Category: Craft

January 21, 2013

Quantity Does Not Bring About Quality

I teach two sections of an introductory course in photojournalism every semester. Last Wednesday, I handed the students their cameras and sent them out to shoot – 300-400 frames, nouns and verbs. Anything they want. This assignment is all about volume – the more they shoot, the more used to the camera they get, the faster they’ll get to story...

Categories Craft/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

January 21, 2013

Unnecessary Roughness – Webinar on Images of Football

FYI … this looks pretty cool. Date: Sunday, January 27th Time: at 1pm EST/10am PST for 90 minutes Title: “Unnecessary Roughness: Football as a Reflection of American Culture in News Photos and Media Images”: Held the Sunday before the Super Bowl, the webinar will focus on a broad range of themes, including power and violence, commercialism, patriotism, militarism and gender...

Categories Craft/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

January 21, 2013

Burnett at the Olympics

I will never deny that I find something magical in David Burnett’s work. After more than 40 years in the business, he is continually pushing to find new ways to tell stories. The early work was straightforward documentary work – this happened, this is why it’s important. His later work, as he’s experimented with older cameras and techniques, has been...

Categories Craft/Photojournalism

January 20, 2013

Remembering Chim

In the mid-part of the 20th century, during what some believe to be photojournalism’s heyday, there were some come clear superstars – Cartier-Bresson, Capa, Bourke-White, Smith and Lange all come to mind easily. But there’s another, known by those in the know as Chim. Over at The New York Times’ Lens blog, Peter Can Agtmael takes a look at an...

Categories Advice & Learning/Craft/Good Work/Photojournalism

January 13, 2013

Gene Patterson has Passed

He was not a photojournalist, though he worked in journalism during what many consider to be the coming of age of our craft. He is not as well known as other civil rights leaders of his time, but his work is of equal importance because it was Gene Patterson, through the bully pulpit of the Atlanta Constitution, brought light to...

Categories Craft/Journalism/Thoughts & Theory

January 10, 2013

Another Eulogy for Kodak

I should probably stop posting these, the end times for my yellow memories is pretty near … but the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a piece up looking back at how Kodak influenced the growth of their staff over the years. And since we can’t bring Kodak back, maybe we can bring back the company-supplied scooter and side car? I really...

Categories Business & Industry/Craft/Journalism/Photojournalism/Tech Talk

January 9, 2013

A Funny Camera?

I will admit, and I hate to do this, but … I miss brasses-out cameras. The paint on old film bodies used to wear off from years of use, letting you see the brass top and bottom plates. Some people would be horrified at the idea of a worn camera, but so some of us … well … It was...

Categories Craft/Tech Talk

January 9, 2013

Looking in the Right Direction

Over at the Poynter Institute, David Griner looks at the history of a 1992 photograph from a Ku Klux Klan rally in Gainesville, Georgia – and how it has come back to life over the last 20 years. The photojournalist who made the image, Todd Robertson, is an alum of the program I now teach in, though he’s not in...

Categories Craft/Good Work/Journalism/Photojournalism

January 7, 2013

NPPA Best of Photojournalism Call for Entries

It’s contest time … the Best of Photojournalism competition run by the National Press Photographers Association is now taking entries. And … it’s free to enter. You’ve got until the end of the month to get your 2012 images together and entered.

Categories Competitions/Craft/Photojournalism

January 3, 2013

Why The Herald Works

For my entire career, there’s been one small newspaper everyone has known and talked about. A couple of hours south of Indianapolis, the little town of Jasper, Indiana, has been home to The Herald – and they’ve produced more great work, per capita, than any other publication in the country, I think. Over at the National Press Photographers Association’s site,...

Categories Business & Industry/Craft/Good Work/Photojournalism