You pinpointed and made me fully illuminated of the ultimate goal of my photography. It was a moment and comment I shall never forget.

To this day and into the future, it is the stimulus that drives me to make pictures.

Erin, Larry Silver indeed enjoys the portraits, and we’ve promised each other to keep in touch via our rapidly developing e-mail technology.

Erin and Danielle, may your future in photography be chock full of satisfactions and clear communication of your feelings.

I remember so well when environmental portrait photographer Arnold Newman asked his Friends of Photography seminar students in 1985: “Tell me about your background and reasons for being a photographer?”

My first remark was, “I was a professional before I was a photographer.” He nodded his head up-and-down and meaningfully smiled.

Then I told him that my Greeley Tribune editor, Floyd E. Merrill, said a few days after I joined the staff as sports editor in 1956, that photography was in my job description, and I had limited experience or little liking for it.

Bless his heart, Mr. Merrill took very good care of my needs — a magnificent tutor and teacher.

We shall never stop learning, will we?

I recently joined a popular photo mailing list thinking it would be a good place for feeback, but more often it feels like the internet bubble of trendy photojournalism. People congratulate popular posters and are quick to judge less popular or less experienced photographers. I appreciate criticism, but twice I posted stories and received comments from people that made it obvious they hadn’t taken the time to view the entire project, but took the time to give their opinion anyway.

It’s still helpful to look at other peoples’ work, and not all the feedback is so haphazard, but it’s silly to limit the value of an journalistic image only to what other photographer’s think.

There are plenty of images I love that are probably too artsy for a newspaper, but my favorite photos are the ones I know other people understand and appreciate. If I really like something, I usually show friends and family before throwing it out to the sharks. When on assignment, I pay attention to color and light and moments, but I also keep in mind what will tell the best story for readers. I like Paul’s photos of the boy with lots of freckles, and the same boy 40 years later, sans freckles. Simple and honest, and I’m sure Larry Silver loves the portraits. A trendy photographer would probably crop out his head from the nose on up…

I’ll admit, the first time I saw that top image, I couldn’t understand your attachment to it, because it looked like a mess to me. But as I grow as a photographer, I love it more every time I see it. I too am a photographer’s photographer. I love getting a strong reaction from people who really know what they’re looking at. And if I can appeal to that audience, I think I’m more likely to get the kind of criticism that I need in order to improve.

But thanks to your post, I’m going to think more about the reader’s perspective. Though my current method produces images that I’m happy with (as I’m more of a hobbyist than an aspiring professional, my personal happiness tends to be a big factor), our first obligation as journalists is to the reader. And if the reader can’t appreciate our work, I’d also make the argument that we haven’t done our subjects justice.

Thanks again for another thought-provoking post!