The Online Photographer

I don't think publication day will ever get old. It's a good feeling.

I could never have dreamed that I would be a lead feature not only on the Family Special Issue but on The New Yorker's entire website. My article is called "The Secret Art of the Family Photo." If you search "Photography" on Apple News it's the lead feature there too.

I don't even need to give you the link. Just go to newyorker.com today [Thursday, July 14th] and you'll see it.

But here's the link. Big shout-out to my editor there, who was a TOP reader for four years before inviting me to try my hand at writing for TNY. I owe him big-time.

I'll finish this post after breakfast. I always write first, eat second. And now Butters' friend Wex is on the way down, so they get to play before I get to eat, too. I'll be back later.

Mike

ADDENDUM, later: I'm very curious to hear what you think of the "Secret Art" piece. It was two months in the making, and the process is highly collaborative—both approximately the opposite of what I've been doing here for years. (Comments here do make this process interactive, though not strictly collaborative.) TOP is more like daily newspaper writing—quick research, write it up (literally before breakfast many days), and off it goes to press. (The way I write, some days you get an omelette, some days you get a mess of eggs.) "Secret Art" went through multiple major edits and innumerable small ones, with input from many departments. The fact checker called many of the people mentioned, for instance, and researched things only mentioned in passing. TNY is not the fake news, I can definitely attest to that.

I think you can tell it's me even though it's me dressed up in a coat and tie. I'm hoping the humor survived, and that you found some emotion in it. They certainly don't need good writers! Great writing is base camp at the Everest that is The New Yorker. The amount of attention to detail lavished on their articles is truly impressive.

Can't think of anything else to say, except...fun day in my life, that's for sure.

Book o' the Week

Grit and Grace: Women at Work in the Emerging World. Unfortunately, this will be the posthumous swan song of the indefatigable documentarian Alison Wright, whose untimely death at 60 in the Azores this year meant she never got to see it published. Wright's photography was inextricably entwined with her life's dedication to social justice, a sense of acceptance of humanity, and a roving search for beauty and color.

The book link is your portal to Amazon from TOP, should you wish to support this site.

Our link to B&H Photo

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Bob G.: "Nice article. Congrats! …I think more of this writing will edge you into the realm of popular writers because of their broad appeal of human nature. What I think makes these narratives work for you, too, is the individual stories that back up your main premise. Personal anecdotes subtly credit your experience as well as embellish the structure, with each one almost be a story on their own. You already have a lot of thought-provoking material here on your site over the years. And, I think short stories are getting increasingly read and published as well."

Lars Jansen: "Congrats! Oh, and 'a mess of eggs' is just called scrambled eggs of course. Nothing wrong with that every now and then."

Ed Bacher: "That is a wonderful article! And congratulations to you on reaching the pinnacle of writerly achievements—twice. I loved the feel and flow of this article, and especially the advice to distill a trip down to eight photographs."

Mike replies: That was my editor's favorite bit too. He's a photographer as well as a writer and editor.

Steve C: "It's a great piece Mike! It sounds exactly like you, but a more refined, thoughtful you, through the lens of a clarifying editor. I've had a couple of experiences working with editors and it's beyond amazing how an outside person can help us clarify what's inside us. I've never worked with a picture editor, but I've played editing games with photo friends and it's also amazingly clarifying. In photography I feel like there is so much talk about cameras, but bigger than that is talk about pictures, but bigger that that—the real stuff—is talk about purpose, connection and meaning for which photography is but a medium. You nailed it."

Mani Sitaraman: "This is a wonderful piece, Michael. I enjoyed it greatly, and there are so many pearls of wisdom in it. Thank you for giving us the benefit of your talent and long years in photography. I've sent it around to old friends from school and college, and relatives, too, and gotten rave reviews from every single person who has read it."

Kenneth G Voigt: "Congrats, but seems disorganized and piecemeal, like twelve intros to other articles. (I am a long-time big fan of your writing)."

Mike replies: Well, there's a good reason for that, which is that it's way too big a subject for a 4,000-word article (or whatever it ended up being). Midway through the process I was conceiving of it as being about half of the "capsule chapters" of a book on the subject. I think I even framed it that way, in an earlier draft. The intent was to convey some of the sprawling richness of the subject, its many dimensions, yet still have room to tell a few stories.

It does seem like it should be a book, although I question whether there'd be a large enough market for it.

Scott Abbey: "that’s one of your best pieces. Deceptively simple and straightforward yet actually quite deep. Thank you. Some thirty years ago we bought a ski house, and I started taking group pictures of our family and guests there. This soon evolved into taking group shots at all important family gatherings. While there was much grumbling in the beginning, after a while people started looking forward to it whenever we were together. Everyone present got a digital file of the image to use as they please. I’ve since broadened it backwards by searching out Bat Mitzvah and wedding albums from our family. The oldest people in my collection were born in the 19th century; the youngest, in the 21st. Having a 50-year history of my family, which is in a digital album on Flickr (plus suitable backups in and out of my office), brings me much satisfaction as I periodically peruse it, or show it to others.

"It will most likely be the most important photography project of my life, and one that may even survive me."

John T.: "I've been a (silent) TOP reader for many years now, but I wanted to comment just to say: Congratulations, Mike! That was a beautiful article. Your point about 'keeping the picture together with its story' resonated with me. I'm a fan of a good photo-essay, and I'm the one who spends too long at each museum exhibit reading the captions. You've got me thinking about how I can start doing that in my own photography."

Robert Roaldi: "I forwarded the link it to a few friends, none of them photographers. One emailed back saying he wished he had seen it 50 years ago when his family was still around. What a pleasure it was to read something honest and real about human beings instead of the daily diet of nonsense on 'social media,' which is anything but. Lives are supposed to be made better by what we read."

Christopher May: "First of all, a big congratulations. I've been reading your work in various forms for decades now and it's fun to see you make it on a stage as big as The New Yorker. I think it's safe to say that TOP readership knew you had the literary chops to succeed at that level and seeing that knowledge come to fruition is almost as rewarding for us as it surely is for you. Secondly, a big thank you for the general topic and all of its sub-categories enumerated in the article. I really need to step up my game when it comes to family photography and this is a wonderful reminder to myself to do so. I eagerly look forward to seeing what else you produce for TNY!"