I have a project for *gasp* my photojournalism class coming up soon. It's an in-depth photostory on a "compelling" subject. We'll talk about the meaning of compelling later. We were recently required to submit three ideas on who to do the project on.
My three ideas were:
1. An old lady who lost her husband (years ago, not recently) and lives alone.
2. A college girl (not a friend of mine, that wouldn't be good journalism) who recently had to drop out because she couldn't pay her loans, is working two jobs, taking only one class, and barely scraping by.
3. A recent college graduate who still hasn't found a job in her field and is working multiple jobs trying to find her way into the industry.
I like choice number 2. Why? Because I can relate. Because a lot of people in this economy can relate to debt piling up, working more than one job, and not doing what you really want. Because I'm terrified it's going to happen to me after I graduate.
My professor likes choice number one. Why? Because she's tragic. She lost her husband, she lives alone, and she collects mugs with faces on them.
Naturally my professor and I had a bit of an argument over this. I promise I'm going to get over myself, probably tomorrow, and call the old lady to see if she'd be willing to let me follow her around for a few days taking pictures of her. If she says yes, then my professor will get what he wants, and I'll make the best in-depth photostory on this old lady as I can.
Despite giving in, something about the situation still bothers me. Why, exactly, does my professor find the old lady "compelling" and not the college girl? Is it because she's my age and he thinks I'm taking the easy way out with one of my friends? Not true. Is it because she's young and in college, so her life can't possibly be hard? I've had an old man come up to me on the street and tell me that I was lazy and needed to get a job. I didn't say anything back, but I have a job and I'm double-majoring in college. I work hard. So do most of the college students I know.
Of course, I could be way off base. The photostory examples he showed us are of cancer patients who work full-time and are the sole providers for big families. But since I don't know any cancer patients, and I'm not sure exactly how to walk into a hospital and ask one to let me take pictures of him/her, I guess I'll settle for the old lady. If she says yes.
That's very compelling. If I could chose I'd go with the college girl. Maybe the professor wants the students to do an emotional piece rather than the typical college student story that 95 percent of us can relate to. Whatever the reason I know you'll do a really great in-depth compelling story! You're very talented. Looking forward to the end product!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Julie, I think the college student story would interest me more. I'm also in the photojournalism course and I have to do the same project. It's definitely a challenge to find someone we don't know with an interesting story, who would allow us to tell through photos, audio and video. I hope you get the photo story you want! Who knows though, maybe the old lady has some amazing stories that you could use instead of that her husband died? Although that love story could pull on a few heart strings. Either way, I'd love to see the final product! :)
ReplyDeleteI think the reason your professor would prefer you to do the older lady is because I think the 'poor college student paying to get by' scenario is so typical right now. It's almost as if every college student is struggling, working multiple jobs, not able to pay back loans, etc etc. And I think that these stories are all so similar, there's nothing really unique about them. Plus, older people seem more "compelling" to me because they have more of a story. They have more history, more wisdom, there's more to learn from them. Either way, good luck with your project!
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