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| Cardiff Royal Infirmary 1.32am. The emergency operating team arrive. Staff nurse Bill Barrington wipes blood from his clothes |
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| Cardiff Royal Infirmary 1.45am. The event is marked by footsteps |
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| The Big Issue |
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| In 1996 I returned to college in Cardiff, spending one year on a photojournalism course run by Daniel Meadows and Colin Jacobson. They made us well aware of the difficulties that faced us in the market place, and I like most, prepared myself as best I could for life as a freelancer. I put together a portfolio that focused partly on issues of health, as well as some abstract colour transparency work taken at an abattoir, and a collection of editorial portraiture. |
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| The inevitability of a digital future had also led me to begin various projects that culminated in a work placement with digital photojournalist Pedro Meyer. Unfortunately, lack of funds and sponsorship meant that I could not get over to his base in Los Angeles. This did not bode well. Indeed, the time at Cardiff seemed all too brief, and the prospects of earning a living slim. |
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| In my last week at Cardiff, a friend told me that the streetpaper The Big Issue in London was offering a fixed one year contract for a staff photographer. I organised my portfolio into two B/W stories (one from a reportage about alcohol related violence, the other about a community of deaf Catholics), and a selection of portraits (B/W and colour transparency, studio and daily life), and sent it in with a covering letter and some ideas. |
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| With the prospector an interview, the whole placement grew extremely attractive. I had squatted in London and felt anger and dissatisfaction at the senseless greed, hypocrisy, and division that is manifest in conservative mainstream culture. I realised that working for the 'Issue' might give me access to the situations where I could begin to articulate this. |
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| The job started almost immediately after college ended. I was lucky not to be fumbling around trying to find my feet in a merciless market. The job was billed as a traineeship, but without other photographers and a picture editor, I've had to learn things through trial and error on the job. Owing to certain scanning limitations and the print quality, I work almost totally with colour transparency. |
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| As the only staff photographer, I've had to become as flexible as possible, doing everything from studio work to still life, press conferences to portraiture and reportage to fashion. With a weekly national readership of over I / 4 million, 'The Big Issue' tries to appeal to a wide audience, and this is reflected in it's use of photography. Subject matter is extremely varied, and the nature of the magazine means that I tend to get access to situations that other publications would die for. |
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| I suppose coming straight from college I was a bit of a purist for picture stories, but now I realize, to survive professionally it's important not to turn your nose up at jobs. Having a brief can be a creative challenge. I tend to experiment a lot once I've got the pictures that I know my art director wants. The 'lssue' also uses a number of excellent freelancers whose work helps me to reflect on my own. |
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| My personal work is daily life reportage, and there's no doubt that working at the 'Issue' has helped me to develop as a journalist. I'm more honest with myself.. does this image strike me? What is it saying? It has also reinforced in me the importance of photojournalism in an age where the use of photography has been relegated and photographers are regarded as mere illustrators. It frustrates me that writers will dismiss a simple story because they cannot 'see' that a visual approach will imbue it with new complexities and understanding. |
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| Being a photojournalist means that you're asserting the excellence of photography as an unparalleled journalistic medium. Robert Capa's dictum 'if your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough' was directed at story-telling too. Photojournalism is in transition, but it will continue to thrive. The advertising world's realization that 'real-life' pictures can sell the dream is an indication of this. Digitalisation will lead us into a brave new world of image making and dissemination. It is at least promising to see the 'lssue' (as a mouth piece for the excluded) beginning to explore it's potential as a vehicle for photojournalism. |
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| Tim Hetherington |
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