Photojournalism in Princeton over the last 25 years was the topic of discussion — and of an exhibit at the Historical Society.
By: Michael Redmond
The apex of the photojournalist’s craft is a picture that needs no words. The picture tells the whole story. With words or without words, photos preserve the lives and histories of people and their communities.
How newspapers decide to take the photos they do, why certain photos are used in certain ways and in certain places (such as the front page), how the use of news photos has changed dramatically over the past 25 years these topics and more were discussed Tuesday during "A Community of Words and Images," a panel discussion presented by The Historical Society of Princeton and The Princeton Packet and hosted by Princeton Theological Seminary.
Louise Handelman, vice president of the Historical Society, served as moderator of a panel consisting of Pam Hersh, director of Community and State Affairs, Princeton University; Dick Willever, editor, The Packet; Aubrey Huston, executive editor, The Packet; Rick Sinding, managing editor, The Packet, and Mark Czajkowski, photo chief, The Packet.
Earlier this year, The Packet donated 18,000 news photos spanning the past 25 years of Princeton life to the Princeton Historical Society. In May the Historical Society unveiled "Today’s News, Tomorrow’s History: Princeton Packet Photos," an exhibition of 130 highlights from the photo archives. The show, which will be up through March 2002, was co-curated by Maureen Smyth, assistant director of the Historical Society, and Ilene Dube, The Packet’s TimeOFF editor.
The panel’s format consisted of slide presentations of photos from the Historical Society show, with discussion and commentary by panel members, followed by a question-and-answer session.
An example of a superb news photo can be seen at right. The photo, shot by Mr. Czajkowski, has come to be called "Fire and Ice."
"This photo shows the end of a major fire. The firefighters are still at work. There are icicles sill hanging from the eaves. It gives an idea of what the firefighters had to go through to put this fire out," said Mr. Huston.
"Look at that wow. That’s the point. People see a photo like this and they want to read the story."
Mr. Sinding divided news photography into three categories planned photos, which editors assign in advance; "wild shots," where a photographer happens upon something of interest, and "breaking news" shots, where a photographer goes flying out the door because the newspaper has just learned about a significant news-making event in progress.
The underlying rationale of all news photography, Mr. Willever emphasized, is that "a hundred different things may go into the decision to shoot an event, but the first thing we need to know is that this a visual event."
Despite the drama inherent in photographing "breaking news" stories, such as a major fire, Mr. Czajkowski said that his greatest satisfaction is found in photographing people.
"The last 25 years with The Packet have been a wonderful and exciting experience. Meeting so many wonderful people that’s the fun part of the job. People are my favorite subjects. Faces are fascinating to me."
"Today’s News, Tomorrow’s History: Princeton Packet Photos" continues through March 2002 at the Princeton Historical Society, located in Bainbridge House, 158 Nassau St., (609) 921-6748.