All posts tagged: rod blagojevich

The Denver Post: Photos – Rod Blagojevich Gets 14 Years in Prison for Corruption

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Images #32-#34 on The Denver Post website online photo gallery, “Rod Blagojevich Gets 14 Years in Prison for Corruption,” today feature my work covering Rod Blagojevich in 2008-2009: “CHICAGO—Rod Blagojevich, the ousted Illinois governor whose three-year battle against criminal charges became a national spectacle, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday, December 7, 2011, one of the stiffest penalties imposed for corruption in a state with a history of crooked politics. Blagojevich’s 18 convictions included allegations of trying to leverage his power to appoint someone to President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat to raise campaign cash or land a high-paying job.”

Interview with Dan Reimold of College Media Matters for Forthcoming Journalism Text Book

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Recently, a query from Dan Reimold of College Media Matters/University of Tampa landed in my inbox, requesting an interview for a forthcoming journalism text book he is working on now that will offer advice and experience from journalists. With his permission, I am publishing the contents of our online interview, which was conducted from July 1-5, 2011: DAN REIMOLD. What are the best pieces of advice you have received or given about capturing quality photos? AMANDA RIVKIN. Most of the best macro-level advice I have received has been from photographers-turned-editors like Santiago Lyon, the Director of Photography at The Associated Press, who has spoken to me and many, many other young photographers about the difference between taking pictures and making a picture and thinking about the frames you are taking as opposed to merely clicking away. Other photographers have undoubtedly helped along the way and too many to name, but the best advice I have found is only pertinent when it is later engrained in experience. AR. The one time I talked with photographer Chris …

New York Times: Jury Finds Blagojevich Guilty of Corruption

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Jury Finds Blagojevich Guilty of Corruption By MONICA DAVEY and EMMA G. FITZSIMMONS Published: June 27, 2011 CHICAGO — A jury on Monday convicted Rod R. Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, of a broad pattern of corruption, including charges that he tried to personally benefit from his role in selecting a replacement for President Obama in the United States Senate. Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat who former aides say once envisioned himself as a future presidential contender, was found guilty of most of the 20 federal counts against him: 17 counts of wire fraud, attempted extortion, soliciting bribes, conspiracy to commit extortion and conspiracy to solicit and accept bribes. As the verdicts were read aloud in court, one “guilty” following another, Mr. Blagojevich, who has always proclaimed his innocence, turned, his jaw clenched grimly, to look at his wife, Patti, in the front row. By then, she was already slumped back in the arms of a relative, eyes closed, wiping away tears. The verdict appeared to be the conclusion, at last, to the spectacle of …

From the Archive: Being with “The Bad Guy” on a Big Day

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Qaddafi is a topic of conversation in and of himself, and his family an entirely separate discussion as well. He is the center of gravity of his own regime, naturally. The U.S. has announced it is not engaging in regime change (although not quite in those words), but has struck the compound where he resides with a missile. On another war front, Der Spiegel has announced to an e-mail list of its subscribers that in its print edition to hit news stands tomorrow, it will publish three images of U.S. soldiers posing with dead Afghan civilians. The Washington Post writes, “The photos are among several hundred the Army has sought to keep under wraps as it prosecutes five members of the 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, for the alleged murders of three unarmed Afghan civilians last year.” The consequences may prove more devastating than the Abu Ghraib scandal. The Guardian follows up with additional details about a dozen members of the unit, already on trial in Seattle and confronting life in prison or the …

Newsletter: AP26, Rahmbo replaces Daley, Chicago Mayoral Election Images, new photo journal

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Newsletter just went out: Greetings!, A round-up of recents publications and news from Amanda Rivkin, photographer to kick off the springtime – because what says rebirth like a look back in time: AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY 26 The American Photography 26 photo annual arrived recently, featuring photographic highlights from 2009 in photojournalism, fine art and commercial photography. Included is this image I took (at left) from January 29, 2009 of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich in the Illinois State Capitol his final day in office for The New York Times: More on American Photography 26 both on the AI-AP website and the amanda rivkin, photographer blog. RAHM EMANUEL IS OUR NEW DALEY On February 22, 2011, Chicago got a new mayor – a rare, once-in-a-generation event if someone named Daley was in power at the time of your birth, growth or development. For the first time in more than 21 years and after nearly half a century of Daley family-rule at the helm of Chicago politics, a new mayor was anointed: Rahm Emanuel. Receiving 55% of the …

American Photography 26: The Book

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Finally received and had a chance to open the very beautiful American Photography 26: The credits are in the back of the book and look something like this: Amanda Rivkin http://www.amandarivkin.com amanda.rivkin@gmail.com Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich prepares his impeachment speech at the Illinois State Capitol, January 29, 2009., Springfield, Illinois, for the article “Blagojevich’s Final Day,” January 2009. Publication: The New York Times Photo Editor: Corn Schmid, David Scull, and Gina Privitere School: Georgetown University Graduate School of Foreign Service Writer: Monica Davey Agency: Polaris Images Client: The New York Times Publishing Company: The New York Times Co. — And the outside front and back covers:

Fortnight Journal: The Chicago Way

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The Chicago Way Fortnight Journal February 14, 2011 I. The Chicago Tribune arrived on the ledge outside my family’s kitchen. It was December. I was home for the holidays from graduate school. On the front page, the Tribune featured an early poll of 721 likely voters in the Chicago mayoral race. This was the first real contest in 21 years for the highest office in the city; The Fifth Floor; the mayor’s executive suite at Chicago City Hall. The poll showed a clear and early divide had emerged: There was Rahm Emanuel. And then there was everyone else. Or rather, there was Rahm Emanuel with a double-digit, 32 percent lead, and then a fragmented spread that delegated mere single-digit percentage points to the other six candidates, in alphabetical order: Roland Burris, Gery Chico, Danny Davis, Miguel del Valle, Reverend James Meeks and Carol Moseley Braun. As of this writing, the race has dwindled considerably. Davis and Meeks bowed out and endorsed Moseley Braun, making her the de facto black candidate in the race. Burris announced …

Michael Shaw of BAGnewsNotes’ Top 10 Visual Politics/Photojournalism Blogs List

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Michael Shaw is “the publisher of the popular progressive blog, BAGnewsNotes. BNN is the only blog dedicated 100% to visual politics and the analysis of news images, and also features original, politically-oriented images from America’s pre-eminent photojournalists.” Included on his list of the “top 10 visual politics/photojournalism blogs” for Blogs.com is Verve Photo and a link to recent work featured on the site by Amanda Rivkin. Also included on the list is The New York Times Lens blog, where I co-created and contributed a series of 13 interviews with young photographers last year for the “Turning Point” series that asked about an image that served as a source of inspiration and an image by each photographer that represented a turning point in their early careers. In addition to being featured in this series on the Lens blog, “Turning Point: Images That Inspire,” my work was also highlighted in “Must See: Images on the Web” and “Showcase: New President, Old Problems (2009 – The Year in Pictures)”. Additional blogs listed in Shaw’s top ten include No …

From the Archive: A Study in Bureaucratics

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After viewing “Bureaucratics” by Jan Banning at the HERE Arts Center in the West Village New York last night, I was determined to comb the archives for images of that ubiquitous figure on assignments – the bureaucrat – who only occasionally makes the cut of a final edit for publication or submitted for such. As Mr. Banning has gone to the trouble of forming clusters around nations and functions, my attempt to do the same with this selection of five from the archives. First, from my own country taken from assignments for The New York Times and the non-profit investigative website ProPublica in Iowa, the Illinois statehouse, and the stagnating Indiana town of Elkhart. Marriage license and vital records clerk Rebecca Badtram, Scott County Recorder’s Office in Davenport, Iowa on April 27, 2009, the first day same sex weddings are legal across Iowa. — Assistant to beleaguered Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Mary Stewart cleaning out her workspace adjacent to Blagojevich’s during the conclusion of his impeachment trial at the state capitol in Springfield, Illinois on …

Rahm Emanuel Residency Hearing

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If there is any photojournalistic exercise in the gymnastics of Chicago politics (or any assignment for that matter), it is finding that angle, that moment, or that scoop no one else has. My biggest coup to this end on the Chicago politics beat was when The New York Times helped secure exclusive access to former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich during his impeachment proceedings on January 29, 2009. But the show must go on. Rahm Emanuel raises his right hand before testifying at his residency hearing concerning his eligibility to run for mayor of Chicago in a basement Chicago Board of Elections conference room in Chicago, Ill. on December 14, 2010. And for some highlights from the day, courtesy of my old high school friend Eric Johnson, now a stringer for Reuters here in Chicago: Shown photographs of his North Side home largely emptied of furniture, Emanuel identified various rooms and then jabbed at his interlocutor when asked to identify the kitchen. “Very good Mr. Odelson. You pass U.S. history for $200,” Emanuel joked. […] Outgoing …