CRITICAL PHOTOJOURNALISM

Mark Murrmann is Photo Director at Mother Jones, where he oversees and assigns all photography for the website and magazine. He has been at Mother Jones since 2007, having previously been a freelance photojournalist and music writer. He is an educator, writer and remains an active photographer who regularly self-publishes photo-zines.

The interview was lightly edited for clarity and length.

I think what makes a pitch great versus abysmal is partially how you pitch it.

The basics of a good pitch for me—I like to get pitches through email because I can deal with it in my own timeframe. I don't have a phone in my office, and even if I did, calling is probably one of the worst ways to pitch a story. When you call, you're most likely interrupting the editor and putting them on the spot—especially if you want an answer right away. And by the way, I can't give you an answer right away because I have to hit up the editors to see if it's viable. So, email is a great way to pitch stories. 

Another thing to know is the more finished a story is, the more likely it is to get picked up. I know that sucks for photographers, because you're basically working on a story on spec—hoping to sell it—which is really tough for a photographer. But the reality is that the most likely way for me to get a story greenlit is if it's finished or nearly finished. 

In terms of the pitch itself, I like the email to be friendly and not overly formal. You want to include your elevator pitch—one or two sentences—of what the story is. Then, add a paragraph or two about what the story is about. Attach one, two or three JPEGs then include a link with more. That is what works for me. Attaching the JPEGs gives me an idea of your (photography) style and how you're approaching the story and entices me to click the link to see more (or not.)

Some publications are really strict about not having anybody see the work, ever, in any format before they publish it. We are not one of those places. So be sure and know the publication that you're pitching to.

For instance, I get a lot of international pitches—a ton of them—but we don't really do very many international stories and we haven't for the past five to 10 years. We're a lot more focused on the U.S. And then sometimes I get a really good story pitch, but it's almost exactly like a story we recently published. And the email reads, “hey, I saw you did a story on this abortion clinic in Texas and here is a story I did on the same abortion clinic.” And I am thinking, “well, we just did it and we're not going to run two of them.” The other thing is that a lot of pitches are too general. You might have a good story, but you need people to tell that story— a protagonist to carry the issue or the story through so that people can have something to latch on to or somebody to connect to. That's just super critical. 

Another good question to raise is around writing the story. You're a photojournalist—a documentary photographer—but you still need some text for the story. You need to do some basic reporting, but expect that the magazine will put their own writer on it or have somebody write it. And so a secret then is to try and find a reporter who works with the magazine regularly, maybe reporting on the issue that you want to do a story on and try to team up with them. That way you have an in with the magazine. And if it's somebody on staff or a regular freelancer, they are more likely to get a story picked up than you pitching it as an unknown photographer. Warning! Some photo departments will get their hackles up at that and want to hire their own photographer. But if you approach the photo editor, and let them know that you’ve been working on a story with this writer who works for your magazine, you're probably going to have a lot higher likelihood of success.

I get anywhere from, I'd say two to five pitches every day. I try to reply to all of them, but I can't. I do look at them all. A real basic thing is to think about—not to sound snarky—but if you send a pitch to a photo editor and it's something they want, they are going to get back to you. But on the other hand, it's important to follow up, but not the next day. Sometimes photographers follow up the next week; sometimes they keep following up—which is fine. Every desk is different. Every photo department's different, right? I'm a one person photo department, so it takes me two or three weeks, generally, to look at the pitch and get back to photographers—sometimes longer. If I don't get back to you in two or three weeks, then it falls down lower in my email, so give it a couple weeks and then send a short reminder, “I wonder if you've had time to check this out? 

Younger photographers ask if it's okay to pitch the same story to different publications? And I always say yes, just let the people you are pitching to know, with something like, “hey, I'm sending you this pitch and I'm also sending it to some other places. I'm trying to place the story.” That lets the photo editor know and if it's something they want, they're going to move faster on it. And as a photographer myself, if the story is important to you, don't hold out for one publication—try and get the story out there however you can. That's super important. 

Some photo editors like getting pitches and communicating via social media. I am not one of them, for what that's worth. For me, if this story is important to you, give it the respect it deserves and send a proper pitch with an email and images. DM-ing me or texting turns me off. 

Sending a PDF pitch works just fine, or attaching JPEGs with the pitch in the body of the email works. Some photographers get hung up on trying to design a PDF or format it in a certain way, and to be honest, that can hurt the pitch. Not all photographers are very good designers and then you're also spending time designing when you could be spending time pitching!

If you put a PDF together, just drop the images into it and don't worry about designing it in any way. And keep the text in the body of the email. Just don't get hung up on designing the pitch because I can forward the email with the JPEGs to the creative director or the editors or anybody that I need to run the story by to get it greenlit.

Remember that photo departments have to run the stories through other people to get it published. It's not just me saying yes or no to a story. That's also why it sometimes takes a little longer to reply to pitch emails. Everyone is super busy. I’m busy, but the editors I’m talking to about the story are busy too, so that can delay how long it takes to get a yes or no on a pitch. Also, when following up, don't ask if the editor got the email because it would have bounced, and you would know it. If you sent it and it didn’t bounce, then I saw it. I just haven’t gotten back to you. 

 Part of my job is to receive pitches. I remember as a photographer, I always thought I was bugging a photo editor when I emailed them, but part of my job is to be that receiving vessel for your pitches. One important thing: don't ever, ever, ever, ever send a pitch and say that you are willing to let them run it for free. NEVER DO THAT. 

Also, it's totally worth introducing yourself to a photo editor via email or during a portfolio review or however, even if you don't have a pitch—just introduce yourself. If you're serious about being a photographer, it is a very long game. You could just be like, “hey, my name is Mark Murrmann. I'm a photographer from Indianapolis. If you ever need a photographer here, I'd love to work with you.” And then when you pitch me later on, I might recognize your name, so you're starting to build that relationship. And then drop me a line every three, four, six months with new work that you've made. If you're working on a project, update me on your project. If you’re traveling and might have time to work on assignment, let me know where you’re traveling and how long you’ll be there. That’s an easy way to stay in touch. There's a sea of photographers out there and you just got to jump up every once in a while and wave your hand to remind a photo editor that you're out there. Don’t let a lack of a reply dissuade you from keeping in touch. There are people who I've been in contact with for over a decade and I might've worked with them once or twice, but they still email me. I'd still like to work with them, but it just depends on how much work is out there. But it's worth it—like I said, it's a long term situation. So don't give up.