This class works directly with the school newspaper and every student there are the de facto photographers so meeting deadlines are really important but there are processes in which we all have to follow in order to get our images for proper publishing, namely, getting the right information to correctly caption the images. Information such as the subject's name, what they're doing in the photo, location etc. Should be a really easy thing to do right? Not difficult at all you might think. Well...it's really harder than it is.
This is how my entire experience working with this first assignment went. The assignment was "the first day of the semester" so I was on campus for a number of hours after class shooting the photos that would express that first day well. People looking at the school map/directory to find their class. People waiting in front of their class. So I go out and actively search for these photos. I see a moment and then I snap away. What follows is this: "Hi. Sorry to bother you but my name is Mohammad and I'm a photographer for the school newspaper", and the person/s I shoot take a genuine interest with what I have to say, "I just took your photo and I was wondering if I can get your name and ask you a couple of questions..." and then the usual reply would be "oh no I'm sorry" or "no no no", something along the lines telling me they no longer want a part of what I'm doing. GREAT! Because now, I can no longer use those photos and submit them since the caption would be weak and a lower grade (and by low, I mean close to an F as the grading scale showed on the class syllabus) will result. "A student waiting for English class. Pierce College Woodland Hills, Calif." and this was the case with most of the photos I took. I was able to get a couple of photos to use and submit and I was only able to get them because if an image had more than 5 people, it was ok to use a general caption to describe the scene. I was able to get that by asking the professor/instructor of various classes if I could snap a couple of photos with little disturbance on my part (usually just before the class actually started).
I've shot photojournalistic styled photos before so it wasn't anything new to me. I actually love that style and the reason why I intend on getting at least a BA in photojournalism and seeking a career in the field but my experience with that style was street photography and I had no obligation to seek out information from my subjects after I shot a photo. Now that I have to, I'm going to find attaining photos just a bit harder. I understand that people are generally shy when it comes to public areas and having their photo taken by some dude with a really large camera and lens pointed right at them and I get that alot but I didn't have to worry about grades being attached to my images until now...
It's exciting to me because this is another challenge that I have to find a way to get through and I'm really up for it. I know eventually, as the semester goes on, students will start to recognize that the ones with the cameras around their necks really mean no harm and that they'll be more open to us and not just me. I ran into fellow photo20 students relaying the same stories and were only able to get a few shots rather than a greater number to work with when the time comes to submit them. We haven't been in the news offices yet. Those happen on Wednesdays and I look forward to working in the team environment. Not the best of first days and to be honest, I was really disappointed in my work and the whole experience given today's events, but it'll get better because I'll get better at it. I always do. Get better at taking rejection, carefully picking out my shots and subjects etc.
Aspiring photojournalist...
