Preparing for photojournalism

PREPARING FOR PHOTOJOURNALISM.

The great teacher of photojournalism Eugene Smith argues that 20 years are needed to make a photographer. This is overstatement, perhaps, but Smith makes the strong point that photography is much more than master basic technological skill.

It understands images, it understands audience, it knows something about art, it is constantly enlarging your perceptions, and it is acquiring knowledge versatility and quickness. For here we can understand the first valuable point about preparing for a career in photography that we cannot do it in a year.

For me, the first thing is to study the great works of other photographers and formulate your own style. I am amazed at how few young photographers know nothing about successful photographers, past and present. The present problem among photographers is to avoid becoming a technological idiot, the person who knows nothing but photographic skills.

In the world of mass communications, a photographer should know a lot about news concept, a lot about reportage, considerable about witting. The second aspect is to acquire a broad a liberal arts education a possible. Much of being a successful photojournalist depends on the ability to understand people and events and circumstances that surround them.

In photojournalism, you must keep up with news events and personalities. In particular, you must develop finesse with news ideas, scouring you home environment for photographable events, persons and environments. To a certain degree, success in photojournalism is in direct proportion to news sense.

You must also subject yourself to evaluation and criticism outside your own ego. One of the major problems confronted by the young photographer in his tendency to let go ego over-ride judgement. For psychological reasons, you may feel strong attachment to particular image among your contacts but find, in the audience beyond yourself, that image conveys no message, creates little response. Editors bring to you experiencing communications, as well as evaluations beyond pleasing you own psyche.

You probably will develop a personal style eventually, compounded of your news concept, of your technological preferences, of your reporting techniques and motivations and of your personal vision. But style may take time to emerge. It will formulate itself gradually and quietly, but you cannot calculate it and force it on audience and editors.

Finally, you must always work on the necessity to be a better photographer, to search out and work with events and people and environments, to fasten together the kind of personality that persists in fulfilling assignments whether you enjoy them to not.

To become a photojournalist of quality is the most difficult challenges in the world of visual communication.

Many try, hoping to turn a hobby in photography into a profession in photojournalism. Few make the grade. Somewhere along the line, ego rules out a prospect. Or technological growths stops, and another prospect is stunned. Or visual perception is too clinched. Or self-motivation is lacking.

But if you do make it, you will be admitted to an endlessly fascinating, constantly challenging, vastly satisfying and unique inner circle.