One last picture

This was one of the last real photos I shot in Paris. I think I shot a couple more, but they were just snap shots on the train.

This picture will forever be my final image of a beautiful city, until I am able to return again.

This image just doesn't capture that specific moment as I walked to the train with two other photogs. This picture was the sum of an entire day of picture taking, in which I traveled all over the city.

I walked from the Arc de Triumph to the Eiffel Tower. I walked from the Elysee Palace to the Louvre. I saw the Mona Lisa and I saw North Africans get chased by police three times.

All in one day, on one trip, for one experience.

I waited on the corner of a street, for ten minutes to get this picture. I have to thank Mike and Trina for waiting with me. It was cold and a little wet; we had a long week and just wanted to take a load off at the hotel.

This picture wrapped up my spring break, that included a stop in London prior to Paris. It just might be my favorite.

Love at first sight

A woman passes by a fashion boutique on Champs Elysees. Photo Credit: Carlos A. Moreno

If I would have to sum up what I felt about my experience in Paris it would have to be love at first sight.

Inspiration flowed through my veins when I landed to Paris. It was all that I had envisioned and more. London has cosmopolitan down

...but Paris had charm and romance.

Everywhere you turned history and love filled the air. Pictures surrounded me effortlessly.

It was magical and exciting.

London was an interesting city but Paris had class and style - making the city a league of its own.

Parisian culture was both oddly adventurous and calm all at once. People expected you to be quite on public places but had no problem showing affection for each other on the streets.

The people, at least some of them, where friendly to me. I knew no French when I arrived, but after a few days in the mix of the streets and the Metro - I felt some of the language sip into my consciousness.

I had even gained an accent too. All without effort.

Maybe it was because I grew up with Latin roots. Possibly my fluent Spanish speaking abilities helped me in not feeling alienated by the culture and city's fast paced life style.

It definitely came in handy when I was conducting interviews and/or when I was getting around through the city.

One thing is for sure, it is a city that never sleeps. The food in Paris was the best I had tasted in a while.

Even a loaf of bread tasted more real. U.S. grocery stores have nothing on France.

It's amazing what a little traveling can make you realize. It allowed me to understand how others live, work and still manage to have time to play.

If only the U.S. was more like this.

If anything this trip to Paris confirmed to me my desire to venture on to distant and familiar lands and learn more about the people who inhabit them.

Paris struck me as a place I would like to visit again and maybe even live there one day myself.

Luckily, according to legend, I might have that chance to return to Paris, since I touched the star outside of Notre Dame on my first night in Paris.

So maybe my return will mean inspiration not just in waves but random as love at first sight.

Carlos A. Moreno
Photographer
Photojournalism

FIVE-FOLD REJECTION

Today was my day to complete my story. I left the hotel early to talk to an agency and get some information about the real estate market.

The receptionist let me know that the sales manager was not available at that office but that she could try another office for me. And with that, she got on the phone with the sales manager of the Pimlico office. Henry, the office manager, asked to speak with me. After a brief conversation he agreed to talk about the market and how it has been affected by the economy. He jotted down my number and told me he would call me back with a time I could come in to his office to have our conversation.

I didn’t waste any time.

My best friend Joe Proudman, a photography major, and I made our way down into the Underground and figured out how to get to the Westminster neighborhood where Henry’s office is located. It took us about 20 minutes to get there and about 50 minutes to find the place.

After about an hour and a half to two hours, we finally reached the real estate agency but still hadn’t received the phone call from Henry to set up an interview time. Oh well, looks like I’ll just have to come right on in!

Henry was polite. He shook my hand, apologized for not calling me back, and we engaged in a conversation of what the market is like today. He gave me a lot of good information and I thought for sure I had made a connection with him. I told him about my old days in real estate.

After about 15 minutes of discussing mortgages, rates and money down, I ever-so-sweetly asked if he would be kind enough to say all of this information on camera.

Right before my eyes Henry changed on me.

“Absolutely not. No. I won’t do it. No. Not even for 5 minutes. No. I’ve got too much to do and my boss isn’t here. No,” was something like what he said. I asked him again a couple of times in different ways and the answer was the same.

No.

Shucks. Why was that so hard? I thought for sure I was done! I walked into another real estate agency next door and asked to talk to the manager of the office. Only an agent was available. We briefly chit-chatted about the market. I also asked him if he would be on camera and he politely said, “No. I just can’t. No.”

And just like that, agency after agency declined to be on camera to talk about the market. Really guys? It’s just an assignment!

I called our media director Harvey Rañola and asked him what to do. And guess what? He had the same problem! I don’t understand why the English have such an issue about being on camera. Off camera, they are polite and eager to give lots of information. The minute you mention video camera they quickly turn cold and are no longer interested in continuing the conversation.
Luckily, I found someone kind enough to give me an interview. I ran into her around 1 p.m. and she told me to come back later around 5.

I showed up around 4:45 p.m. (didn’t want to be a second too late) and she agreed to do a short interview with me, on camera! Yes! After making sure that this interview was not going to be broadcasted and she wasn’t going to appear on YouTube anywhere, she spilled all her knowledge about the current market.

I got lucky. But what I still don’t understand is why the English are so “camera shy.” They are extremely helpful and informative, until you drop the “C” word, and then they turn off like a switch.
Who knows? But luckily I got my interview. This was definitely a learning experience that I will take with me. I am not good at rejection. And the first rejection from Henry hit me hard. But I sucked it up and got rejected another 5 times before I finally got my interview!

Alex Ruiz-Huidobro
Broadcast Journalism

FREE MUSIC FROM THE WORKING POOR

Musicians litter the streets of London, showcasing their musical talents in hopes of just a few coins dropped in their instrument case. They are in the subway, standing in street tunnels and around every corner.

The sounds of flutes, saxophones and violins filled the air as I ventured out into the Soho district of London tonight. While I walked up and down the streets in search of a non-crowded pub or restaurant, a violinist and his son crossed our path.

My best friend Harvey Rañola, a broadcast journalism major, approached the gentleman and began to ask him questions about being a street musician. It turns out the gentleman is an immigrant that barely speaks English. To make ends meet, he currently plays the violin along-side his son on the tambourine.

I couldn’t help but feel awakened to the harsh reality of what life is like for the working poor. To walk the streets of London, late at night when the temperatures drop, is not something I would have ever imagined my father to ask of me. How desperate must their situation be to have a father ask his son to accompany him as he performs for strangers on the street?

And would Americans do the same thing? I see homeless people all the time in our city of San Jose and they don’t “work” for their handouts. I wonder if, when push comes to shove, Americans would humble themselves enough to try and perform in order to feed their families? Or would they just sit there on the street corner with their hands out?

We gave the violinist four pounds and thanked him for his time. He turned around and with his son by his side, continued down the road playing the violin, and his son shaking the tambourine.

Alex Ruiz-Huidobro
Broadcast Journalism

BUSKING

Veteran busker, Darci, is a staple in the London Underground Tube system. He says there are somewhere around 500 buskers that frequent the Underground. Darci relies on his street performances as a supplement to his regular income, though he wouldn't reveal how much he brings in from busking.

Joe Proudman
Assistant Photo Editor
Photography
My Blog.

EXPERIENCE: THE BEST TEACHER

Tourists can take posed photos, flock to famous buildings and dine at restaurants that offer food they can’t pronounce.

All fine and well, but there’s no better way to dig deep into another culture than what we, as students, are doing right now.

I was thinking this as I saw my classmates whip out their weapons of choice — digital SLRs, camcorders, notepads — on the bus drive from the airport to our London hotel.

The tour guide announced some fact or another. “That’s a story idea,” someone said. Then the guide mentioned some other unrelated yet interesting information. “That’s another great story,” someone else said, shutters clicking and B-roll rolling.

The buildings themselves housed story ideas galore, and the city was so shimmering with promise it could have been mistaken for a flash of a camera.

I scribble these story ideas and names of places down in my notes. “We gotta make these new assignments,” I tell myself as a mental note. “We gotta hit the streets. We only have two full days in this city, and I have a lot to do as managing editor.”

Oh man. That title.

Let’s just put first things first: This trip is an Olympic-sized pool and I have the swimming capacity of a rock. I’ve had editor positions before, but I can safely say I have never handled a task so complicated and demanding as the one that awaited me in London and Paris.

But with the right velocity and support behind it, even rocks can soar.

We have been meeting weekly all the way up until this point, and I have gotten to know nearly every student by name, major and story assignment. I didn’t know it on the bus ride to the hotel, with lenses a-blazing and excitement rising, but some of my classmates would become my best teachers in just a few short days.

More later,

Suzanne Yada
Magazine Journalism
www.suzanneyada.com

FREE-FLOWING ALCOHOL IN THE UK

Having just turned 20 this past month, I now understand why so many people continue to tell me that they consider their 20th year to be their “worst birthday.” Year 16 means a license and, therefore, a sense of freedom, while year 18 means the responsibilities of adulthood. According to my sister, year 20 simply means 365 more days until you can drink. The saying, “So close, yet so far away”, definitely comes to mind.

Luckily for me, this is not the case in London or Paris. Being one of the youngest members of the Global Media Initiative, the 18 and over legal drinking age enforced in these two countries is certainly an additional perk. I was aware of the lower drinking age before departing on our trip, yet I was still shocked at the extent of their leniency when it comes to the availability of alcohol.

My first surprise came during our ten-hour flight between SFO and Heathrow. When giving us the options of chicken or beef for our dinner meal, they also gave us the option of red or white wine. Now, I know alcohol on flights is not uncommon, but the fact that they offered it openly without checking IDs, seemed a little more lenient than most U.S. airlines.

My second, and biggest, surprise came when I decided to search for a late night snack on our first night staying at our hotel in London. Not only did I find a vending machine full of sweet and salty treats, but I also found a wide range of beverages. Right below the packs of Twix candy bars and chips, were a couple rows of canned beer, available for anyone to take!

I’m not much of a beer or wine girl myself, so I didn’t take advantage of these particular situations, but it has been a unique experience discovering how other countries view the consumption of alcohol. From vending machines full of beer to bars and clubs letting me in without even asking to see an ID, I have decided that the United Kingdom has a much more lenient policy when it comes to alcohol.

Katrina Kane
Photographer
Photojournalism

A DREAM COMES TRUE

A scene from London's Big Ben. Photo Credit: Carlos A. Moreno / GMI

It is said that opportunities like these don't always come true every day in our lives. So when they happen you should take a chance and go for them - and that is what I have done...

...yet again.

After long hours of what seemed endless work before my departure to London, I felt that maybe this trip was not going to be worth it and was not going to secure me some much needed rest.

So far, the last stands true, as for the first, I could not have been any more wrong.

I found my departure to London to be a sweet breeze of fresh air and one where work and play were possible, if you managed your time effectively. It is the first time I have traveled to Europe or for that matter across the Atlantic Ocean. It is still surreal to me that I am here in jolly old England. The feelings and emotions of this trip have not yet sunk completely.

I've seen so many places. London is now my temporary home and can't wait to see what will happen tomorrow as I venture out to London for a second time for a story that will satisfy my needs as a young journalist and as a curious traveler.

My experiences so far have been a mix of accomplishment and doubt on my part. This has definitely made me think about my expectations and readiness in the field. It seems amazing that even after spending so much time in the journalism world that the strange and unusual scare me, yet still entice me as a photojournalist.

Today was one of those days.

Having the chance to speak to the people of London was challenging. It seemed like they were at times uninterested and just dismissive about taking me serious - maybe because I'm not English, I don't know.

I felt like a true foreigner, distant and fascinated with my surroundings. I will admit that it hasn't been easy for me to handle the culture differences here in London. Usually I never have problems talking and explaining to people what my objectives are in the United States. This was expected of course. I will just have to get over these complications and get to it because there is no take two here.

Even after all this time, I still care and still believe in the power of journalism, even when the task at hand seems difficult or unnerving. It might seem like gloom and doom for the print journalism industry but I still see the press playing a very important role in all world communities - London included. This is the time to show people what we are made of.

To be able to cover so dynamic a topic as the global recession for both London and Paris is not only amazing, but astonishing to see how much we all must pitch-in to make this Global Media Initiative project a success for us and for the people back home in San Jose, Calif.

If anything, I can say that this trip so far has given me the right to say that 'I was there' and that I was a journalist, even when times seemed hard for not just journalists everywhere but for all of us economically.

London has called my name and made an impossible dream a reality.

Carlos A. Moreno

Photographer

Photojournalism

WELCOME TO LONDON

Hello readers,

We are the Global Media Initiative based at San Jose State University's School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Three years ago our organization was formed out of a desire to expose budding journalists to the opportunities and challenges of field reporting.

The first year, 50 SJSU students traveled to New York City for spring break and met with media outlets in the newspaper, magazine, photojournalism, advertising and PR industries. Several students made contacts at the various news organizations and from those contacts received internships and jobs.

The second year was an experiment in international multimedia production. Dubbed the "Multimedia Boot Camp," Mexico City was the destination and 15 students produced stories for the web and print. Audio, video and photography were required elements in each story. This was the beginning of our all-platform journalism obsession.

Planning London and Paris 2009 began last September. At one point, 50 students wanted to go on the trip. As departure drew closer, the total number of students was whittled down to 20 dedicated individuals. We have one week, two countries and endless opportunities.

Unlike the Mexico City trip, we have an overall lens through which all our stories will focus. The global economic crisis is effecting everything around us, so from immigration to the environment and from fashion to financial aid, we are covering it.

Megan Hamilton

Art Director

Magazine Journalism / Graphic Design
My LinkedIn. My Blog. My Portfolio.