CRITICAL PHOTOJOURNALISM

Danese Kenon is a seasoned visual educator with over 20 years of experience in photojournalism. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Virginia State University and a master’s in photography from the SI Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University. Kenon's career began as a photographer at The Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, NY, followed by roles at The Indianapolis Star, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Tampa Bay Times. Currently, she is the Managing Editor of Visuals at The Philadelphia Inquirer and teaches multimedia journalism and leadership through The Kalish and NABJ.

The interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

JW: How did you come to photography and, more specifically, to photojournalism?

DK: It was a toy from my dad. I moved around a lot when I was a kid and it felt like I grew up in the back of the station wagon My dad was in and out of town on business, and he was going to either miss my birthday or be late, so when I came down that morning, there was a box on the kitchen table— I've imagined this so many times in my mind, I probably zhuzhed up the story a bit, but it felt like the box was glowing. It was probably track lighting, but it felt like the box was glowing. And in the box was a camera— one of those Fisher Price toy cameras. I still have it. I was seven years old. I started taking photos of my family and my stuff and so by the time I got to college, it was a hobby. It was just something I did. I went to college for English, because I didn't think photography could be a job.

JW: Where did you go to college? 

DK: Virginia State University— an HBCU and I loved it. That's where I had a teacher, Sherry Goodwin, notice my photography. I ended up working for the newspaper there and she would send me places, like to LA to do the red carpet for the BET awards! I had no idea that this was even a thing! She's got me involved in NABJ, and so when I met the people from NABJ, I was like, “Oh, there are black journalists! Okay!” And then I met Akili Ramsess and other Black women journalists, and I was like, “Oh, there are black women who do this.” And Kenny Irby (former Poynter senior faculty for visual journalism & diversity programs)—back in those days he was at Poynter. So, I went to a Poynter six-week fellowship for multicultural visual journalists and that's when I learned about photojournalism, because, again, I did this thing, but I didn't know it was an actual job path. So that's how I got my start.

JW: So, you realized that you could actually have a job doing this thing you loved. What did your trajectory look like from there?

DK: From there, I did a lot of internships and fellowships. Once you get into the network, they start telling you about opportunities that are available for you. I was a Chips Quinn scholar (Chips Quinn Program for Diversity in Journalism) and I also was an NABJ fellow that took me to Arizona and then to Rochester, New York. So I started bouncing around a bit after Poynter, because back in those days there was no “gap year!” My parents bought me a set of luggage when I was eighteen, and said, “You are going to go to college or get a job.” Those were the options and college seemed right. And at the end of my college career, I wanted to go right into working because that's what was modeled for me—working really hard. The only thing my dad cared about is that I could do whatever I wanted as long as I had health insurance. When I went to Rochester, New York (The Democrat and Chronicle), they asked if I wanted a job. The paper was probably too big for me and I probably didn't know enough, but they saw something in me and decided to make the investment.

I was so young and green and made a lot of mistakes, but I was passionate. I was probably there for three and a half years, then decided to go to Syracuse to take a look at their graduate program. You grow really fast in a newspaper environment, but there's no time to fall back and learn and study. I went to Syracuse for a little more than a year and got my masters degree, but it wasn't in journalism—it was in photography. I learned a lot about studio work, theory, law, and all kinds of stuff. 

Before I finished Syracuse, I did a Pulliam fellowship at the Indianapolis Star. The structure and the fellowship are amazing. They provide a lot of teaching and don’t just throw you in a newsroom. They offered me a job after my fellowship, and I turned it down because I had one more semester at Syracuse to go and thought, “Well, if I don't go back, I'll never go back.” They said, “We'll hold the job for you.” I went back to school, and then I came back. I really love the energy of the East Coast, and I think I'm a little too aggressive for midwest life. But I stayed there for eight or nine years.

JW: And then from there?

DK: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

JW: When you went to Pittsburgh, you were an Assistant Managing Editor for Visuals—how did you make that leap from staff photojournalist to management?

DK:  Stumbling, really! The Indianapolis Star (IndyStar) was a Gannett paper, and there had been a lot of layoffs when I got there—a staff of twenty-six, at some point, became a staff of around fourteen. And this was on top of a video revolution. I didn't want any part of the video, however, I saw that people who didn't know how to do video were being let go— so I felt a need to learn how to do it for job security. So, I started learning video begrudgingly—kicking and screaming. Then there was no training—literally none. There were a few great guys there who were on the cutting edge of this video revolution and I would sit behind them and watch them edit. Then they buy everybody iPhones, and my boss figures out that I had teaching experience from my time at Syracuse and asked me to teach the newsroom how to use an iPhone. I didn't have an iphone—I had cameras. So, I had to learn. I had to figure it out and then develop a curriculum for the newsroom. And so I started getting pushed into these leadership positions, but didn't mind it because I was still on the street—that was my compromise. I became this hybrid of teaching and leading projects. I was able to work on project-based work and less on daily work. I love working on stories.

As the teaching and leadership role started coming together, what helped with that is I am a photographer. I understand the language of photography. I also knew that I needed to advocate for our photographers in this space.

JW: That's a great story! There was a gap, you stepped up to the plate and your creative brain—your creativity and your proactive mindset—found ways to fill that gap.

DK: Exactly. So we went into this space really to save jobs. My leadership style was born of chaos, essentially identifying needs and gaps and then ways I could help in order to advocate for visual journalists. It's not something that I really wanted to do in the beginning. It was something I felt like I was called to do, because I felt like in a way they were picking on us, and I don't like bullies. I knew that we needed to figure out how we can have agency in this space. 

JW: You were able to carve out a name for yourself at the IndyStar as a newsroom leader. 

DK: Yeah, I think so. It was tough, because I came there as an intern and it felt awkward. But you know the people there were very graceful and never made me feel bad about it. I was trying to figure out how to be a leader, which for me is mainly about advocacy work.

JW: I like what you just said about leadership being advocacy work. That is clearly your leadership style and obviously it is working out! I think you know that it's important for people to feel seen and heard and that someone is in their corner advocating for them. 

DK: There's no school for visual leadership, really. The closest thing is the Kalish Workshop. In an interview I was asked where I got my leadership style from? My answer was, “My family.” He asked me to say more, so I went on to say that my mom is one of fifteen kids and so I have a ton of cousins. There's always a lot of people around, and what I've noticed as a child, and even as an adult is if you have one or two people acting a fool that does not stop dinner. People still need to be fed. So, you can have whatever you're going through, but you need to do it over there, so that the rest of the crew can eat. There are occasions when you will have to deal with those one or two people who need your attention right now. And there are some occasions when they're just gonna have to wait until the family is fed, right? The food is hot, and we are not going to let it get cold because somebody has lost their mind. Everybody else needs to sit at the table and eat. It's making sure that your people have what they need, because essentially, photo editors and  managers of any sort, are support staff. I am here to make sure you are able to be your best self and do your best work. That is literally my job. 

A team of twenty people are not going to be happy all at the same time, But if I have one that just did a backflip in the middle of the kitchen, I have to deal with this while the rest of the team goes ahead and eats. I've heard Brian Storms say for years that photo staffs are like football teams and I love that analogy, because I am the coach that likes to get on the field. I don't like to sit from the top and watch the plays. I like to really look at what's happening with the team, and think about what drills we need to do before the next game. I like to move as a team and not as individual units. But there are no clear directions for this. You just have to live, learn and and keep going.