Photojournalism as hard work

Chris Wilkins transmits a photo using the Hasselblad Dixel digital transmitter during a missile attack on Dharan (Saudi Arabia) on the first night of the Gulf War, January 17, 1991.

The craft of the press photographer in the middle and the end of the 20th century required not only courage in the light of the constant danger, talent of the photographer, knowledge of news, politics, sports, the ability to have time to think and take pictures on the go, it also required to be an excellent editor, able to choose the best pictures for transfer to other parts of the world, and, most importantly, powerful backs and arms were needed.

Today we have become accustomed to the enormous size of photo files and, thanks to the Internet, the monstrously fast speeds of their transfer. A professional photographer for capturing and delivering images to the other end of the world needs a set of equipment that can fit in a backpack. However, the situation with the luggage of visiting photographers of an earlier era - some twenty years ago - was much less pleasant.
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Chris Wilkins recalls how massive his on-site set was: it consisted of five large rigid containers containing everything needed for working in the development room and transmitting equipment. The first two containers contained equipment for processing the film and its drying, the third was equipment for printing enlarged samples for shipment. In the fourth container were a mechanical typewriter and sheets of adhesive paper to create comments on the photos. And finally, in the fifth box was packed analog photo transmitter for sending photos.

The weight of the entire kit was several tens of kilograms, while there were no cameras or lenses - the main armament of the photographer - was not in it.


This sample of the black and white transmitter of the United Press International news agency UPI Model 16-S was used until about 1991. The transmitter is connected to the old-fashioned telephone in order to show how the transmission was carried out. The sample was placed on the drum and slowly scanned, while the signal was transmitted via a telephone line. The transfer of one image took 8-9 minutes.

The audio signal of the transmitter consisted of beeps, glowing the atmosphere without that painful procedure, during which the photograph was wound on the drum, and the laser beam read it. The ideal connection made it possible to transmit one color photograph in 26 minutes, international sending required almost twice as long time, sometimes an hour for a photograph.



In 1988, France Press began using Hasselblad Dixel, the first digital transmitter for 35 mm film. For the first time, a new device was tested at the Olympic Games in Calgary, and the news agency gained a significant advantage over its competitors. The transfer of color photography took two to three minutes, and the quality and clarity did not suffer. The AFP photographers have already relaxed, waiting for the end of the analog nightmare.

However, one of the drawbacks of the new machine was its extreme fragility, which did not interfere with working perfectly in the office; while traveling, computer boards and an optical scanning module were disconnected. We had to transport a tiny computer in a huge box with 30-centimeter foam foam armor.

The AFP photographers soon became computer geeks, and the frequent analysis of the new apparatus, its constant revival, contributed to this. Dixel was so unreliable that soon the old heavy and slow but familiar equipment was sometimes taken as a backup, and this again added kilograms to the luggage.

A year later, the Associated Press introduced Leafax, an independent scanner and transmitter, into use. The first generation was analog, later digital models appeared.

Digital cameras appeared in 1994, and already in the 1996th it was possible to forget about the film. At first, the cameras had something on the order of 1 megapixel, and the file sizes were also small, but manufacturers quickly began to improve the situation. Today, employees of news agencies are sending files in dozens of megapixels with amazing quality, and it is impossible to distinguish film from digital image. Even mobile phones have such good cameras that they are not neglected by professionals. And, fortunately, modern photojournalists are unlikely to again have to face the old slow and cumbersome technology.