Picture Perfect

TOM STODDART / GETTY IMAGES

DAZED: Tom Stoddart captures the anguish of a mother in Sarajevo

Anyone in the wrong place at the right time can create a noteworthy photograph. The technology of picture taking is now so foolproof that it routinely trumps the artistry of professionals in breaking news. The most articulate images from the July 7 bombings in London were shot by passengers with cell phones. The torturers at Abu Ghraib recorded their own crimes with cheap digital devices and created some of the first icons of the 21st century.

In the introduction to his refreshingly broad-minded book Witness: The World's Greatest News Photographers, Reuel Golden acknowledges these challenges for photojournalists. But...

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