Not all stoppers are over-the-top lighting tours de force. Some stop you with quiet, elegant confidence. Or great composition. Or a strong connection. Such is the case with photographer Bret Hartman's portrait of human rights activist Chad Griffin for The Washington Post.
Honestly, as an online reader I barely even notice The Post's print edition anymore. But sitting on the kitchen table, Hartman's section-front portrait stopped me in my tracks.
As an LA-based freelancer for The Washington Post, Hartman is always auditioning for the next assignment while he is shooting the current one. Which is very different than being a staffer. Here's what that's like.
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At least between the regular waves of mass layoffs, newspaper staffers are fairly secure in their daily grind. Ironically, even more so in a bad economy. That's because if your DOP can't get a new hire if s/he fires you, you're as safe as the boss's uncle.
Not so the stringer, which is the industry term for a freelancer. Every assignment you shoot is also an audition for the next. So you always want to outdo what you did the last time. And that's exactly the work ethic that the 32-year-old Hartman brings to his regular work for The Post.
Adding to the pressure is the fact that you are stringing for a department full of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographers
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