Month: June 2013

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Wipe Your Knees Before Entering

I just learned that Bob Gilka, legendary Director of Photography at the National Geographic for over 20 years passed away yesterday.  He was 96 years old.  Bob was the “real deal” and he will be missed by many, but his legacy lives on in all the photographers careers that he shaped and mentored. I am reposting a blog that I wrote about Bob on December 1, 2009.  Rest in peace Mr. Gilka.

Back in the eighties when I was starting out, every six months or so I made the pilgrimage to Washington DC to see Bob Gilka, The Director of Photography at the National Geographic Magazine.  He was the guy who decided if you would shoot for the magazine. doormat2  He was accessible, answered his own phone and made appointments to look at work. How times have changed.

Gilka was a man of few words and because of that seeing him was always a bit intimidating.  If all you had were images to show – and nothing to say, you’d pretty much be in and out of his office in the amount of time it took to click through your slides. Knowing this, I did my homework prior to the appointment. I’d come up with about 10 query ideas, research back issues of the magazine to make sure they hadn’t been done before and have at least one idea written up in a story proposal.

I’ll never forget the first time I went to Gilka’s office.  His secretary met me in the lobby, and led me to a small area just outside his office.  There on his door was a doormat –with words that read “Wipe Your Knees Before Entering”.  Talk about feeling intimidated – as if it wasn’t intimidating enough just to be meeting with the Director of Photography  at the  National Geographic.

So every six months or so I would show my images and pitch my ideas.  This went on for about two years.  Each time I went I would almost test myself to see how long I could stay in his office.  I would do my best to sell my story pitches that I felt the strongest about and he would reply – “done it –doing it – or – don’t want to do it”.  This coupled with a few words of encouragement in regards to some of my photographs would pretty much be it as far as feedback.

Then one day he kept me waiting.  He had been detained in a meeting.  I had scheduled a pretty tight day to maximize my trip to Washington – so the delay had thrown a wrench into me keeping my other appointments that I had scheduled.  When Gilka did show up and apologized, I was already feeling quite anxious and showed it.  I told him that I didn’t have much time because I had to be across town at the Smithsonian in 20 minutes.  He picked up the phone, called Declan Haun, the picture editor I was headed to see at Smithsonian Magazine and explained that Gail Mooney was running late due to his tardiness.  Then he proceeded to look at my pictures and hear me out.

When I did get to the Smithsonian, it was amusing to see how curious Declan Haun was to find out who this Gail Mooney was that got Bob Gilka to call ahead for her. The very next month, I got a call from Bob Gilka offering me my first assignment.  Guess I just needed to show my real self. I had sufficiently shown my interest and determination in wanting to shoot for them. And I had demonstrated my photographic ability through my images.  But it was when I showed my true spirit that he knew that I could shoot for them.  I just had to get over my fright.

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Dealing with Adversity

If there’s one thing I learned from my parents growing up is “you never get anywhere if you take the approach that someone has to lose, in order for you to win”.  They were trying to tell me that I can’t control the actions of others.  I can only control who I am and what I do.

My folks family easterare both gone now, and I’m grateful for all of their words of wisdom. I try my best to live my life with the strength of character that my parents had.  They weren’t perfect by any means and neither am I.  But when things get rough in my life, as they have this past month, I draw on what my parents taught me and I try to get back on track.

I’d like to share some other words of wisdom from my folks:

  • Be the best you can be, instead of trying to be better than someone else.
  • When someone treats you poorly, it’s rarely about you – it’s about them.
  • Humans have frailties – show compassion when they fall short.
  • Never expect more than you are willing to give.
  • When you stand up for what is “right” – realize you may be the only one standing.
  • Friends come and go.  Honor the ones who stick with you to the end.
  • There is only one truth.
  • Forgive those who hurt you – including yourself.
  • Stay clear of folks who bad mouth others because one day you will be the one they are bad mouthing.
  • Things are meant to happen for a reason.  Remember that at your darkest hours because it’s usually a signal that you need to make a change in your life.
  • Don’t feel sorry for yourself – there’s always someone who is worse off than you.
  • When you are afraid to take a risk in life, ask yourself “what’s the worst thing that could happen?”

Thanks Mom and Dad for what you have taught me.  You have given me the strength and courage when I have needed it the most.

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Embrace Unpopularity

There have been more than a few times in my life when I have said something or spoken my mind that made me “unpopular”.   You would think that I would learn.  Learn to keep my mouth shut.  Learn to be more diplomatic.  Learn to say the things that people want to hear, rather than say the things that I feel need to be said.  But, yet I seem to have a knack of saying and doing things that make me “unpopular”.

I just can’t seem to help myself from being true to who I am.  And each time, I’ve done or said something that seems to polarize the status quo; I beat myself up for it.  Bent stop sign at crossroads, Mississippi DeltaYou would think I would learn.  After listening to this TED talk this morning, I have learned.  And what I have learned is that maybe I’ve been trying to appeal to the wrong demographic.

In the talk, speaker Erika Napoletano, states:  “We spend our lives trying to build ourselves into something that other people think that we should be, when in fact we should be spending our time trying to actively polarize our audience.  Give them tools to help them know whether or not they should love us and give it early and give it often. Because that’s when we stop wasting time, both ours and every one else’s”.  Erika went on to say some things that really resonated with me because she was being perfectly honest.

I am a creative being – a photographer, a filmmaker, a writer and an explorer of what the world has in store.  After listening to Erika’s talk, I realized that I have wasted an awful lot of time and effort trying to appeal to the wrong demographic – the “popular” and the “majority”.  When I think about the things that I have created that I am most proud of, and that have been the most gratifying, I realize that every one of those triumphs have come when I’ve been honest and true to myself.  In other words – I’m at my best, when I stop apologizing for who I am and instead, I embrace it.

So, when I wake up on those mornings after I’ve beaten myself black and blue for being who I am, I try to remember that “being myself” is better than the alternative – trying to politely appeal to the “popular” crowd.  While, it may be easier to fall in step with the “status quo”, it is not only counter-productive to being true to oneself, it stifles creativity.

It’s tough to stay true to oneself in a society that often teaches us to favor politeness over honesty but at the end of the day, it’s far more rewarding.

“Here’s to the Crazy Ones.  The misfits.  The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.  The ones who see things differently”.  Steve Jobs

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The Top 5 Mistakes the Chicago Sun-Times Made

There’s been quite a lot of talk over the last couple days about the Chicago Sun-Times ChicagoSunTimeslaying off their entire staff of photographers.  When media writer Robert Feder posted on his Facebook Page , he was flooded with nasty comments about what the paper was doing.

“Sun-Times reporters begin mandatory training today on “iPhone photography basics” following elimination of the paper’s entire photography staff. “In the coming days and weeks, we’ll be working with all editorial employees to train and outfit you as much as possible to produce the content we need,” managing editor Craig Newman tells staffers in a memo.”

There has been general outrage amongst professional photographers on listservs and social media channels adding to the extreme angst that already exists in this demographic.  I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, not only over the last couple of days but over the last decade as technology has thrust enormous change on my industry.  If I allow myself to look at the state of professional photography as an unsustainable profession because of these technological changes, than that’s what it will be – an unsustainable profession for me.  But if I turn the “problem” into an “opportunity” and realize that technology has brought me a lot more possibilities in how to monetize my craft, then I will have a profession that I will be able to sustain.

Biggest Mistakes that the Sun-Times Made when they got rid of their staff photographers:

  1. Cheated their readers.  Their readers will see the difference in the photographs that their paper is running.  A professional photojournalist doesn’t just take a picture – they capture a storytelling image.  They are visual communicators and they are good at it.  They make the viewer feel, empathize or connect with their images. I don’t think it will take a long time before their readers see that the paper’s photos aren’t any better than theirs or their friends and have no reason to get the story from the Sun-Times.
  2. Focused on the technology – the iphone.  How many times have I said “It’s not about the tool”?  Do I think that the iphone isn’t a viable tool for taking good photos?  No, in fact if it is the only “camera” you have on hand when a story is breaking – then it becomes the best camera for the job.  On the other hand, the same day the paper sent the memo out to their staff about the layoffs, their front page was covered with images that one wouldn’t have a chance of getting if all they had was an iphone.
  3. Burdened their writers with another job.  Let’s face it, something is going to suffer.  Just like when I try to shoot both video and still images on the same job myself, I always feel like I have the wrong camera for the wrong moment.  A lot of my writer friends can take pretty good photographs, and some merely make a “reference” shot of what’s happening, instead of an image that captures a story.  A writer’s workflow is different than that of a photographer.  Writers go out in the field and gather facts and write the story for the most part, back at the office.  A photographer does pretty much everything in the field.  Nowadays, many times that includes the edit.  Something will suffer, when one person sets out to do two totally different types of jobs.
  4. Made their “cuts” in the wrong place.  They undermined what a professional photojournalist brings to their paper.  You can’t find a more passionate, committed group than photojournalists.  They work long hours, under terrible conditions – many times dangerous ones, receive a lousy pay, but will go above and beyond to deliver “the story”.  Some say this was a “union busting” move and that after a decent amount of time, the paper will begin to hire photographers who will work for less and no benefits.  If that’s the case, then shame on them for cutting out health benefits for such a committed group of people. In the long run,  that is not a sustainable business model.
  5. They forgot that technology works both ways.  Let’s hope that photographers don’t forget that they can use technology to their advantage – that is if they can get past their fear.  Alex Garcia of the Chicago Tribune, writes in a blog post:  “Fear is the worst and greatest enemy of photographers. Why? Physiologically, fear triggers the fight or flight complex. You can’t think creatively, imaginatively and proactively when your entire body is pumping blood and adrenaline to the parts of your body necessary to fight barbarians at the gate. It pushes your body into a reactive-about-to-become-a-victim state of mind. The very creativity that is your unique selling proposition as a photographer is crippled. Your body become’s your mind’s worst enemy.

We no longer need a publisher to publish our images.  With technology we can create and publish with a variety of platforms and portals.  Just take a look at Issuu a portal for digital publishing. With a modest amount of effort, I put together a test for a new magazine called “The Back Story”.  Future issues will be composed of my image outtakes from the dozens of commissioned assignments that I’ve shot over the years.  Maybe, down the road it will include other photographers’ work and give the readers an opportunity to see the images that never ran and get “the back story.”

Fear not, my fellow professional photographers.  We are in a position of opportunity if we begin to realize that and make a conscious effort to change our mindset.  We don’t have  control over the choices that the Sun-Times or any other newspaper makes. We only have control over how we react to those changes. If we think and act smart and not from a position of fear, maybe one of the best business decisions we can make is to take control, and create and publish story telling images that the public will want to see.  And the public  won’t be finding those kinds of images in the Chicago Sun-Times.