Houston-Press

Summer 2011 Site Reviews

Position: VM Photo Intern
Student: Undeclared Sophomore

Interning at HoustonPress was an amazing learning experience. I realized there is a lot more to photojournalism than what meets the eye. It was kind of difficult explaining to friends and family what my internship consisted of on a daily basis. A huge part of the internship depended on restaurants and their managers or owners. I would start off the week with a list of restaurants to call schedule shoots through out the week so my hours were pretty flexible. Since my position was out on the “field” that meant shorts and a casual shirt were appropriate for the internship, as well as sunscreen, a hat, and lots of water.
Throughout the week I would shoot restaurants and every Friday I would go to the HoustonPress office to upload the photos as well as consult my supervisor who is the art director. That was the most important part of the internship I think because she gave me feedback that is hard to find, and it really has helped me as a photographer.

On weekends I would have an event to shoot such as a gallery opening, opening of the last Harry Potter, and a jazz festival to name a few. Each event was new and exciting and placed me out of my comfort zone, because I was surrounded with people I usually would not be surrounded with and just the experience itself is completely unexpected it can be startling. At the end of each event I left happy and excited because I was able to place myself back into my comfort zone in a different way, by utilizing my camera. I have met many interesting people, learned new things about my community such as the underground art movement in Montrose.

This internship is a great opportunity to get your name out there and especially if you are the kind of the person who needs to be active and participate in hands on activities, and not sit at a desk all day.