“Style has no formula, but it has a secret key. It is the extension of your personality. The summation of this indefinable net of your feeling, knowledge and experience. Take colour as a totality of relations within a frame…colour is joy. One does not think joy. One is carried by it.”
-Ernst Haas – Colour Photography
Here’s a really interesting interview between Aidan Sullivan of Getty Images and Ernst Haas’s son, Alex Haas. Well worth a listen…
“If you say you really want my job, okay, here’s the deal. There are no more hobbies, no more fun. You can have fun doing the work, but you have to be completely obsessed with it. I think 99% of the people think that professional photography is travel and adventure, and they forget that photography is very, very hard work. You’re “on” all the time. When you go out the door to take pictures, nobody cares about any of the excuses about bad weather or logistics, or how the authorities wouldn’t let you do your job. All that matters is what the photos say, how much money the magazine spent on that time, and whether or not it’s a successful coverage. Most people don’t really want that.”
- Michael Nichols / National Geographic
Check out more from Michael Nichols in this fascinating video how he made his famous tree image for National Geographic…
During my time speaking at universities and schools across China and in the US, I am often asked how I find stories to work on. I thought it was time I jotted down a few of these ideas here on the blog and incorporate them into my new Learning Zone which will be a hub for more informational posts aimed and helping readers here get a little bit more of an insight into professional photography and journalism.
So, to start with, here are 5 tips for finding great stories from a photography/journalism perspective:
1. Go Local – You don’t need to travel half way across the world to find a great story. Look in your backyard and you will find many great leads and potential subjects. If you are interested in a larger issue, look for one or two people in your local community who represent that issue and tell the story through them. Perhaps the story is health related and you are interested in doing a piece about rising national levels of heart disease. It shouldn’t take you too long to find someone in your community who is affected. Tell the story though individuals on a local level, to represent the bigger picture.
Struggling for Ideas?
2. Read, Read, Read – One of the best things you can do, whether you are working on a story at a local, national, or even international level, is to read. Whether you are consuming your news through the printed press or online, you can immediately gauge what people are talking about by being aware of what if being printed in the news. Keep tabs on story/subject trending and write down/bookmark ideas, or cut out articles to help you remember potential story ideas. Don’t just read the news though. Great stories can be found by breaking out of your comfort zone and consuming new magazine articles, scientific journals and novels.
3. Stay Connected – Your contacts and connections, on a personal and/or professional level, can prove to be an invaluable source of ideas. These connections do not have to be photography/journalism related. Talk to people in the community you are working in and listen to what they have to say. Are there any recent events, activities, incidents etc., that might relate to an interesting story? Are people talking about issues that haven’t appeared in the press recently? You can get many great ideas just from listening to what’s happening on the ground. Be personable. Make friends. Keep connected.
4. Get Inspired – Don’t lock yourself away in the world of photography and journalism. Break out and immerse yourself in the worlds of film, music, art and science. Get out of your comfort zone again and explore and discover new ways of storytelling through watching movies, listening to great music, taking in an art or science exhibit at the local museum or gallery. Search for new ways to be inspired and it will directly filter back into your photography and/or writing.
5. Look in the Mirror – What do I really care about? This is one of the first questions you should ask yourself. Find a subject matter that you are genuinely passionate about, or interested in. Perhaps the subject matter is directly related to your life experiences, or connected to an interest you have outside the world of photography and journalism. Avoid choosing subject matters that you believe others will take you seriously for, should you cover it. The best work comes from working on subject matter that you genuinely care about and you will put in the extra effort for.
What has worked for you? Please feel free to share your story-finding ideas below!
Is this the most beautiful timelapse ever? Quite possibly. Just watch…
It was a very sad day for the environmental movement yesterday, learning that Wangari Maathai had passed after losing her battle with cancer at the age of 71. This inspiring lady who was a Nobel Laureate and founder of the Green Belt Movement, was one of the leading world figures in raising awareness about environmental issues.
The above video is a perfect message for all of us who try to figure out what we can do, as individuals, to contribute to protecting our planet. Please spread the word…
Thanks to Elizabeth Conley for posting this link on Facebook
“24 Events…24 Time Zones…24 Hours of Reality
Droughts, floods, heat waves, insect outbreaks, wildfires, sea level rise – we are encountering the reality of our changing climate every day. Five years after the theatrical release of An Inconvenient Truth, Nobel Laureate and former Vice President Al Gore will host an international event that brings the world together in a critical moment of global consciousness to deliver the message: The climate crisis is real, and it’s already happening.”
Whichever time zone you are in, please tune in to this 24-hour broadcast and listen to the incredibly important lectures outlining the impacts of climate change on our world.
Get the evidence. Accept the reality of our changing climate. Take action.
The Climate Reality Project
Spotted this interesting little video on CNN that I thought readers here would be interested in, titled “What film photography still has to offer”.
I started out shooting film, although most of my practice now as a professional photographer has switched to digital. I miss it sometimes. I miss the feelings of anticipation you get before you get an exposed roll back from the lab. I miss using a loupe and lightbox and the feeling of discovering those one or two images on a roll that work and make it all worthwhile.
When I first started out trying to learn about photography, I decided to build my own darkroom. I searched for an enlarger in the local newspaper classifieds and set up all the equipment I needed, using books borrowed from the library as my guide. Over the following days, weeks and months I lost myself in the red-lit world of the darkroom and fell in love with photography. Now I shoot predominantly colour using digital but I think the best thing I ever did, to really understand the mechanics of photography, was when I built that darkroom. I can’t reccomend this highly enough to anyone starting out in photography.
I’ll finish this brief post with a quote from the above video which I think is also quite pertinent too for those aspiring photographers out there.
“One essential quality of photographers, is curiosity. If you’re not a curious person, you’re certainly not going to be a good photographer.” – Elliott Erwitt
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Just a very quick reminder to readers here that there are only 2 days left to submit your entry to the Burn/David Alan Harvey Emerging Photographer Fund. This is a wonderful opportunity for photographers with a very substantial $15,000 for the chosen work. Please take a moment to read an article I wrote in January about the impact on me and my work in receiving the first EPF in 2008. If you decide to enter, best of luck!
I’ve been debating with myself over the past week whether or not to write a post on the subject of the loss of Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros. I did not known these men personally. I coincidentally know many of their friends very well but I had never been lucky enough to meet them myself. I knew of Tim due to his reputation within photojournalism but I am afriad I was not familiar with the work of Chris Hondros before the tragic events in Libya on 20th April. I was deeply saddened in knowing the world of photojournalism had lost these two men. Having seen many of the heartfelt dedications coming out to these men from close friends and colleagues, I felt it was inappropriate for me to comment since I did not know them.
I felt I needed to write this post today however, as last night I finally had the opportunity to watch two pieces of work by Tim Hetherington that I felt compelled to share here. The first, is the movie Restrepo, made by Hetherington and his co-director, Sebastian Junger. Set in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan, the movie focuses on the lives of one platoon whom the filmamkers followed for a year, documenting their engagements and experiences dealing with war. To say it’s a powerful film is an complete understatement. It’s one of the most powerful movies about war I have ever seen.
The second piece of work that I felt compelled to share was ‘Sleeping Soldiers’, a conceptual piece by Hetherington focusing on images he has taken, literally of sleeping soldiers, overlayed with video footage of combat situations in Afghanistan. The resulting piece of work is what I believe is a pardigm-shift in storytelling from a photojournalism perspective. It’s hard not to be engaged and at the same time disturbed when watching this short piece. I felt like I was being thrust into the traumatic and turbulent dreams that men who suffer war must endure. I have never seen work like this before presented in such a way.
So, as a small dedication to these men I can only offer links to their work and spread the messages that they were trying to communicate to the world. This is what we as photographers and storytellers all try to do. Spread the word. Tell untold stories. Illuminate darker places. Work for some kind of change for the good. These two men were at the forefront of our industry trying to do that.
Link to Chris Hondros’s Website | Parting Glance: Colleagues and Friends Remember Chris Hondros – New York Times
For a complete list of links to dedications and tributes to Hetherington, Hondros and their work, please visit Photojournalism Links and DVA Foto
Back in September of 2010, I posted an article called ‘Probably the Best Photography Blogs in the World‘. It was a casual listing of some of my favourite photography blogs which I visit on a fairly regular basis for inspiration and thought-provoking dialogue. The post itself has been one of the most popular on my blog, so I thought it was time for an update in response to reader suggestions and new blogs I have stumbled upon.
So, as in the last list, in no discernible order and with no official criteria, here are what I think are probably the best photography blogs in the world….part 2.
1. Photoshelter - I’m not quite sure how I missed this blog the first time around but it one that anyone with a remote interest in photography should check out. It is especially suited for those who are working as photographers, or aspiring to do so. Titled ‘A Picture’s Worth’ it covers topics including photography workflow, technique, SEO analytics strategies, photo-industry news amongst others. An essential resource for serious photographers or those thinking of taking photography more seriously.
2. TIME – Lightbox - This is a great new photography showcase by one of the industry leaders. Featuring high-quality reportage photography from some of the world’s leading photojournalists, as well as a sprinkling of other types of photography, it has already become a favorite amongst photo-aficionados, ranking with the New York Times’ Lens blog which was featured in my first list. This site is overflowing in quality photography.
3. Prison Photography - ”To bring to attention things previously unsaid. To bring attention to things said but unrecorded”. Pete Brook states from the outset his intentions in his manifesto on his blog. Don’t be led to think that this is just a blog about orange jumpsuits and prison bars though. Pete offers his intelligent and deeply thoughtful views about the world of photography and its role on a global cultural level, often through the views of incarceration. For those who wish to go to a deeper level in photography.
4. BBC In Pictures – Formerly ‘Viewfinder’, BBC Picture Editor Phil Coomes has recently rejigged the layout of his blog but still retains the quality content that is falling on the desk of one of the world’s busiest news/picture desks. “We can receive more than 8,000 pictures from the news wire agencies each day”, comments Phil, however he and his team filter through them to offer updates from the world of photography from a news perspective.
5. Reuters – “What makes a great picture?”, is the tagline on Reuters’ photography blog. If you are an aspiring news photographer, or want to find out more about how wire photographers go about covering breaking news around the world, then this is the site for you. Updates from Reuters’ hundreds of photographers dotted around the globe will keep you informed of the challenges associated with recording many of the most current images that make it into newspapers on a daily basis.
6. Conscientious – For those of you who lean more to the world of fine art, or if you like to escape the travel/photojournalism worlds of photography once in a while, Jorg M. Colberg’s site might just be for you. Book and exhibition reviews, photographer profiles, guest articles can all be found here. Keep up to date with the happenings in the world of contemporary photography.
7. Lens Culture – This contemporary photography online magazine/blog focuses on a diverse mix of photography, photography-related news and has a myriad of styles represented. My personal favourite part of this blog is the audio/video archive which contains a host of interviews with many leading photographers and photo-related professionals. A great resource.
8. Foto8 – This magazine needs no introduction. Foto8, established by Jon Levy, has become an institution in the world of photojournalism and for good reason. It is a source of the finest in the world of photojournalism, presented beautifully in their monthly magazine. The blog reflects what is being published each month, as well as offering updates from the world of photography. Updates are more weekly than daily on their blog. But, as always, foto8 is about quality, not quantity.
9. 1854 - Another stalwart in the world of photography. The British Journal of Photography offers news, thoughts, analysis, product reviews, photographer profiles and more, on the online manifestation of their magazine. This is an essential blog to keep up to date with many breaking stories and the latest industry news.
10. So, is the sequel better than the original? Have I still missed any other great blogs? Please feel free to write suggestions below!
