Attending the NPPA convention, where some of the best news photographers of america converge to share experiences, tips, advices and anecdotes, one is reminded of a few key elements of photojournalism.
There is much more to a picture than the picture itself : listening to photographers describe how they got to capture an image is an exercise in understanding hard and prolong preparation work. Not in setting up and having the equipment ready - thats the easy part- but rather in juggling a variety of intangible that they manage to turn into the perfect storm. First and foremost, managing the human element: Every photojournalist , for every story they cover, has to interact with an incredible array of personalities, in order to get the image they want. From their assigning editors to their subjects, including everyone in the middle, publicists, soldiers, policemen, locals, mothers, politicians, bystanders, firefighters, and many more, they all have to work their way through an incredible barriers of conflicting wills before getting to the place that will allow them to get their pictures. Photojournalists, the really talented ones, are masters in reading, interpreting and convincing people. While most of the time they work under very strict deadline, they somehow achieve to convince in very limited time. They do not linger on a “no” and quickly move on into another direction, until they reach their goal. It is extremely rare that they fail.
Another element often forgotten is how much their stories travel with them. The myth of the heartless cold blooded photojournalist who shoots and leaves, unaffected, is well, just that- a myth. Every photojournalist is deeply touched by the story they cover and report on. And even if those are years away, they still live them as they happened yesterday. They have bonded with those they have photographed and shared hardship and for them, those memories never fade away but rather completes who they are.
Each story covered is built on the experience of the previous one.
To think that a photojournalist job is just being at the right place at the right time is forgetting how much work, experience, hardship , preparation and involvement is previously invested . Luck doesn’t happen by accident.

Paul Melcher