October 6, 2014 Being Prepared to Cross the Streams Very nice post by Sid Ceaser over at DEDPXL on being prepared. Why the odd title? Go read and find out. You can’t cross the streams unless you take a chance. Categories Advice & Learning/At Work/Photojournalism/Tech Talk/Thoughts & Theory
September 5, 2014 Are Amateurs the Enemy? There has been much consternation over the last, oh … 15 years … about the rise of the amateur and how he or she is impacting the profession of photojournalism. It is true that may photojournalists succeeded solely on their technical skills as photographers. Those are the ones who are most worried. As camera technology has advanced, the expertise needed... Categories Advice & Learning/At Work/Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory
August 31, 2014 Explaining the Coverage The New York Times Magazine has a stunning photo essay shot in Gaza and Israel earlier this month by two Magnum photojournalists, Paolo Pelligrin and Peter van Agtmael, respectively. Any coverage that comes out of this region tends to inspire as much debate about the balance (or lack thereof) in the coverage as to the story itself. It’s the most... Categories Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal/Good Work/Journalism/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory
August 29, 2014 Flipping Busy Week … So, I have this friend. She’s brilliant and charming and funny and I would follow here anywhere. But I have to stop talking around her – every time someone says something interesting around Katy Culver, she asks them to Tweet about it. Or write about it. Or show up on a podcast. This week’s rundown: I did a Twitter chat... Categories Advice & Learning/Journalism/Photojournalism/Tech Talk/Thoughts & Theory
August 20, 2014 Killing Journalists Should Be a Crime of War In a terse statement, appropriate in both its tone and style, the president and CEO of the Associated Press, Gary Pruitt, says: … we believe the assassination of a journalist in wartime should be considered an international crime of war. I would add that the killing of any journalist, at any time, should be considered, if not a war crime,... Categories Journalism/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory
August 19, 2014 Is Humans Dehumanizing New York? A significant number of my students love Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York project. And I’ll admit I dip into it from time to time, as well. But something about it never felt quite right. Daniel D’Addario has a piece up at Gawker that gets to the issue, I think – it’s the lack of depth, a skimming of the... Categories Business & Industry/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory
August 15, 2014 The Imagery of Ferguson A good thought piece by Randy Kennedy and Jennifer Schuessler at the New York Times about the similarities and dissimilarities of the images coming out of Ferguson, Missouri, and how they mimic those from the Civil Rights movement fifty years ago. The closing paragraph quoting University of California Santa Crus Professor Martin A. Gerger should give us all pause: “We... Categories Business & Industry/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory
August 13, 2014 On Them, Us and We (Briefly) Slate has posted a short video from a panel discussing the late photojournalist, Chris Hondros. It’s a little under six minutes and in now way is enough about him or his work, but this one quote from Hondros stuck out: We place these layers of culture and ethnicity on ourselves and it really doesn’t mean that much compared to the... Categories Advice & Learning/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory
August 12, 2014 Disconnect From Time to Time … Please I will admit I wrestle with this, too – my pocket computer/phone is a constant companion and leaving it alone is tough. But I want to get away from it, to connect with those around me not those connected to me. This comment from a New York Times piece by Nick Bilton indicates how bad it has gotten: For photographers,... Categories Advice & Learning/Business & Industry/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory
August 12, 2014 Am I Making Things Better? It’s a question I often ask and it’s one architect Bob Borson asks himself, too. As a parent, journalist and educator, I wrestle with that question quite a bit. What’s the point if I am not making things better? Mr. Borson goes deeper, delving into what integrity means: I have wondered if personal integrity has to do with predisposition –... Categories Craft/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory