[Leica] The new kid again (was 'Good Deed' or something)

["Scott Squire" <scott_squire@hotmail.com>]

Thanks to all of you who have responded to Kyle's and my proposal. It's been 
instructive and humbling. All who have written have raised interesting 
questions, and I'd love to respond to some of them.

**Why Romania? Why me?

Because, twelve years after this story hit, it is still a big story. And 
bigger now with the new 'hook' of the Romanian government's planned overhaul 
of its convention on children's rights.

Because of the magic word: Access--I believe that, even counting distance 
and language, it will be easier and more practical for me to get close to 
these subjects than to, for example, homeless people here in the East Bay. 
Partly because I'm a foreigner, and partly (I think) because the subjects 
are less media savvy, I've always had better luck making pictures of people 
in other countries than here. And for me, right now, it is more important to 
work on my picturemaking/storytelling skills than my access-wangling skills.

Because, I saw and admired the work Kyle did there, and liked what he did 
with it. And I liked how this group responded.

Because journalism is market-driven, and there are a lot more good 
photographers here than there. I'm a medium-small sized fish--I'm going to 
fare better in a small pond than a big pond.

If I make good photographs and write good stories about these kids in 
Romania, there is a much better chance that these stories will be published 
nationally, internationally, or locally across this country than if I do a 
great story on the homeless of San Francisco. Reaching the widest possible 
audience is a key goal of this kind of documentary--more people who can help 
bring positive change.

As Mr. Wafkowski suggests, broad publication would of course benefit me in 
my career as well. (And I'm not about to try to tell you I haven't thought 
about what a boon this could be to my portfolio. Who wouldn't?)

But my main motivation here is that I want to do some good for the subjects 
of some of my work. I've looked at a lot of possibilities, and pitched (and 
been turned down by) a lot of NGOs on different things. This looks to me 
like the best bet for doing the most good with a summer's work.

I don't begrudge anybody their disinclination to contribute. But I'm not 
coming to you for charity, or to ask the LUG to fund my vacation. Like most 
Americans, I live reasonably well. And like some Americans, I am concerned 
for those who must struggle every day to have a place to sleep or something 
to eat. What I am doing is trying to find my way into a tough niche 
(humanistic documentary) in a tough biz (journalism).

A number of of ideas for other projects have surfaced--all with merit. But I 
am committed to this project, for a lot of different reasons. Whether it 
feels right for you to contribute or not, I will go to Romania. I'm in 
school-debt already, and going further in debt to do it, because I (naively? 
foolishly?) believe I *can* find a way to make a living good enough to pay 
back loans, while working for Good.

I'm doing this because I believe I can help these children through 
photography. Those who don't agree, from you I would ask only good wishes 
for some success in the project.

And to everybody, as I said in my introduction, I'm grateful for any 
positive contribution--material or otherwise.

I look forward to sharing the results of this project via the web journal, 
and later with actual prints. I know that there will be some invaluable 
feedback.

Thanks for listening. I recognize that being this long-winded may be 
considered bad form. It's just that what I have to say is SO IMPORTANT (to 
me! 8^)

Cheers,
Scott Squire



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