Respect Authority

I love photography. I especially love viewing prescreened award-winning photography because it allows me an opportunity to stretch my iconoclastic legs.

I recently stumbled upon the Best of Photojournalism website which oversees an annual photojournalism contest. It is a “contest designed by photojournalists for photojournalists” and its panel of judges is, so modestly, made up of “some of the most prominent and visionary photographers, editors, and educators in visual journalism.”

Pretty quickly into my perusal, I noticed the same trend I had identified years before. A lot of the winners captured disturbing pictures of people who were either dying, dead, severely injured, suffering, starving, or sad. It seems the road to photojournalistic success is easiest if traveled on the back of an unfortunate soul. This has always really bothered me and a few years ago I got into a pretty passionate argument with a professional photojournalist and an aspiring photojournalist about this same topic. I conveyed my sentiments to the photojournalist and my ideas were, as Cher would say, brutally rebuffed. I forget his exact words, but his implications about my artistic knowledge, or supposed lack thereof, were less than flattering.

So I figured, what better place to express my opinions than in a forum that deprives the said photojournalist the opportunity to refute my assertions?? Nothing like an argument you can’t lose! Read More ›