No Excuses

In my era of newspaper photojournalism, the photographer was free to decide what and how to capture for publication.

That meant it was fine to cover an assignment as one saw fit. There was no micromanagement because it was uncool for an editor who wasn’t there to make post-event criticisms.

The flip side of this freedom was the responsibility to always bring something back. There were no excuses for returning empty-handed.

This portrait session was constrained by time and location. Specifically, I had a just few minutes and the setting was terrible.

Even though it had been more than 25 years since working as a photojournalist, I was still bound by the notion that there was no safe harbor for giving up.

In this case, I dug in and worked it out. The result is far from perfection. But it is a solid something, which isn’t nothing.

About the author: I am Stephen Kennedy, an experienced photographer with more than 2500 completed sessions in all 50 US states.