Recent College Grad Seeking Advice for Photojournalism, etc...

fancy seeing you here!

well if you didn’t hear it enough from robert and i in france…you’re going to hear it again. your street photography is absolutely beautiful jonathan. you have an amazing eye and i’m pretty sure it comes from the fact that you weren’t “properly schooled” in photo. you follow your heart and eye.

if you want to do work with NGO’s then you seem to be on the right track, but just keep in mind it’s all volunteer work and you can’t work for free forever.

keep your eyes peeled on lightstalkers. amazing internships and jobs pop up on here all the time. i just finished an internship in nyc that i found on here.

keep me updated with how things are going. i have your photographs framed…i just need to hang them up now!

wow, thanks sandy… i really appreciate all the kind words and support you guys have given me. Honestly, you both inspired me to really ‘go for it’.

While i think my work is okay it still has a long way to go before i feel satisfied, and maybe i never will… (and maybe thats the key to having a passion for all of this). hah.

As far as the NGOs go.. the whole idea i had with working with NGOs was that it might allow me to be able to get a more ‘directed’ portfolio so that I could then get into grad school. As it stands now, the thing I lack most in my work right now is the photo essay and a real ‘story’ to my work. So far it’s just been street photography and documentary work or just the things i’ve done or experienced, and not so much anything with a real story behind it. I guess the hardest issue i have right now is coming up with a story idea, etc. I look through the papers here in Savannah but quite often they are not of any real value.

Im supposed to be starting on a project soon related to rail yards here in savannah and the people who work there, but I dont really have any set path right now. Just a general idea as to where I want to go with it.

I guess I am just up in arms about what I should do. I’m seriously considering grad school but as i mentioned earlier the whole issue with having a portfolio that was ‘direct’ enough.

As far as internships go, how likely are they to lead to job/career opportunities? Worse comes to worse I suppose I’ll be paying bills through a part-time job while doing an unpaid internships (that is, if i can find such an opportunity).

Hey Jonathan, welcome to the group. I’m not sure if I can give you any real advice, but you are not alone in your directional questions. Although the path we have taken is far from parallel, we are both on a bit of a crossroads.

I don’t have a photography or journalism degree either. What I’ve done is hold down a full-time job while shooting just about anything and everything I can. I was fortunate enough to have the Iowa Caucuses during this time, but I made sure that I found other things to shoot as well. I became a human sponge, sucking up as much information as I possibly could; from books teaching the subject, other photographers, Lightstalkers (freaking great resource right here!), and from photography books of some of the great shooters. All this, along with regularly getting feedback, good and bad, as well as looking at other peoples’ work, helped me define my style. I got a great mentor who would give me encouragement and would kick my in the butt when needed.

What I’m trying to say is that you don’t needa photography degree, but if you are going to bypass it, dive into photography as much as you can. You do have a very nice eye, but I’m seeing alot of the same picture, just with different principles. There seems to be a large number of shots of people looking into the camera. Some might disagree, but I think part of the magic that is PJ is capturing moments when people don’t even know you are there. If they don’t know you are shooting, they are themselves. When they see you with the camera, whatever the situation that was present before is now gone. I would work on that. I would also find a story project to work on. Any internship or staff position is going to want to see your ability to tell a story through photographs. Personally, I would look for a job to tide you over for now, and spend every other available moment working on PJ skills.

Just my two cents. I could be wrong, and I am in no way an expert.

Right now, after grinding it out for a couple of years learning on my own, I am applying for internships and staff positions at small local papers. Wish us both luck.

The thing about much of my current work is that it is entirely about that split moment when they see me photographing them. I make no claims for it to be something more than it is. It is straight photography much in the same sense as Paul Strand or Weston. It is something I’ve been focused on lately. Their reactions and responses to my photography. I am very discreet about my street work, up until the very moment of the photograph being taken. So in that sense I am making a very conscious and deliberate effort for them to see me, but only at that very instant of the image being taken.

I do understand where you are coming from and I totally agree that I do indeed need a story and ‘photo essay’ for my portfolio. It has just been that up to this point I have not really thought out a story or project idea. I guess up to this point I was more focused on street photography genre and exploring that realm. It wasnt until I started to feel that I kept wanting something that was more powerful and meant something greater.

I hope that will change in the next few weeks. A friend of mine is supposed to be getting me access to local rail yards to start working on a project. Hopefully this will turn out something worthwhile.

In any case, I definately wish you luck, Brian. So long as you have the heart, and the passion you’ll succeed. That’s my theory anyway. Thanks for taking the time to post and share your own experiences and thoughts. It’s always good to know that your not the only one stuck in the same position/place. You also make a great point about internships/etc looking for a good storytelling narrative. Thanks so much. :D

I’m glad you to my words as they were intended. I think you do have talent, and money used for grad school could be spent on equipment and adventures. Go shoot like crazy. I’m always happy to give feedback.

Jonathan
I started about 3 years ago and my shooting skills were not really up to the mark then. I regret that now, cos I thought going to places (asia) and looking for stories would benefit me.

Now I wish I practiced more before going on adventure as I am sure if i do it again now that the photos will be better.

First the skill then the thrill, and wars, famine and disasters will allways be there, no sign yet it will stop so take your time.

Cheers Tom

Jonathan, you said, “It has just been that up to this point I have not really thought out a story or project idea.”

I think resolving this question is the most important. Photography’s challenges are situational — how you respond to stuff going on around you, the people (or the lack thereof), how you seek out opportunities, adapt a shooting style to your material, find the best light, etc. Until you dive into a project, all of photography’s concerns are academic.

The rail yard thing sounds like an art project, unless you are photographing the people who work the rails, but your desire to shoot for an NGO suggests you are more interested in humanism than machinery.

If you have even some modest resources, why not just grab the backpack and camera and go find your way in the world? It doesn’t matter where you go, as long as it is out of your comfort zone and provides an environment that interests you.

You will learn a lot, and you will find out if this photography thing is really what you want to do — learning how to live cheap, sleep rough, and shoot well. After that, you’ll know if grad school is something you want to embrace or avoid, and if you do pursue a degree you will be much better prepared.

The rail yard project indeed would focus on the people there. Its about a story of some kind afterall. Their lives working there and at least what i can guess now, how much of our world depends on yet doesnt quite realize/appreciate the work that goes on with railroad companies, freight, etc.

As far as being able to travel that so far is the thing that I am limited. I’m working part time jobs for the time being in order to fund myself but as it stands it’ll be a bit before I can just go roaming free. Hence the idea for looking for projects where I am at. So far the biggest obstacle I face (at least I think) when it comes to doing essays/story projects is knowing how to find out about story ideas and researching.

Jonathan, I sent you a PM…

Jonathan,Only a superior combination of brain and eye is required.

Jonathan, you are certainly not alone.
I graduated with a BFA in photography with a concentration in fashion and soon relaized after graduation that the direction i wanted to go in was also photojournalism. I’m 28, graduated 6 years now and ontop of feelings of being lost and unsure, with a mountain of student loan debt, I finally figured out my “story”. It took a long time but I finally feel like I have the opportunities and contacts to go in the direction I want and to reach the goals I have set for myself.
The first project I worked on sort of fell in my lap through opportunity. One day i just decided to get a pack and I was offered up a partner to ride a freight train from the west coast to east coast. For a year I lived out of my pack and took pictures with whatever film I could get my hands on, mostly old outdated film. But it sparked my wanderlust and only recently have I started feeling confident enough to put together a submission for a grant to accomplish some of the other projects i want to work on.

But basically it’s been 6 years of crappy part time jobs to fund my own adventures/stories, putting student loans on the back burner and trying to keep myself motivated, and contemplating on grad school(of which i’ve decided to forgo).
It’s been a tough road for me so I wish you the best of luck and I hope your rail road worker story jump starts something great for you(as an avid rail fan).

Amelia…check your PMs as well….

Hi Jonathan, I can’t be much of a help for you, but I feel to be in a common situation. I really want to be a full-time documentary photographer once, but I am stucked in a full-time job now, that pays travelling and other bills but leaves me not with much free time to go and explore the world. I am also attending a part-time study at the Photo Academy in Amsterdam but I really have my doubts if that’s the way to go for me. I think I am more interested in the story then the perfect picture. My plan for the moment is save as much money as I can and then go to some place where much is going on what is not really shown to the world. At the moment I am thinking to go the eastern Congo (DRC) in a year, but it can change in time.

I am curious how manage to find your breaktrough.
p.s. you street photography is indeed very good.

As I said before here: If you go somewhere extremely interesting and your photo skills are far from good (good is not enough) then you will regret that the rest of your life. Practice at home first and get better images out of your projects later.

Now after 3 years shooting more or less continuously for agencies I just start to understand a tiny bit – but I can not go to the places I went years ago (even months ago)again to do the shoot again.

t,

perhaps without realizing but you are advocating learning by doing. in retrospect one can always say i should have done such and such but only the experience of doing taught you that. it’s not always so easy to sit around at home and “perfect” ones photography, real life situations will likely teach a lot more, and you can always go back to a country, they don’t suddenly disappear or only offer single entry/exit visas for life.

j,

the question you are asking is paramount to how to live your life. its confusing and no one really had the right answer, not helpful i know. the only somewhat encouraging thing i can add is that you are not alone, pretty much everyone has been or still is uncertain about how exactly they are going to make this photography thing work.

use up lots of chip or film space, keep using up lots of chip and or film, keep up using up lots of film and or chip space. show what you have to those you trust and keep up the faith. bestest to you my friend. j.