Bruce Squiers has been a staff photographer at the Daily Gazette in Schenectady for 20 years. Last week he took some time to talk to a group of U-Albany journalism students about what it takes to be a photojournalist today.
In college Squiers studied journalism with the intentions of becoming a writer, however, after taking a class on photojournalism and working for a small newspaper, writing and taking pictures for his own stories, he fell in love with photography.
In his talk with students he highlighted a few key points one needs to be a good photojournalist: visual literacy, knowing the elements, active observation, and detachment from editing.
Visual literacy is ones ability to take meaningful information from a photograph. It is our ability, whether good or bad, to look at an image and understand what the photographer was trying to convey.
Squiers also told about four important elements for shooting newsworthy pictures. Light control and the ability to determine how to manipulate light is crucial in photography. You must also have a sense of composition, which is the way elements are lain out on the page, to take meaningful images. Along with using composition is a sense of balance in the photograph, the image doesn’t have to be perfectly symmetrical, but there needs to be an equality in elements. Last was perspective, perspective is where you are when you are taking the picture, standing up laying down; each position has an effect on how the picture will come out.
Active observation is another key point that Squiers hit on. It involves the photographer’s ability to be aware of their surroundings and know what will make a meaningful image. This, as Squiers described, is very important to being a good photojournalist, because even if you have a good eye for composition and perspective, if you can’t observe your surroundings well you will not make it as a photojournalist.
The last point he mentioned before saying his goodbyes to the class was how important it is to detach yourself from the editing of your images. Like in all news you must look at things objectively and not with the personal standpoint of the photographer. The photographer should be the harshest critic of their own work.
Although all of these points are very important for being a technically good photojournalist, Squiers could not stop stressing that it takes more than technical know how, even in this age of digital images. “The eye, the mind, and the heart must be aligned,” Squires said if compelling photographs are to be created.
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