Do photojournalists write?

Imagine this photo of Toledo Mayor Mike Bell without a caption. You wouldn't know what it's about; just a bald head against a white backboard.  He's actually pondering dozens of suggestions by local citizens to trim down the city's $43.8m deficit. (Blade Photo by Lori King)

During a recent Owens Photo Club meeting, a question was asked whether students have to write as part of the Intro to Photojournalism course curriculum.

Here’s my response: photo = photography & journalism = writing. Put the two together and you have a photographer who should at least write down the names of the people they photograph.

Writing is absolutely a part of a photojournalist’s career. After all, a photo never runs in the paper without a cutline or caption explaining what it’s about. The caption can be as long as an extended cut, like a mini-story, or as short as a name and title to label a head shot.

Either way, photojournalists must keep a pad and pen in their camera bags to document the 5Ws and the H for every photo we take, especially if subjects in the photos are easily identifiable.

It’s true that copy editors end up rewriting our captions much of the time. After all, they are the true word doctors in the newsroom. They’re armed with the AP style guide, dictionaries, spell checks, and experience. But we provide the basic facts; proper spelling of names and hometowns, and a short version of what’s happening in the photo.

It’s also true photographers at the Blade and at most other medium to large news organizations do not write stories. But photographers at smaller papers and the military do.

In fact, that’s how I started out. I was an award-winning Army journalist (journalist of the year 3 times) who took photos for my own stories. So I’m one of the few who can do both. I couldn’t image my life without writing, which is why I created this blog!

Anyway, Owens students taking the Intro to Photojournalism Course should have no fear: it’s not a course that involves a lot of writing, just getting their facts right.