Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/04/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Eric Welch wrote: > And the editor is not there to > show off. Like good design, photo editing should be invisible. > > That being said, I think photo editing contests that judge a work over > time, not one page, can truly show how an editor can make it possible for a > photographer's work to even be seen. Eric and Dave, As I am sure you both realize, we have limited this discussion to actual picking of pictures. Yet so much of a photo editor's job can be to inspire the photographer, to provide background to help he or she understand context, to set out story points to investigate, to discuss graphic style or points of view that take into consideration the greater context of the entire publication. Etc. Great editors, whether from words or pix, magazines or newpapers, photo agencies or book publishers, have these abilities. They can be like the grandfather or grandmother we go to for their wisdom and compassion and love and trust. They can be the ones who know what you are capable of and will accept no less. Perhaps, the hardest part of a photo editor's job happens before the photographer goes out on assignment and when there are bumbs in the road during. Picking a good picture off a contact sheet is the easy part. Of course, editing an essay is an art in itself, and certainly a different set of skills than photography. donal - -- Donal Philby San Diego http://www.donalphilby.com