The Photo Feed 04.29.08

Rob Haggart Weighs In On Leibovitz’s Miley Cyrus Pix (Fishbowl NY / PDNPulse / Gawker / New York Observer)
Everybody and their mother is weighing in on the too-racy photos of 15-year-old Miley Cyrus that Annie Leibovitz shot for Vanity Fair. Perhaps the best commentary we’ve seen comes from A Photo Editor’s Rob Haggart, who told MediaBistro’s FishbowlNY, “[S]ubjects let [the photographers] do whatever they want ... and it’s a mistake. Nobody say no [to the photographers] and they aren’t making good pictures.” He added: “[Cyrus was] going into the shoot thinking, ‘I have to do what [Leibovitz] says or else I’m not going to be in Vanity Fair.” When asked about Leibovitz’s tendency to create controversy, Haggart said, “I think [Leibovitz’s] unaware of what she’s doing with [her subjects]. She doesn’t know who this person is or their place in popular culture,” he added. “She’s too busy to spend the kind of time that she would have spent in the past ... putting the person into the picture.” But Gawker surmises that Leibovitz should “know better.” Also: The New York Observer places Cyrus in a long lineage of celebrities who believe Vanity Fair has wronged them.

Kodak Race Discrimination Lawsuits Dismissed (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
Four years after former Kodak Park employees Gary Thompson and Kenneth Wright sued Kodak for race-based discrimination, U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer has dismissed the cases. Both men claimed that Kodak had discriminated against them when it came to compensation and promotions and that the company had provided a hostile work environment. Wright also argued that Kodak discharged him in 2002 in response to discrimination complaints he filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Larimer ruled that neither man had proven compensation- or promotions-based discrimination. He also deemed Thompson and Wright’s claims about a hostile work environment isolated incidents.

Tumor Photo Gives Miami Herald Big Headache (Miami Herald)
When 15-year-old Lai Thi Dao visited Jackson Memorial Hospital for an operation on a 17-pound facial tumor, the hospital and the International Kids Fund were eager to get her some media attention. But while Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald editors were sympathetic to the Vietnamese girl and the need for donations to fund her operation, editors went back and forth over whether to use photos that protected the girl or ones that graphically informed the public.

MORE BELOW: Wall Street Journal names new photo director ... Photoshop whiz Mark Hamburg leaves Adobe ... Eating championship photos give readers a bellyache ... Is the CIA Photoshop-happy? ... Raleigh News & Observer offers 230 buyouts ... Military de-embeds former Marine-turn-photographer ... Ashley Alexandra Dupre sues Girls Gone Wild for using her image ... New book offers close-up of Hubert's Freaks ... Newspapers post further circulation declines ...

Wall Street Journal Names New Photo Director (MediaBistro / PDNPulse)
Since beginning its flirtations with front-page photography, the Wall Street Journal has named a new photo director. The Journal has given that title to former House & Garden photo director Lucy Gilmour.

Photoshop Whiz Leaves Adobe (Underexposed)
Longtime Photoshop programmer and Lightroom lead developer Mark Hamburg is leaving Adobe—for Microsoft. At his new company, Hamburg will focus on user experience. While Adobe praised Hamburg, a company spokesperson said, "[W]e are confident that the team he leaves behind are equally as talented and innovative. It is really their hard work and effort that has brought us great success with the launch of Lightroom, and it continues with the current Lightroom 2.0 beta.”

Eating Championship Pix Give Readers A Bellyache (San Diego-Union Tribune)
San Diego-Union Tribune editors just wanted to run a fun story geared toward younger readers on their front page. But when the paper featured shots of Collegiate National Eating Championship contenders stuffing their faces, readers weren’t happy. Some called the photos “gross” and “tacky.” Others complained that the imagery was inappropriate given the prevalence of obesity. And some criticized the paper for showing people stuffing their faces when others are starving.

Is The CIA Photoshop-Happy? (L.A. Times)
Think only fashion magazines go overboard with Photoshop? At least one unnamed party begs to differ. According to a note written by someone “with a U.S. security clearance,” the CIA may have enhanced some images of an alleged Syrian nuclear site. Not only is part of the image much sharper than the rest; the photo doesn’t show any power lines, military checkpoints or anti-aircraft batteries.

Raleigh News & Observer Offers 230 Buyouts (Editor & Publisher)
Raleigh’s News & Observer has offered voluntary buyouts to 230 of its 900 staffers. But the paper expects only a small number of those people to accept the buyout offers, saying only about one to two percent of employees typically accept buyouts. The News & Observer hasn’t indicated how many newsroom positions it needs to cut or whether the photo desk will be affected.

Military De-embeds Former Marine-Turn-Photojournalist (Democracy Now)
After two tours of duty in Iraq, former Marine James Lee returned to Iraq as an embedded photojournalist. But the military abruptly ordered him to leave Basra earlier this month. Lee recently spoke with DemocracyNow about why he thinks he was de-embedded—and the differences between being in Iraq as a soldier and being there as a journalist.

Girl Gone Mild? (People / PDN)
Since being outted as a call girl, Ashley Alexandra Dupré seems to be trying to clean up her image. Dupré has sued Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis for exploiting her name, picture and likeness for ad campaigns. According to Francis, Dupré seeks $10 million for topless photos that he says were shot in a roomful of people. “We expect to triumph in this matter," Francis said, failing to mention that Dupré was just 17 at the time that the photos were taken.

A Close-Up Look At Hubert’s Freaks (Boing Boing / L.A. Times)
By now you’ve heard about Bob Langmuir’s discovery of two-dozen Diane Arbus photographs of Hubert’s Museum’s sideshow culture. Now Gregory Gibson has penned a book connecting the dots between the museum, Lucas, Arbus and Langmuir. But the book leaves much to be desired, suggests Ben Ehrenreich, who finds that Gibson often tries “to keep things too tidy.”

Newspapers Post Further Circulation Declines (AP via New York Times)
At this point, this shouldn’t even qualify as news: the Audit Bureau of Circulations report for the six-month period ending in March reveals that circulation is declining for top national newspapers. The exceptions to this rule are USA Today, which remains the best-selling national newspaper after posting a 0.3 percent increase in circulation, and the Wall Street Journal, which saw its circulation increase by 0.4 percent.