Monday, 20 July 2009

  • Lost Generation - Jonathan Reed

    Lost Generation by Jonathan Reed

    I am part of a lost generation
    and I refuse to believe that
    I can change the world
    I realize this may be a shock but
    “Happiness comes from within.”
    is a lie, and
    “Money will make me happy.”
    So in 30 years I will tell my children
    they are not the most important thing in my life
    My employer will know that
    I have my priorities straight because
    work
    is more important than
    family
    I tell you this
    Once upon a time
    Families stayed together
    but this will not be true in my era
    This is a quick fix society
    Experts tell me
    30 years from now, I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce
    I do not concede that
    I will live in a country of my own making
    In the future
    Environmental destruction will be the norm
    No longer can it be said that
    My peers and I care about this earth
    It will be evident that
    My generation is apathetic and lethargic
    It is foolish to presume that
    There is hope.

    And all of this will come true unless we choose to reverse it .

    Read the message, then read it again in reverse.

    Which generation do you belong in?

Friday, 17 April 2009

Tuesday, 10 February 2009

  • addendum

    An Addendum to a 2008 retrospective

    so according to the 2009 Chinese Zodiac Calendar, 2009 is supposed to be a crappy year for everyone, but especially for those of us who were born in a year of the ox. fuck.

    it's looking that way so far. the economy sucks. i'm working two jobs and trying to balance full school schedule and my personal life. the industry im trying to break into is fundamentally changing: it currently has no jobs, and people are being laid off all over.

    Ka Leo is stressing me out. working with lazy editors that don't want to help at all. or do their shit on time.

    fuuuccckkkk. i hate stupid idiots.

Saturday, 03 January 2009

  • a 2008 retrospective

    January - My first semester at Manoa. After semesters of dilly-dallying around at KCC and LCC, i finally took the plunge towards my final academic goal. Graduation. I was set on going to graduating and going to medical school. Little did i know that after i joined a certain organization my life would take a totally different path. I was hired as a staff photographer at Ka Leo O Hawaii.


    My first published image in Ka Leo.

    February - wasnt too exciting for me. another lonely valentine's day came and gone. i wasn't shooting that many assignments for Ka Leo. I found photography to be fun...just things had stagnated. Time would continue to march on.


    Fishing with the YMCA Teens. Andre caught something with his hockey stick.

    March - Whistler, BC, Canada. Perhaps one of the funnest trips i had been on in a long while.my last out of country trip since Japan in 2002. Mahalo to Troy, Geena, Andre, Allison, Tammy, Corey, Andrew and the others for making it a memorable one.


    Fresh powder every single day. woo-hoo!

    April - Finally started shooting sports for Ka Leo. Baseball, probably one of the harder sports to shoot is my first sports assignment. bleh. haha! Befriended Richard Walker and Jamm Aquino, star-bulletin photographers. Great guys. good friends.



    May - First semester at UHM wrapped up. I did well. Passed ART206 decently. Really made me want to take 207. Applied to be the photography editor at Ka Leo. Got the job. decided photojournalism is something i wanted to pursue.


    Lantern Floating 2008.

    June - Bryan was fired. I was almost fired too. Decided i had enough with the hypocrisy of the YMCA. It would be only a matter of time before i left the Metropolitan Office.

    July - Geena and I started dating. who could've predicted this. Started JOUR307, taught by Fred Larson. Wicked awesome photographer. Really lit a fire under my ass.


    Geena and Me, 6 months later. New Year's Eve 2008.

    August - continued working on a picture story about my grandmother, Lily Yuen, entitled "Bound by Love' Still a work in progress. Traveled to Portland.



    September - 23rd Birthday. Also befriended a guy who i call a photo mentor. Cory Lum. A real inspiration, a good friend, and all-around great guy.



    October - ART207 stressing me out. Ka Leo work picking up speed. became close friends with Kelli Miura and Abigail Trenhaile.

    November - Elections. Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States. Very Cool.



    December - what a way to end the year. Member of the White House Traveling Press Pool for PEBO's stay in Hawaii. Geena and I made 6 months.


Thursday, 20 November 2008

  • New Media Frontier - Evolving and Changing

    At the beginning of summer, when I had first whole-heartedly stepped into photojournalism and the print world, I believed that the still/print industry was, and possibly still is fundamentally changing - both due to technological advances and market forces - and that still photographers needed to embrace new ideologies and technologies.

    A lot has happened in the past 6 months - most notably the economy (and on a more positive note, game changing technological advances such DSLRs that shoot 1080p video.) My outlook for the print industry is now quite dire - in many ways this economic downturn may lead to an incredible series of layoffs and failures in the upcoming year that our industry has never seen before. What I assumed would happen over the next 3-5 years - may happen in the next year or two - precipitated by this economic downturn that we’re experiencing.

    Newspapers and magazines are facing the absolute perfect storm - which is by definition, a contradiction in terms - a perfect storm, of course, is a devastating one. The old world print media relies on advertising, and readers. The problem is that as we all know, both subscribers and advertisers are seeing a very, very sharp decline. This is why you’re seeing incredibly cut backs in budgets, and massive layoffs. Publications are cutting the fat - and more often than not - into the bone - and guaranteeing their extinction in the long.

    The really interesting thing however, is how many people in the industry are adapting to the changes of a system and culture that they have been apart of for so long. Still photographers are about to be in a new paradigm soon, as the multimedia bandwagon quickly starts to pick up speed. Soundslides and Final Cut Pro are some programs that Visual Journalists have to learn in addition to Photoshop to survive in this ever-changing industry. The truth is - our way of doing things - not only the way we gather our content, but also the way we package, deliver and the way we expect to be paid for that work - is being shattered by a variety of internal and external forces that simply aren’t going to go away. Our industry is not dying - it’s evolving - and there’s no reason to run around in a panic… many of us will survive…and yet, many of us will be forced to work in an entirely different field.