Not the best work I've seen from Mr. Morris. I understand it is a new medium for him and there is a giant learning curve to shooting video which is why I believe still photographers should remain still photographers and videographers stay videographers. I think Mr. Morris could have made much more of an emotional appeal and given us much more information about the devastating situation in the Gulf with the use of still images. His work in the past has effectively brought the horror of war and civil conflicts to the forefront with amazing images and he's shown us the world of politics effectively for years. I hope to see more of Mr. Morris' still photography in the future.

While I truly appreciate the artistic aspects of your video as a New Orleans resident I think if the video is to visually inform the world population of the up close and personal damage created by this oil disaster I would have filmed in color. I so LOVE b/w, tilt-shift and dramatic music. The lush bayous and wetlands are contradicted by the slimy, thick invasion of oil. The dichotomy of beautiful fauna and flora invaded by thick, black oil serves as a more illustrative view of the damage to our environment and way of life. As an artist first I feel your video is beautiful. Everything about it. But as someone whose life has been drastically disrupted I think for me the meaning is lost when converted/captured in b/w video. The slow motion of workers cleaning a pelican is very emotional and powerful. The fisherman was tremendous. But in all honesty I feel that still captures of these scenes and people would be so much more powerful. I would love to see the still images much more than the video. I know that access down here is getting virtually impossible thanks to BP's control of the media and fines but more variety in wildlife and wetlands would have made your video more powerful. Christopher stills from your video would be so much more effective. At least to me. I am in constant wonder of the natural beauty that this part of Louisiana contains.

Christopher, this video hit me really hard. Although from Pennsylvania, I have friends in Louisiana and have gone to the Gulf a few times so far to photograph the disaster. I don't feel the world realizes the gravity of these such issues, and I thank you for creating this beautifully heart breaking video to help communicate truth and social injustice. I am inspired by your and VII Photo's work in tremendous ways, and aspire do one day have an impact similar to yours. Thank you so much.  -Jordan  http://www.jordanbushphotography.com/Oil/FWS/12868500_QfZcU#928915471_LouBv

And the other.... http://photographylot.blogspot.com/2010/07/black-tide-chris-morris.html I really wanted to like this. It's an important subject, this whole Gulf Oil 'spill' (it's not a spill ok, my kids spill their drink and it gets cleaned up in ten seconds - this is a...mmmm...what's the word....irresponsible fuckup of immense proportions that reveals the vicious consequences of our continued rape of the planet's resources.) Anyway, it's an important subject. And let me point out that I admire Christopher Morris a great deal and he is an incredibly inspiring, talented and astute photographer. I have the book of his My America Series and it's one of the best things I have ever seen, plus he's a charming chap too. But this piece doesn't really work for me. When the audio started I actually rolled my eyes and thought "Not another emotive plinky plonk bit of ambient piano." Honestly. Enough with the slow piano noodling please. Is it added to Final Cut exports by default or something? Don't get me wrong; I love the piano. There's one in our house (which I don't know how to play). Thelonious Monk gets me every time. But it's done to death on documentary pieces. It's like black and white - it's so cliche. Oh wait. This piece is in black and white too. Oops. Don't get me wrong, I love black and white. I shoot black and white film all the time. I have boxes of the stuff. So I'm as guilty of this as the next man but sometimes it can feel a bit like saying "Hey this is serious, and just so you know it's serious, I'm going to shoot it in B&W, because that's how serious it is." It can feel a bit like a self conscious choice, where as a viewer you find yourself asking the question "why exactly is this in black & white." In these vibrant colour hi-def digital days its almost become a gimmick, you know, like tilt shift. Ah. This whole piece looks like it was shot with a tilt shift. OK. Don't get me wrong, I use tilt shift too. I love swinging the lens on my 4x5, I just try not to do it too much. Sometimes things can get a bit tired if you labour the point. Um...Is that 9 minutes long, and in slow motion? I have to confess I started skipping at 3 1/2 minutes, when the piano started to grate, I'd got bored of the tilt shift and it became clear that the concerned looking guy who was having his portrait shot wasn't going to open his mouth and speak a few words. So. Chop half the footage out. Give me a few words from the guys in the video (just one or two perfectly formed sentences would do it) get rid of that damn piano and ease up on the tilt shift and you'd have a stunningly shot little documentary piece. Because there are moments of genius here and there are several points in particular where all the elements - the B&W, the slow motion, the selective focus - all come together in absolute harmony. That shot of the Pelicans is incredible. They look petrified with fear and confusion. That moment works wonderfully and I find it is much better at eliciting an emotional response than the still I have reproduced above. It shows the power the moving image can sometimes have over the static Also, the woman's reaction around 3 minutes - a mix of concern, exhaustion and frustration - speaks volumes. Here's the thing. I know that sometimes it can be best to let the atmosphere wash over the viewer and to tell the story in a way that searches for rather forces a response. Something that asks you what you think rather than tells you how to react. I can see it in places here. This is perhaps what troubles me. In places it is so good that when it's not, it feels like a huge disappointment. Ultimately though, I'm looking at this video as a piece of journalism. And in it, these people look poised; as if they have something really important to say. Maybe it's just me, but after 10 minutes, I'm not quite sure what that something is. Posted by Tom White on Saturday, July 10, 2010

I couldn't resist  posting these...    At least I drew some emotion out of them... http://contactcollective.blogspot.com/2010/07/oh-dear-christopher-morris.html MONDAY, 12 JULY 2010 Oh dear Christopher Morris! So what better way back from holidays and into the land of regular blogging than to court a little controversy! This week I watched Christopher Morris' new multimedia video 'Black Tide' about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.....and it is THE worst thing I have seen in months! Completely self indulgent, the piece was shot in a day and was ruthlessly edited down to 9 minutes 11 seconds of banality. At least 6 minutes of it is lens tilted video of oily water with doom laden strings, the rest a few shots of boats and 3 slowed down video portraits of 3 unnamed, mute subjects. By the time I got to the woman in the shot above I was actually laughing, so caked on and contextless was the emotion. Finally around 8 and a half minutes in we are told that this woman's husband used to be a fisherman and is now unemployed because of the spill...which is shit...but let her tell us so...please! It is a real shame from Morris, whose 'Dear Leader' while also in need of a little snipping down time wise, is a bold attempt by a photojournalist to move his motion work toward art video, something which few are even trying. For more insight into the enormity of the oil spill than can be garnered by wasting 9 minutes of your life on this dreary vanity project, see the spill transposed to other locations including the UK here. POSTED BY CONTACT AT 16:11LABELS: ANNA S, MULTIMEDIA

Extraordinary in every way. Beautiful and sad. Thanks Chris.

non ho parole,non servono parole,solo un profondo senso di colpa,mi sento cosi' triste e non so come spiegare ad i miei bimbi tutto questo.

Chris. Excellent work. Your moving images are almost as good as your stills, and an important counterpoint to what passes for television news coverage these days.

What a riveting piece. I certainly felt the tension you were going for -- these scenes are incredibly sad and intimate, yet impossible to look away from. I have to say that at first I was wishing for color, because it's so much easier to see the oil when it's juxtaposed with vivid tones. But then I started to notice the textures you had found -- slick puddles in the grainy sand, round globs tangled in spiky grasses ... it was all about the interplay of textures. So yes, color would have been nice and easy. But nothing about this oil spill has been nice or easy. Well done.

Chris, very powerful, very emotional. I hadn't realized you moved into the realm of video. Always admired your work throughout the years. You are a very gifted storyteller. Hope things are going well.