5 Questions with Eric Seals

Eric Seals enters the scrum around Clemson head football coach Dabo Sweeney following the 2019 National Championship game. Photo credit: Anne McQuary from TV frame grab

Eric Seals is an NPPA board member. He’s from Detroit and since 1999 has worked at the Detroit Free Press where he's a photo and video journalist. When he's not taking pictures or shooting video stories, he is either doing activities with his family or out on the campaign trail trying to teach the world to stop doing vertical video 😉

We wanted to ask Eric 5 questions so you can get to know him better:

1. What’s your background in photography? Since I was a kid, I was always a news junkie. In 10th grade I took a beginning photography class as an elective thinking it would be an easy A. It turns out photography was either harder than I thought, or my teacher just hated my pictures because I ended up getting a C. That was okay though because I became hooked with taking pictures.

Then I remember this date so well, July 30, 1988. I drove up towards a big flash flood on a freeway in Detroit that stranded many motorists. I took pictures (6 rolls of Tri-X Pan black and white film) and went down to the Detroit Free Press photo department to ask if they needed some spot news of the next day’s paper. They published them, I made connections with some of their photo staff AND I got paid $250. All those things rolled into one made me realize that if I worked hard, I could have a great job that I’d get paid to have fun, be challenged, creative and visually inform people about things going on in their community.

 2. When did you first become an NPPA member and why? I became an NPPA member back in college at Mizzou in the early 1990’s and would make road trips with other college photojournalism students to the NPPA Flying Short Course in the late 80’s, early 90’s. It was important then and still is today for the connections, networking with fellow professionals, mentoring others and the strong advocacy the NPPA provides for its members.

3. What are you passionate about — besides photography? I’m passionate about being with my family and having fun with them. Kids grow up so fast so having those moments together and creating memories they and we will always remember is very important to me.

4. What’s one fun fact about yourself that we might not know? It’s not a “fun fact” more of a “quirky fact” I can be very superstitious, two examples that come to mind…

When I get up in the morning, I must put everything on from left to right, pants to shirts, socks to shoes. It goes back over 20 years ago when I did it and had a great day on assignment, so I just kept it up every day since, LOL!!

Another fact is whenever I fill up my car, whatever the dollar amount is I’m fine with but those cents? They have to always be to the closest quarter amount. If it lands at $17.37, I have to play with the gas handle until it gets to $17.50.

5. What are you reading and/or listening to now?  I’ve been listening to this good New York Times podcast called the Rabbit Hole . It’s goes into the ways that the internet can pull some people down the hole and take over their lives. For a good read, I’m almost finished with Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow about Harvey Weinstein.

News Photographer May/June issue

This issue of News Photographer magazine will be in mailboxes soon. In honor of photographers on the frontlines of this global news story, it is devoted to coverage of the pandemic.

We have published this venerable magazine since 1946 on the heels of World War II. And now, we are covering a different kind of war that is on each of our doorsteps. The courage of journalists and first responders is unwavering.

This will be the last printed magazine until it is economically feasible to resume. However, a magazine will still be produced but in an interactive PDF like the March/April issue. If you missed the board's statement about adjustments we have had to make during this challenging time, you can learn more at this link.

ADVOCACY, HARD AT WORK FOR YOU

California AB5 update

A lot is happening this month in the legal fight to help photographers dealing with California’s restrictive AB5 labor law. NPPA has filed an appeal in its lawsuit challenging the statute and the California legislature has introduced two similar bills that would remove the 35-assignment limit from the current law. We also sent a letter expressing our opposition to that legislation and will be filing formal comments on those bills. In response, the California State Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment has allowed us to testify by telephone during a legislative hearing on May 20. Photographers interested in having input on pending legislation can submit written testimony by Wednesday morning. The full story and links are here.

COVID-19 Stimulus Advocacy continues

NPPA continues to advocate to Congress to provide more tangible and accessible relief for independent photographers that reflects the reality of how photographers function as small businesses. In the most recent letter NPPA was one of ten creative industry groups that asked Congress to provide separate pools of funding for small “micro-businesses with 10 and fewer employees,” improve access to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for independent contractors, address the “mixed income” problem, and make PPP assistance available to trade organizations that are currently cut out of the popular relief program.

NPPA sends letter to House Speaker Pelosi

The NPPA joined over a dozen media and arts organizations in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to express deep concern for millions of freelancers and self-employed workers experiencing unprecedented loss during this pandemic.

NEWS YOU CAN USE

EAW XXXIII is Going Virtual

On April 30th, the Board of Directors of the Eddie Adams Workshop voted unanimously to hold the workshop remotely this year.

"  We will strive to mimic the live experience of the Workshop in a virtual world by combining pre-taped talks and streaming experiences. We are working to keep our format in tact, including ten teams of ten, assignments, editing, portfolio reviews, speakers and sponsor sessions. In booking faculty, we will not be limited by geography or their work schedules. The Workshop will take place, as in all but one year, on Columbus Day weekend."

Read their full statement here . Deadline is June 1, 2020 and you can apply online .

Survey for Independent Photographers

The NPPA is gathering data about photographers  to help small businesses and freelancers get through this crisis. Please help up by completing this survey to help us better understand your experience in applying for a Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") loan/grant. Our goal is to identify widespread problems in accessing the PPP loan program and elevate those issues to legislators and advocates who are positioned to help the smallest businesses gain better access to government programs.

Fujifilm Friday Forums - and it's free!

This week: NPPA's executive director Akili Ramsess will be the guest at 2pm EST. Every Friday hot topics in the photography industry in this time of tremendous change will be discussed. Past events can be found at this link as well. Check back regularly for updates on future events .

Tips to stay safe while working on the street

Violence towards the media is on the rise, tensions are high, and the constant pummeling of the “Fake News” mantra doesn't help calm the already turbulent situation. NPPA's Chris Post, chair of our Safety & Security Committee who 20 years of experience as an EMT, offers tips to help you stay aware and safe while working on the street.

ICYMI: NPPA's Town Halls are all archived & available

We've now held four Zoom Town Halls, bringing together photojournalists, photo editors, educators, CPAs, an R.N., a psychotherapist, leaders in safety, and others to help stoke the conversations around covering Covid-19. If you missed any of them, the links are below.

Members Only: Finance Town Hall (you must have an NPPA log in to view it, this one is for members only)

Student Town Hall

Independent photojournalists Town Hall

Staff photojournalists Town Hall

NPPA's COVID-19 Resource Guides

We've created a COVID-19 Resource Guide & are housing all of those great links here .

A group of visual leaders, including News Photographer editor Sue Morrow, created A Visual Journalists Stay Safe Guide for Covering COVID-19 to help one another and assigning editors to work through a check-list of questions before assigning photographers to stories. 

EYE-CATCHING LINKS

Turning the camera from war to family "We're very fortunate to all be here together."

Paolo Pellegrin cut work short in Australia to be with his family in Switzerland right before the pandemic got bad. And then he made pictures of his family.

How do you maintain dignity for the dead in a pandemic?

Overwhelmed by bodies, funeral homes are struggling to fulfill their mission to grieving families. Photographer Philip Montgomery for the New York Times Magazine shows us .

If you want to know more about how the cover photograph was selected, go to @nytmag on Instagram and look for the short video explaining the process of the edit.

A Fort Hood soldier is taking portraits of local students in their would-be prom attire

Christian Lee, a photographer and officer on Fort Hood, uses a film camera to capture the students in their prom outfits, with family members holding up a white sheet in the background. His project "Cancelled Prom," including families in the portraits was a deliberate decision. "I didn't want these portraits to be traditional," Lee said. "This is not a traditional moment for them."

Dramatic quarantined self portraits by professional photographers

From the Washingtonian, there are some great pictures here and terrific, relatable quotes and stories.

RIP Astrid Kirchherr, first Beatles photographer

Kirchherr was the first photographer who made pictures of the Fab Four. She was 81.

DON'T MISS THESE COOL OPPORTUNITIES

Students for Storytelling

Deadline is May 31, 2020

Students for Storytelling , from FujiFilm, is for college students - two to four years - to enter, submit ideas for stories, win up to $3,000 in Fujifilm gear and have support their storytelling adventure as well as host, post and share. Their goal is to give the students the gear, promote their story and step back to let them bloom. May 31 is the deadline.

Did you know?

That there are 3 kinds of NPPA memberships? You don't need to be a photographer in a newsroom to benefit from membership opportunities. These days, many NPPA members are independent photographers, retired, educators and students who take advantage of discounts from tech, training, software and insurance companies. Check out the benefits here.