I am revisiting the
subject that some photojournalists would believe in unicorns before they would
believe a talented reporter/writer can also be a gifted news photographer. Yes,
many photojournalists have a sweet gig where they don’t have to do any
reporting, and this is cool. I am talking about photographers who can’t grasp
the idea that many reporters are gifted photojournalists.
I once mentioned ex
Chicago Sun-Times photographer Rob Hart, who as a casualty of industry
cut-backs prophesied that asking reporters to photograph
their own stories was going to be the end of professional journalism as we know
it. You can read that post here.
Chad Rachman, a dedicated reporter and photojournalist at the New York Post, recently
captured a
startling panorama with his smart phone of the New York Fire Department in
action on a huge fire near the city’s downtown.
(Please see Chad’s photograph here).
NY Post Photojournalist Chad Rachman From the reporter's Facebook page. |
Chad's photo
received many praises on his Facebook post, including “Amazing, Chad, really
amazing! You really are so incredibly talented!” “Tragically beautiful.
Captivating,” and many “Awesome!”
My favorite comment
was from Thom
Mitchell who stated, “Proof
that it isn't the camera that makes the photographer but rather it's the vision
of the photographer that matters.”
Amen.
One person, much like
I described in my first paragraph, Chris Gallant, used the comment section to
grumble that although the photo was “Awesome,” it was shot with a smart phone
and therefore one might get the misconception that reporters can do the same.
What? Are reporters too stupid to be creative photographers? He ended his lengthy
post with, “Nice, but taken out of context, could be used against
photojournalists.”
They walk among us.
To Chad Rachman I say;
you are awesome, creative, and an inspiration to photojournalists. You set the
bar high this time, dude.
You can see more of Chad’s inspiring photography on his website here as well as some of his reporting here.