What started out as an assignment for N’DIGO Magazine | Hartman Publishing Group in 1994 turned out to be anything but. I was hired to photograph a profile about black men with technical jobs for an article in the magazine and delivered the photo on time for the assignment. The article was delayed indefinitely and the negatives were filed away until they were scanned on February 3, 2025 for all to see. John H. White is a Pulziter Prize photographer, who worked for the The Daily News, The Chicago Sun-Times and taught a film photography class at Columbia College. Here is John and his photojournalism class at Columbia College teaching the students how to approach a news story for the media. The students are watching closely while John is giving the how-to navigate the decisive moment when the shutter clicks the image that can make or break a career. Every photographer who works with film lives in fear of the latent image. Only when the film is processed does the photographer breathe a sigh of relief. John H. White has had to navigate many decisive moments in his long and storied career. When he was nine years old, his teacher told him because he had poor math skills the only job that he was capable of was becoming a garbage man. His father who was a preacher said, you can be a garbage collector but make sure that you are the driver! His first assignment was to take photos of his church that had burned down and the reconstruction of the church that was also encouraged by his father. What struck me the most about John was the positive encouragement he gave to his students. Photography is serious business and I have always respected the technical and artistic aspects of that work and at the same time mastering the various technical aspects can free the photographer to enjoy his craft and freeze a moment for all to see in a historical perspective.
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