Author: Mark E. Johnson

April 26, 2013

Mexico’s Portrait

Over at The New York Times’ Lens blog, Damien Cave has a review of a new book out that looks at the history of portraiture in Mexico. There are modern and vintage photos, individuals and families. It’s days like this that I think I need to increase my book budget … Mexican Portraits is available from Aperture for $72.25.

Categories Good Work/Photojournalism

April 24, 2013

Simple vs. Small

Over at The New York Times’ Lens blog, Whitney Richardson has a story up about Paul Kwilecki and his photographs of Decatur County, Georgia. Well worth a read and a walk through the gallery. But it raises a couple of question that, probably, only I can answer … why did Mr. Kwilecki reach out to Duke University to help with...

Categories Advice & Learning/Craft/Good Work/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

April 24, 2013

NPPA Best of Photojournalism Awards

Some of the big awards have been announced … Photojournalists of the Year: RJ Sangosti of The Denver Post was today named the National Press Photographers Association’s Best Of Photojournalism 2013 Photojournalist of the Year (Larger Markets), and David Weatherwax of The Herald, in Jasper, IN, was selected as the Photojournalist of the Year (Smaller Markets). Picture Editors of the...

Categories Competitions/Photojournalism

April 24, 2013

No Derby Pics, Please

It’s odd that just a week after the Boston Police Department asked spectators to send in any photos they had from the timing of the marathon bombing that Churchill Downs, home of next month’s Kentucky Derby, has said no cameras with, “detachable lenses” will be allowed in. They’ll say it’s a safety issue, I’ll say it’s a financial issue. They...

Categories Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

April 24, 2013

Photographic Privacy

The laws regarding our ability to make photographs in public places is pretty clear here in the United States. Across the ocean, though, the French are struggling to redefine privacy.

Categories At Work/Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism

April 23, 2013

Why Student Stories Matter

Former Boston University student Johannes Hirn shot a story several years ago about an immigrant who wanted to box his way into America. That immigrant was Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the two alleged bombers from the Boston Marathon. I just hope the site the Boston University News Service is linking to has licensed those images … (Thanks to Prof. Denise...

Categories Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal/Journalism/Photojournalism

April 22, 2013

Why the Photographer Matters

I don’t talk much about shooting weddings here, but I know a lot of my students and readers either shoot or think about doing those happy day photos. There’s a lot of value in it, both financial and creative. But you don’t want to get too creative, if you can call this creative – the Daily Mail has the story...

Categories At Work/Business & Industry

April 21, 2013

The Kiss, and Camera, That Counted

This is one of those weeks where I wish I had $60,000 just sort of hanging around. An autographed print of Alfred Eisenstadt’s V-J Day celebration kiss is going up for auction in Austria along with the camera he used to make the photo in 1945. I am not one to collect things for the sake of collecting them, but...

Categories Business & Industry/Good Work/Photojournalism

April 19, 2013

Verifying Images

Good ideas from Jennifer Dorroh at the International Journalists’ Network on how to verify images from unknown sources. (Thanks to Josh Stearns for the link.)

Categories Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism

April 18, 2013

The Dangers of Online Publishing

One of the biggest fears of photographers at the advent of the web was the ease with which you could “steal” an image. A simple click and it was on someone else’s hard drive. It’s still an issue – on Tuesday, one Steve Goldstein published an ebook on Amazon titled Boston Bombing – First Photos. And, you guessed it, it...

Categories Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism