Reply: Reflections

John Schreiber may disagree, but sometimes I need to write. Photographs don't convey what I need to communicate.

Recently I read a post on Chicago Tribune photographer Scott Strazzante's blog.

In it, Strazzante explains his feelings regarding photographs from Haiti versus that of his own work:

"I have covered some huge events, like Barack Obama’s Inauguration, three Olympic Games, a World Series and a Super Bowl, so no one should feel sorry for me but I still feel a step below the war/disaster shooters.

I will get over it but right now I feel that everything I shoot in Chicago is a waste of time and totally insignificant."

I can relate to Scott's feelings. After spending the majority of my photography experience doing sports, and then my story on African refugees, my earlier work felt empty.

After that, I feel like sports lack the weighted significance that intimate storytelling provides. Don't get me wrong, I like photographing sports. Hell, I was an athlete for 12 years. But it's not the same.

This is a pivotal moment in my life. I graduate in May. I'm in my final photojournalism class. This is the time I figure out what I want to photograph– the stories that matter to me most. It's challenging. Luckily I'm getting help along the way. But it's not always easy. Especially with reoccurring doubts.

How do you deal with these feelings about your photography?

How do you keep yourself strong and not brought down by feeling one-dimensional?

Picture Story: Subjects

In the book, On Being a Photographer, Magnum photographer David Hurn and Bill Jay discuss finding a subject to photograph and the passion for people we make images of.

Figuring out what long-term stories I want to photograph is a challenge. And that's an understatement.

We're often asked what our interests are. I'm not like some of my colleagues who are passionate about doing stories on domestic abuse, homelessness, drug addiction, teen mothers, et al.

I do like those stories. I just haven't found one I'm fervently passionate about.

Except the long-term story I worked on last semester (which I think I'll continue). It was about African refugees living in Columbia.

Before it was assigned to me, it wasn't something that poked at me like a three-year-old wanting his mother to buy him a candy bar in the grocery store.

When I worked for the Missourian, I pretty much liked everything I photographed.

I like people. I like telling their stories. They inspire me.

Human connection. It keeps me making good photographs.



I hope to show my love for people through my photography.

Which Hurn and Jay assert is the fundamental characteristic: "a deep and long-lasting respect and love for the subject matter."

I may not have great ideas with time, but I have the building blocks. With time and experience, I'll come to realize a story I'd love to tell.

Picture Story: 10,000 Hours

Malcolm Gladwell and Ansel Adams argued that to be truly successful as an artist, we must put in 10,000 hours of photographing. It isn't until we immerse ourselves into our work, and with good experience that we become a successful photojournalist.

With that, I agree. Yes, talent does exist. Generally, photographers don't make POYi award-winning images within their first few months of ever having used a camera. It takes time. You learn the technical aspects of the camera. How to properly expose, how to compose an image. You learn how to photograph human interaction, honest emotion. Then storytelling develops.

It takes a lot of time to hone our craft. I've been photographing since I was a junior in high school. Five years of experience, before I've graduated, it a fair amount. But I still have a long way to go before my work is at a level that I'll be satisfied with.

Unfortunately as a college student, I haven't been able to immerse myself into photography as much as I would like. Of the 15 hours I'm taking this semester, only 4 require actual photography. That's not much. I devote a lot of my time to my other classes in addition to making pictures.


I feel like this during the school year.

I'm really looking forward to graduating and fully immersing myself into photojournalism. I can spend the majority of my time making images and not having to worry about homework, tests, etc. Granted, I'll have to worry about bills, income, and more adult responsibilities, but I can focus more on photography than I do now.

Picture Story: Style

Picture story and the photographic essay, my capstone. It's the culmination of my education at the University of Missouri. This class serves as the perfect intimate setting to share our intimate thoughts and ideas on life and photojournalism. It will be a great growth period.

For our first assignment, we were asked to browse various photo stories & essays, looking at photographic style that inspires us and is a good story or essay.

I found an essay, A Conflicted Mission in Congo, a piece by Moises Saman about the ongoing wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo.


Photo © Moises Saman

I chose Saman's work because his style because it's the opposite of the photographs I make. A lot of my work is very straight-forward. Obvious. Saman's is abstract and out of focus. The style parallels the convoluted situation in Congo: confusing, nebulous, jarring.

The photographs elicit a feeling that suits the mood of the situation. Saman photographed in a way to artistically express the world around him.

It's important to share Saman's story. Too often we succumb to a bubble, focusing solely on our own lives. We tend to forget the plight of people in other countries. Or, we fail to miss understanding the conflicts of governments and organizations, like the U.N. in this instance.

Words suffice, but don't evoke emotions like photographs. Images bring great storytelling to a new level.

African Refugees in Columbia, Mo.

I spent my entire semester working on this story. It completely changed my outlook on life.

This story really means a lot to me. I'd appreciate any comments.

I wanted to wait to post this until the story ran, but I have no idea when that will be. And I've had several people expressing interest in seeing it. So here it is:


Finding Refuge

Finding Refuge from charles ferguson on Vimeo.

Moving is hard. Moving without knowing the language is even harder. Caritas Habimana came to Columbia, Mo. when she fled Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. By October 2008, she quit her job to devote her life to help the refugee community in Columbia. Habimana uses her faith and prayer to keep her head high to help the refugees. "God can feed you, anywhere, anytime. The God that fed me when I was hiding and nobody were there, none of my family, nobody else. I was hiding and I was eating. I trust the God, he's a good God," she said.

Thanksgiving on the Farm

Every Thanksgiving we go to my grandparents' farm in North Texas. They live on approximately 1,000 acres on the Red River, near Wichita Falls. Here are some photos from this year:

Preview

A preview into my final story for Staff Photography & EPJ: