Learn from the best source on the planet how photography, art, and journalism go together

I have just discovered "Proof", National Geographic’s new "online photography experience". It was launched, the editors say, to engage ongoing conversations about photography, art, and journalism. There's more:

In addition to featuring selections from the magazine and other publications, books, and galleries, this site will offer new avenues for our audience to get a behind-the-scenes look at the National Geographic storytelling process.

I can't think of a better way for media students and practitioners to learn how to take pictures and understand what kind of pictures will go with the stories they are working on. Brinda Das, Nikita Sinha (Class of 2015) — remember the conversation we had on this subject a couple of days ago? Check out Proof now.

• I especially recommend "Why it Took Me Eight Years to Photograph My Own Backyard", a masterpiece of story structure (see how the author makes use of the e-mails he exchanged with his editor) and extraordinary photographs of ordinary, everyday scenes.

• ALSO READ: "When you have two hours to shoot ace director James Cameron for a National Geographic magazine cover, how do you do it?"

What it means to be a freelance photographer

Commits alumnus PRATIDHANI TAMANG (Class of 2012), who works as a freelance photographer in Bangalore, explains what it takes to work on one’s own terms

I have no boss. And every day is the weekend; at the same time, every day is also a workday.

That’s because I have been “job-less” — by choice — since I graduated from Commits a little over a year ago.

But not having a job to go to does not mean not having to work.

So I do work, but on my own terms. You see, I am a freelance photographer and cinematographer.

PRATIDHANI TAMANG: IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA, FOR ONCE.

The first thing I want to make clear here is that being a freelance photographer is not for everyone (as my senior, Nishal Lama, from the Class of 2008, will corroborate), so don’t splurge on that latest Canon or Nikon just yet.

The biggest problem when you work as a freelancer is that hundreds of people will appreciate your work and make business inquiries. But after you send them an estimate, they will just vanish into thin air. Out of hundreds of formal discussions, only five or so jobs will actually work out.

Also, sometimes, there is no work for long periods of time, which can be very frustrating. I think it is this fluctuation in work schedule that scares many freelancers into opting for a regular full-time job.

On the flip side, I am sometimes offered loads of work, but I feel too lazy to take it all on. There is no boss to scream at me, so why bother!

When I first started off I already had a few contacts, thanks to whom I was able to bag my initial assignments. I explored many new places and I made many new friends. That was amazing! As for making ends meet, the money is certainly coming in, though not as fast as I would like. The thing is, I have to make humongous investments in my gear: there’s always something I need to buy to upgrade my equipment, or so it seems.

But there is mostly satisfaction in being able to have a huge amount of control over the work I choose to do.

Bottom line: I love my life right now. Having said that, I know that sooner or later, like most freelancers, I will have to give up this gig and go in for a 9-to-5 (yikes!) or set up my own business (very different from hangin’ out solo). I see the latter happening, but I think there is time enough for that.

Till then, I am going to savour, and live by, Pink Floyd’s dictum: “Shine on, you crazy diamond.”

CHECK OUT PRATI'S FACEBOOK PAGE HERE.

ON THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC WEBSITE, COMMITSCION NATASHA REGO'S VIVID PHOTOGRAPHS

National Geographic — the magazine, the television channels, the website, the society — is, for many, the last word in photography, and, of course, much else concerning long-form journalism. So I was very pleased to discover on the NatGeo website this morning a picture made in Mumbai recently by Commits student Natasha Rego (Class of 2014). You can take a closer look by clicking on this link: "A Beach Backyard". Study the caption, too. As you will know if you are a fan of the NatGeo magazine, the captions written by the staff are works of art. In this case, the caption, which is in its own way very creative, was also provided by Natasha.

I absolutely love "Between Trains", too, for the composition, the creativity, and also the play of light and shade. What do you think?

Natasha Rego, you will go far... if you stay "focused". But you know that.

• ADDITIONAL READING: "When you have two hours to shoot ace director James Cameron for a National Geographic magazine cover, how do you do it?"

UPDATE (August 11, 2013): Natasha and some of the photographs she made when she was in Mumbai were the subject of a "Diary" item in Mumbai's Afternoon Despatch & Courier yesterday:

Read the item here: "Picture Perfect!" (go to Page 3).

Natasha worked as an intern with the Afternoon in April-May this year. Details: "10/10 for a newspaper story written by an intern from Commits".

If you really need a reason to buy this magnificent National Geographic book...

...here it is:

In these pages readers can follow the evolution of the photograph. Techniques aside, some of the earliest photos compare favourably with those today. Why? Because, like the chicken and the egg, imagination and image must go together. It is the photographer, not just his camera, that catches the moment.

~ From the foreword by Gilbert M. Grosvenor, chairman of the board of the National Geographic Society

What a wonderful phrase that is: "Imagination and image must go together." And this is exactly what happens in National Geographic magazine all the time, every time. Not only are the photos uncommon; the captions are also works of art. (By the way, that excerpt from the foreword also contains an example of a sentence that begins with because. I am pointing it out here because every year I am asked in class if it is "correct" to begin a sentence with because. And I respond, "Yes, it is.")

Now, in National Geographic: The Photographs, the photographers themselves tell us the stories behind their pictures. Here's an excerpt:

Anxiety accompanies Jim Stanfield on every assignment, so he photographs everything he can think of. "I blanket a subject. I maul a story until it's lying on its back like a turtle," he says.

For a piece on Poland, he felt he needed a technology picture. He discovered a self-taught heart surgeon who had read scientific papers about transplants. Stanfield photographed the doctor performing two consecutive (and successful) heart transplants in a marathon that lasted almost 24 hours.

"I kept studying the doctor and watching his eyes," says Stanfield. "He was so focused, he didn't even know I was there."

About 20 hours into the ordeal, Stanfield made a picture of the surgeon that shows the drama and exhaustion.

The photograph is among the many that are part of the collection in the book, so you can study it after you have read about Stanfield's experience. Isn't that a great way to learn more about taking, sorry, making pictures from some of the world's best photographers?

National Geographic: The Photographs was apparently the gift book of the year when it was first published. In my view, it is the gift book of the year, no matter what year it is.

• Also read: "When you have two hours to shoot ace director James Cameron for a National Geographic magazine cover, how do you do it?"
  

How to get people to read — and appreciate — your Facebook posts

• Make every word count.
• Keep it simple.
• Provide context.
• Lead with the good stuff.
• Write killer headlines.
• Graphics expand the story.
• People make things interesting.
• It’s OK to use first-person.
• Consider your audience.
• Be polite.

These guidelines come from an enlightening slide presentation titled Social Media 101: Tactics, tips for beginners by Robin J. Phillips.

I would add one more tip:

• Write captions for the photographs you post on Facebook and Twitter.

Many young people I know disagree on this point. "Our pictures don't need captions," they insist. "They speak for themselves." How? I am unable to understand why anyone would go through an album-load of, say, holiday photographs, when there's no incentive to pause and think about each photograph.

The job of a caption is to tell viewers what they are looking at and why. The caption also reveals details that are not immediately apparent to viewers. And the caption helps to tell a story.

Do I practise what I preach? Take a look at my Darjeeling album — there are 83 photographs, each with a caption that, I think, helps to tell a story, sometimes with a touch of humour. Here's an example, a picture taken by my wife, Chandrika:

These monks appear to be in a hurry to get to the Ghoom Monastery. Note the one doing the herky-jerky on the railway track as he uses his mobile phone to explain to the abbot why he is late for Buddhism class.

Here's a picture from my Mobile Uploads album on Facebook:

YERCAUD, April 2010 — At sunset this little spider would wake up and begin merrily spinning its web. By the time the sun had disappeared it would be ready for dinner. Bon appetit, Spidey!

And here are a couple of great examples from a feature about "superclimbers" in National Geographic magazine (both photographs are by Jimmy Chin):

Barely holding on with a hand chalked for a better grip, Cedar Wright ignores burning muscles to pull himself across the roof of Gravity Ceiling, a route on Higher Cathedral Rock. "I'm giving it 199 percent," he says. "But I still thought I was calm and cool."

You need training to boost finger strength and a mountain of determination to grip the teeny holds along this mostly blank expanse of El Cap. Even though Kevin Jorgeson has been climbing parts of the route for three years, he was amazed by this photograph: "There's so little of me touching the wall."

Sure, these pictures are a treat in themselves, but just think how much more context the captions provide, helping viewers to understand the story behind each picture and, at the same time, making them pause longer on each picture.

Don't you want your Facebook friends to react in similar fashion to your pictures?

A tribute to an amazing photo editor

The editor of National Geographic has written an appreciation of the magazine's former photo editor about whom he says, "I would not be Editor in Chief of this magazine if I had not worked with him."

Writing in a recent issue, Chris Johns pays handsome tribute to David Arnold who died a few months ago:

DAVID ARNOLD TRAVELLED TO ALASKA FOR A STORY IN OCTOBER 1977.

Photo editors are the behind-the-scenes heroes of a photographer’s work. The editor sees every single frame and picks up on every mistake and missed opportunity. Then he or she uses everything at hand to correct, coach, and inspire.

David L. Arnold was the best of the best. He was not easy to please, but I trusted his judgment, even when his criticism was tough to hear. When he told me I’d made a memorable photograph, I trusted that too.

Arnold had retired from the magazine in 1994 after 27 years of inspiring photographers. But his spirit, writes Johns, can still be seen and felt:

He was a role model for Kathy Moran, who photo edited this month’s story on the Great Barrier Reef. “I learned from David to be honest with photographers at all cost,” she says. “I learned that to edit a story you need to know the subject thoroughly. David always did his homework. He had a Ph.D. in every story he worked on.”

Read the tribute in its entirety here.

• Photo courtesy: National Geographic.

***

PHOTOGRAPHING “SUPERCLIMBERS”

In the same issue of the magazine (May 2011), there are some incredible pictures (and a fascinating story) of a new generation of “superclimbers”. Look at this cover shot:

How did photographer Jimmy Chin manage to capture this extraordinary scene and many more? The biggest challenge of this assignment, writes Chin in the magazine, was in the planning. From figuring out how to get to a spot in the middle of Half Dome and what equipment was needed to get there, to carrying multiple loads of gear to the top of El Capitan, the preparation for one picture “often took several days and many hands”.

Go behind the scenes with Chin in this video and see what it truly takes to make photographs of people constantly living on the edge.

• Also read: Photo tips from the experts at National Geographic. 

An incredible lesson in portrait photography

What must it be like to take photographs of some of the individuals named by Time magazine as "The world's most influential people"?

What should the photographer keep in mind when asked to take, sorry, make a picture of, for instance, Amy Chua, the widely reviled and grudgingly admired author of a tough-love parenting memoir? Chua's book is titled Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Well, Martin Schoeller decided to take the tiger metaphor literally:

AMY CHUA AT HOME. PHOTO-MONTAGE BY MARTIN SCHOELLER FOR TIME.

Schoeller explains, in a video on the Time website, how he dealt with the challenge of shooting with live tigers. "It was quite intimidating to be sitting in front of a tiger three feet away from you, looking at you," he says.

The video includes details of two other shoots: in Cairo with Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who "launched" the Egyptian revolution, and in Chicago with Grant Achatz, a chef who's revolutionising the restaurant trade.

For some fascinating insights into portrait photography, watch the Martin Schoeller video here: "Photographer Martin Schoeller's TIME 100 Journey".

PS: Any guesses why Time labelled the photograph a "photo-montage"?

Also read:

• A profile of Amy Chua and an analysis of the issues raised in her book: Tiger Moms: Is Tough Parenting Really the Answer?
• Street artist extraordinaire
• Photography buffs will go nuts
• Shutterbugs will lurve this one
• How does an editor take the decision to publish pictures that can upset readers?
• The BEST blog on photojournalism

Street artist extraordinaire

Not many may know that an anonymous artist known only as "JR" last week received the 2011 TED Prize, a $100,000 (approx. Rs.44.5 lakh) award given by the non-profit organisation.

TED, or Technology Entertainment and Design, sought someone "who has a track record for changing the world in innovative ways, who hopefully has mobility and charisma, and who works on a global level," TED Prize director Amy Novogratz told the US magazine Fast Company. "And he does all those things."

"THE HILLS HAVE EYES IN THIS INSTALLATION IN A BRAZILIAN FAVELA."

 The article, by David Zax, continues:

JR, who keeps mum on the real name his initials stand for, joins the ranks of Bill Clinton, E.O. Wilson, and U2's Bono, previous prize recipients.

JR's canvas is the world. The Parisian guerrilla artist eschews museums, favoring the crumbling walls of the world's slums to the austere halls of its museums. (Even so, the Tate Modern did give him 100 feet of an external wall, and a 2009 auction of one of his prints fetched over 35 grand). Somewhat in the vein of the British artist Banksy, well known for his politically charged graffiti murals, JR will show up at slum, shantytown, or favela, often braving streets so mean that its children run around in bulletproof jackets. Once there, he enlists a crew of locals and erects enormous black-and-white photographic canvases on the walls, typically human faces or figures that lend a dignified air to a forgotten neighborhood.

You have to take a look at these "enormous black-and-white photographic canvases" to realise that TED has made a wise choice.

Watch the slide show: "Street Artist J R Wins the TED Prize".

• Photo courtesy: Fast Company

The best cameras for under Rs.50K

Zahid H Javali offers a comprehensive beginner's guide to buying a digital camera in Mint.

He discusses the pros and cons of 10 digicams, from the Rs.10,000 Sony Cybershot DSC-S930 to the Rs.49,999 Canon EOS 550D (pictured).

This is an excellent compendium for those about to buy their first digital camera.

Raghu Rai's new book...

...India's Great Masters contains some powerful images of music and ecstasy, says Tehelka in in its issue of April 10. Go here and click on the 'View Slideshow' button.

This is a good example of how to present pictures that are very special.

HERE'S AN EXCERPT:
S Balachander -- An entirely self-taught child prodigy, Balachander went on to become a veena and sitar virtuoso. Raghu Rai tells Tehelka's Gaurav Jain, “I took him to Mahabalipuram to interpret his music. His strokes are the deepest possible sound; they bounce so much, it seemed the rocks were approaching in rhythm and dance. I sat him there and wondered what to do. When you make yourself available, nature makes itself available. When I shot this, it went beyond my planning. Ab sur lag gaya.”

• Mint has also done a good job with its slideshow feature on Raghu Rai's work.

Photography buffs will go nuts...

...when they read these tips on the NatGeo website.

There are tips from experts, tips on using available light, tips on taking portraits. And much, much more. After all, this is the National Geographic we're talking about here. Enjoy.

• UPDATE (May 3, 2103): A photo may be worth a thousand words, but more often than not a photo without a caption, which provides some context or at least gives the viewer a reason to linger on it, is not worth the paper it is printed on. Or the pixels it is composed of. Now that you want to write a caption, here's how to go about it, courtesy Mark Nichol, editor of the Daily Writing Tips blog: "10 Tips About How to Write a Caption".

Why you can trust Lonely Planet Magazine India

Here's the Lonely Planet Magazine India "promise" (as printed on the Editor's Page):

Lonely Planet Magazine India provides trusted, independent travel advice and information that has been gathered without fear or favour. We aim to provide you with options that cover a range of budgets and we reveal the positive and negative of all locations we visit.

Because we believe it is important that our journalists experience first-hand what they're writing about and because you require comprehensive information from every corner of the world, at times it may be necessary for us to seek assistance from travel providers such as tourist boards, airlines, hotels, national parks, etc. However, when receiving such assistance, we ensure our editorial integrity and independence are not compromised though the following measures:

• 
  

  by publishing information on all appropriate travel suppliers and not just those who provided us with assistance

• 
  

  by never promising to offer anything in return, such as positive coverage.

How many magazines in India can make such a promise -- and deliver on it?

*

Living up to the Lonely Planet reputation can't be easy but this magazine does it with elan. Pick up a copy (it's not available on the web, sadly) and you'll see what I mean. Also study the readers' photos, and the captions -- the March issue has some superlative contributions from readers. You should send in your pictures, too.

Shutterbugs will lurve this one

Here's something weird: I didn't like her work at Bangalore Times which she edited for some time. And I wasn't too fond of her column in BT either -- it was too much like a personal blog, I thought. There didn't seem to be any "journalistic style". But what she has done with these pictures and the descriptions is simply amazing.

Hats off to SUDHA PILLAI!

This is a Facebook album, so you will need to have an FB account to be able to drool over these compositions (photos and text).

PS: I'm betting you will love "Day 97: 2 a.m. friend" (pictured here). Am I right?

• Thanks to Anagha Gunjal (Class of 2011) for the tip-off.