NPR, the Washington Post, National Geographic, the White House, McClatchy Tribune, the AP, USA Today, Education Week, the Newseum and a labor rally to top it off- this was an awesome experience.
The people and places we visited left numerous and varying impressions, each one providing their own perspective of their occupations (freely offered in the advice that was given to us.) The overall impression from everyone was that the world of photojournalism is currently in a state of constant transformation (no matter what aspect of it you approach) and that we (as students) are the ones that will ultimately shape its future. A major component of that responsibility is preparing ourselves for that change and learning as many aspects of our trade as we can. Photographing stills with amazing ability is a given. Everything that takes place after that is what will make us more marketable, better photojournalists and in the end, result in the advancement of the industry as well as the art. Multimedia, video, final cut, sound slides and web packaging skills are all areas where proficiency will become a tremendous asset.
Meeting so many professionals who are so passionate about their work was definitely inspiring. At one point Evan Vucci said, "present yourself as passionate," to be constantly hungry- photographically, physically and mentally. That passion and hunger, the relentlessness and work ethic that I found and wanted in Washington, is something that is missing to me in Rochester now. I want to find it. I need to find it.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Photojournalism Washington DC trip
Day 1- NPR and the Washington Post
The trip kicked off Monday morning with a tour of the NPR building and meeting with the multimedia department there. Seeing the inner workings of the building was pretty sweet, getting to see the stages and studios where they produce all of their work (they played us a song from when Dave came in and recorded with them which was awesome). One really other cool thing was a design they had come up with for deaf or hard of hearing people to use when riding in the car with someone listening to their programs, where the on board screen would display the words for the passenger, but the driver would still see the screen normally. The multimedia staff there was headed by Keith Jenkins who gave us some good insight as to how things work there and how their small department is different from other bigger media outlets. The major thing that he stressed was being curious and not to limit ourselves to just photography, as none of them there were specializing that specifically (he had a degree in law).
The Washington Post provided some good insight into how an actual newsroom works. Meeting one of the videographers there, Evelio Contraras, was inspiring just because he was so passionate about what he does and telling people’s stories. He gave us some of the same advice, to be curious about everything and use all aspects of your life to your advantage in what you do- like watching movies and commercials to better understand video. Oh and we saw Carol Guzy for the first time….awesome.
Day 2- National Geographic and the White House
Tuesday morning we met up at the National Geographic museum and headquarters downtown near farragut north. The actual offices seemed quiet and empty throughout the building, but it was still a pretty cool place. Ken Gieger, one of the senior photo editors there and one of the many RIT grads we met, gave us a tour and rundown on how they operate. One thing that he said that made them stand out from the rest was that they championed the importance of the photographers, they would cut their budget for other areas so that the photographers could still do what they do, instead of the other way around like it seems most places are doing.
Day 3- McClatchy Tribune and the AP
Day 4- USA Today and Education Week
Day 5- the Newseum and Party at the Hawk n Dove
Day 6- Labor Rally
Friday, May 14, 2010
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