Dogs … Yes, Pictures of Dogs
My students sometimes struggle with what makes a news photograph a news photograph. “A picture they’d like to see in a newspaper” isn’t really a great way of defining it, because many of them would like to see pictures of … well, dogs.
So I tell them no pictures of dogs (I also tell them no cute pictures of kids, but they don’t listen and it hurts their portfolios*). But then, Boston.com’s The Big Picture puts up a gallery of … dogs.
But, with a few exceptions, these are all news-worthy dogs.
* Because this has become an issue, the fall syllabus may have a statement along the lines of, “Subject matter counts tremendously – it must have news value. If you want to submit photos of cute children, they must have a terminal disease or have saved a family pet from a fire within the last seven days.”
From a practicality standpoint Mark, you’re turning them loose in the community news marketplace. Cute kids and dogs are a staple.
I’ve been dog-sitting for a few weeks now, but I’ve only taken a handful of photos.
On a side note, I really like how they’re using Facebook for their comments section. Not because I’m a big Facebook fan, mind, but because they’re removing the anonymity.