A Canon EOS 5D Mark III used by Jason P Howe after an assignment in Afghanistan [Copyright Martin Middlebrook 2011]
Pulitzer prize winner Javier Manzano and photojournalist Eric Bouvet, winner of five World Press Photo awards, are set to pass on their experience and skills in the six-day workshop, due to take place in Andalucia, Spain from 6-12 November.
Organised by UK photographers Jason P Howe and Martin Middlebrook, the course will cover areas such as assignment planning, first aid drills, ‘IED awareness’ and filing photos from the battlefield.
The workshop’s website states: ‘No professional soldier is sent to a war zone without extensive training.
‘Photographers who operate in exactly the same battle space without any training, experience or proper preparation put themselves in increased danger and potentially put others around them at risk too.’
The training will aim to familiarise participants with the various threats they may encounter and ‘educate them on how to deal with these dangers and to work with a higher degree of safety and security’.
Organisers stress, however, that the workshop will not qualify participants to work in a conflict zone, ‘nor are we actively encouraging people to enter dangerous situations…’
The workshop costs €1,500 including meals (ration packs will be provided during field exercises).
More than 1,100 journalists and other media staff have been killed in the line of duty over the past 12 years, according to the International Federation of Journalists which campaigns for greater safety and monitors press freedom violations.
For full details visit www.conflictphotographyworkshops.com
