Put Your Hands Together...
... for Mr. Hans Gutknecht.
Yes, that's right, our friend, colleague and occasional member Hans has been named Photographer of the Year by the Press Photographers' Association of Greater Los Angeles for the second year running. Check out his work here: http://www.ppagla.org/contests/05/hgport2005/hgport2005.shtml
Now it's easy to say, hey, he won last year, how hard is it to do twice? Well, let's consider these factors... first off, Hans and all the Daily Newsers are up against the LA Times. Not only do they have all the fancy-dancy gear, they're getting two months to work on stories and get sent all over the world. Hans and his contemporaries usually have a few days to shoot, if they're lucky and have to find their stories from Downtown to the Antelope Valley. Sure, that's fertile ground, but not quite the same as traveling to Iraq or El Salvador.
But even more impressively, Hans was also out of commission for six weeks this year, cruising around with an oxygen tank and some blue lips. Yes, even with the handicap of double pneumonia, he still beat out the competition. Looking at his stuff, you get the feeling that he could show up at an assignment without a camera and still get a great shot out of it. Even if he didn't have a pen, he'd turn in a rendering of the scene using ketchup, a french fry and a napkin, then head off to do it again with a fire, a portrait and a sports photo in the space of an hour.
So maybe that's exaggerating things only slightly, but you get the point. Hans exemplifies what we should all aspire to-- making the best with what he's got on hand and always doing fantastic work no matter the circumstances. We should all congratulate him and learn from his example.
Alright, enough yakking for one night. See you guys on Wednesday...
-Brent
Yes, that's right, our friend, colleague and occasional member Hans has been named Photographer of the Year by the Press Photographers' Association of Greater Los Angeles for the second year running. Check out his work here: http://www.ppagla.org/contests/05/hgport2005/hgport2005.shtml
Now it's easy to say, hey, he won last year, how hard is it to do twice? Well, let's consider these factors... first off, Hans and all the Daily Newsers are up against the LA Times. Not only do they have all the fancy-dancy gear, they're getting two months to work on stories and get sent all over the world. Hans and his contemporaries usually have a few days to shoot, if they're lucky and have to find their stories from Downtown to the Antelope Valley. Sure, that's fertile ground, but not quite the same as traveling to Iraq or El Salvador.
But even more impressively, Hans was also out of commission for six weeks this year, cruising around with an oxygen tank and some blue lips. Yes, even with the handicap of double pneumonia, he still beat out the competition. Looking at his stuff, you get the feeling that he could show up at an assignment without a camera and still get a great shot out of it. Even if he didn't have a pen, he'd turn in a rendering of the scene using ketchup, a french fry and a napkin, then head off to do it again with a fire, a portrait and a sports photo in the space of an hour.
So maybe that's exaggerating things only slightly, but you get the point. Hans exemplifies what we should all aspire to-- making the best with what he's got on hand and always doing fantastic work no matter the circumstances. We should all congratulate him and learn from his example.
Alright, enough yakking for one night. See you guys on Wednesday...
-Brent
posted by Oxnard St. at 10:03 PM
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