CPOY Coordinator Yanran Huang interviewed Lynda Gonzalez of the University of Texas, who won gold last year in the Spot News category for her image, "Fourth of July Shooting." 

Friends and family members of Devonte Ortiz gather on Friday, July 6, 2018, at Pleasant Hills Apartments in Austin, Texas. Witnesses say Ortiz's neighbor Jason Roche fatally shot 19-year-old Ortiz in the early hours of July 4 in a dispute about fireworks. 

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Yanran Huang: What’s the most difficult thing while covering spot news? How do you deal with it?

Lynda Gonzalez: In general, I think the most difficult thing about covering spot news is just not knowing what’s going to happen. And I think also managing a lot of adrenaline, well, also trying to kind of managing a lot of emotions to what’s just happening. Sometimes the setting is very sad and you've got a lot of adrenaline rushing through your body but also... I'm a really empathetic person. You can get filled with grief really quickly if you're covering a funeral or if you're covering something where someone died. So I think the most difficult thing about covering spot news is just managing a lot of physical responses to what you're photographing as well as emotional responses.

 I’m a strong believer in getting therapy. I think therapy can give you a lot of the tools to manage in the moment those things that are really difficult. It also has helped me adopt mindfulness practices that I can do while I'm in those moments where I'm just kind of be overwhelmed, which tends to happen when you're having breaking news. And I think grounding yourself and taking a moment to breathe deeply and ground yourself is helpful.

YH: How is your internship in The Dallas Morning News?

LG: I’m really loving it. I’m new to Dallas. The first time I came here really was for this internship. I'm from the central Texas region and I also lived along the south Texas border for a while and so moving to north Texas has been different. But it’s really exciting. It's different culturally and demographically. And also, it’s different just because the sheer size of the D.F.W region (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Area) is massive. It's been really exciting to be here because it's a really happening place, a lot of things happen here in terms of national interest. We have a lot of big events and a lot of big sporting teams as well. It's really cool to be in a city and covering topics that the rest of the nation is also interested and curious about. The photo team here is remarkable and it's really wonderful to work with such a diverse group of people in the newsroom.

YH: Can you get give suggestions to college photojournalist for future? 

LG: Some people get this advice a lot, but I really do think it's the best. It's just starting your own backyard. I didn't get an internship my first year at graduate school and everybody else did. I was panicking. I'm going to be so behind. I don't have an internship. It’s so bad on my resume. So the first summer of grad school I stopped in a collective myself and I thought to myself, “Ok, what do you want to be doing.” What I really wanted to do I wanted to go back to the south Texas border and work on my own project that I was interested in. So that's what I did.

I moved back to the border for that summer and I spent my weekends at the beach and during the week I got up – I had a job and I had an internship – and I would work really hard at this project that nobody was telling me to do and I was just curious and interested in. I built a lot of connections in the community along the border and did a photo essay last summer about the colonials in South Texas. Those are a little under developed communities that don't have a lot of access to infrastructure and water services and city services in the city because it's so far out of the city limits. I got to meet a lot of wonderful people and I got to learn a lot more about myself and my own pace without having to be in the formal structure of an internship.

So my advice is if there's a story that you're interested in, just go do it. You don't need any permission to do it. It actually looks better. It's a better reflection of you if you just get up and do it yourself because it shows you're self-starter and you're interested in that theme. It’s the passion come to leading you not because someone comes to tell you go do the story. So that’s my best advice for college students, start doing stories that matter to you because that will reflect really well what you need you find censorship. That will also be the key to unlocking some of the bigger opportunities. So after I did that self-started project. That's what I use to show future editors and that's how I started getting internships because they had a big project that I worked on my own and that was impressive by itself.

As the Stills Division for CPOY73 wrapped up earlier this week, judges headed out as Multimedia judges Maisie Crow, Jarrad Henderson and Yoshi James arrived on Thursday. The Multimedia Division judging will run until Sunday, November 4.

Stills Division judge Marcia Allert, left, speaks with Anto Tavitian, right, during a portfolio review before leaving. (PC: Patrick Farrell)

Still Division judges, from left, Marcia Allert, Patrick Farrell, Vaughn Wallace, and Cheryl Diaz Meyer talk in front of the Columns at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Multimedia Division judge Jarrad Henderson is interviewed by Ellie Cherryhomes, Jennifer Mosbrucker and Emily Nevils at the start of the judges' arrival on Thursday.

Multimedia Division judge Yoshi James (shown in center) donnes pins of herself and fellow multimedia judges, Maisie Crow, left, and Jarrad Henderson, right, on Friday.

Uwa Iduozee (University of Tampere) Anton Thompson Coon (Arcada University of Applied Sciences) Sandra Itäinen (School of Visual Arts)

Q1. You said that you were doing a photo story for the project, but changed to a video. How did that happen?

One of the first moving images that I took for the project was Leena at the hospital. I took this tripod shot of her just sitting in the chair and just thinking. I just felt it was so much more telling than just a single image because you can see that time passing and the stillness of it all. So many elements could be portrayed in a single image too, but I felt it was stronger by having movements even if it was really minimal. From then, I started adding to that. I don't think there was a single moment where I went, 'No, I have to tell the story through moving images.' I just started using moving images and then I found myself gravitated more and more towards that end.

Q2. How is the still image and video different to you?

I'm interested in telling the stories of people. I've felt with photography, you're always imposing your subjective view on that subject matter. But (with video), given the additional elements of audio or the moving image, I was able to tell and show more aspects of the individual and their life. I was somehow struggling with photography because a lot of times if you're working on a subject like cancer, a lot of the pictures I was taking, I felt they were loaded with my preconceptions and how I understood because I haven't been a cancer survivor.

For me in especially telling portraits of people, video formats give so much more nuances when you're able to add elements and sound. Since then I've been gravitated to more of an observational approach to filming.

Q3. What did you keep in mind while you were filming the project?

Most of the times, I was trying to be respectful and not intrusive. I was also trying to do my best not to impose anything that I expected to get or wanted to get. I was trying to be open to how things are going to unfold, which might not necessarily be exactly how you had envisioned. But I just wanted to be aware of my position and my limited understanding of the issue. I do this with every project. Basically, be open to what happens and go with the direction that's given.

Q4. Your subject looked really comfortable with your presence. How did you do that?

There's a feeling of connection from the start. Of course, you're going to get to know a person, talk about your intention and talk about how you are to get to know each other. But after that, you quickly get a sense of, 'are you on the same wavelength? Do you understand each other? Do you trust each other? Especially do they trust you and your motivations?'

I felt she was really open and she wanted to tell the story. So that was also important. I felt like she wanted me to tell the story. I felt like she trusted me.

And the way that I work is often that the camera is like a safety net. You can hide behind it. I often minimize myself. People don't really forget you, but it doesn't show your presence as much. Or they might forget you for 10 seconds here and there and that ten seconds might be diamond.

Q5. What else did you do to minimize your presence?

You can always say that 'try to act like I'm not here.' But it doesn't work that way. It takes time. I was going back time and time again. By the time I was filming the video, I had already been with her many of times taking pictures so we had already built the relationship. She was also naturally an easygoing person. It also has to do with if the person has something to do. She was reading to her child and they were together. They had the possibility to delve into something other than thinking of my presence in the room. So, I think that's always important. It's much more difficult to get a person to relax or to not acknowledge your presence when they have nothing to do. But when they're doing something, it's always easier.

Q6. Can you give advice to people working on documentary short videos?

Make sure you’re working with a theme you’re passionate about. Be patient in building the trust between yourself and your subject and be open about your intentions to them. Also, nerd out by watching all the docs you can find that in any way relate to your subject matter!

Q&A by Yehyun Kim. Supervising editor is Liv Paggiarino. 

Photo courtesy of Chad Stevens

Chad A. Stevens was named College Photographer of the Year in 1997 while he was a student at Western Kentucky University. He is currently an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC and is working on a feature length documentary film on the conflict over energy extraction in Appalachia. Before joining the UNC faculty, he was a documentary producer/editor at MediaStorm. Stevens has also taught in the visual communication programs at Western Kentucky University, the International Center of Photography and Ohio University.  

 

 Q. How did you get into photography?

 A. I was a nerdy art kid in college. I drew. I painted. I listened to The Cure - only the sad songs, none of that "Friday I'm in Love" business. And I was lucky enough to get a spot in Jack Corn's basic photojournalism course at WKU. Being the darkroom, the smell of the chemicals, learning to see and love light - all of these things and more got me hooked on photography. That's still the greatest gift for me personally actually, just being able to see and appreciate light in my daily life. It brings me a lot of joy.

 
 Q. Do you think winning the competition helped you in your career? 

 A. Without question, but it wasn't just about my career. Receiving this honor when I did really gave a touch of confidence to keep moving forward, to keep pushing for the next summit. When you are on the journey you just don't know how far you have to go. So it's all about valuing each step and giving yourself credit for how far you have come.

 Q. At the time how did it feel to win College Photographer of the Year?

 A. I remember every detail of the moment. The phone I answered. The room I was in. The light of the day. Calling my parents after I received the call from CPOY director. It was a pivotal point in my journey, and I'm still very honored to include CPOY on my list of accomplishments.

 Q. What would be your advice to current photojournalism students?

 A. You have to be human. You have to care. Your compassion and empathy transfers through you - into your work. You are just the medium through which the stories are told.

 Present tense storytelling. Be there in the moment. It doesn't matter if you are shooting stills or video, you must be present. Don't' fall into the trap of past-tense storytelling with video. It's the easiest formula to follow, but the easy path is almost always the wrong path. Always challenge yourself. Never settle for what's comfortable. And most importantly, ask yourself what you care about, then find those stories.


 Q. Is there anything you would like to add?

 A. This may sound just too simple, but here it is: create. You must create. You must continue, even when you can't see what's ahead, you must keep moving forward. Don't let the fear hold you back. That is the only mistake you can make.

Interview by Sarah Rothberg

Photo courtesy of Magnus Holm

Magnus Holm was named College Photographer of The Year in 2012 while he was a student at The Danish School of Journalism. He is now interning at National Geographic working on a story about the fast changing culture of the Inuit people in Nunavut, Canada. 

 Q. Do you think that winning the competition helped you in your career?

 A. Winning CPOY meant I got the opportunity of doing the internship at NatGeo which is probably the best thing that has happened for my career. It is an amazing opportunity to learn from the best in the field (both photographers and editors) and for me a very helpful experience in terms of getting to know the field outside of Denmark too. 

 Q. Do you think that being college photographer of the year influenced your personal approach to photojournalism?

 A. I don't think that winning has changed my approach, but it has given me lots of experiences and I have met many interesting and inspiring people through it. I guess you could say it has helped me expand my horizon instead. 

 Q. What would be your advice to current photojournalism students?

 A. I would advise them to go for the stories they find interesting, not what they think other people would have an interest in. It will show in your work.

Interview by Malte Kristiansen

Photo courtesy of Rick Gershon

Rick Gershon was named College Photographer of the Year in 2004 while he was a student at the University of North Texas. He is currently a freelance filmmaker and photographer based in Brooklyn, NY. Previously, he was the director of photography at MediaStorm and a featured photographer with Reportage by Getty Images.

 Q. Do you think winning the CPOY competition helped your career?

 A. Winning CPOY absolutely helped my career; I would say in many ways it launched it. I was a no-name photographer from a no-name school. I didn't have a big school on my resume or anything at all that would make me stand out for an internship or job for that matter. 

 Winning CPOY gave me instant recognition and respect. CPOY is a name that is trusted around the world, and so it was pretty huge for me to be recognized by them. Shortly after winning, I was hired on as staff photographer at the Dallas Morning News. I don't think there is any way a 22-year-old with no experience would have been hired on at a paper of that stature without having been recognized like that.

 Q. At the time, how did it feel to win CPOY?

 A. It was an absolute shock to say the least. I really didn't think I had any chance whatsoever of winning so when I got the call I really didn't believe it. I thought there must have been some kind of mistake. 

 Getting that call is still one of the coolest moments of my career.

 Q. Do you have any advice for current photojournalism students?

 A. My advice would be first to seek out a mentor that can teach you how to edit your work in a way that communicates and to learn from them how to speak the visual language. This was by far the most important and long lasting thing I ever did as a young photoj student. Beyond that I would say to keep CPOY or any other competition in perspective, see them for what they are, don't fall into the trap of shooting to win a competition because it's usually not those photographers that win anyways. We are out there in the real world telling real stories — that's what matters. It's great to get praise and respect from your peers and to have your work recognized as great. But always remember the point of why you are doing what you are doing — and that's the people you are photographing and the stories they are so graciously allowing you to tell.

Interview by Alexis Hitt

Photo by Mark Thiessen/National Geographic

Sarah Leen was named College Photographer of the Year in 1979 while she was a graduate student at the University of Missouri. She is currently the director of photography at National Geographic Magazine.
 

 Q. Do you think winning the competition helped you in your career?  

 A. It definitely helped me. That was my first time at National Geographic Magazine and my second internship. I learned how to shoot color transparency film there; I had only shot in black and white until then.

 The photographers were so supportive, and I got to go to Africa where I made my first story published in the magazine. It opened me up to what became my future.

 Q. What would be your advice to current photojournalism students?

 A. It’s a competitive field and there are less places in print to publish stories but there are a lot online. It’s good to have great technical skills, an aesthetic vision and great ideas.

 Know what stories you want to tell, what separates the best ones are ideas and the passion to do it one way or another. I would think about what stories I would want to tell. I would focus on my own back yard instead of saying, "I want to go to India because it’s cool." I would find a place that I have a personal connection with. It would give me an advantage.

 Q. Is there anything you would like to add? 

  A. The contest is an opportunity to get your work in front of people. People who are judging might be looking for young talent. If your don’t win one year, you enter again the next year.

Interview by Sarah Rothberg