Janet Worne - Thoughtful Photography

JAWS

 I recently joined an organization called JAWS, which stands for Journalism & Women Symposium. The declaration on their website states:  "JAWS supports the professional empowerment and personal growth of women in journalism and works toward a more accurate portrayal of the whole society."

The first local get-together I attended was great. (I call it a get-together because that's precisely what it was, rather than a formal meeting) I found mostly writers--in fact I think I was the only photographer. That's okay, though, because I consider myself a writer as well as photographer. It was wonderful to gather with a group of women in my field and compare notes. Even though the number of female reporters, editors and photographers is growing steadily, we are still not well represented in management. We still face the unique issues that men don't seem to worry about as much, such as juggling childcare with the crazy hours of a journalist, and being taken as seriously as our male counterparts by our bosses and the public. It is refreshing to have a group to talk to frankly about those issues and have them actually UNDERSTAND what I'm talking about.

I am on their mailing list and the latest topic was a call for quotes by female journalists. Here are a couple of my favorites:

“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me.”
            --Erma Bombeck

"Networking is a primary way women discover that we are not crazy, the system is."
             -– Gloria Steinem

"Women are in a double bind. If we talk like women we are not respected. If we talk like men, we are not liked."
             -– Deborah Tannen

"Information is power and without it we can ‘t make the changes that we need in order to balance our work and family lives."
             -– Judy Mann

“In journalism, there has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right”
                --Ellen Goodman

How To Find Story Ideas

These ideas are not new and you probably have heard them before but sometimes we all reach a dry spell where we need a little nudge. Something to get the creative juices flowing again. This list will get you started and you can take it from there.

1.    Read—newspapers, want ads, phone books—everything and anything. Even the smallest item can trigger a big idea.

2.    Cruise—drive around town without agenda. Venture into unfamiliar areas and just look with an open mind and see what you see.

3.    Talk with people—take the time to chat everywhere you go, especially on routine assignments. You’ll be surprised what people will tell you if you take the time to listen.

4.    Eavesdrop—in restaurants, while standing in line, everywhere…

5.    Listen to the scanner—not everything will be exciting enough to run right out to immediately, but it may trigger an idea to follow up on later.

6.    Keep a notepad with you all the time—it’s a cliché, I know, but I get many great ideas in the middle of the night or when I’m driving.

7.    Get involved in the community—you hear of many things while at church or club meetings.

8.    Network—make friends with police, firefighters, jailers, doctors—anyone who will keep you plugged in to what is going on in their world. Hand out your card and encourage them to call you if they hear of anything photo or story worthy.

A police friend called me at home to tell me about this mentally ill woman. She had been arrested 3 times in the past month alone for wandering into neighbor's homes looking for milk. The police were frustrated by outdated laws that required them to arrest the mentally ill instead of taking them directly to a mental hospital. Here the officer was trying to find someone to help her before finally cuffing her and taking her to jail.

9.    Steal ideas from old contest and other papers—I'm not talking about plagiarism, academic style. Just peruse other papers and magazines for ideas that can be recycled and changed enough to make them your own.

10.    Localize a national news story—the obvious thing is to watch the national news but don’t overlook publications like the Wall Street Journal which is known for spotting upcoming trends.

11.    Check the calendar—you can find “on this day in history” calendars online. Look far enough ahead and find an idea to work on and have ready for publication at the appropriate time.

12.    Make a tree—by this I mean brainstorm. Start with a universal theme like Love as the trunk of the tree. One branch might be Romantic Love, another might be Parental Love, etc. Smaller branches would break it down further and further until you come up with a more specific, usable idea.

13.    Newsletters—get yourself on lots of mailing lists. The junk you have to wade through is a pain but worth it when you find a good idea.

14.    Piggyback—many stories you may be working on have another life or two or possibly more. Check in with past story subjects and see if there is anything worth following up on.

Self-Promotion

Self-promotion is the most difficult part of being a freelance photographer for me and for many other freelance photographers I know. If you are not careful to guard against it, your work becomes a part of who you are, your essence--your soul, which in an artistic sense is not always a bad thing. But in the commercial world of freelance photography we all know how hard it is to lay that part of yourself open to the dreaded REJECTION. I'm still struggling with that issue.

In an earlier post I mentioned John Kaplan's book on portfolios; now here is a book I found helpful along the same vein called "Successful Self-Promotion for Photographers" by Elyse Weissberg. It deals with putting together a portfolio but is a little heavier on marketing. John's book touches on marketing but is much heavier on the portfolio side of it. The two books complement each other very well.

How To Put Together A Portfolio

This post is for all those young photographers out there who write to me for advice on putting together a portfolio. Come to think of it, photographers at any stage of their careers may have reason to put together a new portfolio, so this is for you too. A good friend of mine, John Kaplan, wrote this book packed with great suggestions. And John would know. He is a Pulitzer winning photographer and is now a professor at the University of Florida and all around great guy. I call him a good friend even though we touch base very infrequently. He's just one of those people I think fondly of. I met him when he worked at the now-defunct Pittsburgh Press. We had both interned at the Wilmington News-Journal, although not at the same time.

If you're looking for good advice on the subject, get this book, you can't go wrong with John Kaplan.

The Future of Newpapers

I googled “The future of newspapers”.

The first story I read (from Time Magazine) started out: “The word newspaper is going to disappear.”

Further down in the article is a line that explains quite a lot:  “The cost to reach 1,000 people is $20 for newspapers, but just $5 for those online.”

And: “Today, teens don't read newspapers and they never will. If there were a newspaper strike across America today, almost no one under the age of 30 would notice.”

What started me thinking about this stuff is my visit yesterday to the Lexington Herald-Leader where I worked for 18 years. I’m back in Kentucky for a 12 day Christmas visit with family and friends and you know what? It really is hard to go back. It’s hard to go back to the place I once worked and see the shell-shocked faces of former co-workers who have fresh memories of the latest round of layoffs. The photographers no longer blame my departure for increasing their workload, now they say I may have saved a job by leaving.

I find it intolerably sad to see this once-great industry die a slow death this way. I have had a wonderful career, full of exciting memories. I talk with many young photographers who hope for the same kind of career and sometimes I don’t know what to tell them. What kind of career will they have in this fast changing world? Should I tell them to turn back now while they can and go into something more marketable?

But then I think, there will always be news and when there is news, people will always want to see pictures of it. The trick is to stay on top of the ever-changing ways of delivering it. We may not view those pictures in a newspaper in the future (as sad as that makes me feel). Our news consumption may be entirely web-based or there may be other technologies yet to be revealed. The important thing is to stay flexible and keep up with it.

For now, learn all you can, shoot video as well as still, stay fluent on the web and keep your eye on the future—there will be photography there somewhere.

Working Mom

As a mentor, I get asked about juggling the demands of being a widow with a family and the difficult job of a photojournalist. I think about that when I see Sarah Palin on the campaign trail with a special needs baby in tow. Of course it helps to have the money and support she has to make it work. Every mother must ask herself those difficult questions and find the answers that make sense for her situation. Only she knows what is right for her own life. And then she must live with the results of her choices. This goes for men as well.

When my girls were young they sometimes whined when it was time for me to leave for work. This led to the same old argument:
“Mommy, I don’t want you to go to work.”
“I have to.”
“Who says?”
“My boss.”
“Then you have a mean boss if he makes you go to work when your little girl needs you!” Then came the tears.

I finally realized that I wasn’t being totally honest with them. I wanted to work. I loved my job. When I’m happy, my relationship with them is smoother. They are proud of what I do. And with that kind of role model maybe they won’t suffer the dreaded mother-guilt thing when they have children of their own.

So I explained that to them and they understood. After that, when they asked why I had to go to work, I told them because it made me happy.

I feel good about the way my children turned out. They are happy, motivated, and considerate adults who are both in graduate school pursuing challenging careers. They grew up knowing that women can be passionate about their jobs and be good mothers too.

Over the years they have talked fondly about the aroma of fixer, or “Mommy’s perfume”, as they called it, and how the smell of it meant that “Mommy’s home”. My self-generated stories were mostly local and sometimes topics that interested my kids as well. I visited their classrooms to give presentations on photojournalism. I never missed a parent-teacher night, school play or concert.

As a widow, my greatest fear in life was leaving my kids orphaned. I had a talk with them shortly after their father died and told them, “I can’t promise you that I will never die, but I can promise that I will be careful because I know that you need me.” I have kept that promise over the years. I think about it when I’m rushing to a news event or covering riots. I have gotten my share of beatings, sideline tackles and balls to the head but I’m probably more cautious than many of my male co-workers. I have passed up opportunities to cover war situations. I know that this means I don’t produce the kind of sensational photos that always win contests but I think I bring extra sensitivity and humanity to my work.

Right before he died, my husband, Kenn, made me promise that I wouldn’t give up on my career. He said I was good at it and loved it too much.

I kept at it for 26 years and I’m glad I kept my promises.

Visual Storytelling

As a mentor I am often asked about shooting stories. This is a skill that goes beyond just being able to shoot a great photograph. I have seen a collection of award-winning photographs that fall flat as a story. The key skill in storytelling is editing. I have jotted down a few thoughts about editing photo essays that may help you get started. These are not hard and fast rules, they are only meant to give you a place to start.

A good story should include:

VARIETY
--Visual variety. (close-up shots, wide shots, scene-setter shots, and telling details or very tight pictures)
--Story variety. (content should not be repetitive. Make sure each photo tells a different part of the story. If it doesn’t contribute something unique, throw it out.)

EMOTION
--Emotion elevates a story into one that people are drawn into and can relate to. (don't just show what something looks like, show what it feels like to be there)
--Try for interaction, little moments.

FOCUS
--Sometimes focusing on one person helps draw in readers and gives more of a feel for what is happening.
--Or you could focus on one theme or message.

STORYLINE
--A lead photo or one storytelling shot that introduces the topic.
--Several supporting photos that contribute to the story and move it along.
--A nice closer or ending. Sometimes it is a chronological thing, sometimes it's more of a mood shot.

BIG PICTURE
--Ask yourself what is the story really about? Go beyond your first answer. Is it about an Oysterman? Fine, ask again and keep asking until you get to the bigger issue. Is it about a job? A lifestyle? Passion? The disappearance of a way of life? In other words, each story is about something on a surface level but what is the underlying theme or struggle? This is a lot like writing fiction or screenplays because it IS a form of storytelling, although a photojournalist's stories should be truthful and accurate.

You can start with a shopping list of photos to look for but stay open to other things. When you get there, it may be totally different than you think it will be ahead of time. This list is only a starting point and should not stifle your spontaneous, on-the-spot creativity.

Two Cents from a Mentor

I am a National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) mentor. Young photographers contact me looking for advice and inspiration. I actually get only a few questions over and over again.

The most pressing topic on young photographer’s minds is getting a job and since we are talking about NPPA members—that means a job at a newspaper. Lately, I cringe when asked about that because I know how hard newspapers are struggling to stay afloat and how scarce staff photographer jobs are now. But I also remember when I was in their shoes and there was nothing anyone could say to me to change my mind about what I wanted to do. So if they are just starting out, this is what I tell them:

    1. Don't get caught up in wanting to only work for a large paper. It has its own drawbacks, aside from being difficult to get. Small papers can give you more variety, freedom, and you will be competing with fewer photographers for the good jobs. Sometimes the bigger papers have specialties and you might get stuck in a slot you don't like and never get to do certain things. If you can get into a large paper right away, by all means go for it—that would be great. But don't turn up your nose at the smaller ones. They can be a great training ground. I worked for two smaller papers before I went to the Herald-Leader. Those papers mostly used grip and grins. But I took initiative (VERY important to do anywhere you go) and came up with story ideas that interested me. I wrote them, shot them, even laid them out on the page. I ended up with a lot of good clips for my portfolio. I worked on them between other assignments and after work. A large paper would not have let me do all that.
    2. Develop web skills. Learn multimedia and video—VERY IMPORTANT. Those are the skills that will help in the future. The newspaper world is changing and going more to the internet. In fact, have as many skills as you can. Writing, page design, editing, learn foreign languages.
    3. Keep working to build your portfolio. Find a long-term story idea to work on. Try gathering natural sound with it and put it together with an audio slide show. Shoot video with it. Go to sporting events, including unusual sports. Get a scanner and follow news stories. There are many books and on-line essays on the subject of building a portfolio.
    4. Go to your local paper and ask about internships or if you can shadow one of their staff photographers, or if they need freelancers.
    5. When you do get a staff job, try to attend budget meetings or sit in on photo-editing sessions. Those editing skills and knowledge of what is going on in editor's heads can make you a better shooter and help you with timing and news judgment.