Ropey snappers flip over rules

JAKARTA (JP): Taking pictures is not easy. A photographer first has to find a strategic position to produce a good picture.

That was the issue yesterday when local photographers filed a protest against the boxing officials over the rule prohibiting them from taking ringside pictures at the Soemantri Brodjonegoro sports hall, South Jakarta.

The closest they were allowed was about three meters from the ring.

"How can we take good pictures of fighting boxers from such a distance. We can use telephoto lenses but we can't avoid taking pictures of the ringbelts as well," said one angry photographer.

Other journalists argued international boxing rules permitted photographers to take pictures from the ringside.

The deputy head of the boxing organizing committee, Imron ZS, insisted he would not budge, saying he was applying a local rule and not an international one. (jsk)