The Photographer's Story by Michael Freeman

Author:Michael Freeman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Ilex Press Ltd
Published: 2012-09-14T16:00:00+00:00

A TALE OF TWO EDITS

The Time-Life Edit

The Story Revisited

What would be involved in re-working the story? Here, I have the luxury of being able to ignore the prior use of the key aerial shot from the original book, and so I can make it the opener for the photo essay. The four typical and unique outriggers set in rich blue waters make a strong and colorful image, so much so that they deserve a bleed, even though this is not really consistent with the white margins in the rest of the layouts. Nevertheless, an opening spread is by its nature a little special, which allows some variety of design. So this is how I would open, with the headline as type over the picture in a color picked from the image (see the titled spread on here). And I would use a more resonant headline: “Argonauts of the Sulu Sea.” Next, looking through the entire take, I found what I think is a stronger shot of a houseboat, one that could run large, and this, following the layout style of the original Time-Life opener, becomes the second spread. I would keep the original second and fourth spreads, though re-position them as third and sixth spreads. Still in love with my aerials, I would justify to myself an extra spread on the grounds that there is enough attractive picture material, and create a new one with a pair of vertical images. One of these is a simple strong vertical looking down on a train of canoes (a shot later used as a cover by GEO) and I then make a play of diagonals with the second image, using a water-level picture of Tawi-Tawi, the unique settlement that is all canals. In effect, this last image replaces the aerial of the same place used by the Time-Life editors on their third spread, mainly because of the human interest (which aerials always lack, despite their graphic qualities). Finally, I would close in a completely different way, with a shot of armed marines patrolling the area—a reminder that this is an area in civil conflict, not just a pretty place, and so adding a layer of extra interest.

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