People Love Photojournalism

There has been a lot of talk about photojournalism in the past week - especially regarding the Chicago Sun Times laying off their entire photo staff.

The reasons for this layoff are beyond me, and I am in no way qualified to speak about the specifics of the Times' layoffs.

What I want to share is my experience today at the World Press Photo exhibition in Amsterdam.

People love photojournalism.

Why?

Because on a Sunday afternoon I watched hundreds of people line up to view the best photographs taken for the press in the last year.

Judged by the best in the business, including my friend Bill Frakes, this competition is now on tour showcasing the best of the best to thousands.

People laughed, cried and gasped at the amazing pictures at this exhibit.

They also paid for this exhibit - €8 to be exact.

Not only did they wait in line, pay and share their experiences with others, they were moved by the work of photojournalism.

So while I continue to travel through a city that should be underwater, maybe those newspapers that are financially drowning should take a look at the impact they are making on the public before they eliminate it.

See the winners of the 2013 World Press Photo contest online.

Check to see if the tour will be stopping near you.

Follow Bill Frakes online and on Twitter

Mass Transit - NYC vs. Amsterdam

You know, I love the NYC Subway as much as the next guy (so much that I'll be working on a photo project about the mass transit in NYC for the next six months), but after arriving in the Netherlands it is hard not to think how it could be a little better (cleaner).

NYC Subway

Amsterdam's GVB

Amsterdam

I'll be shooting in Amsterdam this week. More posts to come about the backpack of gear with me this week.

Then it's off to Utrecht, Rotterdam and Greece for more adventures.

Stay tuned...

Miami Herald: A letter from your intern

Dear One Herald Plaza and its occupants:

The entrance to the Miami Herald offices.

I walked into your marble entranceway in awe for the first time as a freshman at the University of Florida. I was a green journalism student yearning to get to work.

It would take me another 14 months before I could step in as a journalist, not a visitor.

Surprisingly enough, when I became an intern it wasn’t stepping into the building we all know and love at One Herald Plaza that became memorable - it was stepping out.

Oil was flowing in the Gulf of Mexico in the summer of 2010 and leaving the fifth floor of the newsroom and landing in Louisiana was the best thing that could have ever happened to my career.

I still share my war stories from the bayou with my students and fellow journalists - the memories of Joe Goodman hanging out of a Blackhawk and Leslie Clark stuck in Alabama with the Coast Guard will stay with me forever.

Walking out of the photography offices in One Herald Plaza.

You were my newsroom and my classroom.

Like many other alumni of your great institution - we have been impacted by your journalists, editors, managers and spirit of news gathering.

The photo staff at the Miami Herald.

As the move to the new offices completes, many will claim this is the symbolic end to a newspaper’s influence on a city. This could not be more untrue.
Your best work did not come from the fifth floor of One Herald Plaza. Your best work came from the suburbs of Miami, the streets of Haiti, the jungles of South America, the beaches of Cuba and the oil-soaked swamps of Louisiana.

Today, May 16, 2013, is the last day for many of my friends in your newsroom, but not the last day for great journalism to hit the newsstands and citizens of Miami.

- Steve Johnson
Miami Herald Intern - Summer, 2010

Shooting Tip - Have a conversation

Joe Namath in 2008.

Five years ago, I was asked to take a portrait of Joe Namath before a golf tournament for the Orlando Sentinel. I was 18 years old and didn't know much about the football legend. So I called my grandmother, a New York City native, who knew everything about him. I took 20 photos, all of which he wouldn't take off his sun glasses. So I asked him to take one without his sunglasses and then asked, "what was it like to call the Superbowl in Miami?" This was the result.

So what is the lesson here?

Well first, always listen to your grandmother, but it is just as important to get to know your subject - even if they are a football legend. Do the research, and then, make a connection. Don't just ask a silly question about their best day ever. Connect with your subject in a way that makes them feel something - this will certainly show in the photo.

Happy shooting.