Washington Post's Joe Elbert Wants To Shoot Again

 

By Donald R. Winslow

© 2007 News Photographer magazine

WASHINGTON, DC (July 3, 2007) - Joe Elbert, the assistant managing editor for photography for The Washington Post, has decided to step down from his management role and go back on the street as a photojournalist.

"There's no way I'm going to finish my career as an editor," Elbert told News Photographer magazine. "Anyone who knows me knows that I love photography and taking pictures. I just completed 20 years [with the Post] and it's the perfect time to step down. This isn't going to happen overnight; I've been asked to take a strategic look at the photography department, and to help plan the future."

This isn't a knee-jerk decision for Elbert. "I've wanted to shoot for seven years now, but 9/11 put what I wanted to do on hold. If I don't do it now I'll probably be trapped until I retire, and that's too damned depressing to consider!" he said.

Elbert said that he has resigned his position of assistant managing editor (but will probably be in that capacity until December), and that he'll be back on the street shooting by the first of next year.

Elbert, 60, will be the second senior photographic manager at the Post to go back to the street as a photographer in the past two years. Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Michel duCille, who was the Post's picture editor, made the same choice in May 2005 and was back outside with a camera as a senior photographer for the Post by that June. DuCille was replaced by Keith Jenkins.

"I went to Len Downie [the Post's executive editor] and told him and he was speechless. My timing couldn't have been worse with Len having a lot on his plate. He asked me to wait and not talk about it publicly until we could get together and discuss it, and that finally happened," Elbert said.

Elbert would like to be back behind a camera as soon as possible. "I really like the title 'photographer," Elbert said. "Folks know what it is that you do with a title like that. I don't want to miss out on the golden age of photography. Video is a component of storytelling, but not the solution. How could I not be a part of this transition? The street's the only place to be."

"There are former editors and assistant managing editors throughout the Post," Elbert said, pointing out that he's not the first to go back to beat reporting or shooting. "The Post is a great newspaper that permits editors to move to reporting and shooting jobs. DuCille is a wonderful example, and I'll be joining an illustrious crew. I've assigned myself to Golf Thursday to see if I have the stamina to compete," he said.

He says the Post's photography department "is in great shape. Remember, duCille and [Michael] Williamson have assumed leadership roles before. DuCille wants to keep shooting, but I could fix that with a baseball bat," Elbert joked.

"My last comments to the staff were to make downsizing a win/win scenario. It's ironic that 'managing' has been more important than 'editing' over the last couple of years, but the photography department is at the right 'fighting weight' now and they're ready for all the changes [in the industry]."

A couple of weeks spent on his West Virginia farm helped Elbert decide that the time to make his move was now. "The staff joked that I was running around through the fields naked, and had an ephipany. I like their version better than mine.

"Four years ago I bought my wife's family farm in West Virginia. My first project was to have a barn built that was a guest house and a production studio for editing and printing. While studying music I pursued fine art photography and cinematography. Over the years I've toyed with a few art projects and made a few short films. I guess this can be called my hobby."

He says he doesn't know what the Post will do about his position. "That's the $64,000 question and there isn't an answer yet."

Elbert has played key roles in NPPA's history in the past few years, serving as a member of the inaugural committee that formed and launched NPPA's Best Of Photojournalism contest after the contest broke away from the University of Missouri School of Journalism's Pictures of the Year International contest in 2001, and over the last year serving on the search committee that found and hired Jim Straight as NPPA's new executive director.

Since 1988, Elbert has been the Post's assistant managing editor for photography. During that time Post photographers have won the Photographer of the Year title six times, won three Pulitzer Prizes, two World Press Photo titles, and 17 White House News Photographers Association Photographer of the Year titles. In 1995, NPPA named Elbert the Editor of the Year.

After graduating from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN, with a music degree, he started his photojournalism career with The Courier-Tribune in Bloomington. After also working for the Herald Telephone in Bloomington, he moved to Florida and worked for The Palm Beach Post and then The Miami Herald. In 1979 the Herald promoted him to picture editor and then four years later named him director of photography.

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