In Ivanoh’s eye: Valencia, red suitcase and fire hydrant

The news coverage never stops, whether in Valencia, Spain, or London, United Kingdom. Press photographers are always on the lookout, ready to cover the latest news.

Hundreds of people lost their lives in the floods that hit Spain. The city of Valencia was particularly affected by bad weather. Spanish photographer David Ramos managed to capture impressive images of this disaster.

One of the big difficulties when covering this type of event is being able to access the disaster area. Moreover, several affected areas were inaccessible in the middle of the week due to the devastation caused by the torrential rains.

In Valencia, this scene of daily life, the day after the floods, caught my attention. The strong element of the image is undoubtedly the pile-up of cars caused by the force of the water.

Citizens walk in the street. Dazed, they observe the damage. A woman, mop in hand, wears boots with mud marks. This little symbolic mop enhances the content of this image. We understand that it’s time to clean up.

I wanted to point out another image that was sketched by the same photographer. When there is destruction, getting to a specific location can be more complicated than you might imagine.

The photographer ignored all that and literally descended into the rubble.

Many cars are buried under what appear to be bamboo stalks. A disaster victim moves as best he can through the ruins and takes note of the scale of the disaster.

Adding the human element is valuable. These are human beings who are affected by this news. In photojournalism, you have to get close to it.

Getting to the right place requires determination. You have to get wet to get such images!

Another photographer took an image of the same scene, but with an elevated vantage point from a residence.

This photo is more informative. I would have liked a citizen presence. For this reason, I prefer the previous image.

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On Wednesday, it was the traditional budgetary red suitcase ceremony in front of 10 Downing Street in London. British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves presented the Labor government’s first budget in the United Kingdom.

She briefly posed for the many photographers. In the image, we see on the left a photographer who raises his hand to capture the minister’s attention. This approach is not unusual.

During official ceremonies, if you are very far from the subject, you will often shout or gesture with your hand to briefly attract their attention. The goal is to make sure that you have the person’s gaze turned in your direction at least for a brief moment.

This intervention is tolerated in the media.

Wanting to stand out during this rather banal shot, photographer Leon Neal decided to integrate his colleague’s gestures into his photo.

This is what we call in photographers’ jargon a media photoin which we decide to include a media representative in the shot.

The wink of the week

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On October 31, 1974, Montreal firefighters launched an illegal strike. For three days, the city was ablaze. This spectacular and dramatic event has been nicknamed the red weekend.

Maurice Lajeunesse agreed to tell the story of the adventure he experienced during this famous week-end rouge. I met him near his residence in south-central Montreal. A large part of the neighborhood was burned at the time.

I wanted to make a visual reference to the Montreal firefighters’ conflict in 1974. Not having a fire truck nearby, I decided to use a simple fire hydrant.

Sometimes we do what we can with what we have at hand…