Thursday was a busy day for Herald photographer Sitthixay Ditthavong. He photographed a building demolition at 2pm, then a mother and daughter at 3pm, and from there he was dispatched to Mascot Police Station, where he filed the pictures from the earlier jobs and braced for the mayhem that might accompany the big story of the day, the arrival of one of the so-called ISIS brides.
For months, Australia has debated whether women and children who’ve been living in Syrian camps since the fall of Islamic State should be allowed to return; controversy over the repatriation of this particular group of four women – three of whom now face terror-related charges – and their children has raged for weeks. Their eventual arrival on Australian shores despite the government’s apparent opposition was a huge story. Every media outlet was hungry for pictures; words are wonderful, but in cases like this, they’re just not enough.
Capturing that photo wasn’t easy, however. These news events require a whole team; we had several reporters and photographers at the airport and at Mascot Police Station, plus editors co-ordinating them from the office while following flight paths online. The planes were due at 5.30pm, which was nerve-wrackingly close to our print deadline. Everyone had to work fast. We knew that if the planes landed on time we would have a front-page story, but there was no guarantee of a photo.
Sitthixay was stationed at Mascot because it’s the police station closest to the airport; if people are arrested as they arrive into Sydney, they are often taken there. His afternoon would involve hours of sitting around, followed by the chance of a fleeting glimpse of a woman arriving and leaving in a car. The stakes were high.
The Herald’s photo co-editor, Danielle Smith, understands what it’s like. “These jobs are why you want to be a photojournalist,” she says. “The pressure is intense but they love working as a team.”
These jobs are also complex. Sitthixay would be shooting through a car window in the dark. As Danielle explained to me, “It’s a really technical thing to shoot through a car window in that situation. Other people’s flashes trigger each other, flashes don’t work, the car is moving so you have to make sure your feet don’t get run over, there are TV cameras and people with mobile phones in your face; it’s intense. No photographer wants to ring and tell the desk they’ve missed it when everyone else has got it.
“The photographers would have practised it over and over again [before the person arrives]. Sitt would have done that 100 times that night, and no matter how much you practise, it doesn’t mean you’re going to get it. The photo has to be sharp, you don’t know where they’re sitting in that car. An element of it is luck, you have to be at the right spot and the right time. It definitely requires experience – you talk to photographers and they might say they’ve only had one shot like that in their career. They’re very hard.”
On Thursday night, everything came together for Sitthixay. He sent the photo through to Danielle just before 7pm. “His adrenaline would have been high when he was filing, because he knew he had the shot,” she told me. Others were able to get video, but he was the only one who captured a still photograph. “His was the only one whose flash got through.”
Photographers from different outlets are competitive, but there’s a professional respect there, too. “[Chief Herald photojournalist] Kate Geraghty, who was also there, said they applauded Sitt last night, when he left,” Danielle says.
The Herald’s photography is one of the elements that sets it apart. Sitthixay’s news photograph on Thursday night was a highlight among many over the past few months, which include – but are far from limited to – Sam Mooy’s incredible work from the riots in Alice Springs, Kate Geraghty’s beautiful pictures from Lebanon, and Audrey Richardson’s evocative essay on Sydney’s nightlife.
They produce this top-quality work not only because they are so talented and professional, but because of the tireless support of their picture editors, Danielle Smith and Nicky Catley, because of how closely they work with the Herald’s journalists, and because they are a close, supportive team. “The best part about it, is they all cheer each other on no matter who gets the photo,” says Danielle. “It’s like they all get the shot, no matter who gets it.”
Enjoy your weekend.
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