The Visual Student

Michael P. King is a visual journalist at the Green Bay Press-Gazette in Green Bay, Wis., specializing in community photojournalism and multimedia storytelling. He attended Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication and is a big, big fan of the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar.

Brian and Shannon Meltz of Appleton, Wis., hold their daughter, Hailey, 2, as she cries after having her port accessed for a chemotherapy treatment at UW Health’s American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007. Hailey was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in August 2007. (Michael P. King)

Dave LaBelle is known in the industry as a great feature photojournalist, a caring mentor, and an inspirational speaker. The Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar last weekend was my first chance to meet Dave and hear him talk. What he had to say about passion for photography, and compassion for those we photograph, resonated with me so strongly.

It’s hard not to be inspired when you hear Dave say: “Most of our lives do not happen at events… [Feature pictures] are accents on life… They are less about what people are doing and more about how people feel about what they are doing.”

Photojournalist and educator Dave LaBelle speaks during his workshop called “Documenting the Homeless” during the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar in Atlanta, Ga., Friday, December 4, 2009.  (Kevin Martin)

Dave’s smile, handshake, and bear hugs are the conspicuous signs that he’s all about caring and compassion. His lessons constantly reinforce that. He reminded me of a personal story:

Late one summer night at my apartment building, neighborhood kids were raising hell, coming to our entrances and ringing everybody’s apartment buzzer (which sound more like air raid sirens than doorbells) then promptly running away. Over the course of two hours, they rang and ran seven times.

Now, every neighborhood has that crotchety old man that scowls and shakes his fist at children playing on his lawn, loud music and speeding cars. Even at my young age, I’m slowly turning into that guy.

I couldn’t take it. I called the cops on those little brats.

But when the officer arrived, I started to feel bad. I thought to myself, “Of all the things this officer could be dealing with… of all the people truly in need that she could really be helping… she’s here helping me for something so lame.”

I began to apologize to her, but she stopped me before I could finish. What she said – with a smile, even – was profound:

“Well, it matters to you.”

I was dumbfounded. How absolutely selfless of this person to consider my own satisfaction before her own! I asked myself, “If the roles were reversed, and I had to photograph her for some ‘trivial feel-good community assignment,’ would I have been as caring? Would I have invested all of my energies to capture the best picture possible?”

Before saying goodbye, Christian Hampton, a freshman from Neenah, left, gives his father Sheldon a hug after setting up his dorm room during freshman move-in day at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in Green Bay, Wis., Monday, Aug. 31, 2009. (Michael P. King)

It made me think about all the times earlier in my career when I might have slacked at an assignment because I didn’t find it interesting. It made me think of all the pictures that I chose not to make because – in my mind – the moments “weren’t significant.” It made me think of all the people I didn’t even make an effort to talk to.

Students and professionals alike have aspirations of making pictures that matter, make a difference, and maybe even change the world. We sometimes dream of covering wars and conflicts, high-profile sporting events, and social issues in far-away places.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting those opportunities, but we often lose sight that the world isn’t just “out there.” It’s “right here,” too. People who matter are here in front of us. Everything matters, because it matters to somebody.

The Girl Scout troop’s car-wash fundraiser? It matters. The waitress at the lunch counter? She matters. The fifth 5K run you’ve covered this month? It matters; just as much as the first four.

Dan Voetberg and son Brian, 3, of Neenah, Wis., stretch together before the kids race before the 26th Annual Sole Burner Run/Walk at City Park in Appleton, Wis., Saturday morning, May 10, 2008. (Michael P. King)

Think it’s trivial community journalism and poor news judgement that is diluting the power and value of newspapers these days? You couldn’t be more wrong. What’s making us less and less relevant to our readers is our neglecting to see every assignment and every person as worthy of our coverage.

It’s not about us. It’s about the people in the communities we cover.

I’m far from perfect. I have my days when I shoot and get out, and when I think an assignment is just an awful waste of time. But what brings me back – what really grounds me – is thinking of that police officer who came to my door, or Dave LaBelle saying “[Community journalism] is not fluff. It’s the important stuff that makes up life.”

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A photo from an eight-chapter series on Dave LaBelle by former Western Kentucky University student Francis Gardler. Go here to see the LaBelle series.