If you have been watching the television news coverage of the political uprising in Egypt, then you might have found yourself asking: “Who’s crazy enough to be shooting video of this human clash of wills?”
I too have wondered who’s behind NBC, ABC, CNN and CBS’ video cameras. But it’s not just the videojournalists that I wonder about, I think of the still photographers from TIME, Newsweek and various newspapers from around the world who have been tasked with the assignment of covering the unrest in Egypt.
It takes a certain type of person to be a photojournalist. In addition to having excellent shooting skills, you have got to be tenacious, intelligent and fast. Often words can’t describe the horrific atrocities that take place when people are willing to kill for democracy, but that’s where pictures come in. Video and still images speak volumes for the human suffering that is consuming Egypt.
If the photos from the region have inspired you to pursue a career in photojournalism you should know that many of the photojournalists still based in the country are freelancers. A person who freelances takes a series of shots of a specific event, and then tries to sell his work to a media organization after the fact.
The other group of photojournalists based in Egypt right now is working on assignment for a major TV network, magazine or newspaper. These types of photojournalists are getting paid to place themselves in risky situations to capture events as they unfold. Photojournalists that are employed by major media outlets are adept at composition, lighting, exposure, depth of field, color theory and editing. They are not amateurs who are just starting out in the field; rather they have likely been in the business for decades.
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