Two years ago, I joined my student newspaper, ready to do work that I had dreamed of doing ever since I had entered college. I was 20, a junior and autistic. I struggled with assignments that weren’t clear, with expectations that I was supposed to know things – because my neurotypical peers did – or understand how to capture emotion. I struggled to perceive certain reactions … [Read more...] about Essay: Autistic photojournalism student prepares to enter a workforce that doesn’t yet understand neurodiversity
photojournalism
Covering a school shooting with compassion
Car headlights streak by as I drive on Route 154 in rural northeast Missouri. The glow from my car’s clock glows back at me – 4:50 A.M. Gravel under my car crunches as I pull off to a general store near Paris, Missouri. “Oh I didn’t see you there!” the register worker tells me under the glow of yellow-tinted fluorescent overhead lights. I pour myself a cup of hot … [Read more...] about Covering a school shooting with compassion
Chicago freelance music photographer captures arrest of NYC subway shooter
“We got him.” Those were the words of New York City Mayor Eric Adams on April 13 to announce the arrest of Frank James, the man suspected of shooting 10 people the day before on a subway train in Brooklyn. But they also could apply to Meredith Goldberg, the Chicago-based freelance photographer who made the picture of the arrest that ran on the front pages of several newspapers … [Read more...] about Chicago freelance music photographer captures arrest of NYC subway shooter
Visual journalists change the way they report to cover coronavirus story
When Ali Ghanbari headed out to cover a story about a 5-year-old boy whose birthday was canceled because of a state-wide stay-at-home order, he was thinking about ways to shoot the story and still observe “social distancing” guidelines. A news photographer at WJW TV, in Cleveland, Ohio, Ghanbari carried at least three boom microphones in his crew car, knowing he would … [Read more...] about Visual journalists change the way they report to cover coronavirus story
One photojournalist’s story on the frontlines of the pandemic
At first, I wasn’t that concerned. The coronavirus seemed like other global health scares before it. As a photojournalist in northern Illinois, I had watched these stories unfold from a distance. Even my first assignment on Jan. 31 didn’t hint at what was to come. I documented how a local hospital was preparing to handle patients with an infectious disease such as Covid-19. … [Read more...] about One photojournalist’s story on the frontlines of the pandemic