Throughout most of the history of photojournalism, the images of African Americans featured in White-owned media were captured by people who were not Black. Black Issues spoke to some of today's most prominent African American photojournalists to get their views on the education and experience students of color need to excel in this highly competitive field.

Veteran photojournalist Milbert Orlando Brown knew he had something special when he was assigned to photograph seventeen-year-old trumpet player Timothy Wilborn.

Wilborn is a resident of Robert Taylor Homes, one of Chicago's most notorious public housing projects. He was the subject of a June 24, 1997, Chicago Tribune feature story because he had inspired wealthy Chicago philanthropist Gertude Nielsen to finance his college education.

Near the end of the photo session, Brown, who has a knack for finding dignity in the bleakest of environments, asked the all-city-band trumpeter to play his instrument. Unexpectedly, a little boy, a neighbor listening to the music, wandered into view. In an instant, Brown saw that the youngster's presence added a depth of humanity that would transform an above-average portrait into something extraordinary.

"The little boy came out of nowhere. [His presence] made it a special moment that had a certain dramatic impact," Brown says.

The resulting picture, titled "The Promise," was later nominated by the Chicago Tribune in the prestigious Pulitzer Prize feature photo competition. Last week, the image won the National Association of Black Journalists' top prize for a single-image news photo.

Brown is part of a small cadre of Black photojournalists at major American newspapers who are hitting the heights of their profession. Their prominence is deemed critical to the efforts of journalism educators and photographers who are trying to attract and groom the next generation of African American photojournalists.

Too few African American and other students of color are aware that photojournalism represents a viable career path, and thus minority student representation in college photojournalism courses and programs remains low.

Gary Kirksey, an assistant professor in the school of visual communications at Ohio University, says it's imperative to reach minority students long before college to help prepare them to pursue photojournalism. The former photojournalist and picture editor says he began getting practical experience by shooting pictures for publications as early as junior high school.

"I think the earlier that students get exposure to photojournalism, the better the chances will be that you'll have more minorities pursuing it," Kirksey says

Songs of My People

Recognition has come slowly to African American photojournalists such as Brown, partly because White-owned newspapers -- especially in major cities -- only began opening their doors to African American writers, editors, and photographers during the 1960s. Photography jobs are considered among the most competitive in the news business because there are far fewer positions available than there are for writers and editors.

Brown cites dogged persistence, sensitivity, solid news judgment, and a commitment to excellence as the formula for his rise as a celebrated photojournalist. The 1978 journalism graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, had worked as a high school journalism teacher, completed several internships, and had earned a master's degree in visual communications before landing a full-time news photography position at Patuxent Publishing Company, a Maryland newspaper firm, in 1987. He was employed as a photographer for the Boston Globe before landing his current position at the Chicago Tribune in 1991.

"It was tough getting a job," he says of the late 1970s and early 1980s. "They weren't hiring many Black men as photojournalists."

Prior to the current generation of Black photographers, most of whom began careers during the 1970s and 1980s, Black photojournalists worked exclusively for Black-owned newspapers and magazines, such as Ebony and Jet. Before 1970, Gordon Parks Sr., considered the dean of Black photojournalist, stood virtually alone among Black photographers who negotiated a successful career working for White-owned publications. Parks worked for Life and Vogue magazines between the 1940s and 1960s.

"Most Blacks were weighted with the denial of opportunity, but I had been fortunate to be able to shove aside those restrictive boundaries," Parks said in his autobiography Voices in the Mirror.

In 1992, a group of Black photojournalists gained national prominence by producing and publishing the celebrated photo book Songs of My People, which presented dozens of photographs of African Americans from locations around the nation. A number of prominent Black photojournalists -- such as Ortega Gaines of The Charlotte Observer, Mark Gail of The Washington Post, Odell Mitchell of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Dixie D. Vereen of USA Today -- were among those whose work was featured in the book. The project represented the first major national collaboration among African American photojournalists showcasing the diversity and complexity of Black life in the United States.

Today, while opportunities at White-owned publications have opened up for Blacks seeking careers in photojournalism, competition for jobs remains fierce.

Big-city newspapers typically offer the best salaries for photojournalists. A photographer with more than five years experience at The Washington Post can expect to earn between $50,000 and $70,000 annually, according to Gail. Annual salaries at smaller newspapers for less experienced photographers start around $20,000.

"The market for photojournalists is quite saturated, and has been so for some time," Kirksey says.

Nevertheless, he's "cautiously optimistic" that the numbers of Black and other minority photojournalists will see significant gains in the future.

Early Experience Is Key

Veteran Black photojournalists and instructors agree that a combination of real-world work experience and classroom education is essential to preparing young photographers to enter the profession.

Gaines, picture editor and photographer for The Charlotte Observer, says he began shooting pictures for The Washington Post while still attending an arts-oriented high school, where he took his first photography classes. He graduated from American University with a degree in video and film, but says he acquired much of his journalism education by working professionally with publications in the Washington, D.C., area.

"I knew I wanted to get into the newspaper business. I perfected my skills by learning from other photographers in the field," he says.

After graduation, in 1982, Gaines got a job working as a technician in the photo laboratory of the newly started USA Today. He moved to Florida to work as a staff photographer for the paper in 1983. Six years later he was hired by The Charlotte Observer as a photographer.

Gaines advises college students to pursue internships as a means of acquiring the professional work experience needed to augment their studies.

Not having a car limited Mitchell's chances to gain professional experience while in college. The lack of transportation narrowed his internship options to a stint with the university news service office. The East St. Louis, Illinois, native majored in journalism at Iowa State University and graduated in 1979. He now works for The St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

"It's impossible to be an intern at a small- to medium-sized newspaper and not have a [motor] vehicle," he says.

Mitchell didn't get his first news photography assignment until more than a year after graduation. He believes his limited intern experience is mostly to blame. In 1980, a newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida, finally hired him as a trainee. Eventually, he became a staff photographer, and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch recruited him back to the St. Louis area in 1982.

Gail says that since the 1970s, internships have become increasingly important for young photojournalists seeking to secure news jobs after college.

"Internships are real important. Most places want you have them before they'll consider you for a job," says Gail, a Baltimore native who decided to pursue photojournalism while a student at Towson University during the late 1970s. After graduation, he worked at a succession of newspaper photography jobs in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Gail is so committed to his craft that he once left a staff photography job at The Fort Worth Star Telegram to avert management pressure that would have moved him permanently into a picture editor's job. Photo editors are the managers in newsrooms charged with making photo assignments and selecting photos for publication.

Given his previous experience as a high school journalism teacher, Brown continues to encourage students to pursue photojournalism as a career. Just as Parks's stunning photography inspired him and other African American photojournalists, Brown hopes the work of today's Black photojournalists can inspire the next generation.

"It makes a difference when you see a certain role model who inspires you," he says.

RELATED ARTICLE: Photo Facts

A 1998 survey by the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) reported that there were 263 African Americans out of 5,790 total photographers employed by American newspapers, or nearly 4.5 percent. Minorities constitute 14.6 percent of newspaper photographers, according to ASNE. ASNE surveyed 957 of the 1,462 daily newspaper in the United States.

The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC), based in Lawrence, Kansas, accredits 107 programs of journalism and mass communications at American colleges and universities. Charles Higginson, assistant to the executive director of ACEJMC estimates there are 400 total programs of journalism and mass communications, which includes both accredited and nonaccredited programs.

ACEJMC has record of only three schools that offer a bachelor's degree in photojournalism: Western Kentucky University, Northeast Louisiana University, and Texas Tech.