What This is All About
This is an essay written for photojournalists about photojournalists. It was ment to remind and re-remind us why we got into this buisness in the first place, and to teach others what makes the photojournalists tick. Every photojournalist has times when they are feeling down and has lost touch with the real reasons why they work at the stressful, sometimes disappointing daily newspaper. This essay is dedicated to all those who have fallen into that rut.
If there is any advice I can give to any of you, it is to learn to motivate yourself when the people you work for don't do it for you. Remember to shoot from your heart, make images that please you, and if the best of what you do does not run in the paper, admire the image yourself and share it with a friend.
I've found that there are two kinds of photographers. There are the ones that spend most of their time talking about the images they take and the emotional content within them. Then there are the photographers who talk non-stop about their equipment as though the fancy cameras and lens are their trophies that show their status as big-shot photojournalists.
One day, a long, long time ago I got tired of listening to photojournalists talking about their equipment. It always seemed to me that these were the people who took photographs that were OK, but seem to lack the emotional content of great photos. I've found through my experience with teaching others, that these photographers never found that spot, deep down in their chest, where we feel the most intense feelings in our lives. It became my mission to make this sacred spot known to budding photojournalists.
I spend a lot of time with students and interns trying to get them to identify that spot and learn to tap into it because this is the most important piece of equipment, though it is the most under used one, that they carry around with them. This is the tool that turns a technically correct photo into gold and makes our readers feel.
The pages that follow are not about the photographs that are on them. The photos are used to illustrate the thoughts below them. In case you're wondering, there are 10 pages to the essay. I hope you enjoy it whether you are a photographer or not. :-)
