NPPA Photographer of the Year - Quite a Told-You-So

September 14, 2005 5:55 PM

A graphics director told him he didn't have an eye, and he never would. The graphics director suggested that he paint houses. Now he's NPPA News Photographer of the Year.
posted by gimonca (19 comments total)

He's got an eye.
posted by caddis at 6:08 PM on September 14, 2005

His photos are busy, and that is what probably annoyed the graphics director. It is hard to make busy photos work; everything else has to be there. He makes them work. He captures character, moment, personality, and visually it is still pleasing despite the busy frame. Good stuff.
posted by caddis at 6:12 PM on September 14, 2005

Too bad the images at the NPPA site are so small.
posted by Tlogmer at 6:21 PM on September 14, 2005

There's a better gallery here (via the FPP's second link). Some great stuff in there.
posted by May Kasahara at 6:25 PM on September 14, 2005

The graphics director suggested that he paint houses

Jim Gehrz: photographer, archetype
posted by dgaicun at 6:48 PM on September 14, 2005

Eh, old news. I posted the '05 results of BOP back in March.

Yeah Jim's good, but not special in this regard. Most of us don't go through the early part of our career without being told we suck and should never pick up a camera again.
posted by TheGoldenOne at 6:54 PM on September 14, 2005

I've done this once already today, but what the hell, fill in the blanks:


They told him he would never be a(n) _____. Now he's been crowned best _____ ever.
posted by ori at 7:06 PM on September 14, 2005

He's got an eye for it all right... I guess that's why he gets the award, and said graphics director is still widely known as "a graphics director".
posted by clevershark at 7:44 PM on September 14, 2005

At the risk of being tarred, feathered and overexposed, I'll say that overall, I don't like his photos. Some are "classically" good, such as Gopher Rally and Annie Milner. Others seem to be from slightly the wrong angle, such as Back from Iraq -- where I would have preferred to see into the subject's eyes for insight, and Welcome Ceremony, where I would have personally preferred either a fuller shot of the father and no piece of the baby's face, or a closer-to-profile view that more explicitly showed where the baby was looking. These are my gut reactions -- I simply don't get the framing of the Jack Nicholson picture.

It's almost as if he has perfect timing, but imperfect framing in a lot of cases. It's an interesting thing to observe about an award-winning photographer in 2005, especially, as video frame grabs and somewhat infinite digital film capacity threaten the more traditional shoot, develop, print approach. It's interesting here because video grabs and infinite digital film capacity lend themselves towards capturing the "perfect moment" since they can capture at a higher rate, but still leave the same artistic challenges in how the photo itself is set up.
posted by VulcanMike at 7:59 PM on September 14, 2005

"a graphics director" = failed, bitter, photographer ...

I want a name!
posted by R. Mutt at 8:39 PM on September 14, 2005

But of course ... being told that you should keep/get a day job is always a good sign. (imho)
posted by R. Mutt at 8:41 PM on September 14, 2005

People love this kind of anecdote because it seems like so much a "HA! YOU WERE WRONG!" kind of story. But as a firm believer in the value of criticism, I sometimes consider the possibility that the disparaging comment was true or fair enough at the time, and might have either motivated the recipient, emotionally, to work harder, or perhaps just got them off the track they were on, artistically. The "asshole" graphics director might, in some measure, share credit. You never know.
posted by scarabic at 10:07 PM on September 14, 2005

I think his photos are fairly shite and unremarkable, really. Unless being there to frame the shot deserves an award. His "graphics director" nailed it.
posted by undule at 2:38 AM on September 15, 2005

scarabic hit it head on. Candid critisism is usually what motivates raw talent to get in gear and kick some botay.
posted by dabitch at 2:49 AM on September 15, 2005

Impressive range. Good stuff.
posted by gwint at 5:34 AM on September 15, 2005

Great pictures. Thanks.
posted by bullitt 5 at 6:45 AM on September 15, 2005

Meh. Not bad, I guess. I've seen better on Flickr.
posted by Poagao at 10:29 AM on September 15, 2005

Um, he's actually got two eyes. /snicker
posted by cleverusername at 2:38 PM on September 15, 2005

scarabic hit it head on. Candid critisism is usually what motivates raw talent to get in gear and kick some botay.

Or, if given at a young enough age that a person has not developed defenses against such criticism, it can often destroy any initial confidence that a person might have had and eliminate any motivation they might have mustered up to continue.

I say this because my parents were nice, but were of the "okay, but here's what's wrong with it" variety, and I grew up thinking I sucked at everything (which I did, as I never tried anything more than once, because my parents would point out the suckage).

It was only afer a big pile of encouragement (much unwarranted) came in from other places that I developed the confidence to stretch and grow, and achieve things (good and bad) I wouldn't have before -- and then I developed the ability to derive motivation and focus from candid criticism.
posted by davejay at 4:01 PM on September 15, 2005