#ritpjdctrip

Day four of the RIT PJ trip was a day split between two great publications, National Geographic and The Washington Post. We were also able to explore Nick Nichols’ exhibit at the Nat Geo museum, get lunch with editors from Nat Geo, and sit in on the 4 p.m. news meeting at WaPo.

During our meeting with National Geographic, we were able to meet and discuss what we can do as young photojournalists and editors with Mallory Benedict, Vaughn Wallace, Sara Leen, Mary Beth McAndrews, Eli Walker, and Jeff Heimsath. The one thing everyone kept coming back to was the ability to be a storyteller- not a photographer, an editor, a writer- a storyteller.  Along with this, Vaughn encouraged learning about other topics that you are interested in or aspire to work with, because the added knowledge will only allow you to better tell the story.

Sarah Leen, who I was incredibly excited to meet, discussed what she looks for in her interns, including “impeccable taste”, research ability, a personality that you can work it, and the flexibility to work in print as well as digital.  Thankfully, I was able to connect with her after the meeting to discuss my interest in underwater photographer in a young female photojournalist.

Before leaving we were able to stop at Nick Nichols’ exhibit “Wild” in which I able to learn about trigger traps and the amount of work that goes into this type of photography.  The amount of planning, trial and error, engineering, and research that goes into these cameras was unreal and astounding.

Washington Post with Chloe Coleman was and MaryAnne Golon was a great contrast to the what we saw at National Geographic, which obviously focuses on the long term feature stories while WaPo is still very much a current and breaking news organization. Overall, while it was definitely a fast-paced news organization, I admired the focus on in-depth storytelling as well, such as the coverage of Barbuda by Salwan Georges.

Today was the first day of our professional development senior photojournalism trip to Washington D.C. We had the pleasure of beginning the day at the Newseum to explore the Pulitzer Prize Gallery, the 9/11 Gallery, and Creating Camelot. Creating Camelot was a new exhibit I hadn’t seen the last time I was in the Newseum, and the images by Jacques Lowe were stunning. I tend to react and remember exhibits, in any type of museum, if they combine information I hadn’t previously known with interesting, visual content. While I expected there to be strong imagery in this exhibit, I was also impressed by the plethora of information I learned walking through the space. For instance, I hadn’t know that the original negatives, except for 10 which were on loan, were lost in the 9/11 attacks.  The Newseum has never let me down with their up-to-date content and classic exhibits, and this trip surely didn’t disappoint.

The second location for the day was the Associated Press office for D.C.  David Ake began the day with some words of wisdom; “We try to be all things to all people and we often fail at that.”  While he was talking about the organization, this can extend to photographers and editors across the industry. So often we as photojournalists want to be everything for our subjects, we want to bring their triumph to others, receive justice, or to educate the populace about an underreported issue, but also so often we fail. It’s not just on our own accord, or for lack of effort, but for lack of outlets willing to publish or failure to push work to get it out there, so many stories go unseen. It very much reminded me of a conversation I had with Andrea Bruce about a year ago, regarding work and if you ever feel like you’ve truly done your subjects justice. I will never forget her saying that she still doesn’t feel that way.  The conversation between both Andrea and David was a pleasant reminder to be humble and tenacious in order to make it, both in the industry, and to make a difference.

After AP we made our way to NPR, one of the places I was most excited to visit while in D.C.  We were able to meet with two alumni, both successful women, which was important to me in light of recent events in the industry, and the push to include women in more awards, publications, assignments, etc. Emily Bogle, a photo editor, perfectly described what it is like to be a photographer or photo editor; “suddenly you care so much about this thing you’ve never heard of.” I’ve never heard anything more true. So much of what photojournalists, including myself, strive to do is educate and make people care about something they potentially never interacted with before.  Our whole industry is intrinsic upon creating an image, images, video, or an edit that captivates and motivates people to understand or respond to an issue.  We must ask ourselves “How can I do this story justice?” which is clearly in conflict with the previously made statements about being unable to feel that we’ve done so. However, I think I’ve begun to understand that, in this industry where compassion and ethics are even more important than taking the image, we may never feel we did the story justice, and that is when you are probably succeeding, as both a person and a photojournalist.  Humbling oneself to always see where your work can improve and better advocate and/or educate will allow you to do just that.

"Photography is a visual conversation - add to it. Don't repeat what others are already saying" - Michael Wichita

Day 4 began at the Washington Post where we met Bronwen Latimer, Deputy Director of Photography for the Post. After Bronwen gave us a tour of the newsroom we had the privilege of sitting in on the morning news meeting. Even though about ten people reported on what their sections would be working on that day, the meeting only lasted about a half hour. 

After the news meeting, Bronwen and photographer Nikki Kahn took us to a conference room where we discussed everything from day rates to working with reporters to how to parachute into a place and tell an accurate story visually. It was an incredible conversation and I am so lucky to have been able to be a part of it. Bronwen repeated something we have heard at every stop, including the ones we made on the New York City trip: She is looking for a photographer who will represent the paper well, who is good to work with, and who can get the job done. 

Our next stop was AARP where we met Director of Photography Michael Wichita and RIT Alum and picture editor Lindsey Leger. In our meeting Michael talked to us about what AARP is and what they are trying to accomplish. They have two main publications: The Magazine, which is more about lifestyle, and the bulletin, which is more about new government policy that effects members. They also produce a large amount of content for the web and have and instagram account which I suggest everyone goes and follows. AARP is definitely not a publication that many people would think of as a good place to freelance for, but they are doing great editorial and documentary work. It is a place that supports photographers and is happy to receive story pitches. Michael told us that if we are green that we shouldn't be afriad to ask questions or for coaching before going into an assignment - what is important is that you get the images that are needed. I left very excited by the opportunity that AARP can offer. 

After AARP we high tailed it up to Bethesda, MD where Education Week is located. Education Week is part of Editorial Projects in Education, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization that reports on K-12 education across the country. There we met RIT alum and Director of Photography for Education week, Charlie Borst. We also met Swikar Patel, Associate Director of Photography for Education Week and Deanna Del Ciello, Multimedia Producer for Education Week. The three make a great team, and we had a very candid conversation about what they do and how they work together and with freelancers. Like NPR, Ed Week tries to be very thoughtful with their approach. While it is essentially a newspaper, it is vastly different from a traditional newspaper in that deadlines are weekly or monthly instead of daily depending on the nature of the story. Swikar came from a newspaper background and said he has had to remind himself that he wont be shooting every day and that some days are spent only editing or doing research. I really identify with this approach to visual storytelling so I was very excited by the model that Education Week works with.