Photojournalism From A Student’s Eye

Last summer when I was interning in St. Cloud I was introduced to the concept of mainstreaming, which, as explained to me in a nutshell, was putting minorities in photos when possible, or better reflecting the diversity of the community. Some of the photographers took exception to this policy, not because they don’t want to photograph minorities, but because they search for moments, rather than waiting on a particular person for a moment that may never come just because of the color of their skin. I can understand this, I don’t really think I look at what a person’s ethnic background is when I am taking pictures, just what they are doing, what the composition looks like around them, etc.

Recently at the Register, it appears someone has felt that we have had the opposite problem. Apparently there have been too many minorities featured in some of our prom galleries. Too many? I would argue that minorities are not featured as much as they should be in our paper. I can only think of a couple Black History Month stories in February (I’ll have to check and see just how many there were, I imagine there were more). As such, I don’t think that a few minorities in a photo gallery is really going to hurt anyone.

The galleries in question I believe are the Scavo Prom and the Hoover Prom. In the Scavo gallery, there are 23 images. Ten of those images have a minority in them. However, four of them feature either the king and/or the queen, who were both minorities. Not photographing them and including them in galleries would be like not including multiples of David Beckham because this is America damn it, and he is English! Hoover, as far as I can tell from all of those school information sites, is 60% white. In the 17 image gallery, there are ten images with a minority in them, and four of the ten feature both white and non-white. I should also mention that the slogan on Hoover’s web site is “Many Nations One School.” Ironic? Hoover is also featured in a window advertisement for the Register in the skywalk about coverage of diversity (I am pretty sure it’s Hoover, but it could be North… I don’t go in the office much).

Did the photographer go too far in misrepresenting the demographics of the school? How often do galleries actually represent the demographics of their subjects, be it school or city to a T anyways? Do I have to worry more about who I am photographing and not what I am photographing?

Recently it became apparent to me that I would need to start learning flash. While the Register has an online team, they are often overworked and understaffed, and, despite their best efforts, cannot possibly work on every project dreamed up by reporters and photographers… and if I attempt to work one more multimedia project into a Vuvox presentation I think Shaminder (Congrats btw on Poynter and Hearst!) will stop talking to me (even a coworker called me the Vuvox guy the other day).

I thought I would start simple, by learning how to create a chaptered soundslides presentation. I probably should have tried while there was still a tutorial readily available on Multimediashooter, because it was not as simple as I thought, and the documentation I sought wasn’t as readily available as I would have hoped. But, after digging out my Flash Journalism book and peeking into some examples that Joe Weiss has available to download, I was able to work it out.

Now, on to learning how to create eye-pleasing shells for projects…

Wishing you too could go to Mexico to take part in a photojournalism workshop, but don’t have the $3,250 + personal expenses for, say, a SJSU/Mercury News workshop?  Check out the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, put on in part by Lightstalkers.

There were- and are- a host of wonderful workshops out there; however, after looking around for some time, we came to the conclusion that there were a) few for people from developing nations and b) few that a photojournalism student from Europe or the US (officially a student or informally, we don’t care) could realistically afford. We also felt that, while attending a workshop for $4000 with one or two great photographers was wonderful, it could be more beneficial to create a workshop where many more instructors came, creating an impromptu community of sorts. A workshop where getting into the field, producing real reportage, getting honest, real feedback, and making new friends and developing contacts were first and foremost.

Tuition for the workshop is $500 ($400 if you and a friend both sign up), but does not include travel, accommodation or personal expenses.  Instructors listed on the web site include among many other people: Ron Haviv, Brian Storm, Stanley Greene and Amy Vitale.

Taken from an email sent out through SFBAPPA:

Students are invited to the SJSU Multimedia Academy. Jim Gensheimer from the Mercury News will co-teach in South Africa and Sadie Quarrier, Sr. Photo Editor, at National Geographic Magazine, will co-teach the program in Ghana from June 16 to July 4, 2008.

www.sjsu.edu/studyabroad

Students can earn three units of credit. The cost is $4,200.
SJSU Special Session Tuition (3 Credits @250/unit) $750
SJSU Program Management Fee $200
Program Fee $3,250

The registration deadline is March 3. The monies are due at a later date.

MCOM 180: SJSU’s Multimedia Academy
• Co-instructed by National Geographic Photojournalist
• Explore Real World multimedia journalism
• Produce compelling multimedia stories in the field and on deadline
• Learn the importance of discipline with time, shooting, and gathering information necessary to advance the story
• Learn the importance of research, organization, adjusting, adapting and patience
• Earn 3 units of SJSU credit

This program is open to all undergraduate and graduate students who are matriculated towards a degree at a U.S. university or college. Students who have successfully completed their advance photojournalism and or broadcast sequence courses are especially welcome to take this course.

Proudly co-sponsored by National Geographic Magazine and the San Jose Mercury News, the SJSU Multimedia Academy is an ambitious, three-year program designed to give photojournalism students and broadcast journalism students the opportunity to gain an edge in the competitive job market. The San Jose Mercury News has committed one staff photographer or multimedia editor to co-teach the three-week course in South Africa.

Besides Ghana and South Africa, the multimedia academy will explore Brazil, India, Bangladesh, The Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, China and Dubai. Each program location will have a National Geographic or San Jose Mercury News staff photographer or multimedia editor to co-teach the program. At the conclusion of the program, a coffee table book exhibiting the students’ work will be published, along with a behind-the-scenes DVD documentary. A photography and interactive multimedia exhibition featuring the students’ work will also travel the U.S.

The fee includes tuition, air fare (West Coast departure) and hotel accommodations. These estimated coasts do not include personal expenses as this varies among different participants.must take the following MCom 180 (INDIVIDUAL STUDIES) 3-unit course. http://jmcweb.sjsu.edu/courses.html

Prof. Michael Cheers, who coordinates the photojournalism sequence at SJSU, will lead this program. Cheers, the 2007 Faculty Fellow at National Geographic Magazine, worked more than 20 years as a photojournalist in Africa. Jim Gensheimer, an award-winning staff photojournalist for the San Jose Mercury News, will co-teach this course.

More info,
D. Michael Cheers,Ph.D
Director of Photojournalism
San Jose State University
mcheers@casa.sjsu.edu
408-795-5062 or 408-924-3259

Study Abroad Office:
International Programs & Services San José State University
Located in Clark Hall, Room 543 One Washington Square
study.abroad@sjsu.edu
San Jose, CA 95192
408.924.5931 408.924.5976 Fax

Dennis Dunleavy, Associate Professor of Communication at Southern Oregon University, is once again undertaking a survey on the topic of digital photo manipulation. Dunleavy writes:

Since August of 2006, I have been collecting responses from readers concerning attitudes toward photo digital manipulation.

In order to sample changing attitudes over time, I am relaunching the survey and will begin to compare results. Anyone can take the survey and all participation is voluntary, confidential, and anonymous. For instance, a respondent’s IP address is not stored in the survey results, which protects the identity of the individual to some extent.

The intention of the survey is to understand the way people think about digital manipulation over time. In 2006, more than 735 people weighed in on the issue. One of the questions I would like to track is whether or not people can tell if a picture has been manipulated. Many people believed they could. Is that claim still true a year later? Let’s find out.

Click here to take his survey, or, you can read a post about a past survey.