Deez Interviews: Meet the photo editor running **the** photojournalism fellowship you should be applying to (and also get her Instagram tips!)
Happy Friday, Deezers! Today’s interview with Abby Connolly is all about photojournalism: we talk about what it takes to really make it as a photog today (tl;dr, learn how to run a business and get good at grant writing!), and why you should apply to for a 2019 fellowship with Abby at CatchLight, a California-based nonprofit that recognizes and funds visual storytelling (the deadline is Feb. 18!). Enjoy!
//
The interviewee: Abby Connolly (follow her on Instagram @abbyconno!)
The gig: Photo editor and fellowship program manager at CatchLight
The day-to-day:
When I describe my job to friends and family, I often say I work for a startup non-profit hybrid because we are just over three years old, and with a team of four, it often feels we’re in a fast-paced environment constantly trying new things out. My official title is Communications & Fellowship Program Manager — so I split my time running all of our external communications, social media channels and managing our fellowship program.
From your experience managing a program for photojournalists (and having studied photojournalism yourself), what do you think it takes to succeed as a photojournalist in the current media landscape?
Photographers today more than ever have to master the art of the hustle. Finding an internship that will immediately lead to a staff position at a newspaper is no longer the norm.
In fact, according to this study by the World Press Photo, in 2018, the number of photojournalists working full time as photographers declined to 59% from 74% three years earlier. This shifting media landscape that is becoming increasingly harder for visual storytellers is a main driving force behind what CatchLight is doing.
I can get more into CatchLight later, but here are some quick tips:
Learn to run a business: One of the most valuable class I took in my photojournalism program was Photojournalism Business Practices with Jacquelyn Bell, which was just an elective when I was at the Missouri School of Journalism. We Skyped with successful freelancers, learned about taxes and how to price your work.
I’ll be the first to say I was mainly drawn to photography because I’m not a strong writer, but grant writing is a necessary skill for photographers today.
Surround yourself with a good support network and reach out to possible mentors in the field (even if they can’t mentor you, they have learned your name – which brings me to my next tip . . . )
Brand yourself: Find and define your style, your niche — what do you want to photograph and why. Don’t photograph what you think editors will be interested in, photograph what you are naturally drawn to — your work will reflect your passion and dedication the subject.
Lastly, be a good person — I know this is a cliche but this is a very small industry and people want to work with good people.
These days, when newspapers are squeezed for money, the photo department is usually the first to get let go — as we saw with the New York Daily News last summer. What consequences do you think that will carry for the media industry?
Honestly, this is one of my main sources of anxiety today. On the micro level, you can see how this directly impacts the quality of a major sporting event. But I think on a more macro level, this is problematic not only for storytelling and journalism in general, but how we operate as a society. An impoverished media ecosystem with fewer photographers in turn weakens our ability to understand the world at a deep emotional level, understand our communities and ourselves.
At at a time when we are so divided and polarized we need more complex, nuanced storytelling, not less. It’s a bit of a long read, but Amanda Ripley’s piece Complicating the Narratives is brilliant and points out that when people encounter complexity, they become more curious and less closed off to new information. In other words: they listen.
During grad school, you spent time helping to coordinate the international Picture Of The Year competition. Tell us about a picture that has stuck with you from that experience!
I think it’s pretty incredible and telling that even though we live in a time with more images than any other point in history, each year there are still certain photos that stop us all in our tracks and become larger symbols of critical issues.
Looking back at 2018, two images immediately pop up in my head — the Honduran toddler crying at the border and the photo of the Yemeni girl. One influenced Facebook’s largest single fundraising event, and the other caused international attention to an undercovered crisis — and both were photographed by experienced and highly skilled photojournalists. This directly points to why professional photojournalism, and the health of this industry, matters.
What advice do you have for young photojournalists who want to show off their work? Is Instagram the place to be?
Instagram is a great tool for not only showcasing your own work, but also finding and connecting with other photographers. I know a lot of photo editors who constantly cite Instagram as a way they find emerging talent. But, at the end of the day you are restrained to the platform’s algorithm. Always try to use their new tools — in order to win Instagram, you need to play by their rules.
Portfolio reviews, workshops and physical mailers are really great ways to get your work in front of editors as well. There are also a lot of great organizations sprouting up, Diversify Photo, Women Photograph and the Authority Collective, to name a few, that are doing incredible work in prioritizing underrepresented voices in photography — something that is essential and urgently needed to widen the lens on how we see the world.
Speaking of Instagram, who are the 3 photojournalism or photoj-adjacent accounts that you think everyone should follow?
Just three? That’s hard. But three accounts I’ve been really into lately are:
@Tea_Journals (because who couldn’t use more animals in their feed)
Finally, tell us more about CatchLight!
CatchLight is a San Francisco Bay Area-based nonprofit that believes in the power of visual storytelling to foster a more nuanced and empathetic understanding of the world. We serve as a transformational force, urgently bringing resources and organizations together to support leaders in a thriving visual ecosystem.
Our flagship program is our fellowship, which serves as a form of incubator for innovative leaders working in visual storytelling. In addition to a $30,000 grant, the fellowship offers mentorship, personalized project development and networking opportunities from CatchLight staff and our extended network of partners.
We’ve also had an exciting start to 2019 — in the past two weeks we’ve announced a new leader, Elodie Mailliet Storm, redesigned our website and opened up the application for our 2019 Fellowship — adding a fourth fellowship grant and expanding the call to both long-form storytellers with impactful projects as well as leaders committed to advancing and growing the field of visual storytelling.
If you or someone you know is interested in applying check out our application here. (It’s free to apply!)
//
Go forth forward this to all your shutterbug pals, follow Abby on Insta here, and have a good weekend!