June 2:  “..you've got to ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky?"
 

        I do after almost losing one of the prerequisites in photojournalism: my eyes. A recent eye exam revealed an advanced case of corneal neovascularization brought on by excessive contact lens use. The symptoms, abnormal blood vessel growth on the edges of the cornea, can cause infections that can lead to blindness. If it hadn't been for a damaged pair of lenses that sent me to the doctor, I might now have permanent beer goggles.

My kind of lucky brings to mind Albert Einstein's theory: "You can look at life in two different ways: either everything is a miracle or nothing is a miracle."

Miracles can only explain how I survived my '81 Accord's bald tires, dead brakes, leaking fuel tank and dead heater. Take for instance a four hour, 60-mile trip through a blizzard with no car insurance and no defroster for the iced up windshield. I had to manually rub a McDonald's napkin against the windshield to generate the friction that would melt off the thin sheet of ice that reduced my vision to 20/200. I remember sliding off the highway into a pit of ice, trying to get out and almost breaking down in despair until an angel in a 4x4 pickup hauled me out. I don't know how I made it through that night.

And if the times get rough, I look at the following to keep things in perspective:

"What about the main thing in life, all its riddles? If you want, I'll spell it out for you right now. Do not pursue what is illusory, property and position: all that is gained at the expense of your nerves decade after decade, and is confiscated in one fell night. Live with a steady superiority over life - don't be afraid of misfortune, and do not yearn after happiness; it is, after all, all the same: the bitter doesn't last forever, and the sweet never fills the cup to overflowing. It is enough if you don't freeze in the cold and if thirst and hunger don't claw at your insides. If your back isn't broken, if your feet can walk, if both arms can bend, if both eyes see, and if both ears here, then whom should you envy? And why? Our envy of others devours us most of all. Rub your eyes and purify your heart - and prize above all else in the world those who love you and who wish you well."

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn from "The Gulag Archipelago"

Another wiseguy, George Stephanopolis, had a two-card system he'd consult during the good and bad times at the White House. One read: "You are the luckiest man around. Run with it." and the other said "This too shall pass." So next time the Business Page Photo Editor selects the clowning around photo you hate, the "historic vote with the hands raised" photo gets you in trouble with the big boss and you are assigned your 1005th dog and pony show, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky?........  
 

June 6:

  HTTP://insidedenver.com/undyinglove/
 

        Please check out an amazing photo story about Alzheimer's disease at the link above before reading on.

Pat Davison is an OK photographer like Michael Jordan is an OK basketball player: both make others look bad on the court.

The first time I saw his photos, I felt bad for three days; I was so far from taking photos of this caliber.

Pat Davison showed me the potential of the photo essay to educate, to inspire and to show a son's love for his mother. He showed me the power of tagging a great photojournalist with a compelling story; his vision reminds me of Eugene Richards or P.F. Bentley's("On The Road to Victory"): you only need to see the photos once to remember them and yet you keep revisiting them.

Other things I learned:

• A list of his cutlines form a rough checklist of photo ideas that form an excellent storytelling structure. Before I start on my next photo essay, I would like to write several cutlines first, then find the corresponding photos.
• He taught me about dedication, compassion, compositional ingenuity and the way one's faith can strengthen their photography.
• He showed me writing skills are just as important as visual skills. Only Pat could have written the powerful story that accompanied his photos.  

June 9:  The $5 Question
 

        I’ve heard prosecutors and public defenders emerge from law school with one useful piece of information: "Never ask a question to which you don't know the answer."

        I wish I was exercising this golden rule as I pose the following brainteaser:  how do you deal with subjects who hit on you?

        I ask this question after one of the residents in a clubhouse for people with mental illnesses started to hit on me during a two-month photo project.  On several occasions I would be asked if I "still had a girlfriend” and after hearing my standard "Yes, I do." speech, she’d look at me with sad puppy-dog eyes, hurt that I was “taken.”

         Is there a better way to handle this type of situation?  I like to get close to those who I photograph but I must find a better way to draw the line betwixt friendship and intimacy because I’d rather the twain never meet.  I don't want to be the kind of photojournalist who remains aloof with his subjects while asking them to bare their soul.

        So e-mail me a solution at keivom@rtt.colorado.edu.

        $5 goes to the Casanova with the best solution. Heh, heh.
 
 
 

June 10:  Photo stories
 

        Photo stories remind me of my efforts at losing my Miller Genuine Flab:  a series of monster workouts would routinely kill my enthusiasm by weeks’ end.  I learned from my photo story on a clubhouse for the mentally ill that it was better to start off with a couple of hours a week and build from there.

        A dozen trips later and I’m a familiar face people trust.   Sabastiao Salagado was right when he said things start to happen right in front of you if you stay in a place long enough.

        I brought over some 11”x17” laser portraits of the clubhouse members.  The joy of photography was matched by the joy on their faces as they thumbed through the prints and asked me for additional copies.

I saw Gloria leaving the Clubhouse as the sun set and the zebra crossing in the background lit up.  I remember someone calling out to her, and she turned to see who it was.
 

        I tried to show these people as being just like you and me:  they are happy and they are sad and they have feelings.  I tried to sh their spirit and not their sorrow.
   

        On the flip side, money’s tight again.  Look for my upcoming book entitled “Boulder on $2.50 a day.”
 
 
 

June 13:  A Photographer is "...merely a Human being with a camera around his neck."
 

        "To Drive or not to Drive?"  That is the question I posed on a photojournalism forum and the replies I received proved there’s so much more to photojournalism than just being able to capture a moment.

        I had been covering a home for the mentally ill and wanted to know if it was ethical to help out the subject of a photo story by driving her across town for her father's birthday.

        Ken Spencer, a shooter/philosopher for New York Newsday responded with a beautiful and insightful commentary of our roles as photojournalists and humans.

(Note:  At press time, 10:45 p.m., Oct. 30, 1998 I haven’t received permission to reprint his e-mail.  So, at the risk of educating the masses with your wisdom, I apologize Ken.)

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Hi James!

I work with Dick Kraus at Newsday - I'm a feature photographer there.  I have been shooting as a magazine/newspaper photographer since 1964, which means I'm a REALLY old guy, who has a mental age, however, of about 12!...

To Drive or Not to Drive:  When I was a Junior at RIT, back in 1963, we took a class trip to NYC to visit photographers, agencies, and studios in the city.  One of the guys who really impressed me was Wayne Miller, at a wonderful person, and sort of low key and gentle, and really impressed me  more than the "big deal" kind of photographers.  I remember him saying "A photographer is merely a human being with a camera around his neck."

I guess if you use that as your yardstick, then you would drive. Additionally, you talk about going to the house to be with the people, to spend time as a friend, not just to photograph (If I remember correctly).
Friends help other friends in need.  Right?

I am reminded of the introduction to Joan Dideon's "Slouching Toward Bethlehem" where she talks about being a writer, and concludes with "...and a writer always uses people."  I guess the same could be said about photographers, at times.  So if you are getting photographs there, as well as offering them friendship, it wouldn't hurt to help them as well.

I recently spent 18 months working on a project called "A Year in the Life of a Parish" with the writer Bob Keeler - documenting all that went on in a really active, multi-cultural Catholic Parish here on Long Island. It ran in the newspaper as a 16 part series over 18 months. (Bob later won the Pulitzer prize for beat reporting for the story, and it is now a book as well, with my photos.)

I don't think it is realistic to attempt to do a story like that, where you are asking people about their spiritual lives, and their innermost feelings, and photographing them during worship, in their home prayer
meetings, with friends, and think that you can be some "disinterested" observer. I think that kind of approach is not reasonable.  Would you have a long conversation about personal things in your life with someone who seemed "disinterested?"  I don't think so.

I think far too much is made of this "disinterested observer" stuff.  (I realize that it's not the correct term, but you get the idea.)  When you are THAT close to people (and you NEED TO BE THAT CLOSE in a situation like that if you are going to deserve their trust) you can hardly be impersonal about them.  And you shouldn't be.  Aren't you photographing the people in the house for a reason?  To show others how beautiful they are - something that others might not see on their own, without your photographs?  So you do have a point of view for your story.  (My thinking gets muddy here, but you get the idea...

I was told a few years back to look for a family that might be living in their car, for a photo story.  I was spending time at a facility called the "Interfaith Nutrition Network" where volunteers each day served a big hot meal to more than 60 people each day, and did their best to help find homeless people places to sleep, and jobs.  While hanging out there, a young homeless man was told of a job interview, but had no way to get there.

It took me about 30 seconds (I'm embarrassed as a human being that it took me THAT long) to decide to offer to drive the man to the interview, and wait for him, and bring him back to the facility for lunch.

Bottom line:  We're out there taking some pictures, which may or may not really matter much in the scheme of things (even if they were to win the Pulitzer Prize), but here is another human being in need.  Something that would make their difficult life just a bit easier, if we were to offer a ride.  No big deal for us - a real act of kindness to them.  What matters:  A crummy photo, or their life?

Sometimes I loose patience with all this ethics stuff being examined under
a microscope!

"...merely a Human being with a camera around his neck."

(Whew!  Looks like I got a bit wound up there!   :)

Keep up the great work.  Keep searching, keep asking yourself questions.  I have been doing that for over 30 years now, and the questions don't stop.  But we are all better photographers for continuing to do it.

I don't know the real answer to a question you have not asked, but I have the suspicion that you may not need to travel to the world's hot spots in order to be doing meaningful work as a photographer.  (You didn't ask, but I felt the need to toss that in - for free!  :)

Take care, take care,

ken

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June 18:  Learning from a rapper
 

        I was channel-surfing when I saw an interview with a successful rapper.  Everyone told Mace that he would never be successful because he rapped too slow, but one day, he realized THAT was his unique style.  I guess you shouldn’t get discouraged if you have a different approach; it may be your strongest suit.
 
 

June 25:  Watching Da Raccoons
 

         A family of the raccoons made me realize it’s sometimes best to keep your mouth shut and watch:  you may learn something when your subject is left to go about their business(which was wetting their feet in a small puddle and exploring the tree branches).  Instead of trying to lure them closer with raccoon-like squealing, I sat back and watched them for fifteen minutes.

        I’ve heard Carol Guzy is as quiet and unobtrusive as a churchmouse; she blends in. I enjoy interacting with my subjects and now have a better sense of when I should shut up and shoot.
 
 

June 30:  My Dad’s Last Lottery Ticket
 

It's time to make him proud and to be a success before it's too late; before he tries to cash the post-dated check(Jan. 1, 2005) for $150,000.

I would also like to thank all of the people who provided moral(but, alas, not financial, support) especially AP photographer Mike Green. We met at the AP Workshop back in 1996 and I accidentally bumped into him at a vigil on the anniversary of Jon Benet Ramsey's death.

A couple of weeks after he left, I got a call from a Detroit News photo editor who said that Mike had recommended me for a job opening.

"Mike said that you would be someone to watch out for now or in the future." the editor said. It took a couple of minutes for Mike's random act of kindness to sink in. If I were an ancient king, I would give him Phoenicia, Judea and Cyprus.

But all I can do on my budget is to paraphrase a Grateful Dead bumper sticker: "Thank You Mike"

With people like you, failure is not an option

        .

Behind the Viewfinder - A Year in the Life of Photojournalism
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