Being a news photographer can be incredibly stressful: tight deadlines, grisly murder scenes, and grieving families can take its toll.

One ex-press photographer who used to cover New York during the city’s violent period in the 1990s has channeled his experience into a one-man show entitled If it Bleeds it Leads.

Sean Allison is performing at the Park Theater in Hudson, New York where he reflects on his time covering New York during a period when someone was killed every few hours.

”I didn’t realize how much psychological and emotional trauma the violence had actually done to me,” Allison tells CBS 6.

During his time documenting crime, Allison would attend “four or five” violent crime scenes per night even witnessing a horrific death.

“We’re sitting there and I hear ‘pop pop pop’ and I say, ‘Those are gunshots’,” Allison tells CBS 6. “A guy got into an argument with somebody at a strip club and on his way out the door somebody shot him in the head and I got there before the ambulance was there so I have seen a lot, up close and personal.”

He left the profession after a year and a half but was later diagnosed with a form of PTSD known as a moral injury — something that is usually experienced by war veterans.

“I’d be watching TV with my girlfriend at the time, and I would have very emotional reactions to depicted violence, especially if it was similar to something I had seen and I would become uncontrollable, so I realized there’s something here I need to look into,” Allison tells CBS 6.

After attending therapy, he felt the strength to put on the show to exorcise the things he experienced as a photographer 30 years ago as a way of “processing the trauma.”

The title, If it Bleeds it Leads, is a macabre saying in the news industry referencing how violent incidents often dominate the headlines and airwaves.

“People have been conditioned to what they think violence is, which is that you get shot in the leg and can still run around and save the day,” he tells Times Union.

“I’ve seen people who have bullets in their leg and can tell you for one thing — they die. And for the other thing, the only thing they’re thinking about is getting that bullet out of their leg.”

If it Bleeds it Leads is showing at Park Theater in Hudson on Sunday (Feb 18). Limited tickets here.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.

Whether you’re loved, lovelorn, lovely or loveless, here are a selection of longing-filled, sex-saturated photo books for Valentine’s Day

A “hyper-vigilant” photographer was robbed of $16,000 worth of camera gear right under his nose.

In a video published a fortnight ago, well-known portrait photographer and YouTuber Manny Ortiz recounted how he had thousands of dollars worth of camera kit stolen from him while on a train from Rome to Venice in Italy.

Ortiz says that he never thought he could ever be a victim of a robbery as he is “a hyper-vigilant person” who is “hyper-aware” of his surroundings.

The photographer even has “law enforcement experience” — having previously worked as a police officer.

Ortiz says he was on a content trip in Italy and took all of his favorite gear to film the sponsored videos in his carry-on bag.

This included a Sony FX3 camera, a Sony ZV-E1, GoPro cameras, a plethora of lenses, and over $2,000 of new Peter Mckinnon filters.

Ortiz says he was sitting on the train with this carry-on bag of camera kit right next to him in the luggage store. The photographer explains that he was editing on his laptop but he was always paying attention to what was going on around him.

During the journey, a bearded man arrived on a train and sat two seats ahead of him of Ortiz. However, the man kept looking around a lot — particularly at Ortiz.

On his travels to Italy, the photographer recalled that strangers do tend to stare more at people than in the U.S. The photographer figured that staring was considered culturally less rude there.

However, Ortiz said he continued to be perturbed by the passenger during the train journey.

Eventually, the bearded man got off the train. But he then went and stood right outside of Ortiz’s window.

The bearded man talking to someone on the phone on the train platform but kept looking at Ortiz.

As the train was about to depart for the next stop, Ortiz noticed that the bearded man wasn’t coming back to the carriage, which was strange.

The train eventually took off. But, it was then that Ortiz looked to his right and realized that his carry-on bag full of expensive camera kit was nowhere to be seen.

‘I Didn’t Think Something Like This Would Ever Happen to Me’

Ortiz understandably “freaked out.” He says he checked the whole train on the advice of the staff onboard. However, the photographer couldn’t find his carry-on bag anywhere and knew that it had been stolen.

Ortiz reported the robbery to the Italian police. However, the authorities were not able to get any train surveillance camera footage of the theft so Ortiz never discovered exactly how his camera gear had been stolen.

Fortunately, the photographer was able to recover most of his kit with his insurance when he returned to the U.S.

But he says he had no camera equipment to shoot the sponsored videos in Italy. Instead, he had to rely on his smartphone camera on the trip.

“Without that insurance, I would have been SOL [sh*t out of luck],” Ortiz says of the incident.

“And I have that mentality that something like this is probably not going to happen to me. I’m just way too vigilant, I’m way too careful.”

Ortiz speculates that the bearded man was working with a partner on the train and they worked together to rob the carry-on bag from right under his eyes.

The photographer believes that the robbery must have happened in a matter of seconds.

Ortiz hopes that sharing his experience will encourage other photographers to not be as “naive” as he was. Ortiz warned that this could happen to anyone and advised other photographers to never skimp on camera insurance.

Retro-photography apps that mimic the appearance of analog film formats make your digital files seem like they’re from another era.

Dale Evers is currently in the Philippines on an eight week photo safari

– When the name Dale Evers comes up people typically associate his name with sculpture. Few people know that Evers has been pursuing underwater photography for well over 30 years.

The artist began his foray into underwater photography early on in his sculpture career to collect images of his subject matter. “I never felt good about creating my sculptures from other people’s photography,” said Evers. His early works were all marine life. “I bought a 35mm Nikonos 5 Camera in the early 90s and became obsessed with the process/experience.”

Since that time Evers has amassed an impressive portfolio of marine related images. Moreover, the artist has embraced the digital image and equipment. “With film I was limited to 36 photos per roll. I was always worried about running out of film. That problem is history now with advent of the 32 gigabyte SD Card.”

Evers is currently in the Philippines on an eight week photo safari adding to his portfolio. With 7,000 Islands that comprise the Philippines, the ocean enthusiast is in the thick of photographic opportunity. The artist is gathering works for an early summer exhibition of his favorite images from his lifetime portfolio. The artist will be turning 69 years old this summer and it appears that he’s not interested in slowing down.

The artist will notify the community when he knows the exact date of his exhibition.

-Article by Steven D. Addi

I arrived in China in 2005 with a secondhand camera, a laptop and a plan to try to make a living from photography within a year. In the end, I spent 12 years in Shanghai, where I managed to earn enough from commercial work to do projects of my own.

When I first spotted people sleeping in public, it completely broke the image I had of China. Like many in the west, I had a preconceived idea of the country as an economic monster and of its people working uncomplainingly, like soldiers. While it was true that people started work early and often put in very long hours, those I saw taking naps in the afternoon looked relaxed rather than exhausted – and the practice seemed to be completely accepted rather than frowned upon, as it might have been in Europe. There was a sense of spontaneity and freshness in it. Whereas westerners might try to combat the afternoon slump with an espresso, in Shanghai people appeared more in tune with the rhythms of their bodies and did what came naturally. I understand the right to nap is part of the Chinese constitution.

The earliest photographs I took of the sleepers were like portraits. It was a kind of game for me to get as near as I could and shoot. Occasionally the click of the shutter would wake the subject, or sometimes they’d be roused by a passerby yelling a warning. I’d have to indicate that I meant no harm: I hated the idea I might look like a contemptuous tourist, whereas actually I felt nothing but affection. Reassured, the subjects often went straight back to sleep.

Soon I realised that the context – the way private and public mixed together – was important, so I started stepping back to get the whole scene. I would play with the composition of the surroundings, too. In one photograph, the image is framed so it looks like a statue has tripped and is falling on to a man napping beneath it. In another, I foregrounded a metal device used to stop cars from parking and made it look like a cradle, the same size as the sleeping figure in the background.

I wanted to be at the same level as the subjects, or even lower, both for the sake of the composition and for psychological reasons – to avoid that sense of looking down on them. Over time, I built up a lot of photographs on this theme and realised I’d unwittingly been shooting a series. I called it Day Dreamers. Looked at as a series, the images became funny, surreal and even sinister. I didn’t see it at the time, but people suggested the day dreamers looked like they might be unconscious or even dead.

This picture was one of the later ones, taken in Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. Unlike most of the others, the sleeper is almost completely hidden. I admire Chinese people’s creativity and pragmatism in solving problems, and I particularly like how that is demonstrated here. The sleeping woman has used a tourist map as a bedsheet, a plastic bag as a pillow, and the umbrella – which she’d have been using to shelter from the summer sun – makes an effective screen. I say “she” despite having never seen the hidden person, but those appear to be women’s shoes. And if you look carefully, you can also see just enough foot to tell its owner is wearing tights.

I tried day dreaming myself, but while I managed to rest in the open, I was never able to sleep deeply – as many of the people in this series clearly are, whether in factories, at desks and worktops, on a propped-up bike or even between two parked cars. I was conditioned to remain alert, and felt too vulnerable to completely relax. I don’t know if the practice is as prevalent now. I sensed it might gradually disappear as part of China’s modernisation. That’s another reason why it felt important to document the day dreamers while I could.

Eric Leleu’s CV

View image in fullscreen

Born: Northern France, 1979
Trained: “Self-taught with freelancing in China; assisting Tina Barney and others; workshops with Gueorgui Pinkhassov and Alec Soth”
Influences: “Henri Cartier-Bresson, Josef Koudelka, Saul Leiter, Gueorgui Pinkhassov and Harry Gruyaert”
High point: “Still to come I hope! But so far, collaborating with the New York Times, or having my first solo show in Shanghai”
Low point: “For the past three years I have been converting a derelict cafe into an arts centre. A good project, but it left me with hardly any time for photography.”
Top tip: “As the French poet René Char said, ‘Impose your chance, hold tight to your happiness and go towards your risk. Looking your way, they’ll follow’.”

Photography thrives on creativity, and finding ways to boost this creative energy is crucial for every photographer. This excellent video tutorial gets into practical exercises aimed at overcoming creative blocks, emphasizing their significance for photographers seeking fresh perspectives.

Coming to you from Leigh & Raymond Photography, this insightful video introduces a simple yet profound exercise designed to enhance creativity by embracing limitations. The hosts propose a challenge: take a walk around the block with a camera and capture whatever catches your eye, regardless of how mundane the surroundings might seem. This task pushes photographers to look beyond the obvious and find beauty in the ordinary, a skill that can rejuvenate one’s passion for photography and lead to unexpected discoveries without relying on their surroundings to do the heavy lifting. The emphasis on setting constraints to spark creativity is particularly relevant for anyone feeling stuck in a rut or uninspired by their usual subjects.

The video goes further, detailing the process and mindset behind undertaking this exercise. Leigh shares her own experience with the challenge, including the decision to shoot in JPEG with standard photo settings to limit post-processing options and focus more on in-the-moment composition and creativity. This approach underscores the importance of working within restrictions to foster innovation and adaptability. By encouraging photographers to engage with their immediate environment in new ways, the video provides valuable insights into how limitations can serve as a catalyst for creativity, rather than a hindrance. Check out the video above for the full rundown.