Close Enough #7
Relationships, trust and consistent follow up -- the hallmarks of great photojournalism
Hi Friends,
April Saul is a truly remarkable photojournalist, for many reason, but chief among them is that she follows her visual stories for years, even decades, returning over and over to connect, capture and document. She is the QUEEN of the follow up, telling the stories of people from childhood to adulthood, from teen years to the end of life, from one generation to the next.
She has the ability to wrap herself in people’s lives, become personally involved in their triumphs and tragedies but still keep her focus on documenting the story.
We hope to feature many more of her work in the future, but a good starting place is her story about Renee Ramsey, a transgender woman who underwent gender reassignment surgery in her late 70s, one of the oldest to do so.
Renee’s long wait to transition to an identity she had carried insider herself from childhood was both liberating and challenging.
In the photojournalism archive you can see more of her story, accompanied by interview clips with April Saul talking about her work and relationships with Renee. You can view that story here: Renee Ramsey
You can also watch and listen to Renee tell her own story here: Renee's story
While you’re visiting April’s story on Renee check out her story on Jorge, who was blinded as a boy in a drive-by shooting and today is a father.
In the archive you can also see the work of the other photographers who have contributed stories to date. Our goal is to preserve and share these stories.
On other fronts, we would appreciate your support of the archive and its development. Fundamentally, this is a community archive project and we welcome your stories, support and ideas.
We continue to look for funding that will allow us to produce more stories, more efficiently. If you feel so moved, please contribute through our support portal or email me, Randa Cardwell, at photojournalismarchive@gmail.com. Thank you for any support you can offer.
And please follow us on:
Instagram -- @photojournalismarchive
Blue Sky -- @photojarchive
Facebook -- Photojournalism Archive
Thanks for reading Photojournalism’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.