The April issue of News Photographer magazine features a cover story on photojournalist Tim Hetherington, whose search for "the human" in the violence of the world landed him atop this year's World Press Photo awards. From his studio in London during a break from shooting, Hetherington tells writer Dave Bolster that he's a storyteller and talks about why some of the stories he chooses to tell are, for the most part, disturbing.
Also in this issue, Henri Cartier-Bresson once said that no one since Goya portrayed war like his Magnum Photos peer Philip Jones Griffiths, who died in March in London at the age of 72. Author Stephen Wolgast takes a look at the great photographer from Wales and the more than twenty years that Griffiths spent covering the Vietnam war and its aftermath, and the man who died as he so desperately wanted the world to live: in peace.
In other stories, filmmaker Laurence L. Levin explains how "Stryker's America," his new film about the great Roy Stryker and the FSA's depression era photography, was the birth of American documentary photography as the result of a "New Deal" public relations effort; photojournalist Jamil-Kareem Jones and writer Alexandra Burghardt share their first-person experience of visiting Tent City New Orleans; multimedia guru Seth Gitner tells how Tim Rasmussen and The Denver Post are staking out a base camp in the Web's new storytelling frontier from the Mile High City; and NPPA's ethics chair John Long takes a look at HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography and its impact on photojournalism and ethics. These and other stories are in the April issue of News Photographer magazine.
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The March 2008 issue of News Photographer magazine features a cover story on "Defining Moments" by author and photojournalism historian Hal Buell, who writes that it takes more than a great photograph to earn the designation of a "defining moment." Buell says, "Photographs called defining moments abound in such significant numbers these days that the phrase is in danger of losing its cachet." Also in this issue, author Stephen Wolgast writes a review of Jim Lo Scalzo's book "Evidence of My Existence." The U.S. News & World Report photojournalist penned the book not to promote his pictures, but to his explain his choices over the years as he covered stories in more than 60 countries. Other features include a look at solo video journalist Scott Rensberger through the eyes of the BBC's Laura Ellis. Rensberger's been storming London working with the BBC to teach video storytelling, and Richard Pyle tells the story behind the recently-discovered death photograph of World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle. These and other stories in the March 2008 issue of News Photographer magazine.
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The February 2008 issue of News Photographer magazine features two covers, and which cover you receive depends upon whether you've listed your NPPA membership as a "still" photographer or as a "television" photographer. Those on the television membership mailing list will receive a cover featuring WDTN-TV's Bob "Scoop" Phillips, who has been on the street covering news in Dayton and Central Ohio for more than 50 years in the same job. Writer Julie E. Washington and photojournalist Skip Peterson followed Phillips on his beat to tell the story of the reporter/photographer who's been bringing Dayton viewers breaking news for five decades.
The magazine's other cover story is on the growing problem of homelessness and poverty in America, and what some newspapers and photojournalists have been doing to cover the story, and what they may do in the coming months as the economy heads toward a recession and the problem grows even larger. Featured in this package are photojournalists Michael S. Williamson of The Washington Post; Kuninori Takahashi of the Chicago Tribune; documentary photographer Brother Vincent Reyes O.F.M. Capuchin of Detroit's Capuchin Soup Kitchen; "Season to Share" by The Palm Beach Post; and others who are making an effort to not only cover homelessness and poverty in their communities, but to make a difference in the lives of people who are in need.
Also in this issue, "Pictures Of Massacre" by author Bruce Young, who examines whether what happened in Haditha, Iraq, and the photographs by Lucian Read are an extension of what happened in My Lai, Vietnam, and photojournalist David LaBelle writes "Thank you, Mr. Mac." These and other stories in the February 2008 issue of News Photographer magazine.
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The January 2008 issue of News Photographer magazine features a cover story on the 62nd College Photographer of the Year, Travis Dove of Ohio University, who's off to intern this summer at The Boston Globe before enjoying the big opportunity that comes with winning the CPOY title, a Fall internship at National Geographic magazine. Writer Heather Graulich found out that early in his career Dove learned an important lesson about succeeding in photojournalism: "Work hard, and always be working." Also in this issue, author Stephen Wolgast reviews Bill Burke's legendary book I Want to Take Picture, originally published by Nexus Press in 1987 and now re-issued by Twin Palms. Burke tells his tale of being a photographer who missed the Vietnam War, but a decade later went anyway. In Cleveland, author Julie Washington profiles Ohio photojournalists Ron Kuntz and his son, John Kuntz, who's followed in his dad's rather big footsteps, in "Like Father, Like Son." Former Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year Art Donahue, who was also an NPPA Regional POY for five consecutive years, writes from Boston about "Solo Video" and how to do it on your own. Donahue says that journalism students today should get used to the fact that they'll be working alone. "In the future, the crew will be you," he says. These stories, and a look at some of the dramatic photographs that came out of California's recent week of devastating wildfires, in the January 2008 issue of News Photographer magazine.
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The December 2007 issue of News Photographer magazine is the annual Best Of Photojournalism edition, and for television members the issue will also include two DVDs of the Best Of Photojournalism television photography and television editing winners. This issue includes portfolios from the Photojournalists of the Year: Carolyn Cole of the Los Angeles Times, winner of the larger markets title; and Mary F. Calvert of The Washington Times, winner of the smaller markets title. There’s also a photo essay from Sarah L. Voisin, winner of Cliff Edom’s “New America Award.” These features, and winners from all the still photography categories, and much more, in the December 2007 issue of News Photographer.
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The November issue of News Photographer magazine features photojournalist and NPPA member David Stephenson's first-person account of the four years he spent documenting Fayette County's new Drug Court program by following the life of one of its subjects, Dawn Smith, a Kentucky mother addicted to pain pills, for the Lexington Herald-Leader. The newspaper published the work as a six-part series with 18 full inside news pages, and online as a six chapter multimedia gallery with story resources. "A New Dawn?" was a project Stephenson initiated as the result of a routine daily news assignment to cover a graduation ceremony at his county's new Drug Court, and it's a story he's lived with between regular assignments since late 2003.
Also in this issue, Ed Breen of The Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Indiana, takes a look at David and Peter Turnley's new book McClellan Street, a neighborhood long gone that was the subject of the Turnley's first serious photographic effort as young men who grew up in the northeastern Indiana town. And writer and college journalism professor Lee Anne Peck writes about three Croatian photojournalists who became war photographers almost by default: Darko Bandic, Filip Horvat, and Nikola Solic. These, and other features, are in the November issue of News Photographer magazine.
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The October 2007 issue of News Photographer magazine features a cover story on news helicopter safety issues, training, pilot experience, and what can be done right now to make HENG work safer. The story follows up on September's cover story about two news helicopters that collided midair over Phoenix and crashed, killing four journalists who were covering a police car chase. The accident raised questions about whether what some television stations are doing with news helicopters, and the use of pilots as reporters who are flying while broadcasting live, is safe- or if there are changes that need to be made before federal regulators step in and make the changes for them.
Also in this issue, writer Heather Graulich untangles the tarnished legacy of photographer Joe O'Donnell, who for many years claimed that some famous photographs taken by other photographers was his own work. In other stories, David Frank of The New York Times has made the move from still photography and editing to shooting video for the newspaper's Web site. Writer Scott Robinson takes a look at what Frank's doing with the switch. When Jacob Bailey was a U.S. Air Force staff sergeant and combat photographer in Iraq, he was always aware of the children that surrounded him. Bailey reflects on them and his experience in "Children Of War." In other features, Brian McDermott examines the media's relationship with social networking Web sites; Stephen Wolgast reviews Thomas Dworzak's new book, M*A*S*H* I*R*A*Q*; and Doug Legore looks at some of the television Photographers of the Year who decided to keep shooting, and not to move on, after winning the title. These stories and more in the October issue of News Photographer magazine.
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The September issue of News Photographer magazine looks at what happened in Phoenix, Arizona, when two news helicopters from KNXV-TV Channel 15 and KTVK-TV Channel 3 collided and crashed while covering a police chase, killing four journalists onboard, and asks the question about whether what some TV stations are routinely doing with news helicopters today is safe. Also in this issue, Dan Habib of The Concord Monitor writes a first-person account of making his first documentary film, "Including Samuel," an examination of the practice of inclusion of people with severe handicaps, such as cerebral palsy, in daily life. Television photojournalist, editing software instructor, and recent graduate student Peg Achterman wrote "The Good Life" about her career in TV after reading another essay that she felt was the opposite of her experience, and former TV Photographer of the Year Doug Legore concludes his 12-part series on other former TV POYs and where they are now. This month's subject: Doug Legore himself. And now that the NFL season is underway, another look at those red vests that the NFL says aren't for advertising, but are for security purposes. These and other stories in the September issue of News Photographer magazine.
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The August issue of News Photographer magazine features a cover story on Mary F. Calvert, the 2007 Best Of Photojournalism Photojournalist of the Year for Smaller Markets, who was a college student with a camera hanging out with the news photographers outside George Washington University's hospital after President Ronald Reagan was shot when it became clear to her what she wanted to do with her life. Today she covers the White House and world news for The Washington Times. Also in this issue is a feature story by writer Kevin P. Coughlin about life after winning the Pulitzer Prize for Photography, as he talks with four former winners about their images and experiences with journalism's top honor. Photojournalist Todd Mizener writes about an idea he had to get the community, its new library, and the newspaper involved in a common project, and Doug Legore continues his ongoing series of tracking down former television Photographers of the Year to see what they're doing now. This month he focuses on the legendary Darrell Barton. And radio personality and former television reporter Francene Cucinello confesses in "Reel Love" that she can't date or fall in love with a photojournalist until she's seen his demo tape. These, and other stories, in the August issue of News Photographer magazine.
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The July 2007 issue of News Photographer magazine features a cover story on Andy Shilts of KMSP-TV in Minneapolis, the 2007 Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year, who works hard on every story to find a new way to begin his storytelling. The feature was photographed by Jim Gehrz, one of NPPA's former Newspaper Photographers of the Year. Also in this issue, a look at what came out of the NPPA Photojournalism Summit and Multimedia Immersion program in Portland in June, and the big things that are coming on the horizon in newspaper multimedia. Writer Julie Washington, who writes about television for the Cleveland Plain Dealer in Ohio, takes a look at why a couple of stations in Denver and Minneapolis seem to be the ones setting the standards for television photojournalism, but are other stations around the country following in their footsteps or not? And does good TV photojournalism equate to ratings? In other stories, Doug Legore continues his year-long series of tracking down other former TV Photographers of the Year, and this month it's Scott A. Rensberger who won the title in 1992; Brian Patrick Lehmann wins the Hearst Photojournalism Championship in San Francisco; North Carolina's Stewart Pittman takes a look "Through A Lens, Darkly" and wonders what kind of karma he's piling up as a TV news photojournalist; and attorney and former photojournalist Mickey H. Osterreicher, NPPA's general legal counsel, takes a look at the current situation for cameras in New York courts. These, and other features, in the July 2007 issue of News Photographer magazine.
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The June issue of News Photographer magazine features a cover story on photojournalist Carolyn Cole from the Los Angeles Times, her career as a news photographer and the gift she brings to photojournalism. Also in this issue, "Going HD In Nashville" by WTVF-TV's Clint Smart and "Final Foal" by Francene Cucinello in Louisville, about WLKY-TV photojournalist Scott Eckhardt's fast daily assignment about a horse that turned into a three-year documentary, are features about TV photojournalism. And former TV Photographer of the Year Doug Legore continues his series of tracking down other former TV POYs to see what they're doing today. This month, Legore catches up with the 1992 Ernie Crisp Television Photographer of the Year title winner, Mark Anderson. Meanwhile in Florida, writer Heather Graulich tells readers how photojournalist Michael Laughlin of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel is turning tragedy into triumph in Haiti, and in Bloomington, Indiana, the novelist and essayist Scott Russell Sanders reviews the latest book from photojournalism professor and National Geographic photographer Steve Raymer, Images of a Journey: India in Diaspora. These stories, and more, in the June issue of News Photographer magazine.
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The May 2007 issue of News Photographer magazine features a look at this year's Pulitzer Prizes for Photography won by Renée C. Byer of the Sacramento Bee and Oded Balilty of the Associated Press. Photojournalist Rick Loomis of the Los Angeles Times was also a Pulitzer winner this year, as he and two Times reporters won the Explanatory Reporting category for their five-part series, "Altered Oceans."
Also in this issue “Truth Will Out,” an in-depth look at the ethical disaster at The Toledo Blade created by photographer Allan Detrich’s serial digital alteration of images, and what the Blade's editors found when they continued to dig back several years into their archives after he resigned. Following these and other digital alterations in The New York Times, People magazine, the New York Post, and others, some editors are taking a fresh look at the issues surrounding photojournalism ethics and wondering if there isn't a bigger problem out there than many suspect.
In other features, Marianne Fulton reviews Colin Finlay’s new book, Testify; J. Bruce Baumann retires in Evansville; photojournalists from The Intelligencer and the Bucks County Courier Times volunteer along the Gulf Coast to replace cherished family portraits destroyed by Hurricane Katrina; and Doug Legore continues his series of tracking down other former TV POYs to see what they're doing now. This month he profiles Bob Brandon, a two-time TV POY who won his first title in 1975 with stories that were shot on film and spliced together with tape. These stories, and more, in the May issue of News Photographer magazine.
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The April 2007 issue of News Photographer magazine features a roundup of the top winners in NPPA's Best Of Photojournalism 2007 competition as the judging concluded at the end of March. Also in this issue is a feature story on photojournalist James Whitlow Delano, an American-born Tokyo-based photographer who sees the world through one - and only one - lens, the 35mm f2 that's always on his Leica M-2. In addition, combat photojournalist USAF Staff Sgt. Stacy L. Pearsall writes about what it's like to survive an ambush in Iraq armed with a camera, a gun, and a medical kit, and Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Jerry Gay tells about helping kids at a Seattle cancer center's school learn how to use disposable cameras to discover and express their own views of the world.
Also, Alabama photojournalist Bryan Bacon tells what it was like to cover a school bus tragedy, and former TV Photographer of the Year Doug Legore continues his series of tracking down other former TV POYs to see what they're doing now. This month he profiles Lisa Berglund, the first woman to win NPPA's top television photography award. These stories, and more, in the April 2007 issue of News Photographer magazine.
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While his phrase, "the decisive moment," is probably the first thing we think of regarding Henri Cartier-Bresson, photographic historian and journalism professor Claude Cookman says the photographer's death reminds us of the huge debt we photojournalists owe to the French giant who stopped actively photographing more than 30 years ago. John G. Morris wrote a remembrance of his friend and coworker Henri Cartier-Bresson for News Photographer and it was edited for length to fit the magazine, but it is published in its full length here.
Karen Kasmauski has been on the frontlines of the world's health struggle for at least fifteen years, first with The Virginian-Pilot, and now with National Geographic. In Having an Impact, News Photographer tells the full story of this photojournalist's fascinating journey in her own words.
Photographers with little or no experience covering wildfires might not know what gear to have ready to go at a moment's notice. What's In Your Fire Kit?, a web extra from News Photographer, provides you with some guidance.
News Photographer magazine supports the efforts of the National Press Photographers Association in its role as the voice of the photojournalist by communicating news, identifying trends, delineating issues, and providing information, and recognizing the work of photojournalists. The columns and articles that appear in the monthly magazine are often cited as "the authority" on topics ranging from law and ethics to technology. A subscription to the magazine is a benefit of NPPA membership, but non-members can also order a subscription.
Donald R. Winslow
