Rescue | Islelanders

September 25, 2014 by Islelanders

This man’s shawl-wrapped face immediately caught my eye as the AFM patrol boat he was on berthed at its base in the middle of the night. I felt the colours of the migrants’ clothing worked well together. I shot it on a medium telephoto lens to isolate the main subject from everyone else, whilst still keeping enough detail in the other areas so that we could still make out the other migrants different facial expressions. Canon EOS-1D X Canon EF70-200mm […]

Categories: Armed Forces of Malta, Asylum Seeker, Detention, photography, Photojournalism, Rescue, Uncategorized • Tags: Photography, photojournalism, Rescue, Rescue: Armed Forces of Malta; Asylum seekers; migrants; photojournalism; Malta

Leave a comment

July 29, 2014 by Islelanders

These three migrants, huddled under grey blankets, were waiting to disembark from the AFM patrol boat after arriving in the middle of the night. The way the little bit of available light sculpted the shape of their faces and the blankets caught my eye. The only thing I’m not too happy with in this image is the part of the boat’s structure on the right. Luckily, being a dark grey, it’s not too distracting. Some people might argue that […]

Categories: Armed Forces of Malta, Departure, Malta, photography, Photojournalism, Rescue • Tags: photojournalism, Rescue, Rescue: Armed Forces of Malta; Asylum seekers; migrants; photojournalism; Malta

Leave a comment

Being Human

July 25, 2014 by Islelanders

I opted to shoot the arrival of this group of migrants from up on the bastions overlooking the Maritime Squadron’s base, rather than take up the army’s offer of access to the quay, because along with other journalists, I was using the location to cover the arrival of a boat in which 25 migrants had died. That particular operation was taking several hours – it wasn’t worth risking leaving our vantage point and then possibly missing the moment […]

Categories: Armed Forces of Malta, Malta, photography, Photojournalism, Rescue • Tags: Malta, Malta: Armed Forces of Malta; Malta; Rescue; photojournalism, Rescue

Leave a comment

July 18, 2014 by Islelanders

I was allowed to board the AFM’s patrol boat when it arrived at its base carrying sixty-five rescued migrants. One of the advantages of covering arrivals in the middle of the night was that very few journalists would be present so we’d have a lot more freedom to move around than is the norm. Though it was pretty dark, the reflective space blankets (sometimes referred to as thermal blankets) draped around the migrants were bouncing enough light around to enable […]

Categories: Armed Forces of Malta, Asylum Seeker, Malta, Photojournalism, Refugee, Rescue • Tags: Asylum seekers: child; rescue, Malta, photojournalism, Rescue

Leave a comment

June 9, 2014 by Islelanders

When the whole press corps descends onto the base to cover arrivals, we’re usually restricted to a fixed point position which doesn’t give much freedom to get different pictures from each other. However, in this case, only three members of the media, including myself, were present – it was a middle of the night start to the working day – so we were free to pretty much go wherever we wanted as long as we didn’t get in the way […]

Categories: Armed Forces of Malta, Malta, photography, Photojournalism, Rescue • Tags: armed forces of malta, Libya, Malta, Photography, photojournalism, Rescue

March 31, 2014 by Islelanders

Out on the quay jutting out into Anchor Bay, seawater and spray were splattering us, as the weather was terrible. I wrapped my camera in a plastic bag to try protecting it from the elements. It wasn’t so much the water that worried me – it was the highly corrosive salt. Canon EOS 5D Mark II Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Focal length 17mm Aperture Priority f/9 1/200 sec ISO 200

Categories: Asylum Seeker, Malta, photography, Photojournalism, Refugee, Rescue • Tags: Asylum seekers: child; rescue, Malta, Photography, photojournalism, Rescue, rescue; man; asylum seeker, somalia

Leave a comment

January 23, 2014 by Islelanders

Child rescued by Armed Forces of Malta The child’s weathered face immediately caught my eye as the AFM rescue vessel was berthing at its base. As the boat slowly manoeuvred into position, I waited till the red flowing robe gave me the interesting background, then quickly shot a couple of frames. Canon EOS 1D Mark III Canon EF 70-200mm L/2.8L IS USM Focal length 200mm Manual exposure f/3.5 1/1000 sec ISO 400

Categories: Armed Forces of Malta, Asylum Seeker, children, photography, Photojournalism, Rescue • Tags: Asylum seekers: child; rescue, Photography, photojournalism, Rescue

Leave a comment

Pretty Bay

January 23, 2014 by Islelanders

Pretty Bay This was a picture I had seen in my mind’s eye many times before I actually took it. I had long wanted to capture an image showing an almost absurd juxtaposition of contrasting elements, and this occasion certainly provided it in full. Canon EOS 1D Mark III Canon EF 70-200mm L/2.8L IS USM Focal length 115mm Manual exposure f/3.5 1/100 sec ISO 500

Categories: Malta, Rescue • Tags: armed forces of malta, Asylum seekers: child; rescue, asylum seekers; Somalia; AFM, Malta, Rescue

Leave a comment

Helping hand

January 17, 2014 by Islelanders

Helping hand Canon EOS 1D Mark II Canon EF 70-200mm L/2.8L IS USM Focal length 70mm Aperture Priority f/4 1/1250 sec ISO 200

Categories: Living in Malta, Malta, photography, Refugee • Tags: Malta, migration, Photography, Rescue, somalia

Leave a comment

Waiting

January 16, 2014 by Islelanders

Waiting Side lighting is always going to look better than direct on-camera flash. I had noticed the colours of these immigrants’ clothing as they stood against the side of a rusting container, and waited for the light of a TV camera off to the side to illuminate them. Very often I find myself waiting for headlamps of passing vehicles to light a scene. Canon EOS 1D Mark II Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 Focal length 50mm Manual exposure f/1.4 1/30 sec […]

Categories: Living in Malta, Malta, Refugee • Tags: Asylum seekers, Malta, migration, Rescue

Leave a comment

Prayer

January 13, 2014 by Islelanders

Prayer I noticed this half-barefoot immigrant fervently praying at the stern of the army patrol boat as it berthed at its base and instantly knew that that was going to be the picture. I’ve often been asked why I bother covering so many arrivals at the same base, with people saying it’s always the same sort of scene. Except that it isn’t. The challenge is to always spot something different, come up with a picture that hasn’t been seen before. […]

Categories: Detention, Living in Malta, Rescue • Tags: Malta, migrant, Rescue

Leave a comment