Via Melanie Light

“At PixelPress our intent is to encourage documentary photographers, writers, filmmakers, artists, human rights workers and students to explore the world in ways that take advantage of the new possibilities provided by digital media. We seek a new paradigm of journalism, one that encourages an active dialogue between the author and reader and, also, the subject.”

Fred Ritchin's PixelPress is a gold mine for documentary photographers. Touching photo essays such as this one by photographer Theo Rigby bring poignant context to a war gone bad. If you have a body of work that you want to see published, send Prof. Ritchin a note.

Unlike so many photographers who parachute into a wedding for 8 hours (because their contract says so) and produce the most banal of images, what I am trying to do is to pursue photojournalism at weddings; to visually narrate events on a very special day for two people or two families that will be cherished forever.

If I seem preoccupied, I am. I have been honing my wedding photography skills. One way to do so is to shoot as many weddings as possible. At the end of November, I will be photographing a wedding engagement. I hope to be photographing a wedding in Los Angeles in early December. Then beginning in May of next year, as the wedding season takes off, I hope to be on my toes all the time. If you know of anyone looking for a wedding photojournalist, have them email me please. I would be happy to help them out. And I do pay a referral fee of $100 when my services are contracted.

I am also reaching out to those who are seasoned professionals in this very special genre. I'll be in Philadelphia on November 17 and 18 to attend The Foundation Workshop called “See, Shoot + Show: The Unforgettable Image.” The workshop will be held in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon. Joseph Victor Stefanchik and Huy Nguyen will be leading these workshops. If you are in or near one of these cities and are interested in wedding photojournalism, do check it out. The cost is $250 (if you pre-register). This shorter workshop is sponsored by the Wedding Photojournalist Association.

Both Stefanchik and Nguyen also offer a four-day course that runs from February 14-17 in Dallas, Texas.

Photo District News reports that Brian Storm, a proponent of photojournalism has been forced out of his position at Corbis. Wishing him the best in his next endeavor.

The Mountain Workshop has launched it's most recent website. Each year, the workshop “travels” to a new town in Kentucky and documents life there in about a week. It's very challenging, but also gratifying. When I participated, I was lucky to have some amazing photo editors there.

One of the partcipants this year was Dipti Vaidya, an online producer at Knoxville News Sentinel. I remember her from Indiana University, where we were both students, though pursuing different journalism degrees. I look forward to catching up with her.

Via Melanie Huff

The National Geographic will again offer one photography internship to a student during the summer or fall of 2005. The program is an opportunity for a young photographer to experience first-hand the rigors of life in the professional world. It is also an opportunity for us at the Geographic to scrutinize the work of those in whom we may have further interest. We are proud that many of our regular “shooters” are former summer interns.

The internship is primarily for college students – undergraduate or graduate. While we will also consider someone not currently in school, the purpose of the internship is experience and encouragement to those who aspire to be a photojournalist. Interns must be US citizens or have appropriate student work documents.

The intern is expected to shoot pictures in the same way as National Geographic staff and freelance photographers. Assignments might be anything from single pictures for the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE to stories for WORLD and TRAVELER to chapters for one of the Society's books, or assisting NGS photographers on location.

The internship is for fourteen weeks at a salary of $480 a week. When on assignment away from the city, the Geographic pays all expenses. Transportation expenses to and from Washington at the start and conclusion of the internship are covered by the Society. The intern is responsible for his/her own housing.

To apply, send us a portfolio of recent work (no more than 30 images), a resume, and a letter of recommendation from a photography teacher or established photojournalist. We are interested in strong photojournalism and your ability to produce a visual narrative. Portfolios may be in the form of slides, prints or clippings of any combination, in color and/or black and white. CDs are nor recommended.

All PORTFOLIOS MUST BE POSTMARKED NO LATER THAN JANUARY 31, 2005. You should expect to hear from us one way or the other by early March 2005.

Applications should go to:
Kent J. Kobersteen
Director of Photography/Senior Editor
National Geographic
1145 17th Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20036-4688