Taylor Swift’s father has been accused of attacking a photographer who was “aggressively pushing their way” towards the singer.
The ‘Bad Blood’ singer’s dad Scott allegedly punched a photographer in Sydney after the Australian leg of her Eras Tour came to an end.
Taylor Swift’s father Scott Swift has been accused of assaulting an Australian photographer on a wharf on the Sydney Harbour early on Tuesday after the singer’s final concert, according to the police.
Local media identified the paparazzo as Ben McDonald, the chief executive of Matrix Media Group, who was photographing Swift as she got off a yacht at the Neutral Bay wharf around 2am following a late-night cruise on the Sydney Harbour.
“Police have been told a 71-year-old man allegedly assaulted a 51-year-old man,” the New South Wales Police said in a statement, without naming Swift’s father, Scott.
“The younger man reported the incident and inquiries are now underway by officers attached to North Shore Police Area Command. The man did not require medical treatment,” according to the police.
Swift was with her father at the time but had entered a car when the alleged assault occurred, according to state broadcaster ABC. “He’s charged in and punched me in the face,” McDonald told the outlet.
“In 23 years of doing this I’ve never been assaulted, let alone been punched in the face by a father,” he said.
“I didn’t realise it was her dad at the time,” he told The Guardian. “It was a bit of a shock but I’ll leave the police to do their job.”
A spokesperson for Taylor Swift told the Rolling Stone two people were acting “aggressively” towards Swift and her entourage when the incident occurred.
Taylor and her father Scott at a Kansas City Chiefs game in December
“Two individuals were aggressively pushing their way towards Taylor, grabbing at her security personnel, and threatening to throw a female staff member into the water,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The ABC reported the photographer said Swift‘s entourage used umbrellas to try and prevent him taking photographs and in the alleged altercation Swift‘s father became involved.
Swift‘s Australian leg of her record-breaking Eras tour wrapped up on Monday evening.
February 27, 2024
“Silence by the River” (2023). Photography by Clifford Prince King, courtesy of the artist, STARS Gallery, and Gordon Robichaux. Presented by Public Art Fund.
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Over the summer, Clifford Prince King put his belongings in storage and spent the season abroad. Months of transience may seem like an unusual move for the photographer, who captures his relationships and experiences as a queer Black man as they often unfold in interior spaces. His autobiographical images find value in privacy—sun-dappled friends and lovers in various states of togetherness, whether slow dancing shirtless in a kitchen, braiding each other’s hair mid-blunt, gently embracing in a steamy shower, or other moments of quiet beauty. They also wield a disarming intimacy, seemingly collapsing the walls between audience and subject thanks to the feelings of softness, safety, and self-realization they engender.
As he was entering his 30s, though, King yearned to see how nature, unexplored locales, and total strangers might influence his photographs and the interiority they explore. He planned to spend this past summer at artist residences—BOFFO on Fire Island, Light Work in Syracuse, and Eighth House in Vermont—with vacations in São Paulo and the Cayman Islands in between. He continued to work but captured entirely new subjects enveloped in lush natural settings. Using a 35mm film camera to lend the work a timeless grainy quality, King bathed his objects in the warm light of summer and photographed them in gentle poses of affection and vulnerability: a capoeira dancer caught mid-handstand on a rooftop, a couple standing close together by the waterfront on a misty afternoon.
Thirteen of his photographs from that summer star in “Let Me Know When You Get Home,” an outdoor exhibition commissioned by Public Art Fund on more than 300 JCDecaux bus shelters and newsstands across New York City, Boston, and Chicago. It’s King’s biggest canvas yet—no small feat given his résumé includes projects for Calvin Klein and JW Anderson—and a poetic pillar of LGBTQ+ love and the representation King never saw as a child growing up in Tucson. On view through May 26 and curated by Public Art Fund’s Katerina Stathopoulou, the six-foot-tall photographs transmit feelings of warmth and comfort to commuters during cold season. They also impart one of King’s biggest revelations from uprooting himself and spending a summer abroad: “home” is not strictly a physical place, but a reflection of one’s headspace and community.
Clifford Prince King.
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Shortly after the show opened, King caught up with Surface about talking to strangers, being in nature, and moving forward.
Most of your previous work was made at home and in interior spaces, but this work was made nomadically, much of it outdoors. What inspired you to travel during the summer?
I was offered three artist residencies on the East Coast: Fire Island, Vermont, and Syracuse. In between two, I planned a trip to Brazil and the Cayman Islands. A mixture of advancement in my photo practice (studio space) and overall desire to explore was my inspiration.
What did bringing nature and new locales into the equation reveal about your practice and how you approach capturing your subjects?
I’ve always loved being in nature. I don’t often get the opportunity to be in nature with friends or muses, so this felt special. Nature is a backdrop that can make an image beautiful easily. For me, it’s a matter of finding people to accompany me in these faraway, desolate places to create an image, which can be challenging. I approached locals in the cities slowly and would mention the idea of having their photos taken, and would feel it out to see if that was something they’d even be interested in. If not, totally fine. If so, we’d continue to have conversations about what that would look like.
PHOTOGRAPHY
“Clifford Prince King: Let Me Know When You Get Home”
Photography by Nicholas Knight, courtesy of Public Art Fund
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How has your relationship with home changed after spending the summer traveling?
Since that summer, I realized (for myself) that my idea of home resides within my mental headspace and wellness versus heavily relying on a physical place. I love an interior space and creating a physical home, but I believe I was relying on just that to center my happiness.
There’s a sense of care involved with saying “let me know when you get home”—one that might comfort someone waiting for a bus at night. Do the photographs selected for this commission reflect this idea at all?
The title has taken on several meanings. With the exhibition, it’s more focused on the idea of searching for home: where that place may be, surrounded by who, etc. Mainly, referring to “home” as a feeling of returning to one’s self, mind, and body.
(FROM LEFT) “Darrius,” 2023. “Early Departure,” 2023. Photography by Clifford Prince King, courtesy of the artist, STARS Gallery, and Gordon Robichaux. Presented by Public Art Fund.
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(FROM LEFT) “Guilty of Love,” (2023). “The Fear of Letting Go” (2023). Photography by Clifford Prince King, courtesy of the artist, STARS Gallery, and Gordon Robichaux. Presented by Public Art Fund.
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These images will be seen by millions of people every day—given their intimate and autobiographical nature, what emotions does that invoke?
I try not to think about it too much and just let the photos embody their own identity. My photos are extensions of feelings I’ve had for a while, so this is a nice way to release those feelings and move forward.
What do you hope people passing by your images and sharing space with them see and feel?
Peace, calmness, and restoration.
“BLESSED!” (2023). Photography by Clifford Prince King, courtesy of the artist, STARS Gallery, and Gordon Robichaux. Presented by Public Art Fund.
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“Clifford Prince King: Let Me Know When You Get Home” will be on display at JCDecaux bus shelters and newsstands across New York City, Chicago, and Boston until May 26.
Paul Shambroom has been interested in government since he was a kid. But not the usual stuff like candidates kissing babies or heated moments in a political debate.
“I’m just really fascinated with the dynamics of meetings,” he said.
A frequent observer of city council and school boards meetings, Shambroom said these civic rituals reveal a lot about how our communities operate.
“There’s someone who’s sort of the troublemaker, who asks a lot of questions and pushes back. There’s the peacemakers. And there are people who don’t really say much in a meeting. They just kind of sit back and listen,” he said.
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Paul Shambroom walks through Dundas where Republican and Democratic voters were evenly split during the 2020 presidential election.
Nicole Neri for MPR News
Which is why Shambroom, who also teaches at the University of Minnesota, spent four years photographing local government meetings.
That same anthropological instinct inspired his current project, Purpletown. Since 2021, Shambroom has mapped hundreds of communities that were statistically tied during the last presidential election with votes split evenly between Republicans and Democrats. He’s traveled to 22 states so far and photographed more than 60 so-called “purple” communities.
He likes to be unobtrusive on these trips. His portfolio is full of landscapes, gatherings, and gaming events.
“It’s almost as if I dropped in from another planet. I’ll wander around and just see what there is to see,” he said.
Paul Shambroom greets a dog at the city hall building in Dundas.
Nicole Neri for MPR News
In mid-February, Shambroom headed to Dundas — a dot of purple in a sea of blue and red communities. Just next door is Northfield, a Democratic-leaning college town. To the south are rural counties that tend to vote Republican.
In 2020, President Joe Biden won Dundas by seven votes.
Shambroom’s first stop was the L & M Bar, where he chatted with patron Donald Williams.
Williams said he voted for presidential candidate and rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, in 2020, and he plans to vote for Trump this year. He doesn’t love either major political party, but he’s especially turned off by Democrats, who he feels have abandoned labor union workers like himself.
Paul Shambroom photographs the L&M Bar & Grill & Patio in Dundas.
Nicole Neri for MPR News
“It’s either you’re rich or you’re poor. And even the middle class you’re just floating above water,” said Williams.
Sharing his voting record and reasons made Williams a little uncomfortable. He’s seen how politics has strained ties within his own family, so he tends to avoid these discussions.
And besides “nobody talks politics in the bar,” he told Shambroom. “It’s an unstated rule.”
Shambroom stresses his work isn’t an academic study, and there’s no unifying theme for the project.
But after all his years photographing towns that are split down the middle politically, he’s noticed that purple towns aren’t as polarized as people might think they are.
Paul Shambroom photographs Teri and Kraig Quamme, owners of Red Gate Alpaca Farm, and their alpacas in Dundas.
Nicole Neri for MPR News
“I think if people live in a community that is really split down the middle, they’re probably more civil to each other. You know, these people may go to church together, their kids go to school together, they shop in the same stores, and I think they behave differently than people who live in a bubble,” he said.
It’s a theory that bears out during each stop Shambroom makes in Dundas — at city hall, a local brewery and in private homes. His subjects agree that talking about politics is hard and awkward, so why stir things up?
Shambroom’s final stop was the Red Gate Alpaca Farm, where Teri and Kraig Quamme breed award-winning alpacas.
Teri and Kraig Quamme alpacas pose for a photo in Dundas.
Nicole Neri for MPR News
The couple said they get along well with their neighbors.
“For me anyway, you get a feel on who you can talk to and who you just don’t say anything to,” said Teri.
“So for the most part we don’t talk about anything,” joked Kraig.
In a small town like Dundas, where everyone knows each other, they said it’s just not worth the risk.
Editor’s Note: Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions. Rolex’s Perpetual Planet initiative has partnered with CNN to drive awareness and education around key sustainability issues and to inspire positive action.
Perched on a branch amidst the cover of darkness is a Xingu screech owl with piercing, fiery amber eyes. Created by British artist Sarah Ball, the artwork is titled “Megascops Stangiae,” referring to the scientific name of this species only found in the Indigenous Xingu region of Brazil.
The striking work is unique not just for its subject matter, but for how it was made: the owl’s primarily black and gray pastels were created with ash left behind after wildfires in the Amazon rainforest.
It’s part of a project called “From the Ashes,” an exhibition that ran in February at London’s Truman Brewery. Featuring 29 Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, all the works were created using ink, pigment and pastels manufactured from ash and charcoal “salvaged from the burnt remnants of the Amazon,” says Migrate Art, the London-based social enterprise that created the project.
In partnership with arts research center People’s Palace Projects, the goal is to help combat damage from the fires by raising money for Indigenous communities on the front lines.
In March, the artworks will be auctioned at Christie’s London with estimates for individual pieces ranging from £2,000 ($2,530) to over £50,000 ($63,440), according to Simon Butler, founder of Migrate Art and a participating artist in the exhibition.
“We keep 20% of what we make, that’s for overheads and rent. The rest of it goes to the Indigenous Xingu community, primarily for firefighting equipment,” he said. “All these ideas of what to do with the money, they’re not coming from us, they’re coming from the community themselves. When we were there, we had meetings with them and they talked about the fire brigade they wanted to develop, and they also talked about regrowing trees and reforesting.”
The Amazon rainforest, which is crucial for trapping and storing carbon emissions, is facing a tipping point by 2050 that could have devastating consequences. According to the non-profit Amazon Aid, the primary driver of wildfires in the Amazon rainforest is deforestation for agriculture, logging, and other economic opportunities.
Takumã Kuikuro, a filmmaker and curator from the Indigenous territory in Brazil’s Amazon basin, calls the Indigenous community “guardians of the forest.”
“We are the main victims of climate change,” he said. “Since the violent fires of 2019 to 2022, we have been suffering from extreme heat and drought that threaten animals, trees, rivers and food crops such as cassava, the basis of our diet, which are not thriving due to lack of rain.”
Butler visited the Amazon rainforest and its Indigenous Xingu communities two years ago. Witnessing the areas of the forest that had been burnt down, which he describes as a “red desert that looked like the end of the world,” motivated him to create change in the way he knew best: through art.
Inspired by the success of Migrate Art’s previous exhibitions, such as “Scorched Earth,” which featured art made from the ash of war zones in Iraqi Kurdistan, Butler collected the charred remains of the rainforest, and shipped it back to London to be made into art materials.
The materials were then sent to artists around the world. British artist Piers Secunda, whose work focuses on the destruction of culture, used black ink to create a painting titled “Smoke In The Jungle.”
“The sale of my work to help the Xingu Reserve buy firefighting equipment, to extinguish Amazon fires, is the best use of my time and resources that I can imagine,” he said.
The collection also includes works made by members of the Indigenous community, such as three paintings by Kamo Waurá, a village shaman.
“To see art without any kind of influence from the market for financial reasons is amazing,” said Butler. “It’s pure storytelling.”
Ultimately, Migrate Art asks a single question: “Can art change the world?” Secunda likens art to a sharp stick which can “prod the right people into action, to publicly embarrass organizations, governments and individuals who are causing damage, or to raise funds.”
“These art advocacy actions are grains of sand which build a pile,” he added. “For now, the pile is small, but it is growing and will become substantial.”
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Melbourne, Australia — A photographer told police he was punched in the face by Taylor Swift’s father on the Sydney waterfront on Tuesday, hours after the pop star’s Australian tour ended.
Ben McDonald said he provided police with a statement alleging that Scott Swift assaulted him at the Neutral Bay Wharf, where the father and daughter had just come ashore from a yacht.
Don Arnold / TAS24 / Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
Agence France-Presse reports that McDonald said he’d been taking pictures of the pop superstar and her entourage on a luxury superyacht in Sydney Harbor during an apparent late-night celebration after the Australian leg of her Eras Tour concluded.
The veteran paparazzo said he decided to report the attack to police despite not being seriously injured.
“It was just a punch in the chops. It’s a little tender, but I don’t have any bruising and it didn’t require medical assistance,” McDonald said.
“In 23 years, I haven’t been assaulted and punched in the chops, particularly by the talent’s dad,” he added.
Taylor Swifts representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment emailed by The Associated Press.
But a spokesperson for the star told Rolling Stone magazine that at the time of the incident, two people were “aggressively pushing” to get to Taylor Swift, grabbed security and threatened a member of the singer’s staff.
The New South Wale Police Force media office confirmed that police were investigating the alleged assault of a 51-year-old man by a 71-year-old man at 2:30 a.m. Police did not release names, in accordance with their policy for such allegations.
But AFP says that in addition to McDonald, a law enforcement source identified the man who was accused as Scott Swift.
AFP cites Australian police as saying Scott Swift “has left the country” but that inquiries were continuing.
Taylor Swift left Australia on a private jet Tuesday, after more than 600,000 fans saw that leg of her tour at seven stadium concerts. Singapore is the next stop. AFP says more than 300,000 fans gobbled up tickets to her six sold-out dates at the National Stadium.
McDonald said media had been waiting to photograph the star as she walked with her entourage from a jetty to two waiting cars.
“There were about four or five security there and at one point, one of the American security started shoving his umbrella into me and my camera and then Taylor got in her car,” McDonald told the AP.
“Someone else came running at me and punched me in the left side of my face. Initially, I thought it was an Australian security that was trying to be the hero of the moment in the front of the Americans, but as it turned out it was her father,” McDonald added.
McDonald said he realized that his alleged assailant wasn’t a part of the security detail after seeing a photo of him holding Swift’s hand while reviewing photos from the evening. McDonald later identified Scott Swift from an online picture.
McDonald said there had been no cause for violence.
“We didn’t go rushing down the jetty. We didn’t go rushing to the back of the boat. We waited for her to come up. Kept it very civil,” he said.
“But no, they had to be (expletives) and put the umbrellas up and umbrellas over her and then shove the umbrellas into our faces and then make out that we’re the ones making contact with them,” he added.
Taylor Swift’s fans hurried to defend her father in social media posts, according to AFP. “Free Scott Swift,” posted one such user, @Soyytv.
AFP says “Papa Swift,” as he’s come to be known, has become a fan favorite, “handing out sandwiches, fruit, guitar picks and VIP passes to young members of his daughter’s audiences.”
After a career as a financial adviser, Scott Swift regularly attends Taylor Swift’s concerts and public appearances.
Honor just launched its flagship camera-focused smartphone, the Magic 6 Pro, at an event ahead of MWC 2024 in Barcelona. During the presentation, Honor described the Magic 6 Pro as the best phone for sports photography, it even coined a new term for it – “Sportography”. But, linguistic silliness aside, this phone has the hardware to backup that claim.
The phone packs some serious hardware, there’s a 50MP main camera with a 1/1.3-inch sensor and an adjustable aperture, a 50MP f/2 ultrawide and a 180MP f/2.6 5x telephoto with a 1/1.49-inch sensor. Yep, you read that right, not only is this the largest sensor size that I’ve seen in a smartphone telephoto camera, but it’s by far the highest resolution, too.
If you’ve ever tried shooting sports, then Honor’s claims should be starting to make sense. Larger sensors and wider apertures allow you to shoot at higher shutter speeds, resulting in sharp action shots that are free from motion blur. You’ll also know that longer focal lengths are what you need, especially if you’re stuck at the side of the pitch, and the reach of this 5x telephoto, combined with the digital crops you can get from such a high-res sensor, should deliver the goods.
It’s not all about the hardware, either. Honor has included some AI magic to help you get perfect action shots, in the form of a feature called Motion Sensing Capture. Enabling this feature lets the phone detect what you’re pointing it at, and when it sees sudden motion, like someone jumping, or even just a nice smile, it’ll automatically take a photo. It could be a godsend if you’re a little slow on the shutter button.
I got the chance to take the Honor Magic 6 Pro out for a spin after the launch event, and being in Barcelona, I knew exactly where I needed to go. The Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) is the Mecca of street skateboarding, and if you head there at any time, you’re sure to find scores of kids practicing flip tricks on the smooth-tiled floor, or throwing themselves down the stairs when they’re feeling adventurous. What better place to test out the self-proclaimed king of sports photography?
Sure enough, it was packed with skaters, and I was immediately thankful for the reach of this 5x telephoto. Mainly because it meant I could stay well out of the way, avoiding rogue boards that might fly into my ankles.
I enabled the Motion Sensing Capture mode, but I also tapped the shutter button myself as I saw fit. In theory, you might not have to use it all, but MACBA is a chaotic place and with so much going on in the frame, I wasn’t too confident that the AI would know what I was looking for.
I’m really pleased with the results. It was an overcast day, and the sun was setting, so there wasn’t an abundance of light to work with. Even still, the photos came out tack sharp, with barely a hint of motion blur.
I mainly shot on the 5x telephoto, but I also took a lot of photos with the 2.5x setting, which is a digital crop of the main sensor. Both focal lengths produced detailed images with very similar color renditions. There was very little lag on the shutter, too, even though I had things like auto HDR enabled, which can slow things down a little.
The AI Motion Sensing was a little hit-and-miss. It took some extra shots that I might not have, and it’s always nice to have more than you need when shooting action, but the timing wasn’t always to my liking. As I mentioned, though, the conditions weren’t ideal, there were always multiple subjects in frame and the phone was handheld. I suspect it’d work better on a tripod with a single subject.
It’s not just motion that this mode detects, it’ll also look out for things like smiles, and automatically capture shots of moments it thinks you might want. Amusingly, while I was lining up a shot of a skater, the phone automatically captured a picture of a dog as it glanced at the camera. Adorable!
Later, as I was walking back towards my hotel, I happened across some breakdancing street performers. It was very dark at this point, and although the dancers had set up some little LED floodlights, I would struggle to get blur-free shots with even my full-frame mirrorless set-up.
I decided to give the Magic 6 Pro a try anyway, and while there’s plenty of motion blur, the results are better than I expected. In some cases, the motion blur almost adds to the effect. The AI Motion Capture worked in these conditions, too, grabbing multiple shots that I otherwise would have missed.
While it might be too early to come up with any definitive conclusions about its capabilities – what I do know is that this phone is capable of taking some excellent action shots.
In fact, it seems to be impressive in most areas. The display is lovely and the phone feels great in the hand. That’s before we even get to the software, which is littered with cutting-edge AI goodies to aid in productivity. If you’re keen to find out more, keep an eye out for our full review in the coming weeks.
The phone was released in China last month, but it’s now also available to pre-order in the UK and Europe, with units shipping on March 1.
For more check out our top picks for the best camera phone and best Android phone.
A photo of Italian diplomat Carlo Rossetti carried in a palanquin is on display at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Kim Hyun-bin
Italian Ambassador to Korea Emilia Gatto has underscored the historical significance of the 140th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and Italy.
Italian Ambassador to Korea Emilia Gatto gives opening speech during the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of the Embassy of Italy in Seoul
“Italy was the fourth country in the world to establish diplomatic ties with Korea. Our history together began in 1884 when the then Kingdoms of Italy and of Joseon signed the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation, thus embarking on a long-lasting friendship that this year reaches its 140th anniversary.”
A month-long special exhibition showcasing approximately 70 photographs and video materials depicting the evolution of Korean-Italian relations will run until March 31 at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in central Seoul.
The exhibition reflects on the 140-year history since the Joseon Dynasty and Italy inked a trade treaty in 1884. Supported by Korea’s foreign and culture ministries, the exhibition provides a comprehensive retrospective of the enduring diplomatic ties between the two nations.
“Today, with this exhibition, we celebrate our shared history by revealing interesting insights from the beginning of our diplomatic relations. I myself, through the organization of this exhibition, discovered things I did not know about this country, as I only arrived six months ago,” Gatto said.
“In particular, I was fascinated to discover that the very street this museum overlooks was once the Street of the six ministries, where the political life of the kingdom took place and where our predecessors laid the foundations of the path that we are continuing to build together nowadays.”
Several dignitaries, including Culture Minister Yu In-chon and Rep. Hong Young-pyo of the main opposition Diplomatic Party of Korea attended the opening ceremony. Hong is the president of the Korean-Italian Parliamentary Friendship Association.
Additionally, the exhibition showcases a photograph of Carlo Rossetti, the second Italian consul to Korea who arrived in 1902, riding a palanquin, alongside other photographs taken by the consul during his time in Korea.
A photo of members of the Italian medical support unit deployed to Korea during the Korean War is on display at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Kim Hyun-bin
“Among the photographs in the exhibition, several were collected by the extraordinary work of the Italian Consul Carlo Rossetti, who, during his eight-month stay in Korea in the late 1800s, gave us an insight of the society from an Italian perspective, becoming the first Westerner to produce such a comprehensive and detailed photographic book about Korea,” the ambassador said.
Images captured by Rossetti, who once drew parallels between the overall shape of the Korean Peninsula and the Italian Peninsula, serve as significant historical artifacts offering insight into early 20th-century Korea. Among these are photographs depicting men adorned in traditional Korean attire and hats attending a mathematics class between 1902 and 1903, as well as a bustling Seoul street flanked by tile-roofed houses.
“I hope you, too, will discover new facts, such as the contribution of the Italian Red Cross during the Korean War, the establishment of the strategic partnership in 2018 and the state visit of the Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Korea, and much more,” she added.
“Notwithstanding, for me, celebrating 140 years of bilateral diplomatic relations does not only mean commemorating past events but rather looking forward to the future and the development of our friendship, using this anniversary not as a destination but rather as a starting point for us to examine the priorities around which we want to strengthen and grow our relationship.”
