One Day Story

I apologize for not getting this up sooner. I had to go home to St. Louis for a funeral this past weekend.

Shelle Bartram helps assemble the Frankenstein Monster and the Bride themed float for the Mardi Gras parade on Saturday, February 13, 2010. Bartram has attended and helped the same Krewe with Mardi Gras floats for ten years.

Thousands of beads are placed along the inside of the Frankenstein and the Bride float for easy access to throw during the Mardi Gras parade on Saturday, February 13, 2010.

Fans scream and grab beads while floats drive by during the Mardi Gras parade in St. Louis, MO on Saturday, February 13, 2010.

Michelle Younce gets the crowd to yell louder for her beads during the Mardi Gras parade in St. Louis, MO on Saturday, February 13, 2010. This is Younce’s second year participating on this float.

Nancy Fish helps with the tear our of the float by throwing things away after the Mardi Gras parade in St. Louis, MO on Saturday, February 13, 2010. The float must park next to one of several dumpsters and disassemble the float.

I'm beginning to like this Lamott book more and more every time I read another chapter. I can really see the resemblance of our work as photographers to her work, and how we can make our work better. Lamott is right on target when she explains how our understanding of characters grows with each time we see them. But it is how we really pay attention to them and what they do that helps our stories unfold. I need to keep this in mind with every character I photograph for assignments or stories. I must see what it is that interests me that the character shows and I must try to show that in the most truthful way. And one of the most important things I read from this chapter was that you probably won't know your characters until weeks or months after you've started working with them. I feel like photographers must keep this in mind, especially us for our 30 day project, because people will unfold who they really are gradually, and it takes time and our patience to figure that out. I also believe that what she says about our relationship building the plot to be very true. It is our relationship that affects the character and how they unfold their true self.

Oh my goodness, I just realized I was supposed to post about the reading we did for Monday. I just have to say that I love this book by Lamott. I feel like every time I read a chapter, I learn more about how to make my photography better. In the chapters School Lunches and Polaroids, I learned a bit more about just letting your mind wander about subjects and to see what comes up throughout your thinking process. Sometimes we focus too much on the main ideas of subjects that we miss little parts or ideas that may come up. I really like how Lamott compares writing to a polaroid. I think it is a great way to look at picture stories develop. I believe we, too, must realize that our stories may change based on various things that come up and keep our eyes and ears open for new possibilities that can make our story grow in any direction. I think it is when we have that mindset that our stories can be stronger.

While I was reading Chapter 1 in Langton's book, I found myself getting bored because I have already learned a majority of these things in History of Photojournalism. I actually really enjoyed that class and took a lot from it, but reading through it again in this book just seemed redundant. Although, I think the history of photojournalism is something photojournalists should really know in our industry. I think it defines our processes today and how we got to where we are now.

I found the Chapnick reading very interesting. I really liked reading about famous photographers stories because I find it inspiring. Although I have heard most of these, it is always nice to re-read about these photo essays and how much of an impact photojournalists can have on the world. I was especially inspired by Bill Eppridge's story because of the incredible access he had gotten. I can only hope that in my future I can become aware of such stories and gain access in the way he has. Although, I don't know how comfortable I would be with such a subject. One thing I was happy to see was a list of how the structure of a photographic essay should be. Although we have learned about most of these in school, it is always nice to have something else to look at and tell how how and why it's important that photo essays are structured like that. I plan on using this while figuring out my 30 day story subject and throughout other stories.

After doing the reading for Picture Story, I loved reading the Photojournalism and Today's News by Loup Langton. I found myself so interested in everything he was explaining about photojournalism in today's world and the reality of it. Although we think we are getting the one picture that "tells the whole story," we are really just editing the situation and showing a certain view of it. I feel like everything he talks about in this introduction is so valid in how the media works. Even after taking Staff Photography, I never really realized the process until Langton explained it in such a blunt way. As photographers, we are sent out to get a photo that is based on our editors views of what they want for the story. We are guided as to what they want to see. And then if we come back with something that wasn't what they thought, we are usually told how we could have gone about doing the photo taking a different way to get that certain view. We still come in with preconceived notions ourselves, which affect our picture taking also. Although we are taught objectivity in school, it is still our edit of the situation. We choose certain angles, certain light, etc. I feel after reading this part of the book, I know what I experienced in the newsroom and how media works around different newsrooms.

I actually enjoy looking at multimedia projects. I've watched many from mediastorm.com. One that I thought was very different was one called 1976.

http://www.mediastorm.com/0001.htm

I love how its almost cartoon-like with the pictures popping up and looking like they are moving even though they are still photos. Even though I don't really understand the situation that Cuba was experiencing in 1976, the images and the way the producers portray the images give me an idea of what the problem was.

One of my favorites that we saw in fundamentals was "Trapped-Mental Illness in America's Prisons." 

http://www.jennackerman.com/trapped/

I love the music and how dramatic it makes it feel. The video adds to the realness of the situation so that you can put actions to how these people's emotions. I think this slideshow was done exceptionally well.  

A metal boat sails away while the sun sets on Monday, March 2, 2009.