He Wrote the Book on Photojournalism
Professor Ken Kobre publishes the fourth edition of his landmark textbook
By
Joanne Hanlon
OF THE SLUG! STAFF
Ken Kobre wasn't looking to write a bestseller.
"I'd never considered doing a book; I had always been a photographer," the director of the photojournalism program at San Francisco State says, reflecting back on his decision more than 20 years ago to write a textbook.
"But I really wanted to answer the questions students were asking me-- like, 'What is a feature?' 'Where do you find them?' -- questions like these that come up all the time," he explains.
Kobre answers these questions and many more in his book, Photojournalism: The Professional's Approach. The fourth edition of the text came out this spring.
The 360-page book is more than just eye-candy for photography fans. The book's publisher, Marie Lee, calls it the leading text on photojournalism in the United States and internationally.
Kobre adds that his book is used by more than 125 universities, including MIT, Syracuse, and San Jose State -- with more than 50,000 copies in print.
That list is about to grow with the help of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, Annie Wells.
The former Kobre student has been hired to teach a first photojournalism class at the University of Southern California this fall. Her pick for suggested reading? You guessed it, the latest edition of Kobre's book.
Wells remembers first seeing an early edition almost 20 years ago.
She had been thinking about leaving science photography for newspaper photography when, she says, she stumbled across it in the library.
"It was the most informative and useful book I had seen on the subject," Wells says.
She later met Kobre and took his photojournalism class at San Francisco State University, gathering skills that would eventually help her win the Pulitzer.
Wells' prize-winning photo of a teenage girl awash in California flood waters -- and the rescue worker struggling to save her -- serves as the cover image on Kobre's new boo
k.
But the new edition has more than just an updated cover.
The revision took Kobre a full year and includes interviews with White House insider Diana Walker of TIME, as well as David Kennerly of Newsweek and John Gaps of the Associated Press. Of the 500 pictures in the book, one-third are new.
John Burgess, another former Kobre student who has earned his own share of photojournalism awards, isn't surprised by the book's success.
"You can look at a lot of photo books in the store and they're just years and years behind," he says. "The strength of Ken's book is getting perspective on it all, and keeping it up to date."
"He's done this book four times now and each version keeps pace with what's happening in the industry, like digital illustration and digital cameras," Burgess adds.
Kobre knew from the outset that to keep his book fresh and informative he needed to include the top professionals in the industry.
"So I went out and interviewed the best sports photographers, the best news photographers, the best feature photographers, the best photo editors," Kobre says.
"I sat down with each photographer and had them describe the picture, asking how did they come to be there in the first place," he explains.
What's more, Kobre's book taps into the latest research on photography.
"When you look at a page, the eye remains on a photo for less than one second," Kobre says. He explains this was discovered through eye-trac research, a technique that traces the eye as it moves across a page.
"So the photo has to be clean," he explains.
Kobre's book covers photojournalism as a staff photographer would cover assignments. Fully illustrated chapters on spot news, general news, covering the issues, features, portraits, sports, the photo story, photo illustration, photo editing, cameras and f
ilm, strobe, digital images, ethics, law and history weave together all the elements that make a true photojournalist.
If you're not convinced, ask Burgess.
He doesn't simply refer to it as a book.
He calls it the bible -- the bible of photojournalism, that is.
