Photographing Connecticut's sports, storms and politicians

By Scott Benjamin

Windsor native Jessica Hill is the photo editor at the Manchester Journal Inquirer and more notably does frequent free lance picture assignments for the Associated Press, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

She shoots everything from the University of Connecticut basketball teams to serving as the pool photographer at Gov. Ned Lamont’s (D-Greenwich) swearing-in ceremony to Super Storm Sandy.

Hill recently replied to questions via e-mail from Patch.com on her career and the photojournalism profession.

(The transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.)

Patch: What was it that you did early in your career to reach the point where you are shooting photographs for the Associated Press, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal?

Jessica Hill: Getting to any desired point takes time and a lot of persistence. I think setting a goal and always doing something that brings you closer to that goal every day is really important. When I first started freelancing at a weekly newspaper earning $5 a photo 20 years ago, I said I wanted to one day make the front page of the New York Times. It seems laughable when you hear it considering where I was and how much I still had to learn. It took me 10 years to get that New York Times top of the fold front page photo. You keep knocking on those doors for work opportunities and you don’t get discouraged when the answer is ‘no.’ ‘No’ isn’t always a permanent answer. Sometimes its just timing. You keep moving forward, improving your skills, building relationships with other photographers and editors who help you along the way, and most importantly your build your reputation. And it will happen.

Patch: Do you agree with Walter Iooss of Sports Illustrated that the most important elements in taking a photograph are light, background and composition?

Jessica Hill: Light, background and composition are the first things we look at when on an assignment. However, I would add anticipating and capturing the Decisive Moment is most important with journalism. Being present and making a photo during the Decisive Moment can make a very powerful photograph even when light, background and composition may not be working in your favor. Ideally you want all the elements to work in a photo. But for me above all, I want to capture the most meaningful significant moment in that time I am in observation and documenting.

Patch: How strong is the collaborative process between the photographer and the reporter when you are working together in the field on the same story?

Jessica Hill: It depends on what you are working on. Sometimes I am getting art for a story that is almost finished and in an editing stage. I’ll read the reporter’s lede or maybe their draft to know a little bit about where their story is headed and work to illustrate those points when I meet the subject of the story. Other times we work on a spontaneous event and we may be texting back and forth. If we are chasing something very big with other news outlets also working on, we usually stay in very close communication, sharing leads we get with each other and our whereabouts if we are not in the same place. We definitely are not joined at the hip but we share a lot of information back and forth.

Patch: Has your work as a photo editor made you a better photographer and vice versa?

Jessica Hill: My work as a photo editor has greatly improved my sports photography. When you shoot a sporting event you shoot a lot of frames. Having a tight, concise editing and knowing where to crop and choosing the best image in the series is absolutely key. You want to be able to give the viewer who didn’t go to the game a clear idea of what happened, who was the hero, who was defeated, and pull together those moments into a short visual story of 10-15 photos.

Patch: When you are doing a portrait of a news figure what do you do to make them relax and be more cooperative?

Jessica Hill: I don’t do a whole lot of portrait work but when I do having enough time to work with a subject is important. Not rushing. Being relaxed and getting to know you subject a little through their own story is helps a lot.

Patch: With the iPhone and other digitization is photojournalism as valued as it once was?

Jessica Hill: The value of photojournalism has diminished and I think several factors have contributed to it happening. Digital and cell phone photography has increased the amount of available photos, but it doesn’t mean they’re all good photos. The reduction of newsrooms and the increase of free photos, not all good, but free, has not helped. There is a culture that has surfaced where a phrase “fake news” is tossed around and it has contributed to the erosion of value as well. There are a lot of great journalists who dedicate their lives and at times risk their lives and its sad.

Patch: With the reduction in newspaper staffs over the last 15 years, is it more difficult today to enter photojournalism?

Jessica Hill: It is absolutely more difficult. The reduction of news staff continues. Freelance is hurting as well. During the spring months of COVID-19, one of my clients had a moratorium on hiring any freelance. Some of us who were regular freelancers who have relied on those assignments and income for decades found ourselves applying for grants and unemployment to pay for the roof over our head. It was a difficult time and I wasn’t sure if I would still be in business. Newspapers and news organizations have been struggling for years and the pandemic is adding to the stress they are experiencing. It’s a terrible time to try to find a job as a photojournalist.

Patch: Which of your photographs are you most proud of?

Jessica Hill: I wouldn’t say I have one that I’m most proud of, but I have on that has most meaning to me and it’s the only one framed and hanging of my own in my home. I was covering Hurricane Sandy in 2012. I did as much research as I could of high tide and plotted out where I would go when it first hit. I found a spot in Bridgeport and made some photos of these large waves in the park hitting a seawall. After filing the photos, I got a call from an editor who was not happy at all. He said I missed the point completely and he was seeing our competitors kicking our butt with photos of homes being destroyed by waves. His delivery was harsh. It really mentally defeated me for the day and shook my confidence and belief in myself and ability to fulfill the assignment.

Shortly after that day, the New York Times grabbed the photo and used it in their Lens column as a featured photo for overall hurricane coverage. And following that, AP’s Director of Photography invited me to New York and over lunch he told me they wanted to use this image as the lead off photo in their Pulitzer Prize entry of the hurricane coverage. The photo went from a failure for the day to a major honor.

The photo itself is of a small tree being battered by a wave. It looks peaceful, but those winds were over 50 mph and that water surge ended up moving the concrete sidewalk and heavy park benches across the parking lot. The little tree survived. And now when I see the photo, it reminds me to trust my instincts, believe in myself, and quickly shake any doubt because I’ll survive the storm.

Patch: Which public figures have you most enjoyed photographing?

Jessica Hill: Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Patch: It has been said that you could not take a bad photograph of Michael Jordan. Are there public figures that you have photographed that also are in that category?

Jessica Hill: I can’t really think of a public figure, it’s more of a type of assignment you get sometimes where it’s hard not to get a great photo. Photographing a military homecoming comes to mind. There is so much emotion it’s overwhelming as you see it and feel it from the moment you arrive and moments are happening everywhere around you in such a frenzy, so much so you’re dizzy with which way you should point your camera. It’s amazing.

Patch: Which photographers do you admire?

Jessica Hill: The philosophy of Henri Cartier-Bresson. I admire a lot of my colleagues I work along side every day. There is a lot of inspiration in seeing their work daily in the world that I live in. Outside of the local level, I appreciate the work of Doug Mills, Helen Levitt, Gordon Parks and for sports Bill Frakes, Elise Amendola, and Amy Sancetta.