A group of us (see below) meet the first Wednesday evening of each
month in New York City (SOHO) to show each other work, discuss
new projects and challenging problems, and talk about photography,
art, and ideas. We do not invite assistants or others; the
discussions are open, intimate, and very enlightening.

We formed the group because as working professional photographers we
function on separate islands. We felt that by talking about our work
and showing each other problems and projects, and trusting each other,
in a small, limited group, without a large audience, we could grow in
many ways. We usually invite one or two photographers, editors, 
or art directors as guests and devote the evening to their work.  

We’d love to have you as one of our guests one evening to present your work as a photoeditor.  At least half (the entire evening in the event of one guest) of the evening would be yours.
We hope you’ll be willing to share your work with us at
one of our future meetings. 

If you are interested, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Howard Schatz
 
For:

Nina Berman,
Josef Astor,
Chris Callis,
William Coupon,
Andrew Eccles, 
Steve Fine,
Gregory Heisler, 
Vincent Laforet,
Matt Mahurin,
Joe McNally,
Hans Neleman,
Michael O’Neill,
Sylvia Plachy,
George Steinmetz,
Stephen Wilkes,
Mike Yamashita.

Some of those who have shared their work with us:

Bill Allard, Stephen Alvarez, Harry Benson,
Stanley Burns, Jodi Cobb, Diane Cook/Len Jenshel,
Bill Frakes, Sally Gall, Lois Greenfield, David Alan Harvey, 
Todd Heisler, Henry Horenstein,  Walter Ioss,  Ed Kashi,  
Jim Krantz, Larry Fink, Roxanne Lowitt, Steve McCurry, 
Sheila Metzner, Duane Michels, Platon, Chris Rainier, 
Warwick Saint, Rodney Smith,  Jamey Stillings,  Deborah Turbeville, 
Peter Turnley, Diego Uchitel,  Nick Vedros, Alex Webb, 
Timothy White, Jimmy Williams,  Christian Witkin

photography apart, they should better try getting images from Lebanon, Gaza, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Pakistan, as so far i’ve seen none.

too easy to send a guy in Dharamsala and shoot a few staged pics with angry monks shouting anti-chinese slogans.

this is not journalism, it’s only propaganda and they’re proud of it.

it’s disgusting now in Teheran they used the same old tricks : making a freedom hero out of a dead 16 yrs old girl, now we’ll see hollywood movies about her, books, interviews, posters, postcards, stickers, t-shirts.

how come no one publishes the images made by russian agencies who are in Teheran right now and are allowed to shoot wherever they want ?

It seems obvious to me that the presence of a mindful storytelling photojournalist is sorely missed.”

This to me gets to the heart of the matter regarding photography in the digital age. The proliferation of (mostly) well exposed ‘pretty’ pictures doesn’t make up for the unique skill and talent of visual storytelling. Unfortunately there are more than a few folks in editorial positions that really don’t get this. Sadly I see a lot of what amounts to little just a visual document being passed off as meaningful photojournalism.

On the other hand…

I just took a look at some of what the NYT is offering in the way of photoblogs and I must say I am surprised and impressed. Particularly with the “One in 8 Million” project (http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html). Though the concept is not entirely original on the web, the NYT’s obvious commitment to this project proves that there is plenty of room for penetrating photojournalism in a variety of formats.

I have a background in film production and I’ve been shooting video for a few years while focusing on my still photography and toying with how I want to integrate it with my photography. It’s affirming to know that someone at some of the majors are taking a serious look at what can be done with this new medium. I think it may usher in a new era of really intimate storytelling that allows us to reflect on our lives. You don’t have to fly off to Myanmar to create stories that will move people.

Thanks for posting this Rob. It was a great read and I found some real inspiration.

She was right. They were. I was nervous at that shoot and it showed in the images. She is an excellent photo editor and she knows how to guide talent.