At the beginning of the week, I was determined to battle with the prevailing disorder, the daily nonsense, the dashed hopes… but then Syria, Quebec and “luckily” a hideous massacre in Houla forced our newspapers, hunched over their calculators tapping out their profits, to publish images of the intentional massacre of children and adults by the friend—the best friend—of Mr. Putin, the dashing Bashar al-Assad. These newspapers and magazines all have nonetheless done well. No one forced them to do it. See what it took to become newsworthy. Why? Have you noticed all the ads in your favorite magazines inviting you to spend your holidays in… Quebec? Unrelated, I’m sure. And the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, I had completely brushed aside, but is she for the occasion, going to swim across the Thames? I’m not sure, but all these ceremonies have, photographically speaking, a real “wow” factor, the people can rejoice as the conservatives vanish, and Mr. Cameron is no stranger to that. The Jubilee will come to an end but things aren’t looking good in Syria, Spain and Greece. What they said about photos in newsrooms across the world: it looks good.
Our former president found a little known photographer, but our current president chose one who is a little too well known. There goes the change he promised. There are talented young photographers out there, but you have to have a taste for risk and imagination, genuine change. Too bad.
Michel Philippot
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