Mark Holm: Our photos hold up a mirror to the world and share the responsibility of reporting the news

The contrast presented itself at my first weekly planning meeting as The Trib's director of photography.

Having previously worked at four newspapers — which tended to handle their photo departments more as quick-serve operations, with resulting pictures simply breaking up large bodies of gray type, often falling short of adding content to the story — I learned things worked differently at The Tribune.

All departments stood shoulder to shoulder in their effort to bring readers the best of their collective efforts. The professionals here — whether armed with cameras or notepads, pica poles or purse strings — had a sense of ownership about their craft and a sense of partnership with their colleagues.

In my first week on the job, one of our photo interns, Jennah Ward, captured pictures in southeastern New Mexico oil fields to accompany a story by Ollie Reed Jr.


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