Dear Subscriber,
It’s no secret to anyone who knows me – I love taking photos.
Many people have shown great patience, and unleashed a few eyerolls, when I get on the ground to take a closeup of a toad or pull off the road to catch the sunset hitting the fall colors in just the right way.
Because of that, you can imagine my appreciation for working with some of the best photojournalists in the world through my job at MLive Media Group. We have a corps of extremely accomplished journalists recording history in our communities through the lens of a camera.
Just last weekend, those photographers won 31 awards at the Michigan Press Photographers Association annual conference. Among them was the top honor – Photographer of the Year, captured by Jake May, staff photographer at The Flint Journal.
“It is an honor; I am humbled,” said May, who won for his body of work in 2019, which included documenting the ongoing Flint water crisis, the UAW strike, the Davison state championship football team, and the story of the adoption of a 3-year-old.
I love working with him, and it’s not only because I am a fan of brilliant pictures. Even though he was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for feature photography in 2017, he’s no aloof artist looking for the perfect shot. Like all of our photographers, he knows every story is a human story that happens out in our communities.
“Ultimately, it’s the relationships I form with all of those I connect with, whether I have my camera pointed to document them or simply having a conversation,” he said. “It starts by listening. It’s only then that you will see them for who they really are, and have their trust to document them with intimacy and respect.
“As a photojournalist, I wear my heart on my sleeve and speak vulnerably with everyone I meet.”
Jake’s interest in photojournalism began in high school in Grand Haven, and it picked up steam (after a short stint as a reporter) at Central Michigan University. He started full-time in Flint in 2013.
It’s hard to talk to Jake – or any of our staff photographers – without getting a list of mentors, inspirations and coworkers. It’s a tight-knit group and, within MLive, a much-decorated one: 11 MLive photojournalists won awards in the MPPA competition.
One of them, Grand Rapids Press photographer Cory Morse, won first place for sports picture story for “Muskegon Big Reds Football,” which showed how athletics provide a path out of hardship for many students. That project also was finalist for the Community Awareness Award in the Pictures of the Year program at the University of Missouri.
“Cory and I both graduated from Grand Haven High School 10 years apart. So, there's some magic there,” Jake said. “I hope that Cory gets some spotlight in the column, because we really motivated each other this last year.”
Consider it done. The entire photojournalism staff deserves recognition for the excellence, and the humanity, they bring to their jobs every day.
Readers, I encourage all of you to open the photo gallery that accompanies this column, and treat yourself to some of the best work by the best photojournalists working in the business today. Instagram wannabes, me included, can take a lesson from the pros. |
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Sincerely,
John Hiner
Vice President of Content for MLive Media Group
Share your thoughts with him at editor@mlive.com |
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