Blog Niche?

Being a Communication & Journalism major in college, I am constantly reminded of the fact that the face of journalism is changing faster than the faces of those women on TLC's I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant when a full-term bundle of joy pops out in a bathroom stall at Six Flags. Among all the theoretical analyzing, AP style worshiping and digital media editing, there is a sort of pressure there that I sense wasn't nearly as strongly felt back in the Good Night, and Good Luck days. It is a pressure that has been brought on by the same tool that has become amateur Journalists everywhere's best friend - blogging and social media. 

As I sit in front of my Twitter profile, dumbfounded at how people have the time to tweet about current events 30 times a day and still have time for everything else they do, I feel an increasing sense of pressure to do the same. YouTube, Word Press, Blogger, Flickr, Tumblr, Scheisse! How is a girl supposed to keep up with it all? 

After researching some "How-To" advice columns about successful blogging, it dawned on me. If anyone is going to read what I have to say; if I'm going to become the next Perez Hilton (love him or hate him, he's good at what he does), I'm going to have to narrow down my topic list. This blog has been, since it's inception, a place I've used to write about what I experience. That is really the easiest and often times best thing to write about, however, little more than 3 of my close friends ever read it. I need to find a consistent theme that people I don't know are going to want to read about, and I need to find it now.

Browsing around on blogger, I seldom find more than wanna-be celebrity gossip blogs, Family Journals, and a strangely enormous amount of Arts-and-Crafts and Knitting blogs that have more followers than I have ever had.

Let's see... my interests. Music? Check. Movies? Check. News? Check. Wait a minit... there's no way I can become the next "TheRumpus.net" single-handedly, right? Maybe not, but I've got to try something. Maybe once I start, something will stick. Maybe somewhere in the midst of all the testing, reading, meeting, and thinking that is required of a 4-year degree, I can make time to update often enough to get more than 4 people - and more than my parents and my friends - to follow me. I want a blog about which I can proudly say, "Yeah, I'd follow me". Or maybe I can just get an internship......


I'm keeping this blog, for sure. But I need to figure it out; really figure it out, before I get swallowed up in the swelling and quickly growing ocean of online media.

Here's to the wild and on-going makeover of Journalism as we know it.

Sam

Dreaming of Soufflé

(Above: Anthony’s favorite picture; a young girl’s reaction to the fetal pig she is assigned to dissect. Soufflé says the emotion in the image is raw and self explanatory, something that you are lucky to capture. That’s why he considers it his favorite.)

Anthony Soufflé is a talented and enthusiastic young photojournalist who has worked for various news publications all over the country. In an enlightening 30 minute interview I held with him he let me pick his brain about why he loves what he does, what really matters to employers in the world of photojournalism, what in his opinion makes the best kind of photograph, and much more.

Anthony earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern Illinois, where he is currently working on his graduate degree. After completing five internships at various publications all over the country including his most recent internship with the Colorado Springs Gazette, he is headed to Augden, Utah to work as a staff photographer for the Standard Examiner. Anthony strongly recommends internships to photography students. He states, “Internships are going to let them know that you can hack it in the real world, you're not going to flake out on deadlines, you can cover spot news; that they’re not going to have to baby sit you.”

Many people’s definition of journalism is limited to people who write for a living; perhaps news reporters rushing around trying to write the next big exposé of the week, or a handsome, well groomed man with a microphone at the scene of a crime. What many people do not realize is that journalism comes in many forms; one of which uses a camera as its tool for telling stories in a way that is unique among others. Anthony explains, “I consider myself a journalist because the thing I enjoy most is telling stories. I enjoy getting to meet new people every day, getting to know them and getting to share in their experiences. I really think that's my favorite thing about this. I get to hang out and do things that no one else would ever really get to do except the people I'm photographing”.

Anthony likes the spontaneity of his job; and when he has no specific assignments for the day, he loves the thrill of finding the perfect opportunity for a photograph. On this he says, “I keep a change of khakis, dress shoes and a shirt and tie in the trunk of my car, because i have no idea if they're going to send me to the zoo to photograph a baby elephant that was born or if I’m going to a funeral. On [the days without an assignment], I can go out and find an interesting picture for the day. That can be a mom and her kid in the park or I’ll go to the wolf sanctuary that they have here in town and ask them if they have anything new going on”. This is one appeal of photojournalism to those souls who would rather staple their hand to a desk than work inside most of their days.

Being a student for most means constantly thinking about your future careers and the way that employers will perceive you. For all the photography students out there trying to compete, Anthony says that if you’ve got talent, it will come naturally. He says, “I have a lot of friends that worked really hard to try to get that style and to try to get that unique look to their pictures when they were photojournalism students. I think that's just a waste of time. Your style is going to develop”. With the many worries plaguing students in recent times is whether or not they are on the path that’s best for them, perhaps this is advice that can be applied to students inevery field of study; just be yourself.

Quetzal

I am making it a point to blog more than just once a month which has been the usual frequency as of late!

This is going to be a significantly long post compared to my usual blog length. I have so much to tell!

La Senda in Guatemala was such incredible experience that I can not fathom the words to fitfully describe. It will be etched in my heart forever, especially the children that I met there. They all were wonderful in their own beautiful way. Some with hearts like Lions, able to overcome any tragedy that has befallen then during their precious young lives. Others still with scars visible emotionally and physically. All of them with a life inside of them that exceeds that of men and women with ten times their lifetimes lived.

Each day we got up at the crack of dawn (well... it was for us Americans, anyway) to find work around the Children's Home that would keep us busy for that day.. and what an abundance of work to do there was! By the end of the trip we had moved (as Martha Lee calculated) 650 cubic feet of dirt and painted over countless tiny hand prints lining the walls. Each evening when the kids got out of classes we spent as much time as we could getting to know them all, playing games, and going to quiet prayer time.

I really grew attached to one little girl who I think grew attached to me too. Yeny was absolutely the most precious, amazing, funny, wonderful girl I had ever met. We would sit quietly together in quiet time every evening for a few minutes before going outside to play. That time was really a precious little moment that I will never forget, and it really put life in perspective for me. The whole experience did.

All the girls seemed to be fascinated by Brandon. I would always see them running up to him to ask him questions and giggling their little heads off.

The lives of these people, not only those who lived at the children's home, but those living in the surrounding city of Sumpango, were so radically different from mine. Their main concern was the survival of their family and all other things fell away. They did not notice when a new blockbuster movie came out and they didn't watch CNN. If they did have a tv it came on once a year to show the world futbol cup. Their world was what they saw around them. Their lives depended on how many avocados they could grow that year.

There were three gigantic volcanoes looming over the city of Sumpango. You could see them very well from the back yard of the children's home. Also, when we visited the town of Antigua, you could clearly see the monstrous volcano that had recently erupted, causing the deaths of many Guatemalans. Thankfully, it seemed that the rubble from the natural disasters had been mostly cleared and the most that remained to be seen from the roads were tall piles of ash and some small rock slides.

In Antigua I had my first experience with the people of the market, who were the most aggressive salesmen I have been solicited by since Mary Kay (especially if they knew you were American, which of course was obvious haha). Once I expressed interest in buying a necklace from one woman, what seemed like fifty of them swarmed on me, practically throwing their crafts at me. They followed us around the square until finally giving up on me, with very unhappy faces.

The last night at La Senda was an emotional evening, although we had only been on the compound for a few days. I realized that we had to leave the next morning and I would not re-unite with these people until next year.

They are all watching the World Cup and so am I, thinking of them every game. Especially my little Victor, the coolest kid I have ever met.

Transcontinental

I am officially going to Guatemala in a week and a half! I get to spend some time with some precious little childrens who live in a children's home and help them complete various tasks around the infrastructure that need to be completed. It is going to be one of the highlights of my summer so far! The children who live there (La Senda) are court-appointed children who come from either abusive or neglectful homes, or no homes at all, as I understand it. I believe currently their ages range from seven to seventeen years old. We are bringing toys and clothes to the young ones and

other various objects in attempt brighten their little lives.. and will be teaching some lessons and playing games with the young ones.

above is a picture from a previous trip that I have stolen of a boy that lives there named Gerson.

After spending a few days at La Senda, we will visit the beautiful city of Antigua where we will shop and eat for a while and check out the gorgeous Jade jewelry that is available for a good price. I love Jade jewelry so this is one (lesser) thing I am looking forward to doing while in Guatemala.

I can't wait to see their little faces. I have a list of their names and have imagined what they are like....

In other news, I am finally moving out again. My friend Erin and I found a townhouse and we promptly fell in love with it's little fenced-in mini-backyard and fireplace den. We move in on the 28th of June and are looking forward to having our first house warming party! It is going to be an extremely beneficial move for me since I will be closer to not only school and everything else I visit on a regular basis but also right down the road from the interstate so I can get to the city for bellydance class and such.

By The Way..... bellydance class at the little 5 studio has been entirely amazing so far. The perimeter studio was great, but there is something about this little studio, and that something is probably Dujana!! One of the best teachers I have seen thus far. My friends and I adore her and her day-brightening personality.

Many have given strange looks when they hear the word 'bellydance', and it's no wonder because it has, over the years, been thoroughly skankified by hollywood and it's popular image. It happens that it actually originated as a folk dance which would prepare the body's core muscles for child birthing (they didn't have the super pain-killers we have today), and was also used as a form of entertainment; but nothing really like the 'harem-sluts' that we see in movies.

It has been one of the most confidence-boosting, muscle-bending and fun experiences I have had lately. Plus it is fun to skate over to one of the bars or restaurants in the area after class is finished and celebrate.

until next tea time