Mark Hoffman, photo editor for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, took me to the fourth floor of the Sentinel Enterprises building on Milwaukee’s historic Fourth Street to show me what part a photo staff plays in the publishing business, then to an equipment room full of old Nikon gear that was collecting dust since the Canon revolution leached on to news photographers.
Mark introduced me to Rick Wood, another great photojournalist. Both spoke of stories that have inspired me to this day, but hinted that this is a brutal line of work and that some days I would regret being a part of it. I didn’t care; I just wanted a job. That was 2001 and my career as a photojournalist was about to begin.
Almost eight years later, I have spent four years at my college paper, completed two photojournalism internships; one in Idaho and the other in Wisconsin, a healthy freelance career and two staff positions as a photojournalist.
I have traveled this world with my camera at my side and have found that I photograph with ease when I am alone and in a foreign environment. With my camera I have learned that people provoke a situation to get a reaction and when they received a reaction they know whom they are.
What I appreciate about the camera is its perfect hold against my hands, its equilibrium balance in my palms, the touch of the eyepiece against my brow, the patient framing of the composition, the fast motor of my Canon clicking away and the realization of that one frame, saying to myself that is what I was looking for.
But whether or not a photograph has defined my life it has led me to experiences where I was alone and away from a familiar voice or face. In these certain depths of my life as a photographer I know that I always have my camera and the mementos it has captured to keep me company."I was singing to define the way I felt about the world"
-bob dylan-
Present: Freelance Photographer
2010: Photo Editor, Gemmiti Model Art, San Francisco, CA
2008-2009: Staff Photographer, The Daily Times, Watertown, NY
2007-2008: Freelance Photographer, Milwaukee, WI
2006-2007: Staff Photographer, The Journal Times, Racine, WI
2006: Photographer (Intern), Coeur d’Alene Press, CDA, Idaho
2005-2006: Photographer, Visual Image Photography, Cedarburg, WI
2002-2006: Photo Editor & Staff Writer, UWM Post, Milwaukee, WI
dmsafranek@mac.com
(415)420-8446
Madison, WI
