Welcome to the New BagNews Originals

We want to welcome you to the relaunch of BagNews Originals, our original photojournalism section.

The mission of the new BagNews Originals is very different from most photo sites. Whereas others are primarily focused on finished stories, we are interested as much or more in the photographer’s process and how a story develops and evolves. As well as presenting the reader with quality visual content, we want to engage the photographer’s aspirations and intentions for the imagery in an ongoing conversation with citizens, the photo world, students and teachers of visual culture, even between the photographer and him or herself.

Conceived in the spirit of a residency, each photographer will present work approximately once a month, a different post appearing in the Originals section about once a week. Focusing on either single assignments or, ideally, the unfolding of longer term projects, we imagine these posts as similar to either slow blogging, journaling, the creation of more developed field notes, even the serialization of a novel. The goal is to allow photographers to think more deeply and out loud about the intent, goal, nature or impact of their imagery; how that imagery reflects on the story narrative or trajectory; and/or how that imagery reflects on the photographer’s evolution or working process.

BagNews Originals will be presenting the work of some of the world’s finest documentary photographers and photojournalists. Joining senior BagNews contributors Nina Berman and Alan Chin are: James Whitlow Delano, Rita Leistner, Jon Lowenstein, Katie Orlinksky, Radcliffe Roye and David Schalloil. BagNews Originals will be edited by Meg Handler.

Over the next few months, BagNews also has more changes in store, including a new site design with larger photos and more efficient features and navigation. We will also be reintroducing the Salon section with a new layout and new and interesting discussions.

In the meantime, we hope you’ll appreciate our first post at the new Originals: “Jon Lowenstein on the South Side: Shots Fired.” Not only is Jon one of the most talented and committed photographers in America today, his series at BagNews is dedicated to the life and culture of Chicago’s South Side, a subject he’s been passionate about and deeply committed to for the past fifteen years.

We hope you’ll join us.