the beauty of photojournalism

A while back I had the privilege of sitting on the judging panel for the Hoosier State Press Association’s annual photography contest; and, as luck would have it, I was in on the first glance at what would ultimately be selected as the Photo of the Year.

The winner was shot by a fellow named Tom Russo, who’s the Photo Editor of the Greenfield (IN) Daily Reporter. After corresponding with Tom, I can tell he’s a fairly unassuming guy. He’s still shaking his head in disbelief that out of the 1000’s of images published across the state of Indiana last year, he shot the one picked best. Well, Tom, soak it in…you deserve it!

Of course, it’s not a perfect photo; but, then again, it completely exemplifies the beauty of photojournalism, imperfectly capturing a perfect moment. Anyone can pick that image apart, but only a few would ever nail such a moment, pulling together all the elements that absolutely grab attention. Every now and then, we get just get lucky. A half-second earlier, a half-second later, a different collection of expressions, a different arrangement of judges–who knows? Anything could have happened to have left you with a much, much different shot. Believe me, I know I’m not the only one who saw that and immediately thought, “Damn, I wish I’d shot that!”

Keep it up, Tom! Way to go!!!