The prominent photo editor Patrick Witty was publicly accused of sexual misconduct on 29 January, in a report published on Vox.com by the journalist AJ Chavar. In his report, Chavar stated that Witty, who has worked at National Geographic, Time, Wired, and the New York Times, was investigated for sexual misconduct by National Geographic last Autumn; Chavar’s story added testimonies by women photographers, some anonymous but two named. In response, Witty has released this statement to the media, via his lawyer Stephen B. Pershing.
“I’m deeply sorry that some of my past behavior has been hurtful to women.
“I was raised by six powerful women – five older sisters and my mother, now 86 – who taught me to respect women and to fight for women. I’ve advocated and championed women’s advancement as photographers and editors my entire career.
“With firm conviction, I deny that I’ve ever engaged in any behavior that amounts to sexual aggression. I also strongly deny ever insinuating that I would give someone professional help – or withhold it – on condition of sexual favors or romantic interest. I’ve never been accused of wrongdoing of any kind in the workplace, so I was shocked and dismayed when I first learned of the accusations against me.
Tag: National Geographic
He’s a huge name in the industry, having worked at National Geographic, Time, Wired, and the New York Times (where he was part of a Pulitzer-winning team). But yesterday Patrick Witty was the subject of a long story published on Vox.com, which alleged he was investigated by National Geographic for sexual misconduct last Autumn. The story went on to add that more than 20 people had come forward to Vox.com to report experiencing, witnessing, or hearing corroboratory reports of his inappropriate behaviour.
Born in 1983 in the United States, Lucas Foglia grew up on a small farm some 30 miles east of New York city. His family grew their own food and lived a life away from the bustle of shopping centres and the surrounding suburbs. “The forest that bordered the farm was my childhood wilderness,” he says. “It was a wild place to play that was ignored by our neighbours, who commuted to Manhattan.” But in 2012 Hurricane Sandy charged through his family’s fields, flooding the farm and blowing down the oldest trees in the woods. “On the news, scientists linked the storm to climate change caused by human activity,” Foglia recalls. “I realised that if humans are changing the weather then there is no place on earth unaltered by people. I looked through my archive and set aside some photographs that became the seeds for my third book.”
When Mathias Depardon was released by the Turkish government on 09 June, he had been held in custody for 32 days. Detained on 08 May in Hasankeyf in South East Turkey, the French freelancer had been on his very first day of shooting on assignment for National Geographic. “It was my first day photographing the new settlement of Hasankeyf, 300km from Batman,” he explains, adding that he had been in the region for 10 days and was driving back from Gaziantep when he was stopped.
Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration has waged one of the most vicious counter-narcotics campaigns in the world, with even police estimates putting the number of people killed by law-enforcement officers and vigilantes in the past 12 months at more than 6000. Manila-based photographer Carlo Gabuco has been out on the streets since Duterte came to power, recording the fall-out from the violence
Despite an order for his deportation issued on 11 May, Mathieu Depardon remains in Turkish custody, his only contact with the outside world via his lawyer, Emine Şeker – who now has informed RSF that he began a protest hunger strike on 21 May
French photographer Mathias Depardon has been arrested in South East Turkey, according to Erol Önderoğlu, the…