Our 2nd exercise for the masters program was to visually explore 3 different relationships.
The first relationship I found was a former high school teacher Steve, who visits his mother Betsy a few times a week at her assisted-living facility. The resident cat, Wink (who has one eye sewed shut), has made Betsy’s room her permanent residence.
svgallery=rel1
The final installment in this person-at-work series is Teather, who I spotted while driving across south Austin. She was amazingly friendly and genuine in spite of the fact that she was working as an advertisement.
Teather Pangarakis works as a human billboard for Liberty Tax Services. As a deaf woman, she mouthed to me with a smile, “My job sucks.”
svgallery=lcc3
Little Miss Austin Beauty Pageant was in full effect this morning. It was a new experience for me. But I thought the unique nature and culture of the pageant would make for an interesting Person At Work set of images. I was focusing on Miss Annette, the owner and emcee of the pageant.
There were two difficulties for me while shooting:
- I kept wanting to document the whole event, the variety of people, reactions, details, etc. It was counter-intuitive to focus on one person and one style of image.
- It was difficult pacing myself. We’re expected to spend a few hours on each subject and have a total of around 72 images. I’m used to shooting as much and as quickly as I feel comfortable with and editing later. I realized that I had to keep slowing myself down. I think this will be helpful, as I was learning to be more patient and creative in trying to find those decisive moments.
And so ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for our latest contestant, Miss Annette:
svgallery=lcc2
The first masters assignment has been a helpful exercise in getting back to the fundamentals of the classic editorial photojournalistic piece. The assignment is to document three different people at work. Our equipment is pretty limited–fixed focal length, manual focus & exposure, black and white, no flash, 400 asa. So it’s been refreshing getting away from the technical aspects and exploring the image making process a little more. I’ve realized that I’ve gotten out of the habit of putting sufficient time into my newspaper assignments. Once I get a decent picture I’m usually ready to move on. But this assignment has helped me appreciate the art of patience. And developing a composition and an idea.
So the first subject is Matt Boyd of the Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas. As a phlebotomist, he was extracting blood at a local drive.
svgallery=lcc1
Muhammad Yunus was speaking at Bookpeople yesterday about his loaning practices that led to his Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.
Yunus started his bank after a long stint of frustration. He found village after village of poor people in Bangladesh being taken advantage of by loan sharks. There was one case of 40 people who were loaned a total of US$27 (all loans under $1 for mostly emergency needs) but the ridiculous interest rates of the loans kept them in a stressful financial situation. There was no hope of bettering themselves or creating their own business. Banks do not loan to poor people. Yunus tried to convince the banks to give it a try but the system is too well established for only loaning to those already rich.
And so Yunus created his own bank, the Grameen Bank, that believed there could be a new model for business–not just to maximize profits, but also to do good. Since opening, the bank has issued millions of micro-loans (usually $100-$200) to the poor for starting a business, improving a house, bettering their lives. They have maintained a 98% repayment rate and have allowed millions of poor families to escape poverty, while requiring the children of the families to attend school.
It’s a system that works and should be adopted by other businesses–a form of social business, where the bottom line is not the only driving force. Because as humans, making money should not be our only goal in life. There are worthy causes and needs outside of our own self-interest, but they will only be addressed if we can look outside of ourselves.
Yunus was a humble, cheerful man who presented his discovery as a process of seeing a problem and dedicating his efforts to fixing it.
His new book is entitled Creating A World Without Poverty, and he truly believes this is possible. He believes because he has seen first-hand again and again that people are living in poverty not because they can’t offer anything, but because the system we’ve created never allowed them the opportunity.
It was a moving and inspiring hour to hear him speak–and made me want to be even more active in my own personal microloaning through Kiva.org.
I’ve incorporated giving back in the form of making Kiva loans with 40% of the profit from my exhibits.
The Masters in Photojournalism at the LCC has begun.
This blog will now also serve as a musing on the courses, assignments, and my life and thought process throughout the program.
(If you’d like to see only the LCC related postings, you can view them here)
The first informal webinar was a good kickstart. I’m looking forward to pushing myself and my photography–developing a style and a visual voice; and gaining more clarity on the what/why/how I shoot. I feel less experienced in photojournalism compared to the broad range of the other students, but am looking forward to getting to know them and gain some insights from their experiences.
One thought Paul mentioned that resonated with me was the idea that this program should create reflective practitioners who understand what they’re doing and why they’re doing it–practitioners who are critically aware and self aware, who are curious enough to tirelessly explore and engage themselves in a story.
David Hurn‘s name was brought up as the man who essentially structured the classic magazine photo essay in his 1970′s Newport program. The concept is to break a story down into building blocks of relationships, scenes, portraits, items, etc. and to photograph those building blocks. Then you begin to build the story back up with a visual pace, sequencing, editing, packaging, presenting. The presentation would include a variety of shots–wide, medium, close, horizontal, vertical– and a variety of content, but with common elements and threads to tie the package together.
I’ll plan on using this approach for my upcoming assignment from Austin Monthly, which wants me to shoot a feature on the variety of cultural restaurants in Austin. My last editorial for them was a behind-the-scenes look at the chaotic kitchens in the best restaurants–so I hope I’m not being pigeon-holed as the restaurant-guy.
American City Business Journal has had an ongoing photo competition since I started working for their Austin company last year.
For 4 quarters in a row now, I’ve led the company as the highest ranked photographer across 40+ major cities, as ranked by the photo departments of the Oakland Tribune and Columbus Dispatch among others. I’m extremely grateful for the support and trust that the editors have provided in allowing me to develop ideas into images; the writers also served a crucial role in developing leads and inspiration for me.
So here are some winners from the latest quarter’s competition:
Anne Shiflet and daughter Tate browse the handbags at Nordstrom’s. The Domain has brought high-end retail to Austin.
Buda resident Sam Braswell says a polluted creek has killed a flock of 50 ram. He’s worried Dexter has also been poisoned.
Wellness programs are being employed by businesses around Austin.
Employees at Build A Sign will be working in larger digs later this year. The company says its online strategy has proven to be very fruitful.
The Hilton Austin brought 800 rooms downtown when it opened in 2004. 2,000 hotel rooms across Austin are now in the planning stages.
Portrait of Paul Carozza, owner of RunTex.
Even though Christmas/Hanukkah/Festivus/Kwanzaa/et al are all over, the season of giving can continue at Kerbey Lane Cafe and online through the Luminary series.
Forty percent of the proceeds from the series will go to loans at www.kiva.org, empowering entrepreneurs in the developing world to lift themselves out of poverty. (see who I’ve loaned to already)
Ten mounted prints are now hanging at Kerbey Lane on South Lamar through the month of January.
You can also view and order online here.
Happy New Year!
In the last week, I’ve been introduced to Dietrich Bonhoeffer two different times. First, I enjoyed Public Radio’s interview with documentary filmmaker Martin Doblmeier. He explored Bonhoeffer’s legacy as a theologian–a legacy that took on another dimension when he was imprisoned and executed for participating in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
Then, my girlfriend’s brother and sister-in-law got me a compilation of his writings for Christmas.
I appreciate Bonhoeffer’s unshaken voice of faith and optimism in spite of the holocaust that surrounded him and the execution that awaited him.
And so I’ll end 2007 with these words from Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
Surrounded by good powers, faithful and still,
wonderfully protected and comforted–
in this way I want to live these days with you
and go with you into a new year…Wonderfully secured by good powers,
we confidently await what may come.
God is with us in the evening and the morning,
and most certainly in each new day.
I was recently accepted into the London College of Communication’s Masters Program for Photojournalism and Documentary Photography.
This is the first time they’re opening it up as a part-time online program.
There are 15 total students in the program, and it is directed by Paul Lowe.
I will continue to be based in Austin but will be working on the masters program for the next two years, starting in January.
