My blog is intended chiefly for the Herald's local audience, but at times I'd like to use this forum to raise our citizens' awareness about great photojournalism by posting links and embedding media.
This is a presentation by National Geographic Director of Photography and Visuals David Griffin. National Geographic remains one of the best sources to see truly great photography, and no one sets the bar higher for their standards. Here, Griffin demonstrates the power of still photography in its ability to make connections between people and the world around them. It lasts almost 15 minutes, but it's well worth the time. I'm inspired every time I view it and use it as an introduction to my photojournalism class at Georgia Southern University.
On a daily basis, I try go beyond the superficial whenever I'm shooting an assignment for the Herald. It's a high bar, indeed, and my level of success varies greatly. But it's a great standard to strive for.
Audio Slideshow:
Meet the Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce Agribusiness Committee 2009 Farm Family of the Year.
"Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness."
Photojournalist W. Eugene Smith said this. This is what I believe. It's what I live by. I usually prefer to let my photographs speak for themselves, but I've decided to give them an additional voice -- my voice.
Let's see where this goes.
Visitors can comment on any of the individual posts, but this page is dedicated to your input.
Let us know what you are thinking. Got suggestions or criticisms? Tell us about your events and story ideas. We want your input.
You can always e-mail Scott, as well.
This page is dedicated to taking reader questions.
Most anything is fair game. General photography questions or requests for tips. Photojournalism. Professional ethics. Industry trends.
I will answer most questions directly in the comments, but I may respond to some with separate posts if I think there might be wide interest.
You may also directly e-mail me.
is a frequently misunderstood profession.
We are not the paparazzi. While photojournalists often have to photograph famous people, we do not stalk our subjects, provoke them, and then sell the photographs to the highest bidder. We do attempt to fade into the background and be unobserved ourselves. Not to steal moments in a voyeuristic way. Rather to get out of the way and let life's honest moments present themselves. A photojournalist is an observer. And a recorder. And a sharer.
One could describe a photojournalist as a reporter, and photography is his or her medium, instead of words. But that would be inadequate, as well.
Reporting is the act of gathering information and presenting it to an audience. Journalism, on the other hand, is more complex. Reporting is part of it, but journalism requires the analysis of information, then breaking it down, sorting through it, and presenting it in a compelling and relevant way for audiences. And the whole process is guided by an ethical code including the concepts of fairness and accuracy. The viability of information must be confirmed and its meanfulness should be established.
In this sense, the mission of the photojournalist is the same as his word-plying brethren, be it the spoken or written word. The standards are the same: citizens must be able to trust that the pictures they see are fair and accurate representations of the content depicted.
One question I am often asked is “Do you write stories, too, or are you just a photographer?”
It’s evidence of a word-centric society that doesn’t realize just how important visual communication is becoming in the modern world. Since its inception, photography has always played an important role in documenting the world, but more and more, society is bombarded with images meant to communicate. However, we are often unaware or ambivalent about the motivation behind the images, and we tend to lump them all together.
Most people view photography in a rather casual way. You know, the “Kodak Moment,” with people smiling and acting silly for the camera. Warm, fuzzy moments. But still photography is one of our most effective mediums for communication, even in today’s world of viral videos and endless blogs.
The way photographs depict frozen moments in time is extremely powerful. In photographs, moments are no longer fleeting. They stare us in the face and allows us to examine their messages in great detail. That characteristic creates a direct link to our primal emotions like no other medium of communication. A great photograph is something that you feel. Something that hits you in the gut, not in the head.
That emotional link offers an opportunity to make connections between the viewers of photographs and their subjects. The connection may be with those who live in abject poverty halfway across the world, or the victims of war or abuse. It could be with characters or personalities right here in our own community. Sometimes a connection is as simple as seeing a mother cradle her child at a local festival.
We can see ourselves in other people. Most emotions are universal, regardless of culture or personal beliefs.
The ability to make connections and see beyond the superficial level is what makes photography a powerful tool for communication, whether viewed in a newspaper, in a magazine, on your television, or on your computer screen.
After attending Western Kentucky University as a photojournalism major, he has worked most of his adult life as a newspaper photojournalist, starting at community weekly newspapers in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. before spending twelve years on the staff of the Savannah (Ga.) Morning News.
In 2005, Scott married Kathryn Neville, a lifelong resident of Bulloch County and alumnus of Georgia Southern University, and now employed by GSU. Near the end of 2006, he was offered an opportunity to join the staff of the Herald and continue practicing his craft in his adopted home community.
While many in his profession have scoured the globe, producing work of great social importance, Scott has found his niche producing visual chronicles of life in Statesboro, Ga. and surrounding Bulloch County. Sometimes those photographs win awards. But the ultimate goal is to help people remember and reflect on people, events, and issues in the community, and hopefully to create conversation and make connections with one another.
Being a one-man photo staff has advantages and disadvantages. The position offers an unique opportunity to have significant input into the content of the Statesboro Herald and statesboroherald.com. It allows a certain amount of freedom to pursue stories from a personal point-of-view. There is an amount of personal pride that comes from belonging to the community, to be its eyes and sometimes ears with today’s multimedia presentations. But with that responsibility comes the realization that one person can do only so much. There are simply too many stories to pursue, too many events that happen concurrently.
So if Scott can’t make it to your event, don’t take it personally. Many events are the result or culmination of ongoing endeavors or issues which are frequently more worthy of photographing than the event itself. So please feel free to share your stories and information.
is Statesboro Herald staff photographer Scott Bryant’s blog.
Mass communications in the era of the internet is a two-way street. Journalists are now seeking more interpersonal communication with their audiences. Hopefully, this blog will offer statesboroherald.com users an opportunity to interact with their local paper’s photojournalist and provide feedback and conversation.
Scott hopes to reach out and provide insight about his job and his mission to help his community reflect and learn about itself through photography. Sometimes he may bring to light larger issues about the profession of photojournalism. Other times, he may muse about the stories behind the photographs that are published, or sometimes unpublished. He loves photography, and could post tips about the medium he loves. There might even be a rant, here and there.
The blog gets its name from great photojournalist W. Eugene Smith, who once said
“Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness.”Smith, first known for his intense photographs of WWII in the Pacific Theater, virtually created the modern photo essay in his work for Life magazine in the 1940s and 1950s. He was obsessive in his pursuit to document the human condition through pictures and words, uncompromising in his professional standards and idealism, and notoriously difficult to work with. He once took a three-week assignment to document the city of Pittsburgh in 100 photographs and turned it into a three-year crusade that produced over 20,000 images. The resulting work was too unwieldy to ever publish with Smith’s stipulations. Despite his fanatical and frequently self-destructive behavior, Smith set a standard of compassionate and positive photography for all later generations of photojournalists.
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