Posts in Category: Photojournalism
West of Here: Chisos Mountains at Dawn
Chisos Dawn
In mid-November I spent five days in the Chihuahuan desert at Villa de las Minas and this was the dawn view looking mostly east, southeast outside my adobe. Night temperatures were in the low to mid-40s which made porch sleeping mighty pleasant.
Daytime temps hit the low 80s, so day hikes in the national park were a breeze. For the first time, I saw Cattail Falls with water actually falling. The falls don’t run year round but there’d been sufficient recent rainfall and that allowed me to make the photo below.
Geophysicist Cedric Snyder at Cattail Falls in Big Bend National Park on November 16, 2014.
Jemez Falls By Night
Jemez Falls, in the Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico, on August 31, 2014. ©2014 Robert W. Hart
This shot of Jemez Falls came from a small workshop I taught on night photography this past Labor Day weekend on the Jemez River in northwestern New Mexico. We all enjoyed the respite from the 100-degree Texas temperatures and the four days with no cell phone or Internet reception. Even the small town of Jemez Springs has no cellular service.
The waxing gibbous moon wasn’t a factor in these shots and the Milky Way provided more than enough light for our group. A blue-filtered flashlight provided the color.
We saw elk and mule deer from our camp at 7,800 feet. Our return home featured a Sunday morning breakfast at Cafe Pasqual‘s in Santa Fe and a tour of the Monroe Gallery where legendary photojournalist Steve Schapiro‘s work is featured.
The Monroe Gallery is, in my opinion, the finest gallery for photojournalism on earth and I never miss the opportunity to spend an hour there looking at the work of my photographic heroes and, increasingly, my photographic contemporaries.
Speaking of contemporaries, John Filo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning shot from the Kent State Massacre is available for purchase in a limited edition of 50 signed prints.
Soon, my friend and teacher Joe McNally’s work will go up at Monroe Gallery through Nov. 26 and I’m looking forward to making a return trip to Santa Fe to see Joe’s first one-man show in that fabulous gallery space.
‘Within/Without’
Dallas Stands With Israel demonstration July 30, 2014. ©2014 Robert W. Hart
While hundreds of Israel supporters rallied in front of Dallas City Hall yesterday, July 30, 2014, one lone protester stood well outside the fray to make his voice heard.
A Texas Highways Cover
Cover photo of Texas Highways magazine March 2014 issue by Fort Worth-based photojournalist Robert W. Hart.
Griff Smith, my editor at Texas Highways magazine, gave me this assignment in November and I completed much of the shooting by January 4. However, the editors at TH decided it was strong cover candidate so I concentrated on the Sundance Plaza area and the four umbrellas. At dusk the LEDs come on and illuminate the undersides of the umbrellas in what makes for a very cool light show. The LEDs on the buildings surrounding the plaza are synchronized with the umbrella lights so at various times the entire plaza is bathed in red, blue, orange, white and, my favorite, TCU purple.
You can read the story by Margaret Shakespeare here on the newly redesigned www.TexasHighways.com
I also shot photos of the newly renovated Granbury Opera House. It’s a gorgeous new venue for the resident company and a real source of pride for the community.
Fort Worth is my favorite town on earth. Getting to photograph my town for my favorite magazine was a real delight.
It didn’t feel like work at all. But don’t tell Griff.
Couple Sues Jessica Simpson, ‘OK Magazine’, Getty Images Over Use of Their Child’s Photo
A Metairie Louisiana couple is suing Jessica Simpson and OK magazine for using a photograph on its April 2012 cover of Simpson holding their child at a Metairie, La., shopping mall. Parents of the child are contending that the magazine is using the photo “in such a way as to suggest the child was hers, according to a lawsuit the couple has filed,” says this The Times-Picayune story.
According to the story, the couple “. . . asserts an invasion of privacy and emotional distress caused by the celebrity news magazine, which boasts a weekly circulation of 4.5 million and a website that attracts more than 7.3 million views per month. The couple is seeking damages that appear to be no more than $75,000.”
According to the T-P story the couple essentially contends that they were unaware the photo would be used in the magazine. However, I’m failing to understand how this doesn’t come under editorial use, which negates a need for a model release. The couple literally handed the child to Simpson who was photographed by “the person thought to have taken the photo, Kevin Mazur.” Seems like the lawsuit would have actually named the photographer but I haven’t read the suit. And a shopping mall doesn’t seem like the place where anyone would have a “reasonable expectation” of privacy.
And why is Simpson named in the suit? She doesn’t edit the magazine. She doesn’t select photos for the magazine’s cover. If she simply held someone’s baby while a photographer took a photograph, it falls way short of complicity. The suit does name Getty Images and the magazine’s publishing company, American Media Inc.
West of Here: Two days in Boquillas
Juaquin Luna, 83, plays guitar outside the cantina in Boquillas, Coahuila, Mexico on April 19, 2013.
I spent April 19 and 20 in Boquillas photographing life in the village after the 11-year absence of U.S. tourist money. The people of Boquillas are glad to have visitors once again and despite our absence, the village is still home to a friendly, hard-working populace. After dwindling to 90 residents during the past 11 years, some villagers are returning.
American tourists stroll the main road in Boquillas on April 20, 2013 just nine days after the border crossing was re-opened between the village and Rio Grande Village in Big Bend National Park in Texas.
Boquillas Photos Drive Record Page Views for Client ‘Texas Highways’ magazine
Waiting area of the new Customs and Border Patrol crossing and point of entry on the U.S. side in Big Bend National Park near Rio Grande Village.
©Copyright 2013 Robert W. Hart
A park ranger closes the gate to the Boquillas Crossing in Big Bend National Park on December 21, 2012.
© Copyright 2013 Robert W. Hart
I just learned that these two images and the accompanying news item posted to Facebook about the opening of the Boquillas border crossing set new page view records for the Texas Highways magazine website on Thursday (April 12, 2013).
I’m always ecstatic when my efforts pay off for my clients. These were self-assigned images I made back on Dec. 21, 2012 when I approached the Big Bend National Park officials about shooting the new facility.
Prior to last week’s opening I was the only journalist allowed access to the new Border crossing facility. I’m returning this Friday, April 19, to spend three days in Boquillas to shoot stills, video and gather audio.
One of the best things about personal projects like this one is that I get to tell stories the way I want to tell them. I can spend time with my subjects and that always means better photos, videos and quotes. In short: Better stories.
But the real icing comes when I can impact my clients’ page views, marketability and visibility.
Damon Winter’s London Olympians Portraits
The NYT’s Damon Winter consistently shoots beautiful, compelling images. These portraits of U.S. Olympians from the 1948 London Olympics are simple, elegant and straightforward. Damon, a former Dallas Morning News staff photographer, won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in feature photography for his coverage of the 2008 Obama presidential campaign.
Damon Winter’s portraits of U.S. Olympians who participated in the 1948 London games.
Photo editor Chris Wilkins on seeing and utilizing good light
Chris Wilkins, assistant director of photography at The Dallas Morning News, blogs about the importance of great light and provides several examples from a week’s worth of wire photos. There’s good info here for my SMU and TCU students as well as anyone else interested in improving their images.
I stress “looking at the light” in all my classes. In weekly critiques, I ask each of my students to analyze the light in their classmates’ photos. Whether you’re looking at photographs, a film, or simply marveling at the way a sunset glows in ruby-colored hues at dusk, seeing the light is a critical step to making great images.