speech

A sports photographer was given the unusual task of giving the pre-game talk instead of the coach, which he delivered in an emphatic fashion. The team went on to win the game.

Photographer Benjamin Von Wong gave this inspiring 20-minute talk at the e.g. conference this year about his personal journey from being a mining engineer, to a well-known photographer behind several viral hits, to a "wannabe environmentalist."

Robert De Niro was recently invited to give the graduation speech to the 2015 class at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts -- a large audience that included photography students. What he had to say has caused quite a stir.

“Tisch graduates, you made it,” De Niro began. Then, with a pause, he continued: “And, you’re f**ked.”

Photojournalist and war photographer James Nachtwey received a Lifetime Achievement Award this past Monday from the American Society of Magazine Editors. The 3.5-minute video above is his acceptance speech in which he talks about the power of photojournalists to create positive change in the world.

One second per day videos have gotten quite popular in recent years, and now there are even apps that can help you do the project. Ben Schmidt of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada decided to take the concept to the next level by delivering a speech over the course of a year by saying one word to his camera per day.

Legendary writer and actor John Cleese is known more for his sense of humor than almost any other attribute. But as he demonstrates brilliantly in the above video, he also has an inspirational outlook and deep interest in the subject of creativity.

Neil Gaiman is an author, a writer whose work you have probably read at some point or another, but the advice he offers in this 20-minute commencement address is as applicable to photographers as it is to any other creative who is embarking on (or currently in the middle of living) a life whose goal might be best summed up by the phrase 'make good art.'

Here's a bit of inspiration that should help start your Wednesday off on the right foot -- whether you're preparing to stuff your face tomorrow or today is just another hump day. It's a short stop motion film that pays tribute to the late great Apple CEO Steve Jobs, and it was created by a 14-year-old with some time and the Foldify iPad app.

Photojournalist João Silva lost his legs to a land mine in Afghanistan at the end of last year, but -- after months of intense rehabilitation -- returned to work in July, landing a photo on the front page of the New York Times. On August 2nd, Silva visited the Bronx Documentary Center and gave a talk on his thoughts and experiences.

The White House is ending its long-running practice of reenacting speeches for still photographs after the controversy was rekindled last week by President Obama's Osama bin Laden speech.

You might not know this, but virtually all of the still photographs you've seen in the press showing President Obama announcing the death of Osama bin Laden are staged photographs. Reuters photographer Jason Reed wrote an interesting behind-the-scenes blog post on Monday, explaining:

As President Obama continued his nine-minute address in front of just one main network camera, the photographers were held outside the room by staff and asked to remain completely silent. Once Obama was off the air, we were escorted in front of that teleprompter and the President then re-enacted the walk-out and first 30 seconds of the statement for us.

Apparently this has been standard practice during Presidential speeches at the White House for quite some time, and is meant to prevent the noise of camera shutters from interrupting the televised address. Despite the fact that news organizations try to disclose the nature of the photos in the captions, the fact that these photos are staged doesn't sit well with some folks.