Finale!

After reviewing my notebook a couple of times I tried to pull the most mentioned pieces of advice for students about to graduate and work in the field: a very strong portfolio, networking, entering contests/workshops, internships, dedication and efficiency. Even though I took several pages of notes per lecture from different professionals - these were underlying themes every time. The first two almost go hand in hand because trying to do just one will make you less likely to get hired. You need to have a great eye - and show it in that portfolio, but if that portfolio isn't seen (or seen by the right people) then you won't get work. And getting work is what puts food on the table. I was happy to hear that you have to do what you have to do to make ends meet; several of our speakers admitted working in restaurants or living at home to support in between periods of doing what they love or figuring out what they wanted. I wish my parents were in the room to hear that! This career path that my classmates and is more of a lifestyle than a career path. We have to live it, breathe it, constantly push the envelope and continuously learn to make it to the top. Now everyones "top" may be different, but in the end we're all just doing what we love and telling people's amazing stories. Sounds pretty rewarding to me.
I am still so unsure as to what aspect of photography I want to do into - for now I just have to make sure I can do it all. Shooting, editing, multimedia. But it sounds like over the years, professionals might not have known either and ended up doing a little bit of everything! In the end they might have decided to stick with one channel that they love, I am excited to get to that point and all of the stuff in between.

"This Is The Time To Dream" Day 5

Our first meeting of three today was a Human Rights Watch with Emma Daly. She gave us a really great explanation of what human rights watch does as an organization and what some of the major successes over the years for them has been. To define that a little bit better, successes are when their published content actually caused laws/policies to be changed for the better. The photographers they use for images are pretty selective, usually the best of the best. Although she wasn't totally against us emailing when we move to a foreign country and start working on a project.
Second was The New Yorker magazine. That was such a breath of fresh air because it is such a different publication than any of the others we visited this week. Whitney Johnson explained to us that they spend a heavy amount of time on research and deliberation on what stories would be beneficial for the readers and what photographer would be perfect for the job. They plan deadlines months, if not almost a year in advance and really focus in on what's important. They have a circulation of 1 million but their demographic is pretty tight on an older and well educated group. The magazine is word driven, the photographs need to be absolutely spot on. One photograph is usually published per story, that one image has to encompass an entire 3,000 word essay (no pressure).
Our third stop today was Time Magazine. What I loved about this meeting was how positive, hard working and dedicated all of the staff members we met seemed to be. They all expressed during their presentations how much they loved their job - and how cool it is that they get to do what they enjoy the most. This was really inspiring especially since we met more than one individual that were close to our age. The work that Vaughn, Jonathan and Patrick were high quality, moving and powerful images. The photo department at Time really act as their own branch of the company and have freedom to produce what they are passionate about/what they feel is relevant to this point in time. We grilled them with questions and they were so gracious enough to tell stories from their careers and how they came to learn and be who they are today. It was a really inspiring meeting, we even got to see the studio after!

"You Are Only A Bridge And Nothing Else" Day 4

Today we started at Associated Press headquarters with a meeting. This meeting was unlike the others we've had so far this week; AP staff from, what seemed like all over the country, got together on a conference call via skype and presented what stories they would be publishing that day. It was a really amazing, concise meeting that made sure everyone was on the same page. Then Santiago Lyons brought us into a small conference room and showed us some of the APs best work from Syria, the 2012 Olympics, the Presidential elections and a portrait series of stone throwers. He explained to us, in really amazing detail, how the world of photography used to be for a photographer to transmit his images to newspapers or magazines. It would take 24 continuous hours to transmit roughly 96 images, when today we can transmit thousands in that time period. He spoke to us very genuinely and not looking down on us like we have created such a monster of a digital generation, I really appreciated that.

We traveled to the Bronx to meet with Frank Fournier - we were treated to pizza at a place near his studio and walked there afterwards. We all crowded together at his table, on his couch, on his bed, and on his floor and listened to him tell us stories about his life/career and what he has learned through out. He moved to NYC in April around 3 pm with $200 in his pocket and no where to sleep that night. By 7pm he was working as a photo assistant to a photographer he had contacted upon arrival. He mentioned 5 things that were very important to have and to be as a photographer: be passionate, work hard ("you need the discipline of a monk"), persistence, strong health, and be nice (you are not nice when you have no sleep or no food, you must be nice, he said). This is the time to dream. We need to give 200% everyday, even when we are sleeping. He said to make sure we take away these two things: You don't find your story through the internet and you have to work your story like the Indian walks through the forest. He was such a sweet and giving man - he worked his way from bottom to top to make it in this country and I found that extremely admirable. 

We stopped at the Leica gallery quickly afterwards where I gazed upon beautiful prints and thumbed through beautiful photo books. We traveled down to the party with alumni where I had a great time chatting about photography, life, work or lack there of, and everything in between. It was really a pleasure.

"This Will Define Who You Are" Day 3

James Estrin was an absolute pleasure to listen to today at The New York Times. He gave us some background information on his career in newspaper, studying at ICP, going to law school, freelancing and eventually ending up at The Times. He talked to us about his start in multimedia around '03/'04 and showed us some really moving pieces on people going through the process called an "assisted suicide". He brought us through his process of documenting such an emotional issue. Once he got into these peoples lives and homes, he gave us tips on how to make them and their family or friends feel comfortable with a stranger with a camera in the room. They also brought in one of their newest employees Leslye who graduated from Western Kentucky University just this past May! It was really crazy to see someone practically our age at the head of the conference table! But it was extremely reassuring, she was full of determination and confidence. Anytime that you are awake and functioning, you should be shooting! She was even kind enough to show us videos inspired her as a student.
We traveled to Getty Images afterwards - where I soaked up so much important information. The level at which that company operates is just incredible, they put out work in real time. Timing is very important - the photographer needs to be independent, have a good eye, and compose amazing images that clients will want to buy and publish on the front page of their papers. They shared the changes they've made in multimedia department, which I didn't hear anywhere else, how they shoot raw takes and let the client make the edits themselves (really interesting). Pancho basically told us how we should have such a fire under us to push through shooting all of the time, no other distractions in our life, and that we need to find what we love and follow through with it. My favorite piece of advice for someone who wants to be an editor in the future is to edit your classmates work! Just practice practice practice editing their raw takes - and having a conversation about why this works or doesn't work.

"This Isn't A Job At Starbucks, Where You Have A Beating Heart And Can Get It" Day 2

Our second day started bright and early at The Wall Street Journal with photo editor Jack Van Antwerp. I really appreciated him being a completely open book with us, telling us all of the highs and lows of his career. He joked about being "broke in Cleveland" where he was living at home but constantly shooting and pushing his portfolio any place that he could get his hands on. I've heard this from several professional photographers - once you really start working on getting your portfolio out there, people will eventually start calling you and then the work will pick up. Not knowing where your paycheck is coming from each day sound scary but once you get the ball rolling, from what i've heard, work will come in relatively steady. Jack made me feel at such ease with how worried I am about my background being all over the place in terms of shooting, editing, video, stills etc. His talk was very inspiring; and getting the inside tour of the WSJ was so cool. I thought technology was moving fast out here, in that office its ten times ahead of what I've ever seen or heard of, really amazing stuff.
We also heard from several other very talented individuals - all in different stages of their life and career which was really interesting to hear. Brian, Alanna, Lisa and Joe all touched on some really interesting points about a career in photography: you never know where it's going to take you! If your heart says shoot, go and shoot!

We also visited Bloomberg to speak with Mike Graham and Natasha Cholerton Brown. That company operates on such a high level of efficiency  demanding close to perfection from their photographers, and have an amazing reputation to show from it. Mike talked about needing photographers to shoot images with a long shelf life (and that can relate to several different stories) with interesting composition because it will reach literally millions of viewers. He gave us a hint for applying to jobs, making a password protected lightbox account with work tailored to that company (amazing idea!) Natasha stressed the importance of metadata and capture information - you need to be transparent with that information! Spelling, accuracy, grammar: more information is better than less.

"When Word Of The Protest Got Out, I Was Ready To Cover A Revolution" Day 1

Our first day in Manhattan was focused on Reuters photographers: Adrees Latif, Lucas Jackson, and Mike Seeger. Adrees spoke alot about how he came into his very high position at Reuters, all of the work he had to go through and the things he learned along the way. Internships to small newspapers to freelancing and eventually getting picked up by Reuters. He focused on his work in Pakistan, where he spent several years of his career. It was really interesting to hear how dedicated he was to making great pictures but also how carefully he went about making decisions regarding his safety. He has definitely learned major do's and dont's to photographing in dangerous areas/situations. He spoke to us about packing enough things to "survive on" if necessary (like five days worth of almonds), blending in with the locals, not acting conspicuous, watching your back at all times, and not over shooting to call attention to yourself. "I gotta get out of here before they can come up with a plan" was one of the quotes I wrote down while he was explaining seeing guys up on a hill watching him while he worked and seeing which car he was going to get into.
Lucas and Mike explained covering tragedies in such examples like hurricane sandy and the Newtown shooting. Both events had to be approached lightly but in different ways. Sandy there were much more people who were willing to share and say here look what has happened to me - I will let you into my life. But with Sandy Hook elementary in Newtown, the mood was much more somber because of the age of the victims and the grieving families. In this situation they explained staying farther back and respecting the victims and families space.