Visual Journalism – Page 5 – Notes from aside the camera

July 28, 2020

Control, Don’t Clean

My mentor and friend David Sutherland delivered the same message to first-year photography students at Syracuse University for four decades: Fill your frame. Control your backgrounds. Wait for moments. I still teach this mantra today (though I add a fourth: Care). My friend Stanley Leary has written about his mentor and friend, Don Rutledge, and the way he used backgrounds...

Advice & Learning/Craft/Photojournalism

July 25, 2020

Seattle County Court Orders Media to Turn Over Raw Material

A King County judge Washington state has ordered that the Seattle Times and several television stations turn over all photos and videos f a May 30 protest. Local officials have said the material is necessary for the identification of individuals who committed crimes after breaking off from the main protest. The National Press Photographers Association has issued a statement that...

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

July 23, 2020

Associated Press Switching to Sony for all Still and Video Photojournalist

If you ever needed a sign that mirrorless was the future, it’s today’s news that the Associated Press is moving to Sony equipment for both their still and video photojournalists. While not a huge sale (or lease, more likely), the impact on both profesisonals and amateurs of this move could be immense. Canon and Nikon have had a stranglehold on...

Business & Industry/Photojournalism/Tech Talk

July 21, 2020

Detroit Officer Charged for Firing at Photojournalists

Corporal Daniel Debono has been charged with felony assault after firing rubber pellets at three photojournalists covering protests in late May, according to The New York Times. All three were leaving the scene of a protest and had identified themselves as journalists when the incident happened.

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

July 16, 2020

Color in a Dark Time

You can look at this post on the Leica blog two ways: with lust over the newest Leica rangefinder or with lusciousness at the images Huw John created with it. I, I choose both.

Good Work/Photojournalism/Tech Talk

June 4, 2020

Covering Protests

Current and former students are now covering protests across the country. We spent some time in classes on spot news coverage, but nothing we did prepared them for the events of our times. Some thoughts on what to do before, during and after covering major protests, regardless of where they occur. BEFORE YOUR COVERAGE Assess your technology. How much gear...

At Work/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

April 16, 2020

Sinclair vs. Mashable and the Consequences of a Lack of Focus

There are dangers to writing before finishing the morning coffee and I entered that realm today. I saw a link online to something that had been brewing, I tapped out an impassioned response with a call to action on Facebook and hit the post button. Within a few minutes, it had a couple of shares and likes. Then the phone...

Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal/Photojournalism

April 13, 2020

Dispsables

The Washington Post sent disposable camera to 25 women and asked them to document their life. The set of images are at times refreshingly nostalgic and also annoyingly modern. The current fascination with photographing oneself is present, in either out-of-focus selfies (the minimum focusing distance on these cameras is larger than the average arm length) or they handed to camera...

Advice & Learning/Multimedia/Photojournalism

April 13, 2020

Polaroid at MIT

Not that we can go, but if we could, we should: The collection was to be on display through June 21.

Business & Industry/Photojournalism/Tech Talk

March 19, 2020

Images With Value

What is the purpose of a photograph? In our field, we have several standard answers – to tell a story, to inform our community, to evoke a response. To me, I use a camera not to make pictures but to share ideas, to raise questions and, hopefully, to answer some. I make pictures of things I don’t understand or haven’t...

Advice & Learning/Craft/Photojournalism