EQ/Research | photojournalism

Here is the source of my greatest research/biggest inspiration: Steve McCurry. Steve McCurry is/was an American photojournalist who photographed cultures, events, and people from all over the globe. McCurry is most famous for his photo the "Afghan Girl" that appeared on the cover of National Geographic. I spent a lot of time studying McCurry's work, read parts of his books and accounts of various photographs, and saw the things that were accomplished in response to McCurry's photographs. He drew attention to global issues, social, economic, and political. He changed the world with his photographs. So, to answer my essential question in part, it is possible. Now... How can I do it?

My EQ:

How can I utilize written journalism and photojournalism and all its elements to such an effective degree that I express common social, political, and economic problems of our generation and promote awareness of said various world issues?

Steve McCurry's famous photo: "The Afghan Girl."

Example 1: Abroad

Example 2: How did I do it at JMC?

So. My end goal is photojournalism that changes the world...like Steve McCurry. My end goal is international photojournalism. So, how did I manage to do that at Jacobs Media? Well, obviously, my work was on a much smaller scale. I worked in Gainesville/Oakwood/Flowery Branch areas. While this isn't the world-changing international journalism I was researching, it was essentially the same thing, on a smaller scale. I took pictures and wrote about stuff that changed our community. I took photos of local events that mattered to the people here. Social events, economic events (Norton Meeting I attended), and political events (seeing election day coverage). All this serves to prove that journalism and photojournalism can and does change the world, or, in my case, the community, which is every bit as monumental. So yes, I did learn to use photojournalsim and written journalism to change the community, and will hopefully be able to use those skills on an international scale someday.

This was the first time my photos were published on here... Can you see the little "Photo: Hannah McQueen" credit? It was worthy of a screen-shot.

My Conclusion:

Yes, it is possible. And how did I do it? I studied good photography. I tried to always improve my work in both written journalism and photojournalism. I covered the things that mattered to people locally and tried to capture the feel of events, from Mule Camp to the Norton Financial Forecast Report. My internship at Jacobs Media taught me the skills I will need to take my journalism to the international scale.

This was my first time sitting in on a live radio broadcast at the station.

The sign speaks for itself! My photos and some written articles were published on North Georgia's most read news website.