David Shankbone

{{short description|American photographer and citizen journalist}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = David Shankbone | image = Wikimania 2012 portrait 65 by ragesoss, 2012-07-12 (cropped).JPG | alt = | caption = Shankbone in 2012 | birth_name = David Miller | birth_date = | birth_place = | known_for = Widespread availability of copyleft photographs on Wikipedia and elsewhere | education = {{ubl|University of Colorado|Fordham University}} | employer = | occupation = {{ubl|Wall Street law office manager|Photojournalist}} | years_active = | website = {{URL|https://www.davidshankbone.com/}} }}

'''David Miller''', better known by his pseudonym '''David Shankbone''', is an American photographer, blogger, and former paralegal.<ref name=CJR/><ref name=Liphshiz/> In 2011, PBS described him as "arguably the most influential new media photojournalist in the world",<ref name=PBS/> as his numerous copyleft photographs were uploaded to Wikimedia Commons and seen in Wikipedia, documenting celebrities, political officials, and events, notably the Occupy Wall Street protests. As a Wikinews citizen journalist, he was the first to interview a sitting head of state, Israeli President Shimon Peres.<ref name=Info/>

His photography has been featured in magazines and news websites,<ref name="Du2012">{{cite news |first=Lisa |last=Du |title=This Wall Street Guy Is One Of The Top Celebrity Photographers In The World |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/the-coolest-guy-on-wall-street-spends-his-down-time-taking-photos-of-celebrities-2012-5 |accessdate=November 16, 2020 |work=Business Insider |date=May 15, 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518001619/http://www.businessinsider.com/the-coolest-guy-on-wall-street-spends-his-down-time-taking-photos-of-celebrities-2012-5 |archivedate=May 18, 2012}}</ref> such as ''The New York Times'', the ''Miami Herald'', and ''Business Insider'',<ref name="PBS">{{cite web|last1=Ordonez|first1=Sandra|title=Shankbone's Wikipedia Photo Portraits Spread Like Wildfire|url=https://mediashift.org/2011/03/shankbones-wikipedia-photo-portraits-spread-like-wildfire060/|date=March 1, 2011|publisher=PBS MediaShift|access-date=September 29, 2019|archive-date=September 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930065330/http://mediashift.org/2011/03/shankbones-wikipedia-photo-portraits-spread-like-wildfire060/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="GOOD">{{cite web|last=Jefferson|first=Cord|title=The Most Important Occupy Wall Street Photographer You've Never Heard of|url=https://www.good.is/articles/the-most-important-occupy-wall-street-photographer-you-ve-never-heard-of|date=October 30, 2011|publisher=Good Worldwide|access-date=September 29, 2019|archive-date=September 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930065332/https://www.good.is/articles/the-most-important-occupy-wall-street-photographer-you-ve-never-heard-of|url-status=live}}</ref> and featured in an exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York. In a profile of his Wikinews interviews, the ''Columbia Journalism Review'' wrote, "Miller's work feels like a bit of a throwback to a time when Oriana Fallaci published long transcripts of her interviews in book form and David Frost broadcast a six-hour sit-down with Richard Nixon."<ref name="CJR" />

==Career ==

Shankbone says that he began photography as a "cheap hobby" using a point-and-shoot camera given to him by his sister in response to a perceived lack of images on Wikipedia,<ref name=GOOD/> taking advantage of the relative accessibility of prominent individuals in New York City. He says that he was mentored by the Andy Warhol collaborators Billy Name and Christopher Makos.<ref name=GOOD/> Billy Name interviewed Shankbone for ''BOMB'' magazine about their relationship and photography.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://bombmagazine.org/articles/david-shankbone/ | title=David Shankbone | first=Billy | last=Name | author-link=Billy Name | date=August 25, 2011 | work=BOMB | access-date=September 29, 2019 | archive-date=July 28, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728132314/https://bombmagazine.org/articles/david-shankbone/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Colleen Asper, writing in the ''Brooklyn Rail'', described Shankbone's photographs as "incredibly wide ranging in their scope".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://brooklynrail.org/2008/04/books/david-shankbone-with-colleen-asper | title=David Shankbone with Colleen Asper | first=Colleen | last=Asper | date=April 2008 | work=The Brooklyn Rail | access-date=September 29, 2019 | archive-date=July 21, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721183510/https://brooklynrail.org/2008/04/books/david-shankbone-with-colleen-asper | url-status=live }}</ref> Shankbone began contributing to Wikipedia in June 2006, and in 2007 he was noted as a "leading Wikipedia editor" in ''Haaretz''.<ref name="Liphshiz">{{cite web | url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/1.4971432 | title=Your Wiki Entry Counts | first=Cnaan | last=Liphshiz | work=Haaretz | date=December 25, 2007 | access-date=September 29, 2019 | archive-date=April 30, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430132131/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/1.4971432 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Israel=== thumb|Shankbone with Israeli President Shimon Peres in 2007

In December 2007, he became the first of Wikinews's citizen journalists to interview a sitting head of state, Israeli President Shimon Peres. Miller was also profiled in the ''Columbia Journalism Review'' in January 2009,<ref name="Info">{{cite web| url=https://www.informationweek.com/wikinews-gets-big-interview-israeli-president-shimon-peres/d/d-id/1063281| title=Wikinews Gets Big Interview: Israeli President Shimon Peres | first=K. C.| last=Jones| date=January 14, 2008| work=InformationWeek| access-date=September 29, 2019| archive-date=July 21, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721180526/https://www.informationweek.com/wikinews-gets-big-interview-israeli-president-shimon-peres/d/d-id/1063281| url-status=live}}</ref> where his interviews were described as a "throwback to a time when Oriana Fallaci published long transcripts of her interviews in book form and David Frost broadcast a six-hour sit-down with Richard Nixon."<ref name="CJR">{{cite web| url=https://archives.cjr.org/on_the_job/the_wikinews_ace.php | title=The Wikinews Ace: Why Shimon Peres sat down with David Shankbone| first=Adam| last=Rose| date=February 2009| work=Columbia Journalism Review| access-date=September 29, 2019| archive-date=July 31, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731042346/https://archives.cjr.org/on_the_job/the_wikinews_ace.php | url-status=live}}</ref> Shankbone's interview was described by ''InformationWeek'' as a milestone in the development of Wikinews.<ref name="Info"/>

Shankbone was invited to Israel by the Foreign Ministry and the America–Israel Friendship League, as part of a delegation of technology writers, including representatives from ''BusinessWeek'', ''USA Today'', ''PC Week'', and ''Salon'', to review the Israeli technology sector. David Saranga, spokesman at the consulate in New York explained, "More than once we have faced editors connected to Israel that appear on Wikipedia in English that do not represent the reality in Israel. We decided to initiate a visit by Shankbone to describe Israeli reality as it is."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jpost.com/Israel/Leading-Wikipedia-editor-to-visit-Israel| title=Leading Wikipedia editor to visit Israel | first=Herb| last=Keinon| author-link=Herb Keinon| date=December 8, 2007| work=The Jerusalem Post| access-date=September 29, 2019| archive-date=September 30, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930070614/https://www.jpost.com/Israel/Leading-Wikipedia-editor-to-visit-Israel | url-status=live}}</ref> While there, he requested an interview with President Peres, which to his surprise was granted; Shankbone later admitted he considered it to be one of the worst interviews he had undertaken, wishing it was more philosophical.<ref name="CJR"/> He returned to Israel in 2009 to take photographs of the country and the Negev desert.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/photo-editing-israels-online-image/| title=Photo Editing Israel's Online Image | first=Sharon| last=Udasin| date=March 6, 2009| work=The Jewish Week| access-date=September 29, 2019| archive-date=September 30, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930070613/https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/photo-editing-israels-online-image/| url-status=live}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist|30em}}

== External links == {{commons category}} * {{Official website}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shankbone, David}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:American photographers Category:Wikimedia image contributors Category:American Wikimedians Category:Wikipedia people