Is More Better? Back To The Basics
It’s a whole new ball game out there. Not just on the playing field, but in photojournalism. In 1986, when I started my first paying job in this profession, I was one happy guy if I could turn in three good black and white prints from a 7:30p.m. basketball game and still make my 9:45p.m. deadline. Today, that mentality has changed. Today it’s not about quality, it’s about quantity. It’s common place for a photographer to turn in 20 photos from a basketball game, and still meet that 9:45p.m deadline. We have to “feed the online beast” is the new battle cry in a world where newspapers and wire services, mine included, are struggling to find a way to deliver their product and still make a profit.
Yes, we no longer have to drive like mad back to the office to soup film and make prints, those days are gone. Now we sit at press row filing like our pencil colleagues in comfort, pulling out the reading glasses to view the small type of the flip cards as we write our captions.
But, is more better? Does the reader/viewer really want more? Do they want to see your 20 so/so images from the basketball game or do they want to see your best work? Do they really want to see a slide show with pointless audio from the last night’s game? I can’t answer any of those questions. Perhaps a well paid survey company can, but I can’t.
But I can tell you what I think.
I think we need to get back to basics. Yes, photo galleries are great, but make them tell a story. Don’t put four different versions of the same photo in your slide show just to flush it out. Put in the best one, edit your stuff. I would much rather look at 10 really good photos that tell the story of the game, then twenty photos that are all over the map. It’s about quality.
As a former picture editor and Director of Photography at several newspapers, I can remember vividly some of the heated discussions we would have in news meetings over the lead photo for the next days’ front page. No matter the opinion on the photo, in the end, it was always about the content. Was it a good enough photo to warrant carrying the front page of the paper for the next day? That thought process doesn’t seem to carry over to the online world where more is better.
We need to get back to basics of good photojournalism and having that page one mentality. While it’s not 1986 anymore, we need to still think like we did then and put our best work out there.
Photo copyright Rob Carr, The Associated Press. The opinions expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect those of the Associated Press or of my employer, The Decatur Daily. The basketball photo is one of a sequence of five frames which Rob edited down to the best frame presenting the essence of his theme; one well edited frame is better than several pictures that are just not the right moment.
You are right about feeding the beast. Content is King. What we have is a watered down version of what made a reporter a Journalist. I know that most Photo artist lack the training to produce their images without the soft ware afforded to them in this Digital age. I live with my counter parts, but I don’t compete with them. Digital Art is here to stay. We should not forget that the Wheel has been round for about a million years, its size, shape, and applications has varied. I still love to control my Zone “A” and Zone “B”.
I specialize in Hand Tinting Black and White Photos the “Classic way”. I use my own 2 Zone Technique to create my Photo Art.Never computer aided in any way.
I can produce works of Art from any old and forgotten Black and White or Color negative. I have over 50,000 Color Negatives
with Color Photos that I am currently converting into Black and White Photo Art. My Photo Art is original and signed. I have been in the field over 26 years.