Be a Journalist

I’m behind in some of my reading so I just got to Jim Colton’s interview with National Geographic’s Dennis Dimmick on the National Press Photographers Association’s Photo Journal page.

We talk about being the expert in my class on whatever it is you’re going to cover, but I’m not always sure that comes through. So this will be required reading for all future kids:

As to the lessened value of today’s photojournalists, at least in the current media environment, this is why I advocate that photographers need to be as good as anyone in the room in understanding the underlying ideas and concepts behind the issues we cover.

If you don’t know your story, you’re just making pretty photos. Be a journalist, know the story.