James Estrin is a New York Times photographer and one of the editors of a new on-line feature called Lens, a blog dedictated to photography. 100eyes was recently spotlighted on Lens and I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the new site and get some added insight into photography at the New York Times.
Q. How did Lens evolve? Was this something that the had been in the works for a long time, or is their a new awareness at the paper of interest in photography?
Photography has been increasing in importance at the New York Times for the last decade , particularly since Michele McNally, the Assistant Managing editor for Photography ,arrived in 2004.
I proposed a photography blog a little over a year ago. I strongly believe in the importance of photojournalism . Because of the rapidly changing journalistic environment I saw a need to highlight our own photography and promote great photojournalism from around the web. I quickly got my colleague Josh Haner involved and we worked on a prototype. David Dunlap joined us a few months later and the three of us put out the Lens blog with the assistance of many others.
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Q. Sure, I have been a friend of Michele’s for many years. She would always remind me that photographers were their own worst enemies. I was never sure what she meant by that.
One would suspect that there are turf wars at any large media company over territory. For a long time there was a differentiation between the style of photography at the daily paper and the magazine, perhaps by intent. Where does Lens fall in this spectrum? Are you going to be concentrating more on the traditional “pictures of the day.” or will Lens try to bring in a broader spectrum of work
Though we are focusing on photojournalism and documentary work we are open to all types of photography. I want to show work that I find compelling. I’m particularly interested in work that is getting less attention.
Q. Are there any new features being planned that might make Lens even more interesting?
Yes.
Q. Is there a possibility that in the future Lens may commission work?
Right now there is no budget for the Lens Blog It woulf be great if we had the opportunity to commission work.
Q. Can you tell us anything about the process for finding work? Are your people out there scouring the web for interesting stories or pictures, or does the work find its way to you?
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Q. What is your own backgound in photography?
I’ve been a staff photographer at the New York Times for 17 years . Before that I freelanced for the Times for 4 years. I started out at the Jackson Clarion Ledger in Mississippi in 1981. Later I freelanced in New York before hooking up with the Times.
I have seen in the last few months a few features where readers sent in their own pictures. In the last case I believe it was for an article about the resurrection of Polaroid photography. Is this something that is going to be a regular feature?
Yes it is. We are soliciting cell phone photographs right now.
Q. We both have been in the business a long time and seen a lot of changes. Where do you think photojournalism is headed? Do you think that there is room for the freelancer, or are we ?
It’s not clear to me what the business model for photographers will be but I believe that we are becoming more important not less I see problems for both staffers and for freelancers. Staffers are losing their jobs and freelancers are finding it harder to make a living. I believe it’s important, for our society, that photojournalism survives and thrives. Good photojournalists are the best storytellers.
I hope the Lens blog can promote good photographers on the web, and maybe , in some small way, help to figure out a viable economic model for the future.
Q.There are so many images on the internet, and there is a lot of very good photography. Much of this work is viewed very quickly, we click through images that are often quite small, and make snap judgements often. Do you think that we are losing the opportunity of holding up that special image and really appreciating the uniqueness of that frame, as opposed to a stream of images that tend after awhile to blend into each other?
You’re right. Photographs are not precious objects on the web but the appetite for images is voracious. I probably have a smaller attention span on the web than in analogue.
Q. A lot of the readers of 100eyes are people just learning photography or folks who want to make their work more meaningful and especially visible. What suggestions do you have for them?
Try to stay true to yourself and do work that you believe in. I think if your process is pure the product takes care of itself.
Also it’s never about the equipment. No one cares what kind of typewriter Hemingway used. One last thing. Don’t be afraid of the changes in our business, embrace them.
Thanks James. You can check out the New York Times Lens blog by clicking this link.