Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-09-06)

6 31 August 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

IT’SBEENa yearsincetheCambridge

Analyticascandalputa majordentin

Facebook’sreputation,andnowitssubsidiary

company,Instagram,is embroiledin a row

overoneof its‘vetted’advertisingpartners.

Thecompanyin question,HYP3R,has

beenbannedbyInstagramafterallegedly

collecting(‘scraping’)a largeamountof data

onusers.USwebsiteBusinessInsiderinitially

ranthestory,claimingthatit spoketo

numerousformerHYP3Remployeesas

wellaslookingintoitsmarketingmaterials.

‘Instagram’slaxprivacypracticesleta

trustedpartnertrackmillionsof users’

physicallocations,secretlysavetheirstories,

andfloutitsrules,’thundereda recent

headline.Thedatawasreportedlyscraped

fromInstagramStoriesandpostsfrom

publiclocationpagesin ordertotrackusers.

HYP3Revenbuilta tooltodownloadand

saveInstagramStoriesrelatedtolocations

of interest,it is claimed.Aswellasbanning

HYP3R,Instagramrespondedbysayingit

hasmadea ‘productchangethatshould

helppreventothercompaniesfromscraping

publiclocationpagesin thisway.’HYP3R’s

responsetowhatit saysare‘fundamentally

wrong’CambridgeAnalytica comparisons

is at hyp3r.com.

Instagrambansadvertiser

for ‘scraping’ user data

This year’s bird contest

winners are flying high

THEWINNERSof thisyear’sBird

Photographerof theYearhavebeen

announced,withthetopprizegoingtoa

memorableimageof a DalmatianPelican

takenat a frozenLakeKerkiniin Greece.The

image,entitled‘DancingonIce,’wastakenby

CaronSteelefromtheUK,baggingherthetop

prizeof £5,000.It wasalsothewinningimage

in theBestPortraitcategoryof thecompetition.

Thecontestis sponsoredbyOlympus,and

featuresTV’sChrisPackhamasitsheadjudge.

‘Winning this competition is getting harder,’ he

observes.‘Andthat’sthewayit shouldbe

becausephotographyis evolvingmorerapidly

thanever:it is visiblyedgingclosertobeing

abletofacilitateperfection.Likelifeitselfit has

hardware– thecameras– andsoftware– the

informationtheycollect– andwe’vegone

fromtheNeolithictotheNexus6 in about

40 years.’MeanwhileThomasHinschefrom

GermanyreceivedtheBestPortfolioaward,

winninganOlympusOM-DE M1MarkII and

ED300mmF/4IS PROlens.Fulldetails of all

the winners at http://www.birdpoty.co.uk.

For the latest newsvisit http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk

© CARON STEELE/BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Visitamateurphotographersubs.co.uk/44AB,or seep50.

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CurrentAPOYleader

CaronSteele’saward-

winningpictureofa

pelicanonGreece’s

frozen Lake Kerkini

INSIDEthespaceof justa fewhours,a Kickstarterto

raisefundsfora newbookcelebratingtheworkof

legendarypressphotographerJohnDowningsurpassed

itstarget.AschiefphotographerontheDailyExpress,

Downing’scareerspannedoverfivedecades,takinghim

tomorethan 100 countriesacrossallsevencontinents.

Sadly,heis nowterminallyill. Atthetimeof writing,the

Kickstarterhasmorethan 200 backersandhasalready

raised£12,500(ofan£8000target).Thebook,called

JohnDowning:Legacywillbea hardbackvolumewith 192

pagesof hisfinestwork.It is beingpublishedbyBluecoat

Press,whichhasrunmanysuccessfulKickstartersin the

past.Alsoworkingontheprojectis regularAPcontributor

PeterDench,aswellasanothericonicwarphotographer,

TomStoddart.LookoutforaninterviewbyPeterDench

withJohnDowningin anupcomingissueof AP.Although

thetargethasbeenmet,youcanstillgetinvolved.Pledging

at least£25willsecureyoua copyof thebook,whileextra

incentivesareavailableforthosewhopledgegreater

amounts. See http://bit.ly/johndowning for more details.

Fleet Street legend is Kickstarter success

Printsareavailableofsomeof

Downing’s most famous images

© JOHN DOWNING

© HYP3R