the French newspaper L'Umanite as of September 2009, more than 20 percent of photojournalism agencies in the world have closed during the year. In the opinion of the newspaper's journalist, the publications began to be interested only in the maximum speed in obtaining photos from the scene, and not in the quality of the material and the thoughtfulness of the photographer in working on topics and reports.
In September 2009, the management of the Italian agency Grazia Neri announced plans to close the plant. The drop in revenues in 2008 was more than 40 percent, the staff was cut in half during the year.
Only agencies that are subsidized by the state at the expense of taxpayers remain "afloat", for example, "France Press" or "RIA Novosti"
Jonathan Klein, CEO of Getty Images, commenting on the bankruptcy of many photo agencies in August 2009, said:
| Photojournalism means that photographers can tell about an event themselves, through photographs. And there were always places where they could publish their reports. But in today's media world, many (if not most) of these places have simply disappeared. |
In December 2009, the French photo agency Oeil Public, which had existed for 15 years, announced its closure. The official statement says the economic crisis made it impossible to produce documentary photo stories.
Impact of new technologies
Small, lightweight cameras have greatly enhanced the role of photojournalism. Beginning in the 1960s, built-in motors, electric flash, autofocus, quality lenses, and other improvements in cameras have made photography easier. New digital cameras have removed the limitation on the number of frames on a film; hundreds and thousands of frames can fit on a microdisk or camera memory card.
Content is the most important part of photojournalism, but the ability to quickly collect and edit images has brought significant changes. Some 15 years ago, it took about 30 minutes to scan and transfer one color photograph from the scene to the editorial office. Today, a photojournalist armed with a digital camera, mobile phone, and laptop can submit a high-quality image to the editorial office within minutes of being captured. Camerophones and portable satellite communication devices have provided previously unthinkable opportunities for mobile image transmission from virtually anywhere in the world.
A photojournalist in our time can be called any person who is not striving for a career as a professional photographer, who accidentally finds himself with a camera in the center of events, and then posted (often completely free) photos on the Internet. There have been cases when amateur footage published on the Internet became a sensation. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the blogosphere has become the medium for the dissemination of information and photographs. There are numerous specialized photojournalistic blogs in different languages \u200b\u200bof the world (in Russian this is Photopolygon) and specialized communities on social networks, for example, Photokuynya on Facebook.
Driving professionals out of the market
By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, traditional photojournalism was actively being squeezed by the so-called "Citizen Journalism", which appeared in Europe and the United States. People of various professions, as a rule, do not have material problems and are not constrained, unlike media professionals, by any obligations to their editorial offices, engage in journalism, including photojournalism as a hobby, uploading photos to the Internet for free, or saturating stock photobanks with their pictures, the price which is 1 or 2 US dollars, which are willingly purchased at such a price by traditional media.
A case in point took place in Tehran in the summer of 2009: thousands of people took to the streets to protest the results of the presidential elections in Iran. None of the professional photojournalists were allowed by the local authorities to take pictures, the journalists of the world photo agencies were not able to leave the doorstep of their hotels. However, soon the Internet was filled with hundreds of photographs, which were taken by the participants of the events - the Iranians - on their "soap boxes" and cell phones.
The turn of the century is characterized by a significant acceleration in the pace of historical development. Ties between countries are expanding, the mutual influence of various processes and spheres of human activity is deepening, sharp social shifts are taking place, millions of people are being drawn into the active "creation of history". All this has a direct impact on the quantitative growth of information that the press should give. With the growth of the produced journalistic information, the audience that consumes it also grows. Or an increase in audience demanding new information stimulates the development of media and propaganda.
Today photographic illustrations have become an integral part of the graphic appearance of a newspaper page and in themselves have artistic value. They carry additional information, convey the mood or atmosphere of the events described in the article, draw attention to the material, break the text, stop the moment and allow you to study it in a way that a moving image would not allow. A photograph can perform various functions in a newspaper, it accompanies and illustrates textual material - correspondence, an article, a chronicle (hence the origin of the term itself: lat. Illustrarе - to clarify) - and is inextricably linked with the text.
Photo reports on social networks are quite popular. In the conditions of the modern pace of life, it is much easier for the reader to go to the information portal and view the information of interest to him at home, on the way from a phone, or a tablet computer, or at work. While standing in the metro, he is unlikely to open a 36-page newspaper, A3 format.
We did a little research. We managed to interview 100 people in the age category from 18 to 37 years old. It turned out that 55% of the audience is attracted to photo reports in online publications, and only 45% remain faithful to the print media. (22) Upon deeper analysis, we found that 80% purchase newspapers and magazines just out of habit, or because they like the smell of ink, or because “grandparents did this”, but in fact they mainly use the Internet. The remaining 20% \u200b\u200bdo believe that printed materials are more practical in their daily life. (23)
At the moment, according to some Russian photographers, the development of the media is largely driven by photography. In a sense, it is the engine of contemporary journalism. In American newspapers, high-quality photo reports have long occupied the main, dominant place. The role of photography is great. Unfortunately, there are a number of problems in Russia. First, funding. Not every media outlet can afford a photo editor and a worthy photojournalist. This degrades the quality of the supplied photo information. Secondly, there is no proper education. “Learn forever!”, As we know. The problem is that many people, making elementary, "empty" photographs, begin to consider themselves masters of photography. It should not be forgotten that there are many talents. But at the moment, to the greatest disappointment, they have nowhere to develop and learn. And this problem, of course, can and should be solved.
According to James Hill, an outstanding photojournalist whose work can be found in the Russian Reporter, today it is very difficult to find a place to publish your materials. We can say that the space for good photojournalism is now limited. And this applies not only to Russia. Glossy press prevails in the modern world. Good photo reports are being replaced by stories about the life of stars, stories from the world of show business and pop music. The same problems now exist in Russia.
Also, do not forget that the most noticeable influence on the development of modern photojournalism is provided by technical progress. By its nature, photography is completely dependent on technology, unlike, for example, drawing, where in the absence of a pencil and paper, you can draw with charcoal on the wall. Photography is impossible without a camera. Advances in photographic technology today allow you to shoot more, in better quality and in more difficult conditions. The acceptable sensitivity in professional cameras makes it possible to shoot motion at night without using a flash, do strong framing and just experiment more. The development of related devices (satellite phones, information transmission devices) allows news photographers to transmit information much more quickly. These capabilities, in turn, have greatly changed the concept of what counts as the temporary norm for delivering a photo to the consumer. So, from major sporting events, for example from the Olympic Games or football matches, photos are received almost online. The camera is directly or via Wi-Fi connected to the computers at which the editors sit, one of them selects the pictures, the second signs, the third checks the signatures and sends. In such conditions, competing photo agencies sometimes count by seconds.
The expansion of the creative possibilities of photojournalists is directly related to the development of technology. Reporters began to shoot wider in the truest sense of the word, using wide-angle lenses much more often to include more space in the frame. Of course, not only close-ups were filmed before, but now it has become a trend. Now you can take pictures with greater detail. In the old days, it was mostly magazine photographers who could afford this - because of the technical features of printing, many details were simply not visible on the newspaper page. Almost all newspapers were black and white, and photographs based on color were losing their advantage. Now in newspapers, as we know, it has become possible both to publish color photographs and to see the details of the photograph. Consequently, it became possible to shoot wider.
Therefore, the difference between newspaper and magazine photography is increasingly leveled.
Traditionally, magazine photographers have had more time to comprehend the material, to select and process. “Novostiniks” began filming in much the same way, only more quickly. It is significant that in the most reputable photojournalism competition World Press Photos news photographers are increasingly winning not in news categories, moreover, not with single photos, but with themes.
However, efficiency can also be a disadvantage. Unable to delve into the event, to devote a lot of time to it, the photographer shoots, so to speak, only “tops is the main action, but he does not shoot around. Orders for complex topics requiring long-term research have decreased by several orders of magnitude. Although it is precisely these topics that have always been and continue to be the most interesting for both the viewer and photographers - topics that push the boundaries of photography and people's knowledge in this or that issue. Striving for such shooting, photographers more and more often do them not by order of the editorial office, but on their own initiative, with money received through grants, sponsorship fees or at their own expense. In other words, photography has embraced financial schemes that are more common in the arts than in the media environment.
Once in the periodicals, the event was illustrated with only one photograph, it had to be as capacious as possible in content. The Internet made it possible to give as many photos as necessary from one event, the viewer was able to independently decide how much to watch.
Not only online media, but even search engines such as yahoo post their slideshows, making selections of photos from a certain period and on different topics. As a result, the visual range grows endlessly. Not so long ago, such collections included ten to twenty images; now their number can go up to 100 or more. The mosaic of the set, the overabundance of small details form a certain idea in our head, but a single image does not work out. The photographer no longer tries to look for a frame-symbol, does not seek to be visually laconic. Unfortunately, this can and does lead to a deterioration in the level of photography. What's worse is that good photos start to get lost among so many passing frames.
Many people would like to become a sports photographer. Adrenaline, excitement, hunting for "the same frame" at a breakneck speed - you must admit, it sounds attractive. But don't think that purely fun and travel awaits you. Robert Maksimov, the official photographer of the Russian Tennis Federation and Nikon Ambassador, knows firsthand what it is like waiting for hours in the bitter cold, working with 15 kg of equipment under his belt and truly fraternal mutual assistance of colleagues.
Aperture: f / 4.5
Exposure: 1/1600
ISO: 800
Focal length: 195mm
Camera: Nikon D4
Over the more than 40-year career, Robert, who himself was involved in athletics in his youth, has accumulated a lot of stories and advice. It is interesting that in fact the entire evolution of sports photography - from black-and-white films to stuffed Nikon D5 - he watched with his own eyes through the lens.
One of the most memorable lessons for Robert was once taught by a colleague in Atlanta. The photographer recalled that the hall they entered then was very poorly lit. “We found a good shooting point, I put a converter, black-and-white film, because the color film is, in my opinion, useless here. And my friend, the Italian photographer Giuliano, says that he will try to shoot in color anyway. Women are performing on the uneven bars. The object is 60 meters away. Giuliano has a 400 mm lens, converter, shutter speed - 1/60. Any movement is blurry. I wondered why he was doing this? But when they brought the film from the development, it was just fantastic. Everything is in motion, blurred, and the athlete's face is absolutely sharp. He shot something that was impossible to shoot! ”- says Maksimov.
Camera: Nikon D4
Aperture: f / 4
Exposure: 1/1600
ISO: 2000
Focal length: 560 mm
What's the main thing?
According to Robert, who participates in NikonPro, an international photography project of different genres, the most important thing in a sports photographer's camera is correct autofocus. “This is the most important factor. And the second is a good matrix. Everything else is not that important, I don't even need those 14 frames per second. The main thing is a clear, high-quality image and accurate autofocus. Nikon D5 and D4s (links) are some of the best cameras in this business! ”- admits the master.
Don't forget about high ISOs. After all, the photographer can choose a faster shutter speed. “So, if I used to shoot at 1/800 or 1/1600, now I can shoot at 1/2500 and faster, so the paddle and ball are sharp, not blurry. Even the texture of the pile is visible! ”- says Maksimov.
Aperture: f / 4.5
Exposure: 1/1250
ISO: 800
Focal length: 400mm
Camera: Nikon D4
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 400mm f / 2.8E FL ED VR
The master claims that the photographer must have high-quality equipment. After all, once it was she who saved him. Imagine: a mountain slope, 19 degrees below zero, wind. And the height is about 2700 meters. And suddenly the downhill start is canceled! First for an hour, then another ... As a result, half of the photographers simply could not stand such conditions and left. “I wrapped myself up, put on the hood, closed it, settled in a snowdrift and fell asleep. I myself am a skier and I use ski equipment for shooting. It is perfect, heated - a fabric with a thread of zirconium carbide, I feel good in a snowdrift! ”- Maksimov recalls.
How can you describe in a nutshell what a sports photographer should do in general? Think and observe. “I hate it when a photographer sits next to me and scribbles like a machine gun. I tell him: “Think. You have 10 frames per second. Bolt runs. Almost every frame coincides with a repulsion. If you took the first shot at the moment when the runner's leg "overwhelms" (we call such shots "disabled" among ourselves - one leg is not visible), then all 10 frames will be defective. If you hit the first shot at the right moment, then all the next ones will be good too. Think! ”- advises Robert.
Aperture: f / 4.5
Exposure: 1/800
ISO: 2500
Focal length: 195mm
Camera: Nikon D4
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f / 2.8G ED VR II
In general, Robert Maksimov is absolutely convinced that a photographer who can shoot athletics can shoot anything. After all, this is a colossal experience: completely different conditions, tasks, solutions ... Plus, this is a real test of strength! “Physically, alpine skiing and downhill skiing turned out to be a very difficult sport for me to shoot. And technically, too, says Robert. - What is the difficulty: the speed of the athlete is 140-150 km / h. As a rule, you can shoot from a single photo position, which is determined by the chief photographer. 10-12 people are allowed here, no more - just a pool, or only if “your” athlete is among the leaders, otherwise it’s almost impossible to get admission here. ”
Aperture: f / 2.8
Exposure: 1/800
ISO: 1600
Focal length: 200mm
Camera: Nikon D4
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f / 2.8G ED VR II
Professional mutual assistance
Everyone should understand that the work of a sports photographer, who needs to travel abroad often, was greatly complicated during the Soviet era. Thus, they were not allowed to travel outside the country twice a year (after all, the Summer and Winter Olympics took place in the same year). “Thus, having gone to one - and I chose, as a rule, the summer one - I automatically skipped the winter one,” admits Robert.
But let's talk about those events that Maximov was still able to see with his own eyes. Imagine a huge crowd of photographers at the Olympics: most likely, the first thing you think of is fierce competition. Oddly enough, Robert speaks fondly about his colleagues from other publications, recalling many stories of mutual assistance and help. And in general he calls sports photographers a family, and has been friends with some for several decades.
Aperture: f / 8
Exposure: 1/30
ISO: 640
Focal length: 200mm
Camera: Nikon D4
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f / 2.8G ED VR II
“There was one incident. Imagine: a 100 meter race, a final. Who won? Photographers shoot at 400 mm, and even with a converter, to take a shot head-on, close-up, capture emotions. There are four of us: the Italians Giuliano and Colombo, the German Gladi and me. We distribute four tracks among ourselves - someone removes the first, someone the second, and so on. We shoot each “our” athlete, and after the victorious finish we share the winner's pictures, ”Robert gives an example.
By the way, more fun life stories and interviews with professional photographers can be found on the NikonPro website.
“If before setting up the exposure took a lot of attention and time, now you don't think about it. I set the parameters I need and don't care about them anymore, I'm all in creativity. I am looking for the right shot, the right moment - just that, ”says Maksimov, adding that the technique must work out its own, and our head must work its own, and if all this is combined, the result will not be long in coming!
Aperture: f / 4
Exposure: 1/1250
ISO: 5000
Focal length: 270mm
Camera: Nikon D4S
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 200-400mm f / 4G ED VR II
Aperture: f / 3.2
Exposure: 1/1000
ISO: 640
Focal length: 400mm
Camera: Nikon D3
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 400mm f / 2.8E FL ED VR
Aperture: f / 2.8
Exposure: 1/1000
ISO: 1600
Focal length: 150mm
Camera: Nikon D4
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f / 2.8G ED VR II
Aperture: f / 3.5
Exposure: 1/1000
ISO: 2000
Focal length: 400mm
Camera: Nikon D4
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 400mm f / 2.8E FL ED VR
Sports have always been and will be one of the most interesting subjects for shooting. Lively genuine emotions, team spirit and competitive struggle, experiences on the verge of breakdown, bitterness of defeat and dizzying joy of victories - all this makes sports photos vivid examples of the most powerful human emotions. Today, especially for the XXII Winter Olympic Games, we present an overview of the best sports photographers in Russia.
Alexander Zemlyanichenko
Alexander Zemlyanichenko is one of the most famous contemporary Russian photojournalists, head of the photography department of the Moscow bureau of the Associated Press. He twice became a Pulitzer Prize laureate: the first time as a member of a team of five Associated Press photographers for reporting on the 1991 coup, and the second for photographs of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who danced at a rock concert in 1996.
- I deliberately started filming when I was in high school, but I think then it was all a game, nothing more, - Alexander recalls. - Then, already studying at the university, I began to cooperate first with a student newspaper, then with a regional one, and after graduating from the institute, the next day I went to work as a photojournalist.
Alexander himself considers himself to be "a small number of professionals who pretend to be called photojournalists": “I would single out consciously following the news and the desire to tell about what I saw in my own language, the language of the picture. A photographer, photojournalist should always be in the subject ", he says.
As a real news photojournalist, Alexander has also filmed sports events throughout his career. In one of the interviews, he spoke about the features of this type of shooting:
- A lot of shots are taken here, because sport is a movement, and it is better to have a choice than not to. But the editing experience is, firstly, just an experience, and then, during any shooting, you need to know what you want, be it a press conference or a football match; again, you need to know the background. If this is a press conference, for example, of a Syrian oppositionist, you need to know for what purposes he came, what is the result of the negotiations that he has already held, and based on this, shoot and choose pictures. It's the same in sports: if Spartak plays with Dynamo, then maybe it's not the action itself that matters, but the coach's reaction is interesting, you also need to know this in advance. Why are you going to shoot this match and what is the sports journalist going to write? You will film a wonderful flight of a football player with a ball, but in fact, no one needs it: yes, it will be great to hang on the wall, but no one will write about this, but they will write about an attacker such and such, because they will resell him tomorrow; this is our specificity.
According to Alexander, he is always interested in a person first of all:
- With its help, I can show the event as well. If you are filming an athlete who has just won a 100-meter race, then, if possible, take in the frame the one who took second place, although he was counting on the first: they will have different facial expressions, this will create depth and volume of the event, so any topic I try to solve with the help of a hero- he emphasizes.
Alexander Nemenov
Alexander Nemenov, one of the most prominent photographers of our time, describes himself as follows:
- He served in the border troops of the KGB of the USSR in 1987-1989 as a senior MEP at the outpost, but the most interesting thing began later. How is it so - to serve in the border troops and not be the coolest. Something caught my eye when I saw the guys who came from Afgan to serve in a tank regiment, in the rear, with us. They sat at a bus stop in an Afghan cotton - a strange thing in the Soviet Union at that time - and with a smile they saw off our GAZ-66 with an alarming group peeking out of the back in the same cotton, only camouflaged. My war stretched out throughout the nineties and continues to this day, fortunately, less and less. Since 1990 I have been a photojournalist for TASS, since 1997 - for the agency France Presse, I have traveled a lot. I wanted to tell something not only in pictures.
His photographs taken during the Chechen war were best known, but he also reached a very influential level in sports.
Photo: Alexander Nemenov / AFP / Getty Images. Tennis tournament "Kremlin Cup - 2010", final, Viktor Troitsky vs. Marcos Bagdatis
Yuri Kadobnov
Yuri Kadobnov is the head of the photo service of the Russian bureau Agence France Presse, a multiple winner of sports photojournalism competitions, on his account there are dozens of competitions in all sports.
Grigory Dukor
Grigory Dukor is the editor-in-chief of the Reuters photo service in Russia and the CIS countries. He does not like to talk personally about himself, for him it is inseparable from a story about work:
For a long time I have been the head of the Reuters agency service, I love to shoot. The volume of work is increasing, the competition is intensifying. Now we are changing, like the whole world, we want to continue to be recognizable. If earlier the task was to tell a story with one picture, now we are doing more and more photo reports.
Grigory speaks unambiguously about the work of the photographer. Here is what he answered in an interview with the Chelyabinsk branch of the Union of Photo Artists of Russia when asked about the photographer's civil position:
- You should have this position: come home and say what you want. But on the set you must be absolutely impartial, otherwise you will not be able to work, there are many proofs of this. Sometimes sports photographers, taking advantage of the fact that they have accreditation, come to sports events to cheer, and they do not take pictures, but get sick. I am not saying this in order to condemn them, but you cannot do these two things at the same time, it will not work that way. Likewise, if you go to an event, like a communist meeting or someone else you personally don't like, you won't get a good shot. If you are a supporter of what is happening, you will again miss everything interesting, so you should leave your emotions aside. If you can't be impartial, ask someone else to take a photo.
Grigory loves to shoot sports, “since something is happening in it all the time, there is action all the time. There are good photos, there are just good ones, because they were lucky, ”he said in an interview with Rostov.ru. Grigory is sure that luck is important in sports photography:
- There will be no take, no one will repeat the encore, so the photographer is ready for the fact that everything happens very quickly. And luck, of course, is needed: something can happen that will make the shot good. Let's say people just ran - there will be a photo of people running; if one was running and the other was jumping, it will be already funny; one fled, and the second fell - a completely different story, but not everyone will take it off, some will be lucky, some will not. But if this did not happen, then no one will take it, no one will be lucky, and ordinary photographs will turn out.
Alexander Fedorov
Alexander Fyodorov is a special photojournalist for the Sport-Express newspaper, who has devoted more than 20 years of his life to sports photojournalism. Devoted to his profession, he spends all the holidays and weekends at work.
So, in 2012, on his 50th birthday, Alexander went to his fifth European Championship. Football is his favorite sport, but he has filmed a variety of events throughout his career. The gallery of Fedorov's works contains emotional, vivid, memorable footage of football, hockey and other sports events.
Evgeny Tumashov
Evgeny Tumashov is a recognized professional in biathlon photography. He started doing photography at school. His career began with the newspaper Vechernyaya Moskva, where he was first hired as a laboratory assistant, and a year later he was transferred to a photographer. Since 2001, he has worked in biathlon competitions as a photojournalist for the newspaper "Soviet Sport", and since 2011 - a photographer for the Russian Biathlon Union. For 10 years he followed the races and their heroes through the camera lens and collected a unique collection of pictures. In the fall of 2012, on the eve of the start of the pre-Olympic season, Evgeny Tumashov's personal exhibition “Biathlon. 10 years in the lens ”.
- I've always wanted to take beautiful pictures- Evgeny told the portal "Moscow Sportivnaya", - and biathlon provides such an opportunity, because the competitions usually take place in the mountains. No other sport, in my opinion, is surrounded by such beauty. I don't know where else you can find such a variety of colors and shades ... There are lanterns along the track, so you can shoot in the evening and in the fog.
Sergei Ilnitsky is one of the best contemporary reporters. His photographs are published by leading publications not only in Russia, and in 2013 he entered the golden fund of world photojournalism, becoming one of the winners of the competition.
- More and more people have good photographic equipment, - he shared his thoughts with the correspondent of the portal Colta.ru. - Anyone can now make a technically competent staff, that is, technical skill is no longer a criterion for success. You need to be very quick, to be able to put into a picture, preferably in one, the whole essence of what is happening, but here you need an address plan, and that very decisive moment, and a thought, then you get that very photo icon - icon picture. And now it is not so easy to do it, very few people now own it, and for a photo agency this skill is the most important thing.
The World Press Photo Prize was awarded to Sergei for a series of photographs of fencers.
- I was very surprised by the emotionality of this sport when I was filming, - Sergey recalls. - With me were foreign colleagues, who were more experienced in shooting fencing, and I asked: “And these guys, are they always so emotional? Are they shouting, crying, jumping, throwing masks? " And the photographers made some kind of joke, like: "So this is in your hands, bro," and neighing. Our conversation was reacted by an athlete who was sitting next to him and did not participate in the competition that day. He explained that he had been preparing for these Games all his life: since childhood, he dreamed of winning an Olympic award, even if not gold - it doesn't matter, the main thing for him was to climb the podium. And he trained continuously for 15 years. He won, of course, the European and World Cups, but he was preparing specifically for the Olympic Games. And now he has the only chance, one for his whole life: in the next Games he may not participate, since the peak of his physical and mental form will pass, hence the emotions. I understood him so at that moment that it became much easier for me to shoot. I just got a feel for everything that happens in this sport. Once I was distracted - and a blade was thrust into you. Your whole life is centered on the tip of this sword. One touch, one shot, and you are either a winner or a loser. Therefore, the series is called The Golden Touch.
Dmitry Azarov
Dmitry Azarov is a photo correspondent for the Kommersant newspaper, part of the so-called Kremlin pool, and a student of Vladimir Gurgenovich Musaelyan, Brezhnev's personal photographer, who later wrote the book General Secretary and Photographer. Dmitry's most famous projects are devoted to a critical understanding of the political situation in Russia. Some of his most famous works are the Doubling Personality series and The Four Seasons of Vladimir Putin. The photo book about the Olympians “Okolokolets, or Canadian Lessons”, published by Dmitry together with the journalist Andrey Kolesnikov, has become very popular.
Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko (left) and Japanese figure skater Daisuke Takahashi (right) / Photo by Dmitry Azarov
Ivan Sekretarev
Ivan Sekretarev is a photographer for the Associated Press. During his creative career, he made a huge number of reporting photos - sports competitions, hot spots, political and cultural events.
Ivan Sekretarev began his career as a photojournalist in 1991 in the children's newspaper Glagol, later worked for Moskovskaya Pravda, Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Izvestia. How to use the camera, his father explained to him. “This is a lens, and this is a button,” he said, “and you have to press it like this,” Ivan recalled.
- In my development as a photographer,- he noted in an interview with the portal "Moscow Sportivnaya", - two friends of my father played an important role: Alexander G. Kurbatov, who was my model when I worked in newspapers, and the chief photographer of the Associated Press agency Alexander Vladimirovich Zemlyanichenko. It was he who later picked me up, taught me and nurtured me under his wing. And in May 1998 I became a photographer for the Moscow bureau of this news agency.
Shooting sports, Ivan feels "involved in the game process", and therefore cannot "objectively evaluate these pictures":
- I just wish that, looking at them, it would be possible to remember and feel the surge of emotions that once struck me in a year. There is drama, beauty and variety of feelings in sports. I like it both as a viewer and as a photographer. I try not just to record some phase of a sporting action, but to capture a moment of history unfolding in front of me, which can become decisive or reveal to us something that we are not even able to guess.he says.
Oleg Naumov
Oleg Naumov is called one of the most popular sports photographers. He cooperates with the Russian Olympic Committee, Bosco Sport, Forward and Ice Symphony, LED and Olympic Panorama magazines, Russian sports federations - rhythmic and artistic gymnastics, figure skating, ice hockey and synchronized swimming.
Oleg is a graduate of the Russian State Academy of Physical Culture, he himself was engaged in wrestling and sambo. He became interested in photography as a child.
- When the children appeared and I wanted to capture their every step, I again took the camera in my hands,- he said in an interview with Nikon. - He showed the resulting pictures to his friends, and when he began to hear more and more enthusiastic responses about his work, he became interested in how they become professional photographers. Combining my sporting past and my newfound hobby, I dedicated myself to sports photography.
According to Oleg, it is not without luck, a flair for a good shot and skill.
- A sports photographer must follow the rules of the sport he is shooting, - says Oleg. - The most interesting thing on the hockey rink takes place in the goal area, where the players fight, push, the puck flies, or, conversely, the goalkeeper makes a beautiful save. Good shots are also obtained near the bench - only there it is possible to convey through photography the real emotions of the players and coaches, everything that is so interesting to the fan. These moments need to be felt, a sports photographer should be half a step ahead of the action.
Robert Maximov
Robert Maksimov is a member of the International Association of Sports Journalists, a member of the Union of Journalists of Russia, one of the authors and developers of a training program for qualified specialists to ensure high-quality photography of sports events, a laureate of international, all-Union and all-Russian exhibitions and competitions of sports photography. He has devoted over 40 years to sports photojournalism.
- Over the years, I have taken part in 14 Olympic Games and most of the World and European Championships in athletics and other sports,- he says. - My archive contains hundreds of thousands of photographs of these events.
Robert Maksimov took part in the preparation of the final album "Moscow-80", the official three-volume report of the organizing committee of the XXII Summer Olympic Games in 1980 in Moscow, albums and books on the Olympic theme, in particular, the illustrated two-volume "Olympic Age", published in 2002.
Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin
Photo reporters Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin have been working together for over 25 years. During this time, they managed to receive awards at the most prestigious photo contests in Russia and abroad: World Press Photo, Adidas AIPS Canon, Inter Photo, Nikon and others. They have collaborated with the magazines Newsweek, Ogonyok, Cosmopolitan, Burda, PROSPORT, TV Park, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times. Now their photographs are happily continuing to be published by the Russian Reporter, Sport-Express, Soviet Sport, Itogi publications. They cooperate with the news agencies Associated Press, Reuters, AFP, IMAGO, AFLO.
Andrey and Sergey cannot imagine working alone. Here is how they commented on their decision to work in pairs to Itogi magazine:
- This is due to the specifics of work at sports competitions, - said Sergey. - It is very difficult for one person to run around the entire stadium and catch the desired shot. In general, we began to use the tactics of teamwork long before we created a common brand: just when we were still working in the magazine Sovetsky Soyuz, I, Andrey and our good friend Yevgeny Miransky began to receive accreditation for all sports events three of us, and then when submitting the topic to the magazine, sign photos with three names. Such a collective report was always more interesting than if everyone worked alone. We took different positions, filmed from different angles and could cover the competition as fully as possible. But soon the Soviet Union collapsed and the magazine too, we worked separately for some time: Andrei - in "Kommersant", in "Faces", I - in the American editions of the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, and Zhenya generally ceased to professionally engage in photography ...
- In 1996, we met at the Atlanta Olympics and decided not only to work together, but also to create a common brand,- added Andrey. - We have developed a certain style of shooting that we like, besides, together we have more time.
Alexander Wilf
RIA Novosti correspondent.
He began his career in the Sport-Express newspaper, became actively involved in photography in Soviet times - he filmed prohibited opposition rallies for Western publications, after which he became interested in photographing sports.
Follow our news! Exclusive interviews with the best sports photographers in Russia, materials about their work and the best photos from the Sochi Olympics are waiting for you!
And we want to finish the material with the words of Sergey Kivrin: “For me in sports, the main thing is to give my best 100% and perform honestly and with dignity. And there will be medals or not - that's the second thing. "
We wish our athletes worthy performances!We cheer for ours!
For help in preparing the material, the editors express special gratitude to the curator-coordinator of the All-Russian annual open project Best of Russia,postgraduate student of the Department of Photojournalism, Moscow State UniversityMaria Vashchuk.
