On Friday March 13, four of our Summer Street Times staff members were able to attend the NSC Photojournalism Conference at The Verve Hotel in Natick. First we got to speak with Medway and Syracuse Alumni Mark Johnson, who has had a long history with photography and is now the head of the photojournalism program at the University of Georgia.
Next, we got to listen to professional photographer Clay Patrick McBride tell us his story of becoming a professional photographer and the amazing skills gained, and people met along the way. One of the main takeaways from McBride’s story was that it won’t always be perfect; you might not get you’re dream job or gig early on, but perseverance will get you to where you are meant to be. In the early years of his career, McBride wasn’t simply handed his opportunities; it took years of reaching out, building his portfolio, and making a name for himself. A recurring theme throughout his lecture was that luck doesn’t just happen, “you make your own luck.” McBride reminded us that success isn’t linear; there will be ups and downs, but a belief in one’s self and hard work will get you there. McBride has reached so many people, places, and audiences with his camera; dabbling in so many styles and techniques, working with A-List celebrities from both the sports and entertainment worlds–Jay Z, Lebron James, Kanye West, A$AP Rocky and many more. McBride’s work is unique and amazing, we encourage everyone to take a look at his website and portfolio here: https://www.claypatrickmcbride.com/
After a quick coffee break where we got to connect with some other attendees, we got to listen to a panel titled “Truth Under Pressure,” where we got to hear a discussion on maintaining transparency, truth, and neutrality in journalism in a world where even talking about the news can get “controversial.”Participating in this discussion was Gina Gayle Ph.D. from Boston University, Heesoo Jang Ph.D. from UMass Amherst, Sean D Elliot, a video and stills journalist, and Victor Hernandez, chief content officer at WBUR. Coming from a variety of professions, we heard unique and insightful words from each speaker. In today’s world, where it is often difficult to tell what visual media is human made rather than AI generated, it puts authentic photojournalism and journalism’s credibility at risk. In such a politically divided society, it is so important for news outlets to maintain integrity and transparency. AI only worsens the situation. When looking at news published photos a few years ago, it could always be assumed that the photo might have been taken in a way that paints the subject in a certain light, or promoted one side of politics more than the other, but you always knew you were looking at a real photo, taken by a real photographer. Now with AI, that isn’t promised. AI generated images are being used by companies, sports leagues, and even governments; which is extremely unsettling. With AI, the ability to look at the news and be sure that the photos you are seeing are real, is no longer a guarantee. As technology evolves, the industry of authentic photojournalism suffers. Sean Elliot pointed out how newsrooms are hiring and sending out less and less photojournalists, and rather reporting from what has already been reported online, almost becoming second hand news. Heesoo Jang made a wonderful point that we have to push back against AI generated media and keep true and authentic photojournalism alive. This discussion reminds us how important it is to take a photo, take a video, capture the true and authentic moment. While they mainly talked about news on a national scale, it is just important at the local level. Take sports for instance, would you rather read an article about last weeks’ basketball game written by AI using the play by play? Or rather an article written by a student at the game, accompanied by small anecdotes about The Stable, and photos they took? The answer to that question is why we, as a school newspaper, do our best to produce authentic articles about the school, the town, and news.
While we were surrounded by professionals at this event, it is important to remember that anyone can take out their phone; record that protest, photograph that game winning shot, join your school newspaper, use your platform. Being in a world where everyone has a phone in their hand can be scary, but it can also hold immense power.
