Turning Pro Issue 6 Summer 2014

ISSUE 6

MANAGE EXPECTATIONS It’s Time to Get Real THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S GUIDE TO TURNING PRO ISSUE 6

WEDDING HEROES: Advice From the World’s Best

COVER STORY:IS PHOTOJOURNALISM DEAD & Can You Still Earn From It?

ZERO TO HERO Three Paths To Success

Cover: P82 Big Interview ‘Captain America’

by Rick Findler

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Is photojournalism dead? It’s a question that divides the industry, and we’ve set out to find the answer. We also discuss the management of expectations of clients, ourselves and those coming new into the industry ROSE AND SJOLANDER

DISCUSSION

Discussion

THE NEED TO

BEAR WITNESS

DAVID CHANCELLOR/INSTITUTE

For nearly a century, traditional photojournalists have undeniably constructed the way in which we view the world. Today, in a world of democratised news and citizen journalists armed with cameraphones on the doorsteps of living history, Victoria Dovey explores the notion that photojournalism is an industry in crisis

With butterflies and warriors.

The late Anja Niedringhaus will be best remembered for her work in dangerous

Geographic or construction workers dining on a crossbeam 69 floors up in the sky.

warzones such as Bosnia, Syria and Iraq. But it was the bullet of a rogue police officer

Today it’s perhaps most associated with pictures of war and conflict, shocking

during the recent elections in Afghanistan

images on the front cover of Life magazine

that tragically cut her life short. Stories of her fun character and abilities as a journalist

or a broadsheet paper – a mixed bag.

To muddy the water further, with the

began to circulate shortly after her death: playing ping pong on a dining table in

speed at which information travels, if photojournalism includes reporting the

Baghdad, listening to music on her iPhone to block out hails of gunfire in Benghazi,

story, an almost philosophical-like question occurs: when does news become

living with local families and singling out both the soldiers and civilians in areas of

yesterday’s news?

“There’s definitely blurred lines between

combat as, above all, people – not numbers,

photojournalism and documentary

nor headlines. Among the many tales and recollections of Anja, one fact above all

photography,” says Neil Turner of the British Press Photographers Association

rose again and again to the surface. As the Associated Press Vice President, Santiago

(BPPA), “and a growing trend to rename photojournalism courses to better

Lyon, best stated, “she truly believed in the need to bear witness.”

encompass this grey area.” Certainly, when I enquire with various photojournalists,

This need is something that has propelled the industry since its creation,

I’m met with a spectrum of terms. David Chancellor, 2012 winner of a Sony World

and despite the dangers and drawbacks

Photography Award tells me: “I’m a

of the profession, it’s what continues to drive photographers to become

huge fan of ‘slow journalism’. I consider photojournalism to be more immediate and

photojournalists today. But how does one go about becoming a photojournalist? Is it

documentary a more considered approach.”

Photography partnership Kajsa Sjölander

a matter of ‘right place’ or ‘right time’? Is it important to be associated? And with so

and Will Rose tell me photojournalism is ‘storytelling’, a view held by many of the

much technology to communicate globally at our fingertips, is photojournalism a

students I spoke to, as well as Institute, a management agency. Anastasia Taylor-Lind,

dying profession?

of the well-established VII Photo agency,

Blurred Lines

relates that she is, “less a journalist and more a narrator.”

While interviewing many professionals, professors and up-and-comers in the

David White, leader of the press and editorial photography course at the

industry, I suddenly began to recognise a peculiar, familiar echo: “What do you mean

Falmouth University is the first to illuminate me further to these growing categories,

by photojournalism?” they would ask. It’s an odd query from a photojournalist, but an

and the need that some photographers feel to distance themselves from the term

understandable one. Famous examples

‘photojournalism’. “In this country, it means

of photojournalism include everything from the student who stood in front of

different things to different people. A lot of it is semantics, really. I think in America it’s

the tanks at Tiananmen Square or Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer Prize winning photo of

more of an established and understood term than it is here. But with universities, it’s also

the impact of the Sudan famine, to more inspirational pictures of Occupy movement

a way of establishing a difference between yourself and your peers in a competitive

protests, remote dancing tribes in National

environment.” Falmouth University prides

JOSHUA HUGHES

JOHN JOCHIMSEN

John Jochimsen When I ask John Jochimsen if a particular image stands out from his 50-year career as a photojournalist, he tells me it’s the image he never took. John was at Treetops in Kenya on the fateful day when the then Princess Elizabeth’s father died, and when she politely requested that they decline to take her picture. John and the rest of the small group of photographers obliged, as the future queen passed by with a solemn wave. It’s proud practices like this which stand John apart from the, perhaps more cut-throat industry of

photographer, to capturing moments of war and stunning scenes in the jungles of the often undocumented world, John recalls his life and work in his memoir, 80 Years Gone in a Flash and the accompanying photobook, Through the Lens of a Photojournalist. His passion and gratitude for the industry are clear. As we spoke, he was summoning stories as amazing and bizarre as “steering a warship through a

JOSHUA HUGHES

today. He calls himself ‘one of the last remaining old school photojournalists’. From beginnings as a Fleet Street news

Josh Hughes and a team of photojournalists used Kickstarter to fund a documentary project on rebuilding a college in Sierra Leone.

force nine gale.� “It’s not something I’m necessarily proud of, but it’s something I know I never would have done otherwise! It’s been a very peculiar life,� John informs me. Peculiar indeed, but remarkable, and after reading his memoir, it’s a true honour to speak with him. John comes from a time when

Advice from the pros

news photographers would agree on a mutual shot before racing back to the ofďŹ ce to develop and send the image to

portfolio, always be honest, be willing to adapt and keep an open mind. Don’t give your images away and don’t accept getting just

the paper. If you were abroad, you would speak to a pilot

a byline as payment for your hard work. Will Rose and Kajsa SjĂślander

to have your ďŹ lm own back home and send a cablegram to have it picked up from the airport – a far cry from today’s

s 0ASSIONATE PEOPLE TAKE PASSIONATE PHOTOS AND CRITICAL CYNICAL PEOPLE

s .EVER GIVE UP PICK UP THE PHONE MAKE CONTACTS KEEP EXPANDING YOUR

digital world of photography today! To read his memoirs is to better understand the legacy of photojournalism and

take cynical critical photos. Kill ego. Ed Thompson

to marvel in both the history of the time, and the wonders of the present. Incredible and touching moments of public

s &IRST AND FOREMOST YOU HAVE TO WANT IT &RANKLY MORE THAN ALMOST anything else in your life because it is ďŹ ercely competitive and very hard

and personal history, John writes with a curious blend of warmth and excitement, and it becomes apparent as you

work and you have to commit 100 per cent to it and almost everything else has to go on the backburner. David White

turn the pages in his books just how integral he has been in assembling our view of the world.

s 7E PRODUCE OUR BEST WORK WHEN WE FOLLOW OUR EMOTIONS David Chancellor s 9OU VE GOT TO BE USED TO GOING OFF AT THE TOUCH OF A HAT )T S ALWAYS WISE TO HAVE A BAG PACKED AND THE CAMERAS READY 9OU NEVER KNOW WHAT is going to happen at any moment. John Jochimsen

Above: Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy waving goodbye from Airforce 1 at Heathrow.

award-winning series Hunters. He found the advantages exceeded those of just financial gain: “As photographers, we’ve become very isolated from our audience, including other photographers. This is largely driven by technology, both in how we produce stories and also how we deliver them.

It’s all too easy whilst working on longterm projects such as Hunters to plough a

furrow without considering the opinion of others. What Kickstarter presented me

DISCUSSION

SAM BARNES / CARTEL PHOTOS WWW.SAM-BARNES.CO.UK

for an art photographic book featuring his

Above: A Hurler is dragged from a pile of bodies as he battles for possession of the prized silver ball during the first of this year’s biannual Cornish Hurling matches in St Columb Major.

with was the opportunity to gauge what an audience thought.” Not everyone is of the unanimous opinion that crowd sourcing and

themselves. Many I spoke to supported themselves through other work such as

Evolution

the democratisation of photojournalism is a good thing, however. “It’s important to have

commercial photography. Others still had established themselves enough to let their

hushed tones in the industry, as one may be weary of saying Macbeth in a theatre. But I

professional photographers who are trained and understand the importance of ethic and

agents worry about getting commissions, and others were perhaps the luckiest (or the most

am reminded that this technological age is breeding opportunity as well as uncertainty.

objectivity,” says Reuters photographer Stefan Wermuth. “It shouldn’t be the way forward but

dedicated), funding their work and lifestyle through grants and prizes alone. But there

“Technological change has never been so fast and will probably never be this slow again,”

I know in some cases it’s the only way to get

seems to be a consensus among all: “Don’t get

Will and Kajsa tell me, who use their work to

access and pictures.”

At Falmouth, crowd sourcing is also

into this industry to make money. If you are, quit. The quickest way to make money in this

flag up environmental issues.

Veteran photojournalist David Chancellor

encouraged. Final year students recently crowd funded a book for the final project in order to

industry is to sell your camera,” Ed tells me. So is it all doom and gloom?

says: “The demand for imagery has never been greater and the vehicles to access it

increase the reach of a traditional exhibition.

“If you have a tool which allows your story to

Light at the end of the tunnel

are multitude. This is an exciting time for photography. There must be a key to harness

get out there, why wouldn’t you use it? I’m all for it,” says David. Other universities such

While times are tough for all creative industries, in photojournalism there seems to

the opportunity that cataclysmic change brings and perhaps it’s simply to change with it.

as the London College of Communication also

be a balancing act of managing expectations for students whilst simultaneously bouying

More and more photojournalists are embracing videography as an extension of

utilise this platform. Recent graduate, Josh Hughes, and a team of photojournalists used

The words ‘citizen journalist’ are uttered in

their optimism for the future. “With the

their craft. Broadcasting work directly online is

Kickstarter to fund a documentary project on rebuilding a college in Sierra Leone, a decade

internet came a huge revolution and, also, a huge crisis,” says Anastasia. “It changed

increasingly popular and most photojournalists today do not hold traditional staff positions,

after the violence of the civil war. “In the end it didn’t cover all the costs for the trip and

the way we distribute and consume images; suddenly photographers are using devices to

but are freelancers, either working with agencies such as Institute, Reuters, VII or

we all worked for free, but it would have felt wrong to pay ourselves out of that money, and

shoot, share and view on. It means people are more visually literate and we can’t discredit the

Getty Reportage, or self promoting and being commissioned off the back of their online

we were just very grateful to get anything.”

democratic nature of citizen journalism, it’s not

portfolios and published work. Ed Thompson

And what about the view that working for free is contributing to the industry’s decline?

the same thing as sending a storyteller, but it’s wonderful in terms of representation.”

quickly learnt to adapt: “If you can get the access and the support and the funding to

“I think you have to make that decision based on the job, are you going to gain something

The industry is changing, becoming more inclusive of gender and race. Anastasia has

do all that – to be at the frontline of history, saving the world – that’s admirable. I would

out of it as well? It’s similar to the idea of interning for free. It works for some people.

worked in conjunction with Firecracker, an organisation which supports women

love to be there, for over a decade I’ve tried.”

Perhaps photojournalism isn’t dead after all,

Personal projects are generally going to be self-funded. It gives an artist much more

in photojournalism and when mentioning citizen journalists, the ethics which epitomise

just evolving. At Falmouth, David says: “We change like the industry does. When

control,” Josh replies.

Firecracker clearly resonate throughout her

people say industry, what I think they mean is

Many students or photojournalists are reluctant to talk about wage or supporting

views. “The world is a better place with equal representation.”

the industry as it was. There is only ever the now.”