I can finally call myself an "award winning photojournalist"...kinda

Hooligan Dan · Apr 21, 2010

Found out the other night I placed third in the California Newspaper Publishers Association's(CNPA) Better Newspapers competition in the photo essay category. The CNPAs are California's big journalism competition and the photo essay category is, I'm told, the most competitive. This is also the first time our paper has been a finalist in that category.

I'm pretty stoked i got third. First would have been nice but now I have something to aim for next year.

Anyway, here's the photos I placed with.
Ambient Focus: Portraits of Tent City

Derrel · Apr 21, 2010

Congratulations Dan. I stopped by and looked at your photos, and thought it was nice to see the dignified and also straightforward looks that you showed on the residents. THere was a nice mix of shots there, conveying both straight, documentary as well as slightly "familiar" or behind the scenes looks into the living situation there.

Overread · Apr 21, 2010

Congratulations Dan! I remember seeing those images last year when you posted them!

Now to up your game and get that 1st place position

Good luck

ghpham · Apr 21, 2010

Congratulations Dan. I saw the photo's as well and you deserve the accolades. I think the black and white photo's captured the mood perfectly. Well done.

xmaxonx · Apr 21, 2010

Congrats ! I saw these pictures when you posted them before and I really liked them. The way you shot was awesome. I would have to agree with ghpham, captured the mood extremely well. Great job!

c.cloudwalker · Apr 21, 2010

Congrats! You are piling on the achievements lately

Good for you.

You know what's funny though, looking at those photos which are very, very nice btw, I'm now wondering if I'd seen your work before. I'll will be looking at you Flicker account to make sure I'm not just imagining things :lol:

And for the second time, I have to say that I understand our exchange in the "war photographer" thread better. It seems to me you sure have what it takes photo wise to make a go of it. And I'm not talking about technical things here although they are important too. I'm talking about the human side. It is not just anybody that can walk into such a place and get the shots you got.

Believe it or not but I've known PJs in war zones to say things like what Linh Dinh posted on your blog. Not that I'm comparing this tent city with a war zone but some people are as scared of homeless people as they would be in a war zone...

It takes a certain kind of love of humanity to walk in on situations like this and feel comfortable enough that your subjects are comfortable enough with you and let you shoot.

I was going to ask you a few questions here but I'll PM them to you.

:thumbup: on placing third and, mostly, on the photos.

pbelarge · Apr 21, 2010

Dan
Congratulations, thanks for sharing this with us.

I have seen a few articles about the tent camps, I guess they are drawing quite a bit of attention lately...maybe because of the economy.

Your photos and story bring home what another world it is like. How different so many people live and yet without stories like yours we would probably be oblivious to it all.

Hooligan Dan · Apr 21, 2010

Thanks, everyone!

I look forward to the questions, cloudwalker

c.cloudwalker · Apr 21, 2010

Here's one question I had for you that is thread appropriate but I forgot to ask.

Do you have enough images of this tent city to do a gallery show?

If you do, you may want to try and take advantage of the 3rd place to do a show... I know it is only a 3rd place but one never knows. Worth trying in my book.

Hooligan Dan · Apr 21, 2010

I think I have 29 final shots in all. I've thought about pitching it to some galleries over the past year. There is one in San Francisco that is run by a photojournalist association I'm part of that is a photoj only gallery.

Mike_E · Apr 22, 2010

Congrats on the third place!!

This is first class in my book!!

Big Mike · Apr 22, 2010

Good for you Dan, a well deserved honor.

c.cloudwalker · Apr 22, 2010

Hooligan Dan said:
I think I have 29 final shots in all. I've thought about pitching it to some galleries over the past year. There is one in San Francisco that is run by a photojournalist association I'm part of that is a photoj only gallery.

Sounds like a good place to try first if they get the traffic. Ever been to an opening there?

Of course, there is the small matter of the cost of framing. :grumpy:

It does keep some people from going after a solo show but maybe you can get lucky like I did one time. I used to get my matting boards from a framing business that dealt mostly with artists and I ended trading some materials for a print. Also, for my first show, he let me pay for the boards after the show. There again I got lucky in that I sold enough to pay him back.

I'll be honest, at first, shows are basically a non-profit venture. If you break even, you're doing good. One plus for you is that you should be able to get a nice write up in at least one paper

Edit = The first show is always the hardest because you have to buy everything. After that you only have to replace frames that have been sold and cut new mats for new photos so it gets easier if you print in a size that fits the frames you already have.

Hooligan Dan · Apr 22, 2010

I have most of the frames I need. Prints are cheep through whcc and i cut my own mats. I think I'd be set there.

It wouldn't be my first rodeo though.

I had one solo show about 5 years ago and I've been a part of one other multi-artist gallery show.

Again, thanks, everyone!