The State of Photojournalism…

…is not great.

My Israel trip is off, alas. Funding did not succeed.

Many people feel passionate about proper press coverage of the conflict in Israel/Gaza, and complain (justifiably, I feel) about the current coverage. Alas, it appears that this passion does not extend to helping fund proper coverage. I received pledges for around $550 of the $8500 needed.

And alas, self funding is the only way. Newspapers and other news outlets do not pay—a national daily would offer me maybe $600 for the entire story, as an exclusive. That doesn’t even pay for half the airfare, let alone any of the other costs. Governments, NGOs, etc: none of them will pay. All my photojournalist friends and acquaintances do the same: do it at their own expense; shoot weddings to cover the expense; hope to get some of it back eventually. I too was going to do this as a volunteer: all I want to cover is flight, food, place to stay, guide/fixer, etc.

And photography is the way to clarify the reality of a situation. Thoughtful photography that opens eyes. When we say “a picture tells 1,000 words”, it may be a cliché, but it is true. It is a crying shame that photojournalism is falling by the wayside.

Those of you who did pledge: I can’t tell you how grateful I am. You have not been/will not be charged anything now, of course.

And everyone: plan “B” is in the making. So stand by… I am determined to keep working on this. And I am glad I tried. Rather than just wondering why there’s no good coverage that helps you understand why Israel does the things it does, I want to go out and provide some of that.

 

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Yesterday’s post about corporate portraits: I have decided to do a special for the rest of this month. See http://learning.photography/collections/corporate-photography for the details… and have a pro headshot made now.

 

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