What is a photojournalist?

What is a photojournalist?  No dictionary needed to define the word; just break it down in two words and you will see it defines itself.  A Photo-Journalist is someone that tells a story with a still or video camera without the use of a reporter.  That my friends is what you and I do every time we take a picture to record a sweet or bitter moment in time.  Since I was a child and picked up the first Polaroid Camera my Dad was given by a nice Soldier getting shipped off to another country, I became curious about how to use it.  I did not figure it out without the help of a photojournalist that used to go inside the restaurants in Juarez, MEX to take pictures of people having fun.  I loved that camera and going around smiling to the neighbors and encourage them to smile as I snapped pictures and showed them the final print..  Today I came to find out that the Polaroid is still at my Mom's House somewhere in a box in the attic. I think back when I fist used it and realize that that nice Soldier that gave it to my Father left a treasure behind.  As I got older an progressed with Technology and the use of the Digital Cameras I came to find out that Polaroids are no different than Digital Cameras; they both reveal an image instantly but one faster than the other.  The main thing they both do is record a moment in time that enhances of brings down our emotions.  Looking back at my portfolio of photos both digital and printed, I see but a reflection of what I have always been and what my friends are; Photojournalists.  It makes me happy and sad at the same time... Happy because in most of my pictures my friends, family, and I are smiling.  I feel sad because of the dark moments.  Take for instance when a GANG of UNIFORMED MEN made me see through my lens a sad reality of life. As they were beating me up for many hours, a sign to me of DISRESPECT for a child that is and forever will be a PHOTOJOURNALIST, my Dad and that nice soldier flashed through my mind and I'm sure they protected me.  The day will come that our old mighty GOD will forget to take a picture of those men that DISRESPECT his KIDS that like to play with CAMERAS.  This being said, I'm not sad no more because without that CAMERA, one of my tools to work, that was taken away by that GANG we call the POLICE; I still ate, prayed, and loved the beauty of my snap shots. They can keep that sad memory worth more than the $500 in a device called an iPhone "evidence" of the brutality.  Little do they know that that device puts food on my table and that of my daughter.  When someone DISRESPECTS a child of GOD working to pay for his basic necessities; FOOD, SHELTER, & TRANSPORTATION; he will do JUSTICE and DISRESPECT them in his own way.  Now my friends go out an take pictures everyday.  In my eyes anyone who handles a camera is a PHOTOJOURNALIST.  Just make sure that if you see someone coming at you to beat you up for having that wonderful TOY, tell them to AIM for your EYES and don't forget to tell them to SMILE:)
Click here to order a nice new or used camera from a nice Soldier for a good cause.
http://www.hcehouston.com/