Jonas Bendiksen is a photojournalist who travels the world routinely by taking long-distance flights to his assignments. Of course he enjoys traveling as he enjoys his work.
The fly in the ointment is that he is beginning to realize that by occupying one seat in a jetliner, he feels personally accountable for the release of about eight metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. That’s roughly the same amount, he says, if he drove a gas-guzzling Hummer SUV every day for an entire year.
What’s a conscience-stricken photojournalist to do? He looks at the carbon trading system that has been floated for years. He proposes that when a magazine sends a photographer on an assignment, it should be an industry standard that the purchase of carbon emission offsets becomes an accepted part of the photographer’s invoice, along with all the other expenses such as car hire, hotel bills, room service, digital fees etc.
These are the kind of musings you’ll find at the Magnum Blog, a group blog where Magnun blog members/photographers can post images and share their behind-the-lens perspective. It is a medium that illuminates “the stories behind the images” as well as a forum to discuss motivation for projects and to explore issues that affect all photographers.
[Site: Magnum Blogs]