Ohioan

Our last day in D.C. included a return to Reuters, to meet freelancer Johnny Bivera, and National Geographic. Johnny graduated from the military photographer program that RIT used to have, and working with military photographers has turned into his passion. He runs a photography workshop for them, and also organizes a “shoot-off” (hopefully I can make it back to D.C. to participate, students are welcome). Johnny encouraged many of the concepts we had heard throughout the week; balance photojournalism with other passions to keep from burning-out, find people who are better than you are and share your work, and know how to market yourself. I was excited to discover we share a passion for horses and I hope to keep in touch with him in regard to my equestrian photography. He also expressed a belief that you should not be afraid to photograph your own family with the same honesty you do other subjects.

Our last visit was to National Geographic, a publication that is the holy grail to many young photojournalists. We met with Ken Geiger, senior editor for technology, and Bill Douthitt, senior editor of special editions. They described the workflow at Nat Geo, from story pitch to the finished magazine. Ken advised us that if we want to make a pitch to them, have a story with global breadth. Bill noted that they have many talented documentary photographers who work with them, and to consider science or archaeological photography. I was curious about the archaeological aspect and Bill was kind enough to pull an issue of Nat Geo from the seemingly endless yellow lined shelves (he knew exactly where the edition he wanted was housed) and break down what a creative archaeological shoot is like. I related to some of the photographs as still life, others were exhibitions being built in museums, and there were even photographs with a sense of humor. I am not quite sure how to get into that genre of photography, but I could tell it is something I would enjoy. Lastly, I cannot help but mention, Eugene Richards just happened to be in the building. Hero shock aside, it really made it strike home how reputable Nat Geo is; we were in there on a quiet, Friday afternoon, and Eugene Richards just happened to be in the halls. It really ended the D.C. journey with an exclamation point.

This morning, I could not help sending a photograph of the main desk, at our first appointment, to my father. NPR was the soundtrack for many of our family road-trips, which I grew to appreciate as I aged. We met with Keith Jenkins, Senior Producer for Multimedia, and several members of his team (including two RIT alums). It was inspiring to discover that many employees of the department started out as interns, including RIT grad Emily Bogle. Emily provided advice on how to land a job like hers; little but important things like being on time, showing up, working hard, and having a good attitude. It was also interesting to find out that the multimedia team gets to do a lot of shooting. Keith informed us that everyone in the department has shot and that NPR sends shooters all over the world. Video producer, John Poole, offered valuable advice as well; show our work to a lot of different people with different skill sets because photography people focus too closely on the visuals. He also suggested when we show our multimedia pieces to ask our viewer details from the story to see if they understood it; if they did not, we did something wrong. Kaimaz Amaria shared with us a script she wrote that had been edited down to a fragment of its initial length. As seen in the photograph above, she held one scrap of the script in her hand that she thought was the heart of her story; it was a scrap because it was edited out. Keith concluded the appointment with advice given to him by one of his early mentors; read fiction and listen to jazz. Yes, please.

Following NPR we visited Andrew Harrer at Bloomberg, a very sophisticated business. Most of the content at Bloomberg is political, business, and financial related. Andrew is the primary photographer for the D.C. branch of Bloomberg. He referred to D.C. as, “a city of inches,” meaning a few steps can make or break a political shot. He also cited the importance of knowing the top stories and important names in the news.

Next, we visited Michael Witchita, Interim Director of Photographer at AARP. This appointment was very positive. Michael stressed that there is work available at AARP and not to be afraid of pitching stories to him. The magazine alone has a distribution of around 25 million. AARP is looking for stories with a “50+ hook,” but they should be interesting regardless of the subject’s age. Michael expressed, “I like mistakes, get something wrong and push it.” It was encouraging to hear that; fear of mistakes is not an option in this business.

Our last jaunt of the evening was to American University, to listen to a lecture conducted by ASMP and presented by Tom Kennedy. The lecture focused on “understanding the changing media landscape.” Kennedy instructed us to present ourselves as “visual solution providers” to potential clients. He lectured on the importance of storytelling, audience awareness, and various story platforms. He is even a proponent of using Instagram to get your work out there. He closed the evening with a striking quote; “Expect the unexpected and whenever possible, be the unexpected.” That is definitely a line to write on a piece of paper and tuck into my wallet.

Our appointments today covered a diverse range of photojournalism professionals. After spending the morning with Jenn Poggi, White House Chief Photo Editor, we met with Megan Rossman at Teach for America. Megan is the director of multimedia and online learning at Teach for America, a non-government agency. Megan discussed the nature of her position, her workflow, and provided a fresh angle on the business from the point of view of an NGO. She encouraged us to be able to organize the message of any story we may do into one sentence, find moments in not just still images but video and audio as well, and to give every visual in our multimedia pieces a purpose other than wallpaper.

From Teach for America we headed to Reuters news agency. Mitch Koppelman, Vice President of Broadcast Services, and Jim Bourg, News Picture Editor, shed light on the daily life at Reuters. Mitch impressed upon us the importance Reuters places on unbiased coverage. Jim explained their software and workflow from photographer to editor. They both also discussed a recent ethical issue involving the misuse of one of their photographs and how their contract protected them.

The day concluded with a lively evening in the company of four talented freelancers,  Mary Calvert, Louie Palu, Amanda Lucidon, and Lucien Perkins. Mary, formally a staff photographer at the Washington Times, shared the difficulties of becoming a freelancer; “I didn’t own any of my pictures,” she said of her work she made for the newspaper. She also discussed workflow and the importance of having a shot list when going to shoot a story, such as the who, what, when, where, why, and how. She encouraged us to do ample research and that “you have to tell the story through the people, not the stuff.” For story ideas, Mary advised the pages of newspapers and to find things that interest you.

Louie Palu started his presentation with the “whole idea of being a freelancer is your archive.” Unlike working for a publication, a freelancer owns their images. Louie has shot a large body of work on the war in Afghanistan and had much advice for aspiring combat photographers; “Is war about the bullets coming out of a gun? No. It’s much more.” This statement can apply to almost any story I may shoot, not just war. The story isn’t just the action. Louie also presented ideas about social strategies for being successful in this business, which included being a positive person and, “don’t hang out with people who complain, it’s a wall that won’t get you anywhere.” He emphasized the importance of editing and the ability to be ruthless with your own images, being able to pitch yourself and your work, and thinking about different platforms. If you want to hang photographs on a wall you better know how to print.

Amanda Lucidon has a passion for multimedia, which was evident through her “Legal Strangers” project. She truly seemed like a woman who knew what she wanted to do and made it happen, much like the other speakers of the evening. Amanda finds ways to make her work multi-platform; she re-packages work to fit the needs of different publications, which is incredibly smart. “The only way I learn is by failing,” she told us, and to take risks rather than waiting for the phone to ring. Publications, such as AARP and CNN, found Amanda through her self-initiated work.

Lucien Perkins, a member of Facing Change, stated we are in the “best of times and worst of times” for photojournalism. The new technologies are making so many new ways of telling stories possible, but at the same time it makes it hard to survive. He shared several previews of projects he’s working on, which explored a wide range from historical work, to social issues, to more lighthearted personal stories. His work on the D.C. punk scene caused him to caution, “keep everything you shoot, it may become significant later…you don’t want to wonder why you didn’t shoot more.”

I went away from the evening very inspired by these four people. Though they all make different work, I noted their positive outlook; if you want it bad enough, if you work hard enough, you can do it. Louie mentioned that if you want to get better, find someone better than you, acknowledge it, and spend time with them learning from them. I acknowledge I met four people this evening who are much, much better than myself. Time to keep up on the networking.