Workshop: The Working Photojournalist (Gulf Photo Plus May 2013)

Yesterday (03 May 2013) I attended the first of a 2-day workshop at Gulf Photo Plus entitled The Working Photojournalist.  The program as advertised is pasted below. 

My initial impression is that while all three speakers had interesting things to say about their experience of being photographers, I did not really learn any skills that can be deployed in current or future photography projects.  In essence, the “workshop” was little more than a chat show with working photographers.

The day ended with participants being given photographic assignments to complete in advance of next week’s lectures.  These were handed out in printed form with instructions about the number and type of images to be provided.  My brief is for 15 photos of the Dubai Metro demonstrating how it is integrated into the life of city.  From several hours of talk, here’s what I learned to help prepare me for my assignment:

When working with people, shoot a lot of images to get your subjects comfortable with your presence and the presence of the camera.  After some time, subjects will forget you are there and it is then you can take more natural (less staged) photos. 

Faces (particularly eyes) make images personal;  lack of faces makes for a more general or universal emotion, feeling, mood, idea.

Shoot often, use frame rates.  Capture as much as you can and sort it out later (if you are not on tight deadline).

Have a script ready to deliver to subjects:  “Hi, my name’s Jeff, I’m doing a story on xxx for The National and I think you are exactly what I am looking for to represent this image.  Would you mind if I take your photo for publication?”    

News publishers want as much data as possible about images.  Ask for names of subjects when and where appropriate.

Come early and stay late.  By arriving early, you have to opportunity to learn the lay of the land and perhaps make contacts with security and organizers.  Often after an event has finished, subjects let down their guard and it is possible to capture images that may not be possible during a “staged” event. 

Understand the story and let the story drive the images.  Learn as much as you can before you start shooting.  Know who the players are, what the issues are, where the action is likely to be. 

Anticipate and look for the right moments.

Keep your frame and be patient for something to cross it.

Have enough gear to cover yourself in case something goes wrong – at least one extra body, extra batteries, and extra memory cards.

All sensible advice. But how does this now equip me to go out and shoot the Metro?  It seems to me a more useful exercise would have been to have given out the assignments, and then spent some time brainstorming in pairs or groups how to approach the project, with the lecturer circulating and advising.   Photos from similar projects could have been reviewed to show what is possible and what is now cliché.  (At one point during the day, our facilitator mentioned the difference between good photos and bad being plainly obvious.  A few examples might have helped illustrate his point.) 

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04 May 2013:  I've just returned from shooting for this assignment, about three hours door-to-door.  (I notice this work may be appropriate for an upcoming assignment in my OCA course, so I won't post any of the photos here yet.  Follow the link if you care to have a peak.)  I have a Metro station right in front of my apartment building so I started there, shooting the plaza around the outside of the station, the train as it came down the line (including some panning shots),  and then the plaza around the next station down the line (where Tim Horton’s has outdoor seating that can be shot with the station in background).  I got on the train intending to shoot on board, but found I was too timid to point my Nikon DSLR at someone.  You can’t be surreptitious with this camera, not only because of the size, but the audible ka-chak each time you release the shutter.  And that’s on silent mode!  So I put that away and switched to the RX100, which is so much better in this situation:  small and quiet.  It doesn't make a sound and you can carry it in the palm of your hand, shoot from waist high as you carry, or hold it above the crowd.   (Next morning I had to go down to Bur Dubai to file my India visa application and took the opportunity to get a few more train-level and station shots.)

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Lunch w/ classmates Times Square 2013.05.20 Photo: Imran

10 May 2013:  The second day of our workshop turned out to be much like the first.  We started the morning with introductions of our projects, with each person getting about 20 minutes to talk about their photos, how they were shot, and some of the challenges they may have faced.   That was followed by a presentation by Farah Nosh, a photographer of some repute that I never heard of before this morning. I never even bothered looking her up when I got the workshop promotional materials.  Perhaps I should have.  She seemed like a very approachable person, not at all a “star,” even offering to help any of us at the workshop with editing or introductions.  That was followed by lunch and a session with a staff photographer from the National, a Canadian “dude” with enough energy for 2 or 3 photographers.  We finished up with a few videos of work the facilitator thought might be instructive (but which seemed to simply fill up time), and concluded with a small discussion of what to do next. 

Two radically different approaches were presented.  On the one hand was a photographer passionate about causes and who seems to see photography as a means of shaping reality.  Her goal is to present her particular vision, which may take many months of planning and which may result in conflicts with editors and publishers who wish to reorient or reinterpret that vision.  On the other was the gun for hire, whose job is to create the most interesting images possible under restricted conditions about subjects in which he has no personal investment.  The challenge for this photographer is to maintain the motivation to seek out new approaches and angles to such routine events as press conferences.

Some of the ideas I took away from today’s discussions:

Don’t worry about the gear – focus on the content.

The best way to learn the craft is to get out and do it.  You’ll learn more by doing than by studying about doing.

Have a project to keep you focused.

Follow the news, find subjects you’d like to shoot, and go shoot them.

For personal projects, shoot something you are interested in and passionate about.  From planning to publishing may take many months, even years, and you need a strong commitment to your subject to sustain you through some of the mundane aspects of the work. 

Perhaps what I take away most from this workshop is a perspective. 

Like a lot of people who take up photography these days, I have wondered what I might have to offer that hasn't already been done 100 times over by people with far better skills.  And in a world saturated with images, I wonder what is the purpose of my images?  How do they fit in?  Do they just add to the clutter and noise?  Where can I possibly find my voice in the cacophony?

Producing single images is perhaps the most demanding photography work, not only in terms of technical proficiency but also in terms of originality.  A lot of what I notice in this category involves quite a lot of planning and post processing.  It requires a spirit of perfectionism.  Perhaps because this kind of photography is so impressive, it's what I aspired to most when thinking of practicing photography.

News photography, I have learned, is far less demanding in terms of technical perfection.  The overriding imperative with news photography is to tell a story. If you can tell the story AND do it stylistically all the better, but the driving motivation is to tell the story.  Photos that might otherwise be unremarkable in another context are perfectly acceptable when they convey information that relates to the story.  In other words, you can be a "good" news photographer without creating "prefect" pictures.  There is, in other words, room to begin and to grow while being published.  And this is powerful, because it shows me an opening, a toehold, a finger grip, a spot from where I can start the climb.

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May 3 & 10, 2013
Gulf Photo Plus, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai 

This workshop will equip you with a range of skills and insider knowledge in order to pursue photojournalism as a career or a serious hobby.

The multi-faceted workshop will provide a brief overview of the history of photojournalism, its principles and techniques in addition to in-class presentations given by a number of working photographers/photojournalists.

This workshop is limited to 10 spaces only and will be conducted at Gulf Photo Plus in Alserkal Avenue in Dubai.

This course will help students understand what is needed to make high quality, meaningful photojournalistic imagery in today's market. Students will learn how to shoot, edit and file under time constraints through 'real world' assignments. 

Some of the areas covered will include:

§  Gaining knowledge of how execute quality photojournalism while at a press conference, shooting a 10-minute portrait or during a food assignment.

§  Knowing your publication: for example, shooting differently for Gulf News vs. Time Magazine as both publications demand different photos.

§  Developing an immediate comfort level with your subjects. 

§  Understanding of photo equipment: what to expect on assignment and what equipment to bring.

Unique insights from industry insiders

In addition to sharing his own indepth, invaluable, professional knowledge and experience, RJ Mickelson will bring in a host of local photojournalists (newspaper, wire and magazine) and have them discuss their personal and professional work from around the UAE. They will cover how they approach their subject matter, how they keep up on learning new skills and what they are currently pursuing in the region.

Confirmed speakers for the May 3 & 10 class:

The National Staff Photographer Silvia Razgova

The National Staff Photographer Christopher Pike

Freelance Photojournalist / Documentary Photographer Farah Nosh

Freelance Sport Photographer Jake Badger

'Real Life' Class Assignment

Finally, each student will be given a specific local assignment at the end of the first evening of the workshop. They will have a filing deadline that evening for their work (similar to an actual, real-world assignment). RJ will  organize the submitted assignments in a presentation and on Day 2 of the workshop will edit the work and provide a constructive critique as a group.

Who should attend? 

Anyone who is interested in being able to tell stories with their camera and aspires to be a documentary photographer or photojournalist. Interested candidates should have a good grasp of how to use their cameras and have competent knowledge of camera functions and settings. 

What should you bring?
Bring your notebook and your portfolio in a USB drive/iPad/computer to share with the instructor and others for critique and review.