Home, at school, alone

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|| SportsShooter.com: News Item: Posted 2006-09-29

Home, at school, alone
The lone student has to be a bit more resourceful than young photojournalists at journalism schools.

By Jim McNay, Brooks Institute of Photography

Photo by Paul Myers

"Remember: Photojournalism is a small industry. Everyone knows everyone else. Everyone talks to everyone else." - Jim McNay

Consider the Lonely Bull.

The strategies for learning photojournalism when a student is the only one in their department or at their school interested in this type of photography become more a challenge than for those students who have the benefit of a regular j-school with supportive faculty and peers.

All this means the lone student has to be a bit more resourceful than young photojournalists at other schools. However the beginning photographer who follows this path may well emerge with stronger journalism skills since they will have had to do more digging on their own.

Start on the campus. If the interested photojournalism student does not have other students, instructors or campus journalists to rely on to further their visual education, keep asking questions. Often with enough exploring, students can find instructors in other departments (art? anthropology?) with an understanding of journalistic pictures. There might be a librarian or art
historian in a campus museum where someone has an interest. The key to finding such people is to ask around, for the student to have many conversations about their area of interest. This opens the doors for something to turn up.

Most college towns have a daily or weekly newspaper within a short distance of the campus. The photography department of this publication is another place to start. With staff photographers, graphic artists, even word editors, a student might find a kindred soul, maybe even a mentor, or just someone to compare notes with, maybe get a little feedback on recent pictures.

Local artists and commercial photographers might also provide a learning source. Though these photographers might have their current life in a world more commercial than photojournalism, students will often be surprised how many commercial photographers worked in photojournalism at some point. In fact, even today, their real love might be in the world of editorial and documentary photography. Photojournalism just might not be how they make their living at the moment.

Also in town there will usually be some kind of bookstore, maybe even a Borders or a Barnes and Noble. The photography and art shelves may offer some rays of hope. Sure, the pictures on silent pages might not be the same as human contact, but many photographers have looked at books and then let those images influence their own photography back on the street.

The other major resource today can be reached from the student's dorm room. That is the Internet, which provides an ever-expanding array of ways to see serious-and excellent-photojournalism. Often websites provide e-mail addresses. Students might be able to write a photographer they admire and get some coaching at a distance. Again, while this is not the same as human contact, it is better than no contact.

The next approach involves getting to some of the great conferences and workshops around the country. Students can start with one-day and weekend gatherings like the Flying Short Course, the NPPA Women in Photojournalism Conference or the education events at the NPPA summer convention. Week long sessions such as the Eddie Adams Workshop, the Mountain Workshops and the Missouri Photo Workshop are relatively low-cost, compared to some of the more commercial ventures available. See the workshop section of the SportsShooter.com website for details on many of these workshops (http://www.sportsshooter.com/education/workshop_index.html) and an article on an array of workshops archived at http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/1586.

However the commercial workshops should not be overlooked. The Maine Photo Workshops and Santa Fe Workshops are definitely pricey. They will put a serious dent in a student budget. On the other hand, these high end workshops offer the chance to work with one of your heroes for a week in a small group. If you are determined to work with a "name" photographer because you admire his or her work or life as a photographer, these workshops frequently bring some of the biggest names to their programs for a week or more each year. Look at their catalogs or check their websites for upcoming course listings.

Finally, one has to include what might in our age be called the Six Degrees of Separation phenomenon. That is the idea that with six telephone calls, one can get a message to anyone. That means even at the student level, the people you know are acquainted with someone who knows someone, who knows someone, and so on.

Much of the time we don't know who our friends, family, acquaintances and colleagues know-until we start asking. But once we ask, doors start to open.

In the beginning, if we have not used this approach, it sounds a little weird, too fantastic, a little bit of "California woo-woo." But this approach can work. The first time around, students may find they have to trust the system and go with it. Out of this process doors may open. Remember: Photojournalism is a small industry. Everyone knows everyone else. Everyone talks to everyone else.

Bottom line: When students are on their own at their campus or university, they have to take a bit more action-on their own-to get the photojournalism education that is out there awaiting them.

Photographers, particularly those in school or seeking to break into the photojournalism, are welcome to send ideas for future columns to Jim McNay at jim.mcnay@brooks.edu.

Questions about getting started in photojournalism that might be answered in future columns are also welcome.

Related Links:

Brooks NPPA Student Chapter

Brooks Institute of Photography

Jim McNay's Member Page