I’m no war photographer. I’ve seen conflict and civil unrest, but war is something entirely different for what I’ve heard.

Yet to a very large degree, images of war have made me what I am. I grew up with gritty images from Northern Ireland and some of them stayed. In the mid-seventies danish national television would broadcast images from Vietnam of children hit by shrapnel in kids programs (yes; they were to the left on the political spectrum). I can still remember the images from El Salvador and Nicaragua and feeling the need to do something. The 90′s saw Yugoslavia fall apart and the genocide in Rwanda and my first feeble attempts at becoming a photojournalist because I felt that seeing is believing. And beliefs change things. For the good and the bad.

So yesterday I walked the streets of Sarajevo prior to giving a presentation of Bombay Flying Club at the Muzeum Sarajeva as part of the 2012 Sarajevo Winter Festival. Almost to to day 20 years after the beginning of the longest siege (1300 days) in modern history.

It was eerie. Houses still pockmarked by bullet holes and shrapnel and yet, the sarajevans peacefully buzzed about enjoying one of the first really warm spring days, having caffe’s and eating their beloved pastry.

I would look at them and remember the images of the shelling of the airport, of people running the gamut of Snajper Alley and of the story of Romeo and Juliet, Admira Ismić and Boško Brkić, a lovers couple of bosniak and serb decent who was murdered in cold blood by snipers while trying to flee on May 19th, 1993.

And here, in the tranquility of the sun, you could almost hear the echo of the all too recent past. Incredibly life goes on and you have to believe, what you see. I’m sitting here bearing witness to the peace and remembering through the images of war, lest we might forget.

That’s why I became a photographer!

Here’s to the resilience of the sarajevans.

It’s been three incredible days here in Holland. We have had very long days and we have seen an huge amount of work in a very short time, yet I am confident that we have found the very right winners of the contest.

One thing is certain. There are many talented photographers out there and I am very sure that multimedia will continue to grow in the years to come. Multimedia or web documentary should be a vital part of any photographer’s toolbox. In a time where job offers are scarce and competition increasing it is important to pursue further training and/or to experiment with this “new” type of visual journalism. A changing media landscape may guide us along the way but one must invest both time and personal commitment in order to succeed. Amen!

It is extremely important to have an open debate on multimedia as we’re still in an early and transitional phase. Photojournalism has changed incredibly over the past decade and in many ways we have been bombed back to Year Zero. The thing is that most of us have been forced to reinvent ourselves as visual storytellers and for many (including me) this transition has not been easy.

Jessica Dimmock. In the background Latá Cannabrava is being photographed.

We have tools today that allow us to shoot and tell stories in extremely high quality and publish them to a global audience with the click of a mouse (just think about the Kony2012 campaign). There is no filter left. You – the photographer – have incredible power… and incredible responsabillity.

My impression from the contest here is that there seems to be a confusion out there as to what multimedia actually is and I agree – it can be hard to define (This has nothing to do with the WPP contest rules as they are crystal clear!). I tried to put some personal words on it this morning. This is what I came up with:

Exceptionel storytelling with a definitive and strong visual presence.

Many of the stories that we have seen are mixing up traditional stills and audio with video segments that are shot in a much more conservative and TV-like way. Other stories open up with 30-50 seconds of extremely long text. Please…. if you have to explain the whole story before it actually starts you might want to reconsider things.

Another thing that has been evident in the work that we have judged is the massive influence on storytelling technique from certain companies or organisations that produce multimedia on a regular basis – for good and for worse. Many of the stories that have seen have been built up over the exact same recipe leaving very little room for creativity and innovation. It is so important to think out of the box and to experiment. If you want your story to stand out (and have a crowd) you must pay attention to- and respect all the elements in your presentation.

Mr. Wang Jingchun typing away as one of the stories play in the background

Shooting a series of stills for a magazine is so much different than shooting stills for a multimedia piece. Turning a feature story for print into a powerful web doc is almost impossible… if you ask me.

A thing that I have had to remind myself of on and on and on while watching the stories here is that this is World Press Photo and not Sundance Film Festival or Vimeo Video Awards. Surprisingly few stories actually rely on good photography and those who do often suffer from poor storytelling technique. It is not required for a story to rely on photography only – please don’t get me wrong – but the stories must include photographs.

I have had so many zeroes on my scoreboard for the past two days that I almost got a depression. The good news is that today I saw potential and it convinced me that multimedia deserves a place here!

Tommorrow we will have the final vote.

Oh yeah.. I promised you a few extra personal tips :

- Drive. You story must point in some direction. It must take you somewhere. If it doesn’t your audience will loose track and fumble in blind. What is the beginning? What is the middle? And what is the end? Many stories that we have seen here loose power even before reaching the half-way mark.

- The edit. So you think you have a final edit? Wrong. Cut another 15-20% off. Don’t fall in love with your work. Kill your darlings. Show your work around and get some feedback. Most stories actually gain a lot if you optimize them a second- .. or third time.

Goodnight.

Room with a view. The Hilton – 7th floor. WPP office right behind the blurred church towers in upper right corner

 The team of jury members are a great bunch of talented and very dedicated personalites. We have the Jury Chair hosted by Vincent Laforet (US) assisted by Jury Secretary Alan Stoga (US) and jurymembers Claudine Boeglin (France), Latá Cannabrava (Brazil), Jessica Dimmock (US), Keith Jenkins (US), Anna Zekria (Russia), Wang Jingchun (China) and myself (Denmark) present.

 284 multimedia stories entered this years’ competition and on the first day of the contest we browsed through approximately half of them. Decisions here are made quick and they’re merciless. Just the way things should be.

Touring the WPP office

We have seen stories about animals, war, disabled, veterans, pollution, natural disasters, religion … blind photographers. You name it. It’s all here.

Honestly I did expect higher quality overall. I can obviously not go into any details but let me just say that there seems to be a market for some serious storytelling training out there. As I am writing this we are about to watch the second half of the submitted work and

My voting device

I am confident that we will find a few hidden gems in the lot as the day progresses.

My first advice for any photojournalist who is out there shooting multimedia right now would be – THINK about the story AS you shoot it. Not after. Then it will be too late, and you will lack vital material.

The Jury Secretary Alan Stoga who is in charge of showing the submitted work

My second advice would be – Start your story in a compelling, powerfull or surprising way. If your story doesn’t ignite and take off immediately you loose your audience.

Ok, that is for now. More personal advice to come soon…

Personally, I prefer the term “Web Documentary”.

Because those two words imply a lot of things: stories told specifically for an online audience, a (hopefully) tight narrative, the fact that we’re dealing with reality, the possibility of being moved profoundly in the space of time it takes me to gulp down a cup of coffee.
“Multimedia” to me is an option, you can present to your audience if you add that extra layer of information/value that a great programmer can provide.

I do agree that there’s a lot of crap out there, but take into account that we’re dealing with a format not ten years old still. We’re dealing with a format which only now seems to have found the technical foundation (in terms of equipment and band width) that will allow it to mature to it’s full potential, both in visual and in narrative.

Another point I do agree with is the fact that producing these kind of documentaries in a way that will fit a 24 hour news cycle is by far the biggest challenge. Especially in a time of recession. I do think however, that this is a matter of cracking the code (Have I done it? No, but I’m sure as h*** working on it).

Where I don’t agree is when you state that “- the greatest story telling potential of audio and video and still photography is reached in the present tense.” A lot of the greatest narratives ever told derives their energy exactly because they relate to the past. Consider this one and fill in the blanks your self: “Once upon a time…”

Regarding your three commandments, I only agree with no. 2. (fully and wholeheartedly!). No. 1 to a certain degree, but this is due to the immaturity of the format and no. 3 is derived from that – it’s just called B-roll.

Your end statement “The potential for story telling – if the shackles of approach are removed – is phenomenal.” is what this is ALL about: There is a TREMENDOUS potential for concerned, engaging, beautiful, fantastic stories from the real world in the web documentary format. And at a time when my telly is swamped by indolent, poorly shot “Reality TV” shows, I’d rather sit through even the worst told web doc shot by an ambitious photojournalist time and time again – at least they try to deliver something of value.

Best,

Henrik