“Video” was once a four-letter word to me. I’m a photographer, and the line in the sand was distinct:RELATED ARTICLES
“The Camera—It’s Only the Starting Point to Change”
– Santiago Lyon
“Gift of Training + Shift in Newsroom Thinking = Multimedia Storytelling”
– Evan Vucci The still image was sacred to me, and I would never cross to the other side. But in 2005 I realized the industry was changing, and if I was to remain viable as a visual journalist, I had to become familiar with this apparently favored format of the future. With video training at The Associated Press (AP) and a Platypus Workshop, I discovered how much I enjoy being able to choose which format would best serve the story I was telling.
The line in the sand suddenly softened.
Sarab village resident and opium addict Islam Beg, center, offers his opium pipe to his grandson after having an early morning smoke in July 2009
Morning sun lights up the village of Sarab nestled in a narrow river valley at 8,000 feet above sea level in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. In Sarab, with a population of 1,850, nearly half the people are addicted, joining the 200,000 opium and heroin addicts in Afghanistan. Such addicts account for nearly 2 percent of the adult population
Sarab village residents walk down a dirt path from one section of the village to the next in July 2009. Travel on rough roads to faraway clinics and doctors is difficult. "Opium is our doctor," say resident addicts who use the narcotic to alleviate symptoms of illness
Members of the Beg family photographed in their home in Sarab
Sarab village resident and opium addict Jan Begum smokes opium. "This helps with my asthma," said Begum who has no money or transportation to travel to a doctor or clinic
Bits of burnt opium are scattered on a metal board with a tea light candle and matches used to heat the narcotic for smoking by Sarab village resident Jan Begum
Sarab village resident Jan Begum pauses between hits while smoking opium in her home. "I've been smoking opium for 18 years," said Begun who sent her 14-year-old son out to work for the drug dealers to help pay for the narcotic
Sarab village resident and opium addict Islam Beg puts on his shoes to go work in a potato field after having an early morning smoke. "I sold my lad. I do daily labor for it. I sold my chickens and cows for it," said Beg, whose family members are also addicted
Sarab village resident and opium addict Islam Beg talks about his living conditions after having an early morning smoke. "I don't have a life. I don't have anything. It's finished. Everything was spent on opium," he said
Islam Beg takes a break from working in a potato field in Sarab. Beg sold all his land and livestock to buy opium. He now works the potato field, owned by another village resident, taking home half of what he harvests to feed his family
Sarab village resident and opium addict Islam Beg, center, heats up a few grams of opium during an early morning smoke
Women family members in the house of Islam Beg smoke opium together
Sarab village resident and opium addict Islam Beg puts away what's left of his stash of opium
After having an early morning opium smoke with family members, Sarab village resident Raihan, far right, scrubs the top of the oven. "I didn't have breakfast. I can accept hunger, but not without opium," said Raihan
Sarab village resident Raihan comforts her 1-year-old son. Raihan was addicted to opium while pregnant with her son who was an addict at birth. "When he was born, he would cry day and night. But when she blows smoke in his face, he sleeps," said her father Islam Beg
Since picking up a video camera three years ago for The AP, I have been RELATED ARTICLE
Watch Julie Jacobson’s video about opium addiction in Afghanistan »fortunate enough to choose to shoot just video or just stills, but never both at the same time. But when I traveled to Afghanistan last summer, the story I was doing on opium addiction compelled me to attempt using both. Last year’s introduction of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLR with HD video capabilities gave me some hope of success. Yet the idea of using frame grabs from the video was not a good option; I find them unreliable, especially in low-light conditions.
In Afghanistan, the process of storytelling became daunting. As any photographer knows, shooting stills and video simultaneously—and doing it well—is next to impossible. Whether attempting stills and video with one hybrid camera or with two separate cameras, the layers needed to capture the story are placed or pieced together differently. In a still photo, I am looking for the decisive moment, a suspended moment in time layered with the right light, composition and other contributing factors to tell the story in one frame. With video, one shoots these pieces separately as a sequence of actions and adds audio to carry the viewer from a beginning to an end. For a still photo there is no beginning or end. It’s timeless. I may wait several minutes or hours for all the necessary elements to come together into one photo. When shooting video, I need those same minutes or hours to shoot multiple “images” or clips to string together into the same story.
So when trying to attempt both at the same time, I will compromise the quality of one or the other medium because I’m concentrating my efforts differently. If I stay and wait for the decisive moment for a single frame, then I end up neglecting to collect all the necessary clips for video. If I’m running around collecting clips for video, then I risk missing that specific moment for a strong still photo.
While I have yet to discover an ideal way to shoot stills and video simultaneously, this experience convinced me that with this camera it is possible to do it to a good degree of satisfaction. Of course, some stories are easier to execute in this way than others. Going through this trial by fire in Afghanistan I adopted these guidelines:
- Some moments should be captured in photographs only. With those, be true to your photography and don’t worry about video.
- Remain as true to your photography while capturing video imagery. Make good “pictures” in your video.
- Some moments and events clearly call for video. But it isn’t possible to be everywhere and to get everything, so don’t try.
- When shooting stills and video, anticipate moments carefully. If they’re not there or time doesn’t permit, then make sure to be complete in shooting only one or both will suffer.
Now I approach more stories with the intent of using both stills and video. The line in the sand has almost vanished, and I find myself a more complete journalist.
Julie Jacobson is a photographer with The Associated Press.