Photos and Perverts

The other day a neighbor came to my house to solicit a signature for another neighbor who was running for the Toledo School Board. After a brief conversation, she realized who I was and exclaimed, "Oh, you're the photographer who put my daughter in the Blade!"

She then went on to explain how that photo of her teen daughter soaking up the sun in her backyard had gotten the attention of a prisoner in jail. He had seen the girl's picture, looked up her last name and street in the phone book and called her at home. Fortunately, the mother answered the phone both times, preventing her daughter from speaking or even knowing about this undesireable stranger. I don't blame the mom for being annoyed and frightened with that photo, because it prompted a man to call her daughter from prison! 

The photo, taken years ago, was innocent enough: She was sunbathing in her bathing suit and, because it was hot, and I mean HOT, she had brought out a typical household fan to keep her cool. I happened to drive by and saw this. In my defense, I don't think a single photographer seeking features for a paper would pass that up. I also admit I'm a bit naive when it comes to the mind of perverts. It never entered my mind that this young girl could be harassed by prisoners or stalked by predators.

To make a long story short, my fortune of finding an interesting feature turned into someone else's perverted fantasy. 

The pictures photojournalists take for newspapers wind up in all kinds of places: refrigerator doors, scrap books, wall frames, and in the hands of prisoners. It was just an eye-opener for me. Should we include street names with these kinds of feature photos? Maybe not. 

Yes, we are responsible for filling news pages.  But are we responsible to our subjects  once our photos are published? I don't think so. We just need to be mindful of who we're putting in the paper, and who our readers are...

The international language of winning and losing

The Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic at Highland Meadows has come and gone, but the thrill of it still lingers. 

I posted a Facebook message before the final round last weekend wondering what the odds were that a South Korean would win the Farr: 3 to 1. I would have taken that bet, considering Se Ri Pak alone won 5 times! This year Eugjung Yi, 21, will have her own street in Sylvania. Not bad, since she's only been competing in the LPGA for two years. That's incredible, considering South Korea is the size of Indiana. 

The huge Morgan Pressel crowd was disappointed, of course. And so was Paula Creamer, the defending champion who had to pull out due to a thumb injury. But the competition was exciting, no matter who won. Quick recap: Yi takes big early lead Round 3, and keeps that lead until the last few holes. Pressel caught up with her on Hole 17 and forced a replay on Hole 18. 

This kind of drama is exactly why I like shooting sports. Yi desperately wanted that ball to go into the hole, and I needed to capture her reaction when it did, or didn't.  That's what sports photography is all about.  The photos say it all: Yi's ball did plop into the hole, and Pressel's didn't.

Let's hope we have a tournament to talk about next year...

The Art of Storytelling

Storytelling. It's not a new concept. In fact, storytelling is one of the reasons photojournalism was born; back in the late 1800s when photos began to appear in newspapers because editors realized photos sold papers.

 Henry R. Luce’s Life Magazine was one of the first national publications that used large photos to tell stories. It was first published in 1936.

I remember sifting through those huge pages and thinking how great it would be to be published in Life. I came close once. I shot a story for the Associated Press on Mexican farm workers who would take their children to the fields with them. I spent days in the Northwest Ohio fields documenting babies and toddlers confined in playpens surrounded by wheat and corn. The story went national, but in newspapers, not Life.

Remember when you first learned Life was going to stop the presses? Sadly, it was just the beginning of the continuing steady demise of magazines and newspapers.

After relentlessly documenting the job losses of other people, like autoworkers and mortgage brokers, we are now tragically covering ourselves. I use the word tragically, because photojournalists are the eyes of the world. Our world needs photos to continue documenting job losses, discrimination, health crisis, war, poverty and political corruption.

It’s our job to bring these atrocities to light, because the average citizen doesn’t have the power or the stage to do it. How would we know about hunger in Ethiopia or the existence of the KKK without photos to prove these things exist?

Storytelling can be done with just one photo (think firefighter carrying the baby during the Oklahoma bombing) or a whole series of photos. These captured stories can be printed in newspapers/magazines or on-line. Either way, it’s an art form that should absolutely never die.

In another posting, I'll highlight a few schools and organizations that are raising the bar on the art of storytelling.

 

 

 

Warning: Protect Thyselves

I covered a fire safety meeting tonight for the Blade. I actually couldn't wait to attend because I'm a freak about fire safety, and seat belt safety, and water safety, stranger danger, etc. I'm convinced that anyone who does this job for a long time eventually suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. 

Photojournalists are up close and personal to so many disasters that we understand trauma and accidents can happen to anyone, anytime. I fear because I drive my children crazy with my hovering when they're riding bikes, swimming or playing on the jungle gym, they won't take me seriously when the danger is quite high, like when we walked the rim of the Grand Canyon last month. I was a maniac. "Watch your step!" "Don't walk too fast!" "Stay close to the left side!" I even got tired of hearing myself.

Despite my paranoia, I wouldn't change a thing, because I need to be able to sleep at night, knowing I did my best to protect them as much as you can prevent accidents, and that multiple smoke alarms strategically placed throughout my house are functional.

So I say this with motherly intuition: Make sure you have smoke alarms with fresh batteries in every bedroom and hallway; at least one fire ladder on the 2nd floor; and an escape plan that's well rehearsed. 

And please, take me seriously just this one time.

Unplugged...

   Welcome to summer. An Air France plane crashes. A Monroe, Mich. 5-year-old girl is missing. Prop 8 in California continues. And my RV mechanic bill is $1,000. There's never a shortage of news (okay, my RV isn't news but the price tag is still shocking!) 

   I took a break from the news business last week, when I went to Arizona on vacation. My cell died the 1st day and I didn't recharge it. I didn't take my computer, either. I rarely read or watched the news. And my pair of Canon Mark II cameras were left at home. But you know what? News continued without me, and it always will. 

(Photo by my daughter, Quinn)    

                       

Sad update on the missing girl: Nevaeh Buchanan was found murdered, cased in cement on the bank of the River Raisin in Monroe, Mich. The suspect is still at large. 

The Platypus Concept

For the first time ever, I read an entire story about a television photojournalist in my National News Photographer Assoc. (NPPA) magazine.  

I usually just scan over the stories involving video shooters because, well, I'm a still shooter; I only want to soak up the information I deem beneficial to me. But that philosophy doesn't apply anymore. 

Newspaper photojournalists these days are now shooting and editing video for the web, as well as continuing to lug around our bulky Canon Mark IIs on each shoulder. Not only are we shooting digital stills and capturing video, we're also recording audio using wireless mics and digital voice recorders. So now we're broadcasters, too. 

You couldn't have convinced me five years ago we'd be multi-tasking this much. At first, I was hesitant to grasp the platypus concept, but I have to admit: I like it. It wasn't long ago I was excited to be shooting with a digital camera and transmitting from my car via a lap top. Now, we Blade photogs can add skills in Soundslides, Audacity and Final Cut Pro to our resume.

Learning how to shoot video and capture audio has been a challenge for an old newshound like me, but I've accepted that challenge for two reasons: 1) I don't want to get left behind, and 2) I teach Intro to Photojournalism at Owens Community College and am tasked to prepare the next generation to take my place.  

The following video is an example of what I'm talking about. It's a recent story about the fear of rising crime in Toledo due to fewer police officers on the street.  I shot it with a Canon FS100 (yes, tv photogs make fun of our baby video cam) and produced it for the Blade website. 

Happy Mother's Day

This video is dedicated to my mom, Linda. 

I shot the video, recorded the audio and 

produced the movie this past week. 

I hope she likes it.