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James Oatway

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James Oatway (born 1978) is a South African photojournalist. He was the Chief Photographer of the Sunday Times (South Africa) until 2016. His work focuses mainly on political and social issues in Africa, migration and people affected by conflict.

Education

Oatway graduated from Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa with a Bachelor of Journalism degree.[1]

Work

James Oatway is best known for photographs he took in 2015 of the killing of Emmanuel Sithole during Xenophobia in South Africa.[2] Oatway's work has been published in the Sunday Times,[3] The Guardian,[4] The New York Times,[5] Time,[6] Science magazine [7] Harper's Magazine [8] and various other publications around the world. He has covered conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo [9] and the Central African Republic;[10] War in Afghanistan;[11] The earthquake in Haiti in 2010.[12] Oatway is a member of the picture agency Panos.

Emmanuel Sithole images

On April 18, 2015, Oatway was on assignment for the Sunday Times covering Xenophobic violence in Alexandra Township in Johannesburg when he photographed a group of South African men beating and stabbing Emmanuel Sithole, a Mozambican trader. Oatway and his colleague, reporter Beauregard Tromp, took Sithole to a nearby clinic but were told that no doctors were on duty.[13] They then took Sithole to Edenvale Hospital where he died shortly after arrival.

The photographs were published on the front page of the Sunday Times the following day and caused outrage across the region.[14]

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was deployed to Alexandra the next day in an attempt to quell the violence.[15]

South African President Jacob Zuma said that the pictures were “Unpatriotic” and “make South Africa look bad.” [16]

Four men were arrested and three men were convicted of Sithole's murder. Mthintha Bhengu was sentenced to 17 years in prison; Sifundo Mzimela was sentenced to 10 years in prison and another youth was released with a suspended sentence.[17]

In handing down the sentence, Magistrate Lucas Van der Schyff said: "This specific murder trial caught the entire country's attention because it was caught on camera. We were forced to witness this gruesome attack. By looking at the photos we were forced to share his pain, as he laid in the mud begging for mercy,"[18]

Controversy

James Oatway was heavily criticized for not having intervened to save Emmanuel Sithole's life. Oatway told TIME “I don’t have any regrets about taking the pictures,” adding: "I think my presence there distracted them and did discourage them."[19] In response to criticism that the pictures were published he said:"It’s not easy to look at and I understand that some people might be offended by that, but really people have to know what’s happening, and people have to see the brutality and the vulgarity of what’s going on, so I’ve got no regrets that it’s on the front page,".[20] Oatway wrote an article about his experience of the incident which was published in the Sunday Times.[21] According to Oatway his only regret was that he wasn't able to get Sithole to a hospital in time to save his life.[22]

Greg Marinovich, the Pulitzer prize winning photographer and author of The Bang-Bang Club defended Oatway's actions. He wrote: "Would Oatway sleep better had he been able to save Sithole? Surely the answer is yes, but the photographer's duty was to capture those searing images and hope that society will act."[23]

In 2010 Oatway was in Haiti covering the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that struck the Caribbean country. He was one of a group of photographers who photographed the death of Fabienne Cherisma, a fifteen-year-old girl who was allegedly shot by police during the unrest that had taken hold of Port-au-Prince.[24][25] Oatway's images of the dead Cherisma featured in a portfolio that was awarded an “Award of Excellence” in the Pictures of the Year International Awards (POYi).[26] Oatway and the other photographers were criticized for acting in an inhumane fashion and benefitting from the death of Cherisma.[27][28]

Awards

2018: Visa d’or Région of Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée Feature award (Visa Pour l'Image, Perpignan, France) [29]

2016: CNN Multichoice African Journalist of the Year Awards 2016 - Winner: Mohamed Amin Photojournalism Award.[30]

2016: Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards - Winner: South African Story of the Year[31]

2016: Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards - Winner: News Photography[32]

2015: Vodacom Journalist of the Year - Overall National Winner (South Africa).[33]

2015: Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards - National Photography Winner.[34]

2014: Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards: Finalist-News Photography.[35]

2013: Pictures of the Year International (POYi) - 2nd Place: Newspaper Photographer of the Year.[36]

2013: Pictures of the Year International (POYi) - 2nd Place: Newspaper News Picture Story.[37]

2011: Pictures of the Year International (POYi) - Award of Excellence: Multimedia Project (Impact 2010).[38]

2011: Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards - Central Region Photography Winner.[39]

2010: Prix Bayeux-Calvados (des correspondants de guerre) - Finalist.[40]

2010: Sony Profoto Awards: News Image of the Year.[41]

2009: Pictures of the Year International (POYi) - Award of Excellence: Newspaper News Picture Story.[42]

2008: Abdul Shariff Award (in Memory of Photographers who lost their lives in the line of duty).

Honours

In 2018 James Oatway's work on the notorious "Red Ants" eviction force in South Africa was awarded the prestigious Visa d'or Feature Award at Visa pour l'Image international festival of photojournalism in Perpignan, France.[43]

In 2015 he was on the panel of judges for the News Division of the Pictures of the Year International Awards held at the University of Missouri's School of Journalism.[44]

In 2013 he was selected as a Taco Kuiper grantee.[45]

He placed second in the 71st Pictures of the Year International “Newspaper Photographer of the Year” Awards.[46] In 2016 he was the recipient of the Mohamed Amin Photojournalism Award at the prestigious CNN Multichoice African Journalism Awards.[47]

Exhibitions

2018: Les Fourmis Rouges/The Red Ants - Visa Pour l'Image, Perpignan, France. [48]

2018: Killing the Other (with Alon Skuy), Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa. [49]

2016: Enemies and Friends, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa.[50]

Notes

South African radio interview: http://www.thedailyvox.co.za/photographer-james-oatway-defends-pictures-of-murdered-mozambican-emmanuel-sithole/

Interview on CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/20/africa/south-africa-xenophobia-killing-photos/

Interview on BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32377891

  1. ^ "Rhodes University". Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  2. ^ "Behind the Photos of a Brutal Killing in South Africa". 23 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Bands of killers spread terror in DRC".
  4. ^ Burke, Jason (16 June 2016). "Soweto uprising 40 years on: The image that shocked the world". The Guardian.
  5. ^ Gevisser, Mark (9 August 2016). "Opinion | A Seismic Shock for Jacob Zuma". The New York Times.
  6. ^ "Behind the Photos of a Brutal Killing in South Africa". 23 April 2015.
  7. ^ Cohen, Jon (24 June 2016). "South Africa's bid to end AIDS". Science. 353 (6294): 18–21. Bibcode:2016Sci...353...18C. doi:10.1126/science.353.6294.18. PMID 27365434.
  8. ^ Pogue, James (March 2019). "The Myth of White Genocide". Harper's Magazine. March 2019.
  9. ^ "Second Place | News Picture Story - Newspaper".
  10. ^ http://m.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/?articleId=8615596
  11. ^ "Life Force Magazine".
  12. ^ "Photographing Fabienne: Part Ten – Interview with James Oatway". 19 March 2010.
  13. ^ "The brutal death of Emmanuel Sithole".
  14. ^ "Emmanuel Sithole was a good person - family".
  15. ^ "Xenophobia: SA Army deployed in Alexandra, Durban". 21 April 2015.
  16. ^ "BusinessLIVE".
  17. ^ "Sithole killers sentenced to between 10 and 17 years behind bars". February 2016.
  18. ^ "Emmanuel Sithole's killers jailed". February 2016.
  19. ^ "Behind the Photos of a Brutal Killing in South Africa". 23 April 2015.
  20. ^ "Photographer James Oatway defends pictures of murdered Mozambican Emmanuel Sithole". 20 April 2015.
  21. ^ "Emmanuel Sithole: Chronicle of a killing in cold blood".
  22. ^ "Behind the Photos of a Brutal Killing in South Africa". 23 April 2015.
  23. ^ "A South African murder through the lens | Politics | al Jazeera".
  24. ^ Carroll, Rory (20 January 2010). "Haiti looting horror: Girl shot dead by police for taking paintings". The Guardian.
  25. ^ "Photographing Fabienne: Part Ten – Interview with James Oatway". 19 March 2010.
  26. ^ "Award of Excellence | Feature Story - Impact 2010".
  27. ^ "This is 15-year-old Fabienne Cherisma, shot dead by a policeman after looting three picture frames. | Making the News | Stories | COLORS Magazine".
  28. ^ "Brouhaha in Sweden following Award to Paul Hansen for his Image of Fabienne Cherisma". 23 March 2011.
  29. ^ "Visa d'or Awards (Feature / Paris Match News / Daily Press)".
  30. ^ "Asha Ahmed Mwilu & Rashid Idi named CNN Multichoice African Journalists 2016".
  31. ^ "Winners announced for 2016 Standard Bank Sikuvile Awards".
  32. ^ "Winners announced for 2016 Standard Bank Sikuvile Awards".
  33. ^ "Vodacom Now!".
  34. ^ "Vodacom Now!".
  35. ^ http://www.pdmedia.org.za/pressreleases/2014/WinnersPressReleaseMay2014.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  36. ^ "Second Place | Photographer of the Year - Newspaper".
  37. ^ "Second Place | News Picture Story - Newspaper".
  38. ^ "Award of Excellence | Feature Story - Impact 2010".
  39. ^ "More Vodacom Journalist of the Year regional winners".
  40. ^ "JAMES OATWAY bio". Archived from the original on 24 July 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  41. ^ "PhotoComment Issue 14".
  42. ^ "Award of Excellence | Newspaper News Picture Story".
  43. ^ "Visa d'or Awards (Feature / Paris Match News / Daily Press)".
  44. ^ "Pictures of the Year International".
  45. ^ "Previous Grantees | Journalism.co.za". Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  46. ^ "Second Place | Photographer of the Year - Newspaper".
  47. ^ "CNN Journalist Award: 2016". Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  48. ^ "James Oatway".
  49. ^ "PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION: Xenophobia chooses random targets every day". 16 May 2018.
  50. ^ "Enemies and Friends: Documenting African Conflict". 2 July 2016.
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