PDNEWS
Online News Digest
Associations Act,” photojournalist Sithu
Zeya was sentenced to an additional ten
years for violating the country’s “Electronics
Act.” The government says Zeya “confessed”
after he was arrested for photographing the
aftermath of a 2010 bomb blast in Rangoon.
http://t.co/ni8ItN4d
continued from page 17
© WALTER AS TRADA
From Walter Astrada’s worldwide project about
violence against women.
ALL PHO TOS © JULIE PLATNER
Getty Announces 2011
Editorial Grant Winners
Alvarro Ybarra Zavala, Walter Astrada,
Stanley Greene, Liz Hingley, and Joan
Bardeletti have each won a $20,000
grant from Getty to pursue their ongoing
documentary projects. http://t.co/oRuQ0Xa
Agency Access Acquires
Adbase, Found Folios
The provider of self-promotion resources for
photographers and illustrators announced
the acquisition in September of its main
competitor, AdBase, and the AdBase-owned
portfolio site, FoundFolios. Prices for Agency
Accesses services will not change, according
to the company’s CEO. http://t.co/HPYbsVn
PICTURE STORY
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF
A SUBURBAN NEO-NAZI
LIZ PLATNER BEGAN DOCUMENTING NEO-NAZIS GOING ABOUT THEIR
SUBURBAN LIVES BECAUSE SHE FOUND THEM FRIGHTENING AND
FASCINATING. “I WANTED TO EXPLORE WHAT’S SCARY ABOUT IT,” SHE SAYS.
BUT SHE NEVER ANATICIPATED THE HORRIFIC TURN OF EVENTS THAT ENDED
UP MAKING—AND BREAKING—HER STORY. BY DAVID WALKER
ACLU Launches Guide to
Photographers’ Rights
The publication, coinciding with the 10th
anniversary of 9/11, encourages photographers
(and citizens with cameras) to stand up for
their constitutional rights, as law enforcement
officials around the country continue to
hinder them in the name of fighting terrorism.
http://t.co/1qKSQDE
Valerio Spada Wins 2011
Photography Book Now Prize
The photographer, from Milan, Italy, won
the $25,000 grand prize for his book
Gomorrah Girl. The book explores life in
Naples among the Mafia.
http://t.co/B6tQtPP
About A yeAr into her documentAry project
about American neo-nazis, julie platner was strug-
gling. “i didn’t know where the ending was. every time
i tried to involve a publication or a writer, the question
was, ‘What’s the news angle? Where is it going?’ “
then the story suddenly “answered itself,”
platner says, when her main subject—a national
Socialist movement leader named jeff hall—was
shot to death at home by his troubled 10-year-old
son. “hate begets hate. it’s the ultimate ironic trag-
edy,” platner says.
hall’s death last may was a national news story,
and The New York Times hurried platner’s images into
print. (She had been working with a Times writer on a
feature profiling national Socialist movement mem-
bers. that story was for an undetermined later date.)
platner had also been shooting video, and she
was inundated with calls from other news organi-
zations offering “a lot of money” for her footage.
but she declined, fearing her video might be sensa-
tionalized and misused. eventually, she approached
cbS’s 60 Minutes.
“i respect their reporting,” platner says. “i felt like
they would do a solid, thorough investigation of the
[jeff hall murder] case, and the national Socialist
movement. that was critical to me.” 60 Minutes
used platner’s footage in a segment that aired on
September 25.
platner’s project began taking root on election day
in 2008. on assignment in Greenville, mississippi,
she was struck by how bitter people seemed about
barack obama’s impending election, compared to
the mood in Los Angeles and new york.
“there was a denial thing,” she says. “people [in
Greenville] didn’t really want to talk about it. there
was this kind of disaffected energy. And it was strong.”
“i thought we would see more outwardly racist
behavior. it wasn’t that clear in my brain then, but i
was fascinated to see what would happen,” she says.
She began exploring the subject of racism, researching hate groups through the Anti-defamation
League (AdL) and other organizations that monitor
them. eventually she focused her research on the
national Socialist movement.
Above: A neo-Nazi protester at an anti-immigration rally
in Los Angeles. Opposite page, left: NSM members do a
sieg heil salute at a backyard gathering. Right: NSM
members swim at a motel pool in Los Angeles after an
anti-immigration rally.
