Natural Focus: John Snell

This issue’s cover image is the photographic art of the northshore’s own John Snell.

Snell first picked up a camera in 2004. “I’ve always worked in a visual medium—for over 30 years. I’ve worked with a lot of talented photojournalists, and learned a lot.”

A part of the TV news business in New Orleans since 1983, Snell has reported on virtually every major news story in Southeast Louisiana since then. Currently a morning news anchor and investigative reporter for Fox 8, WVUE, he focuses on South Louisiana’s storm protection and natural features, such as barrier islands, marsh and cypress swamps. Snell has won two national honors: an Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio-Television Digital New Directors Association and a distinguished Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists.

In his spare time, Snell enjoys bicycling and photography. “Photography to me is not a job—it’s fun; it’s a hobby. I already have a job. Photography is an art form, but there’s also a science to the camera. You have to learn what all the settings are. It can be intimidating, and some folks give up and just set it to automatic.” He notes, “Probably the best advice I ever got was, ‘Take a month, put the camera in the manual mode and learn the relationship between apertures, shutter speed, film speed and depth of field—learn how the camera works.’ Boy, I ruined a lot of pictures!”

John lives just outside Mandeville near Lacombe. “People are drawn here because it’s a great place to raise a family, and it offers lots of recreational— and photo—opportunities. The Northlake Nature Center is right down Hwy. 190; I often shoot marsh >>

scenes there. The Big Branch Marsh Natural Wildlife Refuge has some great scenic spots. And I’ve taken maybe too many photographs of the Madisonville Lighthouse. I just get drawn to it. It’s not just a lighthouse—it’s a fabulous lighthouse, perhaps one of the great lighthouses in America. Another of Snell’s favorite locations is Fontainebleau State Park, the subject of this issue’s cover image.

“I think the northshore is a beautiful place. It’s photogenic. The whole New Orleans area is unique. The food, the music—we sometimes take it for granted how good we have it here. I believe that if you’re gonna really live this life, you may as well live in an interesting place.”

WVUE’s John Snell is a regular photo contributor to Inside Northside magazine’s Last Look.