Life as it Happens
By Brandon Lee
30 May 2008
What's your profession? Please describe it.
I am a photojournalist. Currently, I am the intern at the Belleville News-Democrat in Belleville, Ill., and formerly, I was a staff photographer for the Daily Egyptian in Carbondale, Ill. My job consists basically of photographing life in every aspect. From sports to hard news to feature stories, it is my job to capture life as it happens. I believe that the purpose of photojournalism is simply to show the world to itself. Whether it is happiness, tragedy, humor or beauty, a good photojournalist's work will make people appreciate and contemplate life. For that, I believe photojournalism is just as much art as art photography.
Where do you do this?
Everywhere. A bad photojournalist is one who puts in the 9-5 with an hour lunch break and goes home. I am always working, everywhere. You never know when something crazy, interesting or beautiful will happen. For that, I am a true dork. I've read a lot of people's profiles that say they take their camera everywhere. Maybe I'm not in their part of town but I've never seen anyone who carries around two DSLRs like a photojournalist. On a slow day, I take around 200 pictures. On a hot day, anywhere from 500-1000.
Do you enjoy what you do?
Absolutely. I can't imagine a life other than what I do. In a nutshell, I get paid to hang out and talk to people and take pictures. On a deeper level, I get to connect to people that I would otherwise never talk to. I think that all the best photojournalists truly enjoy life. Otherwise they wouldn't spend their entire lives exploring life.
When you were young, what did you want to "be" when you grew up?
Chronologically... rocket scientist, brain surgeon, aerospace engineer, teacher, anthropologist, sociologist... then photojournalist.
I changed my college major five times.
Do you feel stuck doing what you are doing?
Never. Some people sit in an office all day. My workplace changes every single day. I can't imagine ever getting bored.
What are the most and least satisfying parts of your job?
The least satisfying part of the job is dealing with the culture in most newsrooms. With the exception of a few papers across the country, most newsrooms are heavily biased toward the text. The picture desk has to fight tooth and nail to get respect as a group of thinking professionals. One of the common phrases I've heard is that "a paper could still publish with no pictures," which is absolute bullshit. Literally yes, but in today's visual society a newspaper with no pictures would quickly die.
The most satisfying part of the job is getting that phone call in the morning after breakfast and it's the subject you photographed the day before telling you they loved the picture you took.
How do you combine photography with your job?
Uhh... duh
