MONTMARTRE

It's funny that I travel a pretty good distance to the Montmartre, a pretty big tourist area, and come away with a picture of two older women surrounded by pigeons and watching a cat run away. To the left of those women happens to be a gorgeous cathedral, in an impressive area plagued by North African peddlers.

Joe Proudman
Assistant Photo Editor
Photography
proudman.blogspot.com

COINCIDENCES SAVED MY STORY

Coincidences are a wonderful thing, especially when things are looking grim while working on a story. I originally had two stories planned out for London. Neither of them panned out. So what did I do? I wandered the streets a bit just trying to figure out what to do after all of the twenty or so shop owners I talked to brushed me off when I asked for an interview. Then I ran into Christian Garrucho somehow and we decided to go grab a tapioca drink from somewhere.

We figured our best shot at finding a shop that sold them was in Chinatown so we headed in that direction. While walking we noticed a small group of people on the sidewalk wearing pink and accompanied by a guy in a pig costume. I talked to one of the gentlemen about what they were doing and it turned out that they were doing a bit of charity work.

Bingo!

A story with interesting visuals and an angle that ties into the economy just as I needed one. I felt like money. Two days later in Paris, Mike Anderson and I headed over to the Montemarte district to try and get a few interviews about young people traveling. After a few mishaps on the Metro, and our apparent inability to properly use a map, we finally found the hostel we’d been looking for.

I walked in, asked the receptionist if he spoke English, and it turns out he’s from Washington D.C. Easy! – But it gets better. He goes to speak to the manager to clear the interview with him, and while we’re waiting four or five girls walked by us pulling their luggage into the hostel. I asked them if they spoke English, and it turned out they were American.

But that wasn’t the best part. As we’re waiting for the girls to come back down, I heard a gentleman speaking to the receptionist with an American accent. I approached him for an interview and it turns out he’ll be attending San Jose State next semester. What are the odds of that?

It just goes to show you that with work and a little bit of persistence, sometimes things just fall into your lap … wait, that doesn’t really sound right.

Sometimes, you just get lucky.

Hang on a bit, let’s try that again.

Work hard, and it seems like things just magically fall into place.

Harvey Rañola
Multimedia Editor
Broadcast Journalism

HEART OF LONDON

Visiting Brixton Lane today was a moving experience. Brixton is where many Black, Caribbean and Muslim immigrants reside. Though getting to Brixton is the fairly long Tube ride, it was worth the experience.

As soon as I stepped out of the Tube I felt the different atmosphere Brixton brought to London. Jamaican music could be heard blocks away, African hair supply shops were on every other corner and prices were less expensive. I felt like I was in a different city. The Jamaican residents embraced me with open arms and were more than willing to give interviews for my immigration story. Only a few became shy and stood away from the camera. The hospitality of the residents made me feel like I have known them for years. I was invited to parties and talking in pubs all within an hour.

The immigrants I interviewed both said that Brixton will not be their permanent home and that they wish to go back to Jamaica one day. This made me realize that even though there was a strong presence of Jamaican culture in Brixton, it could never be the real Jamaica. I feel that I visited the heart of London where there is true genuine people who are just trying to make a living.

I suggest, when visiting London, before seeing Big Ben, Buckingham Palace or Tower Bridge, visit Brixton.

Brielle Washington
Broadcast Journalism
My Blog.

HITTING THE STREETS AGAIN

Bicyclists zoom past cars on Bridge Street, near the Eye of London during rush hour in Central London. Photo Credit: Carlos A. Moreno / GMI

Today was a good day.

There were some bumps in the road here and there but Samantha Rivera, the writer doing the food beat, did a great job gathering facts and making my job easier as a photographer. With her guidance and help I was able to look for images that reflected her story accurately and in an interesting way. Hopefully the end product from both our London and Paris stories will be successful.

As I write this, I wonder how I am to get everything edited and polished before 12 midnight. I would like to get some sleep since tonight can possibly be the only night that I could potentially have some sleep.

Our baggage call is at 7:45 a.m. I don't know if I can handle not getting sleep for a third night in a row.

However, knowing that I still need to work on other projects and help a couple of writers with their work, does make it highly unlikely that I will get sleep. Nonetheless, I will be a trooper on this - I've always had the help of others to make me look good - it just so happens that it is my turn to let our hard-working editors have that chance too.

It is only fair.

Hitting the streets of London today was less stressful than yesterday. Sources were willing to talk and be photographed. There were of course still some cultural issues, especially in Chinatown, but it seemed less intense.

I don't know why.

Maybe it was because I felt more optimistic and inspired to work hard after seeing the big picture of Samantha's story.

Our last day in London brings both relief and sadness...

'Oh London if only I had known you better.'

Unfortunately, work took over my day, but it paid off with great photos and exciting stories to tell people back at home.

Even a few laughs between some newly formed friendships, made it easier to work here in London.

I just hope Paris is as beautiful and exciting as everyone tells me it is. Especially their food, since I will be taking photos of delicious desserts and food for my second story with Samantha.

On to France and on to fancier things!

London was good but Paris is the place to be for me. Let's see if hitting the streets again will be different or similar to my experience here in London.

I can't wait to see the streets of Paris.

Carlos A. Moreno
Photographer
Photojournalism
My Web site.

SURREAL, BUT FAMILIAR

In anticipation for this trip to Europe, I did extensive research and tried to understand the cities I’d be visiting as much as possible. I lived and breathed Google Earth for weeks. I bought street maps and studied them like textbooks. I even checked out Craigslist international to see what interested the people I’d be interacting with on a daily basis — all the while procrastinating on important school papers and midterms (sorry professors back home).

To say the least, it paid off big time!

Every big city has a hectic heartbeat and when I got separated from my group at the busiest airport in the world I had to find my own way to the hotel. It took all of five minutes to figure it out. London’s intricate and self explanatory subway system, the Underground, or Tube, was a short walk from where I last saw my fellow students. I secured directions and a three-day pass quicker than I even realized.

After 22 stops, one transfer, and meeting three new friends, I arrived safely a block away from my hotel, though it took me 45 minutes to actually find the joint. London is a beautiful, unique city that is big enough to intimidate the savviest of travelers, but it’s also a place that feels somewhat close to home. Aside from the heavy English accents, royal family, century-old buildings and a genuine European glamour, London wouldn’t be a far cry from the wildly enormous cities of the United States.

I’m just starting my journey and I can already say that Londoners respect international tourists in a way that is not only supportive and helpful, but makes you feel comfortable and welcome. I couldn’t expect anything more and would love to stay longer than planned. I’ll be sorry to leave so soon.

John Ellis
Print Journalism