Mark Johnson, senior lecturer of photojournalism at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, has his photojournalism students follow a working photojournalist for the day. They are to produce a SoundSlides show where they interview the photographer and capture what they experienced. [Update: This flash-based slide no longer works on the web today. So I cannot show her work.]
UGA student Jane Ellyn Hardy reached out to me to follow me for a day. I told her what I was working on and then encouraged her to cover some other photojournalist friends. However, she still wanted to shadow me for the day.
Mark Johnson enjoys the day that everyone in his class shares their stories of spending a day shadowing. While each student learns something firsthand with their professional, the type of twelve students gets to expand that with the SoundSlide stories that each of them shares.
photo by Jane Ellyn Hardy
So in one class, these students are seeing what is going on right now in the industry. Mark even told me about when one of the students shadowed a super negative photographer. From the moment the student interacted with them until they finished that day, the pro told them to do anything but photojournalism.
This opened up the eyes of the class. They talked about this reality for some photographers and contrasted it with those still positive.
photo by Jane Ellyn Hardy
Mark Johnson may have one of the best job placement rates in the industry because of this project. The students are getting real-world experience. He averages about 75% of his students working in the industry six months after graduating.
Of those students who graduated this past May 2013, 87.5% are now working in the industry. It might be even higher, but he isn’t sure where some landed.
You can contact photographers in many ways. But first, it is essential to know some basic etiquette for connecting.
Introduce yourself
Tell the person you are and why you want to connect. “hi, my name is—after reading about you, I noticed we have a few things in common” or “Hi, my name is—I have been following your blog and liked your post on …”
Give the person a reason they should want to connect with you!
Could you tell them about you? When you reach out to someone, and that person clicks on your LinkedIn profile, it needs to help them.
If you are on LinkedIn, I highly recommend a professional headshot. A headshot goes a long way to show you are a natural person rather than a blank avatar. The blank avatar makes you look like a creeper.
It would be great if your profile were updated and helpful to those you reach out to connect. Could you make it easy for people to see why they should respond positively to you?
The point of the about me section is to show yourself as an authentic person and an excellent way for people to want to connect with you. We are not interested in a sales pitch. Things about your hobbies and interests go a long way to help people want to join. For example, if you were an Eagle Scout, this helps others with this background connect on a different level with you.
The About section is about you and a great way to introduce yourself to others. Fill this out as best you can; otherwise, people will ignore many requests.
@ Email
If you choose to email a photographer, follow a similar protocol. Could you keep the letter short and to the point?
I think there are three simple questions you need to answer in the Email in some way:
First, who are you?
Second, why are you contacting me?
Third, what do you want me to do?
Please connect the dots for the recipient. Please don’t make them figure out what you are saying.
Be willing to pay
There are many places to go for someone to critique your work. There are camera clubs, workshops, and seminars where photographers will give you some of their time.
The expectation of a private consultation where you get career advice is something you should be willing to pay. On the other hand, free advice is often worth what you pay for.
Spending half an hour each week having free coffee with Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin, or Jeffery Gitomer would be great. You know this might happen to a couple of people, and they are likely already good friends with them.
Good mentors are hard to come by, and getting good advice to save you time and money in your career is worth every penny.
Unless the person you contact is on staff with a regular salary, they make their living through photography—shooting or consulting.
Good mentors have connections that can change your life forever. For example, a few years ago, I had a young college student about to graduate from school ask me for an internship. We talked for a while, and the next day, she sent me a thank-you note for taking the time to speak with her. She also thanked me for some particular points from our conversation.
I was impressed with her character. Unfortunately, I could not pay her then, and I let her know I would give her time to ask any questions each week. So she went with me everywhere for about two months.
My client Chick-fil-A was as impressed with her as I was and offered her a job as a writer.
She paid me for my time by helping me and landed an incredible job due to her investment.
Here is Stanley and Knolan Benfield in Kona, Hawaii, for a lighting workshop.
Workshops
Early in my career, I attended numerous seminars with NPPA and ASMP. I spent about $5,000 weekly in two significant workshops to study with two of the industry’s icons.
I attended the Maine Workshop and studied with Steve McCurry from National Geographic. The cost of flying, hotel, food, and the workshop was just under $5,000. I learned a great deal that week, not just from Steve but also from others in the class with me.
A few years later, I took another class with Jeff Smith at the Maine Workshops, studying location lighting. Again, I learned so much from Jeff and their classmates.
I offer personal workshops for people interested in this profession. I charge $125 an hour with a two-hour minimum for whatever they want to learn from me. For example, I have taught people how to organize their images one-on-one, done personal workshops on using hot shoe flash off-camera for portraits, and taught people business practices and marketing.
If you know another professional photographer you want to learn from, approach them. If they don’t offer workshops, propose what they can do for you.
If you are not willing to invest in your career, why should anyone want to?
To a non-Christian, Don would have been considered crazy for taking the positions with Southern Baptist. Going to the Home Mission Board was a step down in pay and prestige for Don Rutledge. Why would someone leave a superposition to drastically cut salary and work with people who generally did not understand photojournalism? Why would Don repeat the cut in pay and prestige and leave the Home Mission Board to go to the Foreign Mission Board? The answers to these questions only come from one source, and that source is God.
Don turned down positions with Life magazine, Associated Press, and many others. The Associated Press job would allow Don to travel the country doing any feature story he wanted. The AP job also would require him to go with the President of the United States on any overseas coverages. Don turned down what most would not have thought twice about taking as jobs.[54]
These people dressed in white are going to the Eny River to be baptized and become members of the First Baptist Church in Novosibirsk, Siberia; Thirty-five people are in the group. The person who is leading them is a deacon in the church. His name is Vladimir Korniyshin. According to Eduard Genrich of Second Baptist Church in Novosibirsk, working with outsiders means listening and being heard. People here say they are encouraged and helped by outsiders but taken advantage of by some.
Don did not follow the average direction that most Americans seek. He did not climb the ladder as most would. In our culture, we are trained to continue to go up vertically. We move through our school years doing this, and most continue to do the same in the corporate ladder climb. However, Don learned to follow his Lord——Jesus. Whenever Don decided, there was no brass ring to grab. In hindsight, Don’s life is a testimony to how the Lord cares for his children.
John Howard Griffin was a black man in New Orleans in 1956. (Photo by: Don Rutledge)
John Howard Griffin was getting dressed in a hotel in 1956. (Photo by: Don Rutledge)
John Howard Griffin is looking at movies playing. He would have a separate entrance when going in as a black man. (Photo by: Don Rutledge)
John Howard Griffin as a black man and polishing shoes for a white man. (Photo by: Don Rutledge)
Don’s life has been a testimony to other photographers who are not Christian. He is often asked to speak at conferences for the National Press Photographers, Atlanta Press Photographers, and The Southern Short Course and also speaks for numerous camera clubs around the country.
This writer concludes that Don has exemplified better than most that following your Lord does not mean giving yourself to a lesser life. Those who earlier criticized Don for leaving Black Star to work with Southern Baptist have repeatedly called him asking if there are any openings for them to serve.[55]
New York City, NY 1966: Lady on the rooftop. (Photo by: Don Rutledge)
Those who want to follow in Don’s footsteps need to be warned that the road that Don has paved still has potholes and other problems that will require one to proceed cautiously. They must realize Don focused on relationships with all those around him. They must build strong relationships.
While working with Don at the Foreign Mission Board, this writer observed how the administrative assistants and those working in the file area of photography often teased Don. After one trip, Don’s office was wholly rolled with toilet paper. Another time, one of the girls in the office had everyone dress like Don. Don always wore the same style of shirt, making teasing him easy. Another time, Don came back to discover his desk stacked with mail. Virginia Adams, administrative assistant in the communications department, made labels with Don’s name and address. Virginia asked everyone to bring in all their junk mail. She then put the labels on all that mail.
Boy in the mirror. (Photo by: Don Rutledge)
One does not build this relationship by looking out for themselves alone. Don was not around much at the Foreign Mission Board, but he knew how to put all at ease around him. He was well known for the stories that he told. Don always had a story to tell and keep people laughing.
Brazil
Don’s ability with people is strongly related to his relationship with Christ. No matter how good one is with the camera or words, one must understand that Don’s success is due to the diligence and patience given to him by Jesus Christ. You will never hear Don preaching or grabbing shirt collars to witness. Due to Don’s life, many have seen Christ’s compassion for the world. Looking at Don’s photographs allows one to see the world from a Christian perspective. One does not have to work with a Christian institution to do what Don does well. One only needs a Lord they call their master to understand how he does it all——his Lord enables him.
Figure 1 Harley Shields is a Southern Baptist Home Missionary whose workplace is in Selawik, Alaska. Don photographed him in 1978.
This writer has enjoyed seeing the world, approximately 137 countries, and all of the United States without ever leaving his own home.
Most of the traveling was done with the help of The Commission Magazine and Missions USA. Both magazines have won some of the highest awards in the country. The Commission Magazine has placed third in magazines in the “Pictures of The Year” contest sponsored by the National Press Photographers Association in 1989 and 1990. Missions USA has earned similar awards. These Southern Baptist magazines are in league with National Geographic and Life Magazine for their photography and design. The reason for their success can be significantly tied to Don Rutledge. For this reason, this writer is doing his thesis on Don Rutledge for publication.
Don has worked for the Black Star photo agency in New York for over thirty years. He has also worked for the Home Mission and the Foreign Mission Boards of the SBC. He has won more than 400 awards for his work. In addition, he has been published in many magazines and books around the globe. His career has taken him throughout all fifty states, Canada, and 135 countries.
Today, Rutledge is a mentor to many professional photographers and students. All of the photojournalists in the Southern Baptist Convention point to Don as the reason they are where they are today. All of them hope one day to make the impact he has already made for Southern Baptists and the cause of missions.
Having worked with Don Rutledge for many years, this writer has developed an excellent appreciation for him. He has understood that working with people is the common thread that binds all those in ministry. Don works with people so well that he has made significant changes in magazines with his soft, encouraging voice. Wherever Don goes, he makes many friends.
Figure 2 Every year, Carl Holden, a home missionary, takes his young people tubing from his church, Central Baptist.
Don’s ability with people is a gift. Don puts people at ease with or without his camera. This is a talent envied by photojournalists the world over. Those in the field of Christian photojournalism understand where this gift came from. They know how Don’s faith is lived out through his camera.
As one looks at Don’s photographs, one feels he is in the room with the people. Don becomes a part of the woodwork wherever he goes. He blends in so well that people can be themselves. His subjects looked as though Don was not present. They are not reacting to his presence but are free to be themselves. Don has allowed God to be so much a part of his work that when one speaks of how Don is a part of the woodwork, one can picture how the Holy Spirit works through him.
Figure 3 In 1967, Don Rutledge went inside the Artic Circle and captured this Eskimo child playing.
His reputation often precedes Don, now that people know of his integrity without ever meeting him. They can see a man who gives dignity to his subjects. Often, many photographers today will exploit their subjects. They photograph a handicapped person and exaggerate his handicap so that one never really sees the person. Don’s photos call one to feel a part of the person. Don says the eyes are the windows to the soul. He reveals the innermost aspect of people in a brief instant that is frozen on film. The more one looks at the photograph, the more one sees. He packs so much information into a photograph that one can go over and over it and see something new every time—Don includes small details in his photographs like a good writer who pulls his reader into the situation.
Don studied to be a psychologist and worked on his doctorate in the field. He also studied for the ministry and was a pastor for a short period. He still uses his psychology in photographing people, and his pictures reach more than 1.5 million weekly.
Don’s work has helped people see the result of missionaries’ work worldwide. In addition, he has helped the mission board reach the world for Christ.
Growing up as a home missionary kid helped this writer realize the importance of relationships in ministry. This writer felt the call to the church and went a traditional route of majoring in social work and planning to go on to the seminary to become a pastor. While in college, this writer discovered photography and the camera’s power as a communication tool. Knolan Benfield, Jr., was a photographer who worked on Missions USA magazine and introduced this writer to Don Rutledge. This writer was intrigued by the work that Don did on the magazine.
After talking with Don, this writer felt redirected in his call to be a minister who used the camera as a central part of his ministry. Many who are Christian photojournalists have struggled with the call. In many ways, the Christian photojournalist is a preacher. The photojournalist’s illustrations are not done with words in the pulpit but with photographs on the printed page.
As one will see, Don’s work is powerful, and his style can be seen in most photojournalists who work for the Southern Baptists. They will tell you they hope someday to be like Don.
Don dreams of publications combining words and pictures effectively to communicate God’s concerns in his heart. This driving force in Don is the Holy Spirit convicting him of the message of missions. His photographs have one common theme: Love. They have moved people to become involved in tasks. God has called them into missionary service after they looked at the mission field through the “eyes of Don.” Don’s work has helped meet the needs of people worldwide.
When considering the skills of Don Rutledge, one can see that he could have become very wealthy from his photography if he had not worked with Southern Baptists. In the three months before coming to work with Southern Baptists, he made more than he would make in the next two years working with Southern Baptists. His decision to be a minister with a camera meant choosing the narrow road. Don decided to follow Jesus Christ. Due to his following Christ, his work as a Christian photojournalist has helped spread the gospel worldwide.
[1]Howard I. Feinberg, The Best of Photojournalism 16: The Year in Pictures, (Philadelphia: Running Press Book Publishers, 1991), 232.
