"Picture Hunt" (Hayley Kaplan)

I found David Labelle’s “The Great Picture Hunt” very enlightening about photography and journalism in general. I think many elements of this “hunt” can be just as easily applied to any type of journalism as well as photography. Curiosity, preparation, patience, emotion, originality, technique, etc. can all be applied to all areas of journalism and what journalists should aim for when reporting. I found Labelle’s synthesis of what it takes to be a good feature photographer fascinating. Labelle is correct when he says that most people who see a picture don’t care about why they like it or what elements are important to them, they just see a picture and take interest in the story. So much of journalism is being passionate and caring about the subject matter, because if the journalist is passionate then the audience will also hopefully be passionate and care about what they are reading. Labelle’s reason for doing photojournalism, about not being interested in photography, but taking an interest in capturing moments in order to see further into a society was simply fascinating, and I think also true for other journalists. It’s not just about reporting, but about taking an interest in society and in a subject matter that matters, and then furthering the knowledge to help others.