E&P’S 2023 SHOOTING STARS

Talented visual journalists take us inside a moment, or a series of them, communicating information and inspiring emotion — whether through a single image or hours of video footage. Top news photographers and videographers are technicians, creative visionaries, astute observers and chroniclers of history. They capture stories frame by frame, appending narratives and scripts with visual complements. The 2023 class of Shooting Stars come from small publications to large corporate entities. Some have studied at the top schools, and others have honed their craft in the school of hard knocks. Some have observed historical events and famous people, and some spend their days telling the stories of their communities, capturing high school sports and small-town festivals. What these 15 Shooting Stars have in common is a love for the art, an enviable work ethic and a devotion to visual journalism.

Education/where you learned to

shoot: I went to journalism school in Brazil and did my masters in International Relations later in Brussels, Belgium. But I learned journalism and television in the field.

Number of years in photojournalism:

21 years

What advice do you have for young professionals aspiring to become photojournalists?

It’s a cliche to say one can’t do television alone, but it’s also the biggest truth about this business. Editors, producers, reporters and camera people must work together and often do a little of everything to put on a show. Now,

I am in front of the cameras more often than behind them, but all the experience I had before was tremendously valuable.

When I saw myself in the middle of a crime/terrorist scene with only an

iphone with 30% battery left, I knew what shots I needed to tell the story. I knew how to record the best possible audio. And I knew my camera operator colleagues would give me a hard time if I made a basic mistake.

In the end, our entire coverage of the terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015 was based on the footage I recorded inside and outside Stade de France stadium, and that is one of my proudest achievements as a journalist.

For aspiring photojournalists: Know your story inside and out before you start shooting, but keep an open mind for the developing story as we can always learn more and can always try to tell the story in a more concise and interesting way that will break down the information in more images and fewer words. If it’s breaking news or a fast-developing story, try to use your trained eyes as a curious audience member who just turned it on. I always imagine myself telling Homer Simpson the news. What image, graphics and words will make it easier to understand the story as fast as possible? That’s my North.