Mark E. Johnson – Page 7 – Visual Journalism

January 15, 2020

A Sense of Interiority

There are many great quotes in this interview with Dawoud Bey, but this resonated deeply with me: African-Americans in photographs have very often been viewed through a lens of social pathology. So, I wanted to respond to that kind of representation by making photographs that conveyed a deep, complex humanity. I want there to be real sense of interiority, to...

At Work/Craft/Good Work/Photojournalism

January 13, 2020

Eyes of History Student Competition

Entries are open for the White House News Photographers Association’s Eyes of History competition – a great chance to get your work in front of DC folks.

Competitions/Photojournalism

January 2, 2020

“That’s My Profession, To Look”

Robert Frank died in September of 2019 and he made The New York Times Magazine’s end of year retrospective, The Lives They Lived. This is an interesting look at his work, moving well past his seminal book, The Americans, and into some of the other work that helped pay the bills inlcuding promotional work for the Times. All these pictures...

Business & Industry/Craft/Good Work/Photojournalism

January 1, 2020

Transmitting History

We think it so common now – make a photo, two or three clicks later it’s shared around the world. There’s an entire generation who doesn’t even understand the idea of having to wait to see your own photos, let alone having to wait to see news photos from around the world. But 85 years ago today, the Associated Press...

Business & Industry/Photojournalism/Tech Talk

December 5, 2019

The Best of Season Begins

Over the next few weeks, most publications and agencies will start pushing out their annual best photos of the year galleries. National Geographic’s stood out to me because of the bylines – if you scroll through their 100 best images, 37% were made by women. The Washington Post’s gallery includes some propaganda/hand-out photos, about 19% of them were made by...

Business & Industry/Good Work/Photojournalism

November 21, 2019

More Photographs of Notes

This is becoming a trend … Getty Images photojournalist Mark Wilson walks through his image of the president’s notes. Pay attention to his thinking behind the gear he was carrying – being prepared is key.

At Work/Craft/Good Work/Photojournalism

November 11, 2019

“Take as many pictures as you want. We need this to be known.”

How we deal with families after they have been through a traumatic event is a constant conversation for us. Finding the balance between the needs of individuals and the needs of a community can be brutally hard. We never want to intrude, we never want to add to the grief a family is experiencing but, at the same time, their...

At Work/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism

October 28, 2019

Photographer Caricatures

Something a little lighter … PetaPixel has the story of Pixelcrush’s caricatures of photographers and they’re worth a little time. And, yes, I’ve met most of these folks.

Business & Industry/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

October 25, 2019

What You Photograph Is a Reflection of Who You Are

A sarcastic Tweet reply set off Dan Ginn at The Phoblographer this week. As it should have. I’m forever thankful I work with students who care about their communities and want to use photographic tools to explore and explain issues within those communities. As a general rule, the see photography as a means, not an end – our classes, workshops,...

Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

October 23, 2019

One Step Closer to a Small Claims Copyright Court

The House of Representatives passed the CASE act yesterday on a 410-6 vote, which brings the bill one step closer to becoming a law. Why do we care? This bill has been ten-years in the making, supported by the U.S. Copyright Office and trade organizations (including the National Press Photographers Association) and is designed to make sub-$30,000 copyright infringement claims...

Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism

Author: Mark E. Johnson