Change is the New Black

It's inevitable, even if no pays notice to it. Change is gonna happen.

I've had this post floating around in my head for a few days now. It's a mish-mash of different stuff, some recent, some from the past. This is one of those posts that I always felt like was a reason I didn't start doing a blog earlier. It feels way self-indulgent. If you quit reading halfway thru, don't worry no hurt feelings.

The other staff photographer at the Tribune was laid off last week. Whether it was a result of the economy (that's either truly sinking or only appears that way, depending on who one talks to) or what appears to be some sort of natural contraction of staff in the newspaper market, it's now just my boss and I shooting.

My typical shift prior to this was Monday and Tuesday afternoons, then Wednesday thru Friday the shift depended on the time of the year and what assignments there were day to day. There were weekends thrown in maybe one or two times a month, depending on how many assignments there were and whether it was something I was particularly familiar with or good at.

In the 11 years I've done this I've had people ask me how I deal with the crazy hours and the last minute assignments or schedule changes, even from others in the newsroom, who may have a more set schedule. And to be honest, I don't know how I've done it. It's something you do one day at a time and then it becomes a routine.

This past Saturday was my first of many to work. It was fairly long, but it wasn't too bad. I had asked for some advice of other photographers last week on how to keep looking for those photos that may go unnoticed working a shift like this and how to get that energy to keep doing it. I got some practical advice, I got some funny advice and I got some pessimistic advice.

I don't really know how to judge the situation right now. Sometimes when you're in the middle of the storm it can be hard to judge what direction to go.

I've wanted to be a photojournalist since I was 14 and in high school. As a kid I was in 4-H, frankly it didn't get me all that excited. One of the projects I always did was photography. 4-H pretty much spells out what kind of photo you should make. It would make a nice quaint story to say it was 4-H that inspired me, but it didn't.

I went for a workshop called Hot Shots one summer in Washington DC. There were 50 or so kids for the week and we had professional photographers along with volunteers with an interest in photography that led the groups. Before I left I really didn't have much of an interest in photography, going for a week just seemed like something to do. Leaving after the week was a different story.

Me, making a photo in front of the National Cathedral.
Image copyright Erik Markov 2008

Each day we would go out with 5 or so rolls of slide film and spend time in downtown DC or Georgetown, maybe at one of the monuments. At the end of the day we would drop our film off, it would be processed and we would get the slides back later that evening to edit.

The whole week was pure fun. Spend a week in one of the most photogenic cities in the country, maybe the world, and walk around making photos. The only other student there I remember from that time was Anjeanette Milner, she was pretty cool. Don't know where she disappeared to. Unsure where any of the other students would be now, imagine there are some still shooting, somewhere...

We were exposed to some really inspiring photographers. Tom Kennedy, who at the time was director of photography at National Geographic. Sam Abell, an NG photographer. Jay Maisel, who creates images with some great colors.

The Vietnam Wall and Washington Monument.
Image copyright Erik Markov 2008

At the time, I was fortunate to realize how cool this was, but looking back on it there still is no way to absorb all that was happening. Now I wish I would have kept a journal during that time. I really enjoyed it, it's what was and maybe still is the basis of my wanting to create images. And that sounds really hokey. Can you see the schmaltz? Nonetheless, that week, and the week the following summer got me excited about photography.

It's the 18 years between then and now that sometimes gets a little hazy. When I hear other photographers talk about how they got started shooting, it seems like it involves some manner of they didn't plan on it, they just kinda fell into it. I always felt a little selfish or undeserving maybe, that I always knew this is what I wanted to do. Like it should have been more difficult than it has been.

I messed around some with the school paper in high school. When it was time to decide on college, of course I was going to study photojournalism. Ended up at Ball State for four years. Worked on the newspaper there all four years, had a pretty good time. Was a staff photographer, then a paid chief photographer, then photo editor my senior year.

And looking back on it, that just kinda fell in my lap. I worked hard for it, don't get me wrong. But I saw other people who seemed to be working for similar things just as hard, if not more, and I'm not even positive some of them are still shooting. I knew some people who were good photographers who just got wore out and fed up. Don't know where many of them ended up either.

After graduating in '97 I was fortunate enough to hear from another Ball State grad, Jeff Nicholls, who was working at the Post-Tribune in "da region" (NW Indiana) as Chicagoans call it. I got a position part-time there. Filling in as freelance, sometimes up to 30 or 40 hours a week, was a great first start. I learned a lot, was around some great photographers and contrary to national media reports that Gary isn't fit for anyone, was actually an interesting place to shoot.

In April 2001 I left for the Kokomo Tribune. The tech bubble had just burst and the market was doing lousy (sorta like now) and my hours were going to be cut back. It really was time to leave anyway.

When I started I thought I might be here a year, maybe two. And it's been seven years. I never planned on staying in town that long, but things have a funny way of happening.

The first couple years I spent getting used to working at a smaller paper. I was trying, but something seemed to be missing. It didn't feel like my work was gelling together. In 2003 I was fortunate to get to work on a 6 month story about a man waiting for a lung transplant.

It wasn't until 2006 that it seemed like everything clicked. I spent a weekend in Chicago at a photo workshop. I struggled some to find something that really grabbed me until another photographer there gave me some advice. The advice has kinda propelled me thru the past 2 years. It's the sorta advice that makes you see everything from a new angle. It seems like it's so easy, it makes you wonder why you hadn't ever seen it before.

That brings me back around full circle to this past weekend. Only two photographers at a paper the size of the Kokomo Tribune and a circulation of 22,000 typically might be ok. But we've been asked to do much more over the past few years than just typical daily assignments. We now have multimedia to produce, magazine assignments to shoot. And most jobs now, whether it's an architect or a plumber, have added responsibilities.

What makes it tough is to continue to be creative while fulfilling these responsibilities.

Which is why I'm happy that even tho I worked a lot this Saturday, I managed to find some unique photos.

John Gwillim of Wabash holds his shotgun over his shoulder as

he and other shooters listen to a safety talk before walking to
the target area at Izaak Walton League for the start of
the Sporting Clays Classic.
Image copyright Kokomo Tribune 2008

One of my first assignments was a clay target shoot. I wasn't quite sure whether it was going to have some interesting photos or not, but I was pleased with what I found. I wish I had more time than the two hours I did. Shooting photos and recording audio makes one wonder if doctors have perfected yet that surgery to add a third arm.

I'm not sure what following weekends will bring, I guess I'll just do it a day at a time. I've got some more thoughts on this for my next discussion.