I have always been intentional about what I choose to capture through my lens. As a photographer and photojournalist, I often take longer than necessary to reflect on the story I’m covering, or the one I hope the image will tell.
When I first stepped into photojournalism, I believed a photograph, a video, or the narrative it carried could not deceive. I was young, idealistic, still green. I felt we owed our readers and viewers nothing less than pure, unfiltered truth. Then experience taught me otherwise.
More than thirty years of grinding as a reporter and photojournalist have largely come to a close. I can no longer write for mainstream media. I won’t. The near-sacred mantra of “if it bleeds, it leads,” the constant tailoring of content to targeted demographics, I can neither tolerate nor stomach it anymore.
In those decades, too much of the news I produced didn’t solve problems; it amplified them. It prioritized keeping eyes glued to screens or pages, the better to sell advertising space. The longer the engagement, the greater the revenue.
ENOUGH.
I am now stepping away from that echo chamber to launch two new outlets, one personal, one dedicated to light, both aimed at rediscovering and sharing the good that still exists in our world.
Doors open and close. Sometimes they are shut on us. Other times we choose to walk through one, turn the lock behind us, and throw away the key, trusting another will appear when the time is right. That is what I have done: I have stepped through two new doors, closed them firmly, and discarded the keys so there is no returning.
As you’ll see in the next piece I share, “Walking Away,” I have recently endured a prolonged siege in a toxic environment. This is how I reclaim my peace and joy: through photography, through writing, and through my faith.
What I face now brings to mind a senryu of mine once published in *Modern Haiku*:
emptiness
a blank page
full of stories
I stand before a fresh door, key in hand. Beyond it lies a blank page, ready to be filled with images and words that inspire, spark joy, kindle hope, and help us all push back against the darkness that presses in every day.
