Dear members:
Recently you should have received your ballots for the bi-annual election of the Board of Trustees of the NYPPA. Ballots were to be mailed by April 1 and counted by May 1, but due to several problems, including the need to re-print the ballots, they were not mailed until April 20. As an all-volunteer organization we ask your understanding for the delay. Due to the late mailing we will not count the ballots until after May 10. As the election is uncontested some of you may feel there is no real need to vote, but we encourage you to do so. We also encourage members to use this opportunity to make comments and suggestions on what we can do to make the NYPPA better, either by enclosing a separate sheet in the envelope provided, or by writing on the back of the ballot.
Inadvertently the election statements were not posted on the web-site. There is no requirement for these statements, but we try to post them so members have an idea about the candidates.
ELECTION STATEMENTS
FOR PRESIDENT: BRUCE COTLER
The association is in it’s 102nd year and we need to keep it vibrant and moving forward. We have to adapt to change in the industry and stand strong against the people who what to take away our rights to make an honest living. We are now on the road to better things as we have gotten our our act together and are moving forward. We have increased our efforts to get a fair parking situation from the city, expanded the number of meetings while reducing the costs to members. We held our 100th Anniversary Dinner at Battery Gardens and again plan a dinner this summer at The Water Club. We have established a relationship with the New York Public Library for our exhibit, engineered a deal to allow every member to purchase an inexpensive web page to sell their photographs through Photoshelter and have issued our own press ID membership cards and Parking Identity Cards. You have elected a good board that is collectively moving us ahead and serving, I hope, your needs.
FOR VICE-PRESIDENT: TODD MAISEL
As your vice president and liaison to the NYPD, I promise to fight for the interests of all photographers as I am a concerned colleague. If we don’t support each other in this time of change in our industry, then who will we have on our side? Our clients only care about getting their content and so fewer photographers are becoming staff and therefore have fewer protections. Who is out there to support your right to park your vehicle at assignment? Who will be there in your time of need? These are my concerns and should be yours. There really is only one way for us to go and that is together. Because there is strength in numbers. A number of new people are seeking election. Consider what they have done, want to do or can do for this organization. Their camera skills should not be a factor when considering if they can help us. Think of those who have already helped and those who show the most promise to help us. They may not always be perfect and you don’t have to like them personally. Most important should be whether they will make our very difficult profession a bit more workable. Thank you brothers and sisters all.
FOR TREASURER: WILLIAM PERLMAN
I fully am committed and want to continue to represent the NYPPA as your Treasurer, as well as a Sports Committee member. I am Deputy Photo Editor at Newsday. I was part of The Star-Ledger team that was awarded the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for the resignation of New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey. The dedicated photojournalists on the Board and the new candidates running on the nominating committee slate can bring the NYPPA into the next 100 years. Please vote for the candidates that are dedicated to the fraternal values to the NYPPA. I want to mention some key board members we need to keep working for us: Historian Marc Hermann, who is just amazing, and Marc Dye for his work on the Exhibit and our graphics year after year. If you need to contact me and ask about any candidate NEW or ON THE BOARD email me at treasurer@nyppa.org or call me at 516-857-0625 and, Please vote !!!!!!
FOR SECRETARY: MARC HERMANN
I thank my colleagues for the privilege of serving as Secretary of this organization, and I look forward to another term. We are the keepers of over a century of photojournalism history, and beyond the routine recording of Association business, it is imperative that our past be preserved—and shared. We have made some wonderful connections with the relatives of members who are long-gone, but we are ensuring that they are not forgotten. Our public image has been bolstered by the publication of the Images of America book. People who may never have shot one frame of actual film stock professionally have had the opportunity to handle a Speed Graphic at our event exhibits. These are the most rewarding aspects of this office, and as we consolidate and reorganize our archives, I hope to ensure that our story is accessible to all in the next century.
FOR TRUSTEE: PORTER BINKS
Porter is a freelance photo editor, photographer and photo event manager in New York City. He is currently the photo consultant to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. Other clients include The Big East Conference, United States Golf Association, and New York Road Runners. He was the golf photo manager at the Rio 2016 Olympics, field hockey and basketball photo manager for the Pan American games in Toronto in 2015, basketball photo manager at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games and at Ski Jumping/Cross Country for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. Binks was with Sports Illustrated for 10 years as the College Basketball picture editor. Before joining SI, Binks spent 16 years as a sports picture editor and photographer at USA Today, also covering news and sports assignments in Washington, D.C. Binks was a judge for the Newspaper Division of the 2010 Pictures of the Year International (POYi) sponsored by the University of Missouri. He’s a member of NPPA, NYPPA and WHNPA. He began his career as a reporter at The Chattanooga Times. In his first term on the board, he served on the contest and exhibition committees, and, working with fellow officers, helped secure NYPPA’s current exhibition partnership with the New York Public Library.
FOR TRUSTEE: THOMAS A. FERRARA
I started working for Long Island Newsday in 1994 — first as an intern, then as one of its regular freelancers — and eventually joined the staff in 2005. In 2008 I was made an Asst. Photography editor, which added a whole new dimension an already challenging job. I have been a long time member and former trustee of the NYPPA.
My experience has afforded me the opportunity to grow in the ever-changing landscape we find ourselves in as working photojournalists. Between changing media landscapes, changing technologies and — most important — changing faces, the New York Press Photographers Assn. with its long storied history is our best opportunity to make our voices heard as an industry. And as a fraternal organization, it is our best method for networking and support. I look forward to rejoining the board and working toward our collective goals.
FOR TRUSTEE: CRAIG RUTTLE
Craig Ruttle, now a freelance photographer with The Associated Press, Newsday, stock contributor to Redux images, and others, has been working as a photojournalist since 1981. Craig has been based in Poughkeepsie, Cincinnati, Washington, D.C., and New York City, and has covered foreign assignments including documenting conflict zone humanitarian crises and natural disasters. Along the way, Craig has also been a photo editor, Assistant Photo Director and Acting Chief Photographer (Cincinnati), as well as short periods as a freelance photo editor in New York (Newsweek). He looks forward to exploring the fast and future movement of visual journalism, while still demanding high ethical standards that galvanize the public trust. In seeking a second term I feel we are on the way to re-inventing the NYPPA for its second century!
FOR TRUSTEE: JENNIFER ALTMAN
Jennifer S. Altman is a freelance photojournalist who’s clients include The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Business Week, Barron’s, The Washington Post, Boston Globe, American Express, and many others. She currently teaches photojournalism courses and workshops at Columbia University and CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. She has been a NYPPA member since 1998 and a Trustee since 2008. As a board member Jennifer has learned that the organization needs help in many ways. She has freely given advice about business practices and contract negotiations over the years, and helped raise revenue through finding advertisers and sponsors for our organization. As a freelancer, there are many things to consider on a daily basis, from negotiating contracts to shooting jobs, to editing and even being your own accountant and lawyer. She has vast knowledge of the photojournalism industry and believes that she is an asset on the Board. Jennifer conceived the idea for our organization to have our own website where our members could have galleries to display their work and gain another outlet for possible future revenue and exposure. This is now a reality on our NYPPA PhotoShelter site. Our organization needs innovation and change while still adhering to our values as respected photojournalists. As the only woman on the current board Jennifer has provided an alternate point of view for our growing membership.
Jennifer would like to help move our organization forward by having the NYPPA be more connected with the freelance photojournalism world and our needs as a community of storytellers.
FOR TRUSTEE: DAVID HANDSCHUH
FOR TRUSTEE: MARK DYE
Like the equipment we use, the NYPPA has to evolve and change with the times. We need more professional development and social events to attract new members and keep the ones we have. Staff jobs are going away, we need to help members transition from the old system to one of self employment. The work we’ve done for police relations is fine, but not every member has trouble with the police or even deals with them. I want to continue to bring change and help the NYPPA evolve, make it the organization that benefits you and makes it worth your time and money. This would be my third term on the board of the NYPPA. I do most of the design work for the association and I have served as a co-chair of the Exhibit Committee presenting your award winning photos in the best way possible. I am also the Associate Chair for the NPPA Region 2 and on the Board or the NPPA Northern Short Course. I hope we can use these connections for the NYPPA’s benefit, especially in areas of professional development. Police relations don’t matter if you don’t have a job, we need to keep people working as they transition from staff to freelance in this changing world. It’s a grand old organization, but we don’t need to act old—just grand.
FOR TRUSTEE: RICHARD LEE
Never have there been so many changes and so much upheaval in our profession. Over the past 26 years I have served the NYPPA as Vice President, Secretary and Board member. I have either chaired or served on almost every committee. In the contest, I have won Best in Show twice. I have been a staff photographer for the New York Post, New York Daily News, and New York Newsday as well as a freelance, so I have a well-rounded perspective of our profession. Unfortunately not many of our members have staff jobs anymore. Gone is the backing of a large news operation, a support system or even just a place to hang your hat. No more co-workers to hang with at the end of the day, because there is no office where everyone goes after shooting their jobs. It can lead to a feeling of isolation, like working in a vacuum. I believe NYPPA should help to restore a sense of community. The Association faces many challenges. I want to be there to help guide it in the right direction.
FOR TRUSTEE: GARY HERSHORN
I began my career in news photography in Toronto in 1979 working for the wire service United Press Canada as a photographer. After 6 years of working for UPC, I joined Reuters in 1985 when they purchased the foreign picture service of UPI. At Reuters I was the Chief Photographer for Canada until 1990 when I transferred to Washington, DC, as a Senior Photographer. For 10 years, I covered news, entertainment and sporting events across the US and the globe attending everything from Olympics to World Cups to all US based sporting championships and top news and entertainment events. In 2000 I was promoted to Picture Editor- Americas where I led a 40+ person picture staff across North and South America. After 11 years in that role and also Picture Editor – North America, I took on the position of Global Sports Picture Editor and stayed in that position until I left Reuters in 2014. Presently I am a freelance picture editor and photographer. If re-elected I am looking forward to helping make the NYPPA as relevant as possible to photographers working in the NY area and hope that my experience of both working on the street and managing a photo operation qualifies me to represent this great organization.
FOR TRUSTEE: CRAIG RUTTLE
Craig Ruttle, now a freelance photographer with The Associated Press, Newsday, stock contributor to Redux images, and others, has been working as a photojournalist since 1981. Craig has been based in Poughkeepsie, Cincinnati, Washington, D.C., and New York City, and has covered foreign assignments including documenting conflict zone humanitarian crises and natural disasters. Along the way, Craig has also been a photo editor, Assistant Photo Director and Acting Chief Photographer (Cincinnati), as well as short periods as a freelance photo editor in New York (Newsweek). He looks forward to exploring the fast and future movement of visual journalism, while still demanding high ethical standards that galvanize the public trust. In seeking a second term I feel we are on the way to re-inventing the NYPPA for its second century!
FOR TRUSTEE: ROBERT SABO
Robert Sabo is a former staff photographer with the Daily News. Previously he worked as a senior picture editor with Getty Images and as a staff photographer at The Journal News. He learned photography in the U.S. Navy where he graduated from NAVAL SCHOOL OF PHOTOGRAPHY and DINFOS School of Photojournalism and spent nine years active duty. He worked for various base newspapers before being selected to attend Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Mass Communication’s military photojournalism program. After graduation from Syracuse, Robert joined the Battleship IOWA as one of only four Navy Photojournalists documenting life in the U.S. Navy including the photos of the explosion onboard USS IOWA in which 47 sailors were killed. He considers Walker Evans, Eugene Smith, Paul Strand, Robert Frank, Lewis Hine, Weegee and Elliott Erwitt to be his greatest inspirations. He lives in Croton-on-Hudson with Helen and their son Jonah. While recently many of his assignments focus on sports; his favorite photography comes from capturing the beauty of everyday life in and around New York. He also is adjunct professor of Photojournalism at Purchase College (SUNY) in Purchase, New York. He handles the NYPPA membership card and vehicle card production.
FOR TRUSTEE: DENNIS VAN TINE
I am a successful freelance stills photographer. I left a seven-year career on Wall Streetto pursue a passion for photography stoked by the enthusiasm of Life photographer Cornell Capa, who’s ethics and principles of the craft, were instilled in me at the ICP lecture series classes he taught. This influence from Life Magazine and the wide range of interests it covered inspired me to cover many diverse areas of the craft, (news sports entertainment….etc.) and has given me insight into the various needs and challenges of the working photographer. I believe the NYPPA needs a “summit” to clarify its mission statement. The industry has changed and the Association must also. The NYPPA should be a shinning light to photographers who have no recourse when stifled wrongly in the news gathering process, a recourse for action against poor labor practices by their employers and agents, a fraternity of friendship and knowledge and admiration of peers, and a helping hand to those who are struggling. It must be a place of learning on how to professionally interface with NYC officials, while vigilantly inviting their input. We should hold journalistic ethicsin high esteem. Most of all the NYPPA should be a place where you will never have to stand alone.