2011 JUROR - GEORGE F. LEE

Photo Editor, Honolulu Star-Advertiser

BFA, University of Hawaii at Manoa
 

I started my photography career in high school, taking my first freelance photo assignment working a Loggins and Messina concert at age 16.  The darkroom at Maryknoll School would become my second home while working for the yearbook.  Making a conscious decision to continue, the University of Hawaii student newspaper Ka Leo O Hawaii was the next stop.
 

I began freelancing as professional while still in college, catering to monthly and weekly titles, nearly all of which have since folded.  My first newspaper job was at the now defunct Sun Press News.  It was a chain of community newspapers that served Central, Leeward, Windward and East Oahu.   

Midweek Magazine was a staple of mine for many years, with more than 250 cover photo subjects that included Israel Kamakawiwoole, Larry Mehau, Robert Wyland, Carol Burnette, Charo, and a 4 year old Elvis Presley impersonator now known as Bruno Mars.  Commercial work with clients that included a bank and a hospital along with stringing for the wire service Agence-France Presse rounded out a modest income.

I came to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in 1996 to eek out whatever experience I could get with however much time the paper had left.  I was appointed the paper’s Photo Editor in 2005.

I count my father, Dr. Frederick Siu Fun Lee, to be one of my biggest influences on my career.  A physician, he was a gifted drawer and painter who had also taken up photography as a hobby.  I was 14 when he died.  Literally weeks later I got my hands on his Nikon F.  By far, the greatest legacy I had received is the career I still have today.

WHAT MAKES A GREAT PHOTO?

While a good photo should be technically proficient, a great photo should also have qualities that go beyond simple composition, lighting and subject matter.

A great photo is a delicate balance of timing, heart, vision and luck.  These factors aren't likely to add up to brilliance unless you've mastered the technical aspects of photography and put in the time to consider artistic factors, such as storytelling and imagery.

"Timing" may sound like a cold and analytical concept.  Yes, it is that moment one actually chooses to trip the shutter — but it is also the culmination of hours if not days of thought, or sometimes, just a flash of brilliance.  In certain settings, that moment will never come.

Heart, closely aligned with "vision," refers to the passion, the fire we hold as photographers, artists and documentarians to capture an image and the essence of our subject every time we look though the viewfinder.  Heart includes a drive for perfection and the inspiration for boldness and patience.  One may, under certain circumstances, photograph the same setting over and over, tweaking the results, seeking some sort of resolution to a concept that's being considered.

Vision is an element that defines both the photographer and the photo, and is related to style.  Is the picture recognizable as yours in concept?  In execution? And most importantly, your vision should materialize in your product.  Vision establishes the difference between a basic document and a personal interpretation of the mundane made universal.  Vision includes that very personal set of preferences and decisions made in the field or in the studio.

Luck.  Just as with so much of nature, fate aids or conspires against us in our quest of an image.  But we can add to the odds in our favor by making choices based on experience.  One of my earliest mentors from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin has said to me on a number of occasions, “I would rather be lucky than good.”  What he really means is that, building on his experience, he's able to take leaps of faith that lead to successes.  And 30 years in, he continues to make his own luck.

Very often elements of a good photo, light, composition, timing, even an elusive subject, swirl around us.  Some elements are controlled only by nature, God, the gods or the influence of others.  Decisions made, like the choice of subject matter, perspective; physical and temporal setting, personal preferences, and chance all contribute to the success of a great image.