What I’m Reading
July 16, 2021
This week’s What I’m Reading features three reads on two topics: an interview that shares insights into the life and work of a photojournalist and two articles that investigate a sad truth about the inner workings of the world of journalism.
Meet John Moore
I’m always delighted to find readings like “My goal is to present the people I photograph in a way that is fair to reality”. Why? Because journalists (or photographers, or writers) sharing their interpretation on the craft, yields fascinating insights and great value.
The link above brings you to an interview with photojournalist John Moore. It’s been published by Photojournalism News, a platform through which its founder, photojournalist Nezih Tavlas, shares both works from the community and interviews with colleagues.
The conversation touches on a few important points. It begins with Moore’s first photographic steps. Then, Moore talks about the value of photojournalism. I love his attitude here. Moore makes the profession continue to work for him by believing it’s a profession “that matters,” because of its potential to push society forward.
You’ll also read about his workflow, which values research as the starting point of any assignment. Research means finding out about the issue at hand, how it’s been reported thus far, what players are involved, and who might be interested to help him with his reporting.
Moore also talks about the relation of objectivity and fairness (a very important conversation in itself) and the role (or lack thereof) equipment plays in making great pictures.
Before I leave you with my favorite quote from the interview, which summarizes Moore as a photographer and journalist nicely (in my opinion), I’d like to also mention his emphasis on context.
For Moore’s work, context is always the key to any assignment and the pictures that tell its story, whether that’s the context within a single picture, a series of pictures, or in captions.
Finally, here’s my favorite quote from the interview: “I try to depict people in a dignified way, even though the situation they find themselves in may be distinctly undignified.”
What’s Wrong With Journalism And Photography
From a positive example of what photojournalism can be to the sad truth that there are bad apples in the community and that the process of sorting those out can take a long time.
“Photojournalists under David Furst felt ‘set up to fail.’ Years of complaints from colleagues and freelancers preceded the recent departure of a New York Times photo editor” is an investigative piece that was published by the Columbia Journalism Review.
Writer Kristen Chick digs into a sad and shocking story that includes: a newspaper, a picture editor, an investigation into how the editor treated staff and freelancers, and a parting of ways years later without much explanation. Kristen Chick helps us understand what exactly happened, where the problem areas within journalism are, and gives those affected a way of sharing their stories.
For full context, I suggest you jump into the story. Ms. Chick provides excellent background and depth to Mr. Furst’s role as picture editor for The New York Times’s international desk, his position at the paper, and the history of complaints made against the editor’s behavior toward colleagues.
The baseline, however, is that the international photo department grew significantly since the day Mr. Furst took charge of it, but that he also used to “undermine coworkers and abuse his position of power over freelancers,” as the article puts it.
Some photographers even dreaded getting a phone call from their editor, anticipating a rough treatment.
Because the first allegations appeared in 2017 and 2018, the article tackles the question of why it took till April 2021 for tangible consequences to emerge. It’s also a question of how willing the organization was to accept his abusive behavior because of the success he had and the prestige he brought to the newsroom.
There’s a lot of information to digest in this article. Both The New York Times and Mr. Furst were provided the chance to talk but either declined, didn’t respond, or gave answers that didn’t offer much insight.
Ms. Chick also includes voices that never experienced any issues working for Mr. Furst.
But there are many sad and shocking examples of abusive personal conduct, both anonymous and on the record.
I urge you to give it a read to learn in detail what, for example, NOOR photographer Andrea Bruce experienced when during the Christmas holiday season Furst rushed her to Guantánamo, Cuba, only to find that the story had already passed. No apology was given, but jump over to read what happened after her return home.
Ms. Chick writes that 15 photographers and seven editors shared similar stories.
They all accepted the treatment, which also included a demand to decline work for other publications, as “price” to stay in business with one of the most prestigious picture desks in the world.
There’s also a good summary and breakdown of the different complaints in The Washington Post that digs deeper into sexism allegations and adds new voices to the conversation of people that came forward with their experiences in response to the CJR piece.
With that, I’ll leave you to your readings and hope you’ve found something of value today. Of Miles & Minutes, episode three is making progress (very sorry for the long delay). And I have more reading insights and a fresh set of my own pictures coming soon.
