adriansim

THESE days anyone armed with a camera phone or digicam (and who isn't?) can be a citizen journalist.


Mindy Tan went the extra mile to catch the the courage and triumph on the faces of the disabled athletes, and it paid off.
Aim, click and upload to a blog or shared website. Simple as that.

But how many of these pictures measure up to professional scrutiny? When scores of professional photographers are covering an event, how do you make yours stand out?

Especially when my main job is as a reporter, not a photographer.

To me, it was vital that every picture has to have 'heart'.

In my line of work, only pictures that serve their purpose get published - pictures that either tell a story or help to tell one.

These were some of the thoughts going through my mind enroute to the Philippines in December 2005.

I was going to cover the 3rd Asean Paralympic Games for disabled athletes in Manila.

With me was my best friend, aka my camera, which would help me record things I had never seen before.


At the opening ceremony at the Rizal Memorial stadium, I was reminded of Robert Capa, the famous war photographer who said: 'If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough.'

Then there was veteran James Nachtwey who covered hotspots in Kosovo and Indonesia without mega-zoom lenses.

He simply observed, made his own conclusions and shot what was most poignant.

So I decided to run up along in the front and be as far away from the photographers' stand as possible.

So I'd be the first person the athletes would see when they march past - just to make up for my small camera.

At the track's bend, I had a good view of the scene - the disabilities of the athletes, the sky looming with dark clouds, the awkward suits tailored for them. Most of all, I could detect in their faces a spirit of triumph over adversity.


They jumped at the opportunity to get out of their hometowns and villages, and brave life every day.

That, I felt, is a courage not measured merely by how fast they can run.

And that was what I wanted to capture most in my pictures - the indomitable human spirit that makes them push themselves to excel, even when life has dealt them a less-than-kind hand.

And I like to think that winning the award means I succeeded.

Source: http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg