Bystander Photojournalism Steals The Spotlight in London Coverage

http://pdnonline.com/pdn/newswire/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000977263&imw=Y

"Pick-ups, the term that wire services and picture agencies use for photos they get from bystanders, are nothing new. Notable examples include images of the Concord crash, the explosion of the shuttle Columbia, and some of the images (including video) of last December’s tsunami in Asia.

Picture agencies scour aggressively for pick-ups, with hopes of finding exclusive photographs they can fetch high prices for in bidding wars. Until now, agencies and wire services have used mostly physical canvassing to find the pictures. For instance, they call every witness they can identify and locate, or they stake out airports or other gathering points where witnesses are likely to pass by."