Reflections: Interning at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Posted by: Chris Kasprak (ckasprak@colby.edu) on Wed, August 08, 2012, 1:16 p.m.

It’s hard to believe that it’s already well into August! After a relaxing month following graduation, I moved to Pittsburgh at the end of June and started my second internship with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which will run through the end of September.

I am one of twenty-two interns at the Post-Gazette this summer, but I am the only one working in the photo department. The PG is a great place to be an intern because they give us so many opportunities to thrive and be published on a day-to-day basis. The photo department in particular has given me a good deal of flexibility to take on assignments and projects that interest me.

One of the best things about photojournalism is that every day is a little different depending on what I am photographing. I’ve covered a little bit of everything: A business profile on a local candy company, an epic water balloon fight with 3,000 people and 100,000 water balloons, a local artist dying of cancer, and, with western Pennsylvania being very important in the upcoming presidential election, I have photographed President Obama campaigning around Pittsburgh (still no Mitt Romney, but I’m sure he’ll be around soon). I made the front page four times last summer, and am hoping to end up there soon this summer. I have had front-page color photos in most every other section though, and it’s always very exciting to see my work published in any section.

On slower days I am often trying to find ‘feature’ photos, which generally involves accosting people at pools, lakes, parks, or other public areas and asking them if they’d like to be in tomorrow’s Post-Gazette. At first it can be a little awkward, but people are generally quite happy to be in the newspaper and don’t mind when I snap pictures of them.

As I continue here, I am hoping to cover a Pirates game (who, for the first since 1992 are having a winning season and may actually make the playoffs) and experience the craziness of a Steelers game. Pittsburgh is incredibly passionate about all of its sports teams. I am also hoping to do a project on upcoming transportation cuts that will soon hit the city. The Port Authority, Pittsburgh’s public transportation service, is bankrupt and is not receiving enough funding from the state. On September 1, it will cut 35% of its routes. Many people rely on these services every day, so I am hoping to profile those people who are most affected.

It feels very strange to not be heading back to Colby in a few weeks, but I am excited to continue here in Pittsburgh.