Staffers think outside frame for photo illustrations
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Never let it be said that Gwinnett Commission Chairman Charles Bannister is not a good sport. For his cover shot for the 2005 Gwinnett Answer Book, Bannister donned a 10-pound velvet and faux-pearl-draped hat and matching cape.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution photographer Chris Hunt captured the shot of Bannister in a rented fortune teller get-up in the AJC’s photo studio. Staff artist Jerome Thompson then went to work creating a crystal ball in a computer program known as Photoshop.
Gwinnett Commission Chairman Charles Bannister donned a rented hat and cape to take on the role of a fortune teller for the 2005 Gwinnett Answer Book. Staff artist Jerome Thompson created the crystal ball in a computer program.
The result was a photo illustration featuring a serious Bannister peering into a crystal ball to get a glimpse of Gwinnett’s future. The Gwinnett Answer Book is an annual report by the AJC detailing the county’s economic, social and political outlook.
Photographers, designers, artists and editors can get pretty darn creative when it comes to cover designs for the newspaper’s many special sections. “You want some sort of illustration that will really grab the reader’s attention. [The Charles Bannister] one was fun and lively and did that well,” said Minla Shields, the AJC’s daily editor for photography.
Shields and her staff want the covers to be outrageous so readers won’t confuse them with actual news photographs. “No one would think he really walks around with an outfit like that on,” she said. “We label them photo illustrations so it’s clear that this is not a real news photograph. In a real news situation, we’d never set up a photograph.”