alittlenews

I just got back in town from judging the Kentucky News Photographers Association annual photo contest in Lexington, KY.  Man, what a treat.  I was one of three judges.  The other two were Rob Carr from the AP and Jahi Chikwendiu from the Washington Post.  You are probably thinking the same thing I was when I found out who the other judges were.  What the heck were they thinking!?  Whatever it was, I am glad they asked me to be part of that company.

Rob is an old friend from his days working for AP in Alabama so I was a little bit familiar with his work.  Jahi is a new friend and I had never seen any of his work but now that I have I am totally amazed.  And what great guys to judge with.  We didn’t always see eye to eye on images but that is because we come from three very different worlds.  Rob’s job takes him in an out of situations all over the country and around the world.  He shoots lots and lots of sports.  And I do mean, lots and lots of sports.  Jahi does a lot of documentary work and, as he puts it, he tells stories from the standpoint of the conquered rather than from the conqueror.  And then there is me.  I tell most of my stories from within three counties in north Alabama.

I wasn’t really intimidated during the judging on Friday.  We were just three guys up there debating over pictures.  That was not a big deal even when we differed on pictures.  On Saturday each of us, plus Patrick Murphy Racey who is a freelancer based in Knoxville, TN., each gave a presentation to the KNPA members.  My theme was basically what it is on this blog, how to shoot in a small market with a big time mindset.  Rob presented a year of work in slide show format and his NFL work from the past year.  Patrick’s presentation dealt with the changing world of photojournalism and how technology is impacting our present and our future.  Then Jahi presented a number of his stories and what he called a highlight reel of his work.

Let me just say I was glad Jahi was last.  I don’t think I would have had the heart to stand up there after his presentation.  He has an amazing way of telling stories.  I am at a loss for adjectives to apply to those images.  He has worked extensively overseas as well as in the DC metro area and his roots are in Kentucky.  Rob’s work I was already familiar with and that is not to downplay it at all.  He is an amazing shooter too.  I just wasn’t as wowed because I have followed him for several years.  I think the thing that impressed me the most about Jahi’s work as compared with anything else I have seen is the relational quality of the images.  You can tell that he has worked his way inside people’s lives.  That takes major time.  Rob usually doesn’t have that kind of time.  He hits an event, shoots and moves on to the next event.  He is constantly going.  Neither approach is wrong and maybe both approaches fit each man pretty well.

In fact, I think now what I have always though; if I see enough of your pictures I will know who you are.  I think that is why I am so impressed by my fellow judges.  I am not really like either of them all that much.  Maybe my sports shooting style is similar to Rob’s.  I don’t pretend to be on his level but there are some similarities at least.  I would love to find even an echo of Jahi’s work in mine.  I am not sure I can but I am certainly going to be looking at situations differently from now on.  I saw elements in both Rob and Jahi that I want to incorporate into my own work.  There are some things I can do in sports that I saw in Rob’s work that I will be working harder on.  To be honest, I think I am a little bit lazy relative to the effort I saw in his images.  I think the one word I would use to sum up Jahi’s work is relational.  That is probably the one aspect of his work that I can bring to my own.  I can do more to be less standoffish and more intimate with my subjects.  I can’t imitate either man’s style but I can do a little cherry picking from both.

Bottom line, this was a great weekend and I am very appreciative to Joe Imel who is head of the KNPA and works in Bowling Green, KY.  I am also grateful to Jonathan Palmer who was already a friend and ran the KNPA judging.  There are others I could name but I am sure I would forget someone so let me say a blanket thanks to all at KNPA for their hospitality and professionalism.  It was great.  Now, if you guys could just do something about those 1AM fire alarms!

If you are an AP member please check out Rob Carr’s work on the AP site.  Just search his name.  Please visit Jahi on his site at JahiChikwendiu.com.. Please visit KNPA’sweb site and you can see some of what we did. Patrick Murphy Racey can be found at PMRphoto.com.  Of course, you already know how to find me.