Reporters Make Excelent Photojournalists part II

I am revisiting a subject that some photojournalists would believe in unicorns before they would believe a reporter can also be a gifted news photographer.

I mentioned here ex Chicago Sun-Times photographer Rob Hart, a casualty of recession-era cut-backs when newspapers needed photojournalists, not just photographers, prophesied that asking reporters to photograph their own stories was going to be the end of professional journalism as we know it.

Here is my pickleball bandana to dab a tear, Rob. The recession was hard on a lot of us back then.

Chad Rachman, a dedicated reporter at the New York Post, is also a supremely talented photographer. One photo he posted on his Facebook page was taken with a cellphone received such comments as, 

Selfie of Chad Rachman
from the reporter's Facebook page.

 “Amazing, Chad, really amazing! You really are so incredibly talented!” and “Tragically beautiful. Captivating,”

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.”

However, one person, 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? Reporters can't be creative? He ended his lengthy post with, “Nice, but taken out of context, could be used against photojournalists.” 

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 Chad’s stories and photography on Muck Rach here.