Photo essay: Our favorite photojournalism picks for April

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Last week, I started typing up a list in the Notes app on my iPhone entitled “Compelling Visual Storytelling Scenes.”

Photos have always given me perspective, and I wanted to compile a list of scenes that stirred a strong sense of emotion in me. Some of the pictures on this list are from moments we photographed at the Landing; others are photos made by other colleagues.

I created the list to inspire both you, the reader, and our newsroom – reporters, editors and photographers alike – as we continue to brainstorm and dissect which elements make for a captivating photo.

The list includes examples of real moments:

A father fighting back tears at his daughter’s high school graduation while facing an imminent deportation order

A truck driver taking a break from their route to play the guitar in a field

A man training his dog without a care in the world with a refinery literally on fire in the background

This month, Houston Landing’s best photography captured several scenes I know will be engraved in my memory:

Iqra Ali and Ali Aamar trying a football toss at an arcade during an Eid al-Fitr celebration in Houston, photographed by independent photojournalist Mark Felix

Beautifully silhouetted actresses playing the roles of Jesus Christ’s followers before the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday at Queen of Peace Catholic Church, by staff photojournalist Antranik Tavitian

Houston Mayor John Whitmire, who, instead of standing behind a podium, stakes a sign into the ground while announcing that the controversial Freed-Montrose Neighborhood Library will remain open, a moment-based image taken by independent photojournalist Meridith Kohut

Moments ground us, and April’s selection of Landing photojournalism memorializes those moments — whether it’s independent photographer Annie Mulligan’s picture of third graders at Anderson Elementary School gasping in awe at the solar eclipse, or a snapshot from independent photographer Meridith Kohut of 10-year-old William Lee launching a dragon kite into the air during the Hermann Park Conservancy’s Kite Festival.

I urge you, as a Landing reader, to spend some time with this month’s compilation of photos and to challenge yourself to consider how a picture turns a story from a string of words into a moment encapsulated in color and shape.

The list in my iPhone’s Notes app came from my desire to encourage our staff to reconsider how journalists incorporate and prioritize visual storytelling in our overall work. Photos comprise individual moments of time, yes, but they also complete — not just enhance — the overall story we publish.