Why editors should not run corporate photos

Editor One: “You know how to work a Polaroid, don’t you little buddy? Good. Why don’t you go get us some sandwiches while we figure out a photo spread that can fill page eight?” And so they run a photo of Wally the Machinist hard at work on his machine, only he’s not really doing anything, because he’s thinking about the picture that is being taken, and the result is a stilted, phony-looking photo that, again, takes up a lot of valuable space. Photo #3: The “Look at us, we’re receiving something!” photo. This one is also known as the “Grip-and-Grin” photo. It involves one party giving something to another party—a check, an award, a certificate, a contract . . it could be anything. How it works: One person in the photo hands something to the other person. At that crucial moment when both people’s hands are on the item, the intrepid photographer snaps the shot. Usually, both people in the shot are facing the camera and smiling, but that can vary. Sometimes, they are looking at each other. Sometimes one is looking at the camera, and the other is looking at the item. Or one is lookingat the item, and the other one is looking at the other person. Sometimes they shake hands; other times they don’t.