Some good questions coming in for Michele McNally over on the NYTimes website. I reprinted a couple I like here but there’s still time to send her a question and more to read ( here).
Ms. McNally joined The Times as director of photography in June 2004 and was promoted to assistant managing editor in July [...]
Photo Blogs
random links to random stories in the hopes that people will click"It is a fascinating fact is that if you go online and visit 200 web pages in one day - which is a simple task when you could email, blogs, youtube etc - you'll see on average 490,000 words; War & Peace was only 460,000 words."
We get so fixated on our own shtickA very respected journalist once told me, “I’m always telling students, if you want to be a journalist, for God’s sake don’t be a Journalism Major. Study something else, like The Classics or Architecture. That means when you start looking for work, you’ll be bringing something to the table besides ‘Shop Talk’.”
via Gapingvoid.
Some young photographers who are content providers are not content consumers“If you won’t pay to see someone else’s work, why do you expect people to pay to see your work?” ”How do you expect to make a living as a photojournalist?” ”Who is your audience?”
via Greg Ceo Blog.
500,000 loyal, engaged users who want quality, long form journalismMore sophisticated ways of measuring usership and engagement will change focus from mass audience, Plotz believes, and that will make journalism better. Raw numbers create “pressure to produce one kind of story” that will draw hits. New metrics of engagement and behavior offer a “tremendous opportunity for Web journalism to escape the traffic” trap. He believes that will liberate Slate to “make a magazine that recognizes those dedicated readers.”
it’s not news, and it’s not hard to do, and it’s not hard to replaceNo one surveying the changes the internet is bringing to the newspaper business is saying “My God, who will tell me about Big 12 football! Where will I find a recipe for spicy chicken wings!”
via Clay Shirky.
David Alan Harvey on Launching a Photo-j Magazine"You've got to have something to say. It could be conceptual, or you can try to save the world as a photojournalist. But you can't just be a technician. Everybody's a technician. You've got to have an idea."
via PDN.
Emailers are now little better then spamWhile emailers sounded like a good idea several years ago, they are now little better then spam. Most of the work I get is not appropriate to any need I might possibly have, and lots of it just isn’t good at all. Plus, if the image isn’t displaying in my email window and fast, I’m on to the next one. On the other hand, when I receive a printed promo, at the very least, I look at the image(s). I also notice your attention to detail in your paper and design choice. Most often, email promos feel templated and generic, hence the agency opt-outs.
He who wishes to become a painter first must cut out his tongueWe must resist academia as artists. We really must. When Matisse was near death a young man visited him and as he turned to leave Matisse said, “Remember one thing: guard your naiveté. Some day young man, that’s going to be all you’ve got. And now I’m packing my bags for the next world.”
--Robert Bergman
via The Brooklyn Rail.
Every Dumbass With A Camera
via - make art not war.
the secret of being a successful cartoonist“Continuity,” he said. “Anyone can draw a good cartoon… ONCE. But not everyone can draw a good cartoon, every day, day-in-day-out. It’s something you have to work VERY HARD at for many years before you even get close…”
-- Hugh Dodd
via Gapingvoid.
