is an internationally recognized, award-winning innovator in journalism and multimedia. He recently published “The Principles of Multimedia Journalism: Packaging Digital News” Routledge, 2015. Koci is a national Emmy award winning multimedia producer who worked as a visual journalist at the San Jose Mercury News for 15 years. His photographic work has appeared in The New York Times, Wired, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and a National Geographic Book on iPhone Photography, among others. He has been named one of the “Top 25 Influential Communications Professors” and one of the “Top 100 Photographers on the Web.” His work for the Mercury News covering the Latino Diaspora and the California Youth Prison System earned him two Pulitzer Prize nominations and in 2003, the James K. Batten Knight Ridder Excellence Award. In 2006, Richard was named deputy director of photography and multimedia at the Mercury News after spearheading the creation of the organization’s first visual journalism website, MercuryNewsPhoto.com. He has taught multimedia workshops and presented keynotes for dozens of professional organizations and was most recently invited to be a visiting professor at the prestigious Paris-Sorbonne University. In 2011 Koci Hernandez was named an Assistant Professor of New Media at the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley.
• How much have the structure and the substance of photography been affected by the digital era? What is your opinion on the use of filters and Hipstamatic? Personally, I don't believe the structure or substance of photography has been affected by the digital era. I believe the frequency with which photographs are taken and disseminated and the general democratization of photography is certainly at the forefront of change. I don't have any particularly strong feelings against the use of filters or applications like Hipstamatic because anyone who has practiced photography pre-digital and pre-mobile knows that the filtration, manipulation and process that Instagram filters and these mobile apps create are something that can be created with filters on the end of lenses, particular kinds of analog film and other darkroom techniques. So really, it's nothing new to photography just a digitization of preexisting processes.
• You are considered to be one of the most influential communications professors who affect the world of communication and most specifically, photography. What is the element that differentiates your work from others’ and influences so many artists? Well, thank you for the compliment. This is probably the most difficult question to answer but I'd hope that my fearlessness, or more realistically my cautious optimism in embracing new technologies and potential tools for storytelling keep my art fresh and hopefully inspirational to others, as so many others have inspired me with the same qualities. • I remember a few of your Instagram photographs that I don’t see any more. Why have you removed them? That's a great question. About two years ago I cleaned out my Instagram feed. It was nothing more than a common Spring cleaning if you will. I was in the mindset of not feeling comfortable with having everything I had done be permanently posted. I was thinking of my work as 'seasonal' and constantly transforming and how wonderful it would be to clear-out the old and let in some new fresh air. So I deleted all of my previously posted images and started anew. It was a great feeling and I suspect that once I feel that my Instagram feed becomes cluttered again, I will repeat the process.
• Can a tool, even if this is a mobile phone, narrate a photo essay? What I have in mind is Everyday in Africa, by Peter DiCampo. On the other hand, can a mobile phone cope in low light circumstances or the fast rhythm that photojournalism requires? I believe that the answer is yes, not really based on my opinion but based on the visual evidence before us. There are plenty of photojournalists who are approving and very difficult journalistic situations that a mobile phone can be a very effective tool despite challenging circumstances. Mobile devices have been used to cover the Olympics, conflict zones, Political campaigns and everything in between. Certainly the devices’ limitations in low lighting can be constricting, but I think we’re slowly beginning to see that change with new sensors and technology.
• Will you tell us a few things about the National Geographic Book on iPhone photography? Yes, It was the brainchild of photographer Carsten Peter, a frequent contributor to Natgeo magazine. I was honored to be asked to participate in the book project, which highlighted my iPhone work and allowed me to offer my favorite apps and tips and tricks to using the device in a professional manner.
• “Don’t use your phone. People are not ready to answer. Use poetry!” Jack Kerouac. Is your work iPhone poetry? What role does confusion play in your work? I wouldn't go so far as to say poetry and I would add my own line here which would be “don't use your phone use your eye!” But one of my motivating factors is always trying to create a sense of mystery in my photography. I certainly do think that the idea of confusion or uncertainty goes hand in hand with a sense of mystery. • Is less more? No, less is less and that's the way I like it. I'm a big fan of minimalism. • In many of your photographs there are people wearing hats. Why is that? That's a very long story that has taken me many years to figure out myself. But to cut straight to the chase, my constant search for men in hats is part of my own psychological baggage of trying to find and connect with my father.
• Would you like to hold a workshop in Greece in order to expand mobile-photography? Of Course!!!!
• Can you give us a few tips on mobile photography? Here are a few staples: 1. It's all about the light. Photographing in the right light -- early morning or late evening -- has the potential to make the most 'boring' situation into a spectacular one. 2. Never use the mobile zoom. It's terrible and the first step to an unsuccessful image. If you want to get close, zoom with your feet! Get close and your images improve. 3. Lock your exposure and focus. Your photos will improve 100% . With the default camera app, you can tap and hold on the screen to set where you want your exposure and focus. Once the box "blinks," it's locked. You can also use other apps like ProCamera to separately set and lock the exposure and focus. 4. Silence your inner critic. See if you can go one day of shooting every time your inner voice says, 'I'd like to take a picture.'" 5. Edit, edit edit. Restrain yourself from sharing everything. Post only the best, and your audience will grow. We don't need to see all 10,000 of your ugly children. I try and pick my least ugly. It's hard to choose and very personal. 6. Technical proficiency is overrated in the mobile photography world. Instead, exercise your power of observation. Learn to look and see deeply. 7. Filters don't replace a good eye. Never have, never will! You still need the basics. Look for the moment and light and subject. If you choose to add a sepia, black and white or other nostalgic or creative filter later [with an app such as Instagram or Hipstamatic], that's OK, but remember...lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig. And if it's for journalism, he added, then it needs to be unfiltered. 8. Shoot from the hip for better candids. Hold the phone about waistlevel and tap away. Your friends and family will not know what you're doing. Be sneaky about it. The moment they know you're shooting, the images become less candid. You'll get a lot more bad shots, but when you get a good one, you'll want to hang it on the wall! Or literally shoot from the heart, place your thumb on shutter button and bring your phone close to your heart/chest and snap away. →
9. Give yourself assignments and deadlines. Take 20 images of one thing from different angles. You'll begin to see the world differently, even if it's just walking around the bowl of fruit on your kitchen table and observing how the light falls on it from different angles. 10. You have to know what you want to see before you can see it. Make a list of things you want to photograph today and find them! If you know my work, then you know the No. 1 thing on my list are men in fedoras! Or any hat for that matter! Except baseball caps, those don't count, :) 11. Study other photographers. I spend an unhealthy amount of time looking at images. It's the only way to get better, in my humble opinion. My favorites are Roy Decarava, so happy we discovered Vivian Maier, there are so many others, find your favorite! 12. Always be ready. "You want to make sure that when your mind and heart says 'shoot,' you have no excuses, like “Oh, my camera was in my purse, pocket� or, gasp, your camera wasn't around. It's one of the main reasons I love mobile photography -- my camera is always with me.