Personal Perspective On Pulitzer Prize Photos

MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- As a photographer myself, I was naturally drawn to the story of the Pulitzer Prize photographs exhibit.  I had seen some of this work on newspapers, on television, and of course digital screens like the one you are looking at right now.

When you walk into the Frost Museum though it's different.  There is something in these rooms that you can't get through a screen or a tablet.  The images are obviously the perfect blend of light and composition.  What makes them spectacular is the human emotion they create.  Some images contain an emotion in front of the lens while other evoke an emotion from within you.

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Photography has always been a hobby of mine.  Perhaps it's the extension of storytelling that drew me in initially. Today, I believe it's what balances me out.  My "day job" requires I cover some horrific things.  Like Herald photographer Patrick Farrell who we profiled in our piece, you take your work home.  Often while he's snapping away I'm reporting on the same material.  After awhile the stories get harder and harder to do.  You feel a sense of hopelessness.  No matter what you do nothing changes.  Tragedies continue to happen and devastation continues to lead newscast.

If the "day job" takes the life out of me, the "weekend job" brings me back to life.  I shoot mostly portrait and weddings.  In other words, I capture people on the happiest day of their lives and I'm pretty good at it, I like to think.  Sure, there is some stress associated with the work but there is something that happens that makes it all worth it.  It's a moment when I see something real.  Sometimes it's a father looking at his daughter on her wedding day.  Sometimes it's a glance between a couple.  I can never predict it.  I just know it when I see it in the viewfinder and I'm overcome with emotion.  I spin a few dials and hit a button and it's captured forever.

I certainly don't equate my work to those Pulitzer Prize photographers, but I do understand why they do what they do.  It's not the job.  It's not the art.  It's the feeling.

And you can do that for free now through April 20th at the Frost Art Museum.  For more details on the Pulitzer Prize photo exhibit at the Frost Art Museum, click here.  

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