Reflections on the Missouri Photo Workshop – Whitney Light (part 2)

Shoot, edit, show

Life Within Reach

At home, Delores helps her two-year-old son Ryker get dressed. She regrets missing out on most of his life so far because he and his brothers, Trevor, 10, and Kyle, 12, were in foster care while she overcame drug abuse. (Photo – Whitney Light)

In addition to the story search, another feature of the Missouri Photo Workshop (MPW) is a 400-frame count limit for the entire week. A practical necessity in the days of film, it’s been held onto as a useful teaching device. We were advised to think about every frame and why we would need it in the edit.

This rule didn’t ruffle me as much as it did some, though I did “use up” every last shot. I was more nervous about how the shooting would go. It wouldn’t be the first time that a subject backed out of a project. So, I took the frame limit as a signal to proceed with caution.
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Category: Member's Blog

Reflections on the Missouri Photo Workshop – Whitney Light (part 1)

Research, pitch, repeat

Life Within Reach

Delores Hilt with her daughter Makenly on the front porch of their house, September 23, 2013. (Photo – Whitney Light)

Two things drew me to the 65th Missouri Photo Workshop (MPW): the opportunity to meet many photographers and editors at once, and the promise of developing new insights into the do’s and don’ts of documentary storytelling.

Briefly, the annual week-long workshop goes like this: arrive in small-town America, meet MPW faculty, go in search of stories, pitch the best ideas to your “editors,” shoot, edit, and then show your work online and to all the townspeople in a public exhibition.

Like most people probably would, I thought that the story search would likely turn out to be the most challenging part. And it was. At some workshops, you’re handed a story lead upon arrival. But forcing us to practice the hard work of pre-reporting and story development was arguably the most valuable part of the week. As co-director David Rees laid it out on Monday night, in a world brimming with excellent shooters, the ability to find and pitch compelling stories is what editors and, ultimately, viewers want.
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Category: Member's Blog

Newzapalooza 2013

Newzapalooza 2013 is set for November 1st at the Opera House in Toronto. The annual musical event has featured wanna-be rock stars from various news organizations such as the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, The Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press, Macleans, CBC, Thomson Reuters, CityTV, CTV and MTV Canada. This “battle of the bands” competition is in support of the Childrens Aid Foundation and has so far raised about $60,000 for the charity.

 

Added November 8: Pictures from this event are here.

 

 


Category: News

Open Letter to NPAC Members

By John Lehmann, 2013-15 NPAC President

 

Change seems to be the only constant in our industry and not surprisingly, the same holds true for the News Photographers Association of Canada.

At the 2013 Annual General Meeting held during the April conference in Calgary, I was elected to the NPAC board. I know this change was sudden and somewhat unexpected for many but as one of the original founders of this organization, I felt I could help refocus the direction of our group.

Looking ahead as president, I’d like to share three points that form the goal of making us a better organization. We need greater transparency within the organization, become a better advocate for Canadian photojournalists and be more mindful of our expenses.

Financially speaking, NPAC is in a grim state. The current board has reviewed the organization’s accounts spanning the past three years and revenues have steadily declined as expenses have increased. This trend has left the organization with a deficit of about $10,000. This may seem like an insurmountable amount of debt but I strongly believe that with a financial strategy in place and control of spending, we’ll get out of debt and be a more financially secure organization.
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Category: News

Boris Spremo named to News Hall of Fame

Former Toronto Star photographer, Boris Spremo, was recently named to the Canadian News Hall of Fame.

 

A small gallery of his photos are on the Star’s photo blog.

Along with Spremo, Les Pyette, former Sun Media editor-publisher, will be officially inducted into the News Hall of Fame during an October 2013 ceremony in Toronto.

At least one other photographer is in the News Hall of Fame. Norman James was inducted in 1981 after a 40-year(?) career at the Toronto Star.

 

 


Category: News
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