Saturday, April 10, 2010

Ed Kashi | Susan Mihalick

Ed Kashi is the voice for people, who often don't have one. He is a self proclaimed "visual storyteller" and an amazing one at that. I was sincerely moved by all of the images that he shared with us, especially his work on Aging in America...seriously, please check it out at... http://mediastorm.org/0009.htm. He says that this eight year project, made him a "better person."I loved that his visual communications were not only visually stunning, but had a purpose behind them, or what Kashi refers to as "advocacy journalism." All of his pieces have a strong photo journalistic purpose in mind but still incorporate classic, principles of design.

I was not only impressed by Kashi's work, but the way in which he candidly spoke of his own career, and his advice for other's. As an Ad major a lot of the things that he said didn't completely relate to me, but regardless his advice was genuine and smart.
Kashi's recommendation to photographers that are in the early stages of their career, was to "find your personal vision, focus and drill down deep to whatever that may be." I loved the focus, intensity, and passion he encouraged us to have.
Although Kashi has often been to more than eight countries for one story alone, he spoke of how there are amazing, often untold, and "important" stories right here, within the U.S. I appreciated that, because I sometimes feel that America, and it's people are often treated as "blase" by photographers. Kashi is different.
Other advice included the idea of finding out what exactly you want to do within photography, because sometimes its not just the shooting that you are skilled in. He explained that not many people can do all parts of the process from shooting to post production, well, so you may want to concentrate on one aspect. Kashi is such a positive, passionate individual saying "Plan for success", "when you create - something great will come from it." I appreciated his honestly and obvious passion for his work. I would easily make the switch to the photojournalism major after witnessing this presentation. Thank you Ed Kashi! and remember,
"Images have power. Anyone who say's they don't, is full of crap." - Ed Kashi

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