Spring 1995
Thank your lucky stars if you had lazy, unambitious parents. You could have gotten something far worse: overachievers. With many successes in various fields on his resume, photojournalism teacher Kenneth Kobre would seem to have already fought his battle and won, but he's following on the heels of a tough act. Kobre's father, Sidney, was a reporter, editor, and professor who wrote 16 books on the history of journalism. His mother, Reva, is also a writer.
Doomed to be smart, Kobre has made a name for himself not only as a photographer and teacher, but as an author as well. His foothold in the tough book publishing industry, established by his expertise in photography, seemed to become a permanent niche with his two latest projects: "L'Chaim," a non-fiction children's book which he was hired to take photos for, and the third edition of his popular handbook, "Photojournalism: The Professional's Approach." This brings to four his total number of published works; the other two are "Photographing for Newspapers and Magazines" and "How to Photograph Friends and Strangers."
"L'Chaim," written by Tricia Brown, takes us into the life of Zev Tsukerman, a Jewish Russian 12-year old who recently immigrated with his parents to San Francisco. With a picture on almost every page, "L'Chaim" is meant to give children a foundational exposure to Jewish traditions and the immigrant experience. Kobre says Tsukerman was the perfect subject because "he paid no attention to me. He basically acted like I didn't exist."
"Photojournalism: The Professional's Approach" first came out in 1980 and has sold 50,000 copies since then, being required reading at 125 universities around the country. The latest edition, which will be available this fall, will contain a completely new chapter on digital photography, including filmless digital cameras. Keeping up with changes in other areas of the field, Kobre has also added new material to the history, ethics and editing sections, and a few interviews with prominent photographers. One-third of the pictures inside have been replaced by new ones.
The new edition also features work by SFSU students. Two recent photo stories, Sarah Prall's "Headaches" and Chris Larson's "Gilman Street," are among those being considered for a permanent promotion into the text's gallery of outstanding images. According to Kobre, the dozens of photographs collected from sources around the country include "some of the best photojournalism ever produced."