Kate Patterson Supervising Photo Editor Kate Patterson is the Supervising Photo Editor of the USA TODAY News Desk. She has worked in the photojournalism field since 1978. She has experience in all aspects of the profession, from studio photography to photojournalism to photo editing. A graduate of Hollins College, Patterson worked at the Washington Army Times Publishing Company for 10 years before coming to USA TODAY.

Q: What does it take to get a job as a photojournalist?

A: Well, the number one thing is curiosity. The same thing that makes a good reporter makes a good photo journalist. Photos contain news value and content, just like an article. Photojournalists are digging and finding a depth to stories; they’re just putting it together in a visual way. We have to learn to ask enough questions, and to ask a million different questions.

Q: What is most challenging about your job?

A: My ultimate goal is to show people things in a profound way -- and these can be things that they need to know, things that they should know, and things that are fun to know. So my challenges are finding out what those things are. Another main challenge is space. We’re all vying for people’s time, and newsprint real estate is an ever-shrinking world. The battle for that space is intensifying.

Q: What makes a great photo?

A: When I’m evaluating a photo, I decide if it’s a winner or not by its content, its composition and its lighting. Bob Lynn at the Virginian-Pilot always used to say that there are one point and two point pictures. A one point picture is when you did all those things. But a two point picture has that something else, it’s magic. Maybe it’s an expression on a face, or an interaction between two people. What’s important is that you can start with a one point picture, but you keep working until you get a two point picture.

Q: What advice do you have for students interested in careers in photojournalism?

A: Work hard, make contacts. Cover things that you’re interested in. Interest breeds interest. Work hard, in-depth, long on what you’re interested in. And remember that some of the most fascinating photos have mundane subject matters- like suburbia. You don’t have to go anywhere; you don’t have to go to Africa. You only have to ask questions, and keep asking questions. It all goes back to curiosity.

Q: What do you love the most about your job?

A: I love learning. I love talking to people and experiencing the same thing through different eyes, different perspectives. There are so many perspectives in any situation. Investigate them all, and just inevitably it opens up new doors. And my job is different every day. I love my job. I love figuring out what’s important and how we can show it to people. That’s the nice thing about pictures- it’s a quicker way to the brain. You try to get that meaning, content, emotion, aesthetically in the box.

Q: What do you dislike about your job?

A: There’s stress involved in it. And there are some really scary, awful things that people you know and love are involved in. The worst is when those people are in harm’s way, and then for whatever reason you can’t run the picture. Another problem is, again, space. Sometimes you have a project and it’s supposed to run, but then on that day news happens, and you don’t get to print it the way you had envisioned.

Q: What makes some photos, such as the photo from Tiananmen Square, stay with us long after the events have come and gone?

A: Well, let’s look at that photo from Tiananmen Square. It’s the strength of that one guy, standing in front of those tanks. Think of the fear there- how could you describe that in words? I think it’s much more symbolic that it’s just one man instead of a line of people. There’s no way he can win, and yet there’s this whole idea of how he has not yet begun to fight. It’s the simplicity of the image combined with the complicated message that it sends. Most great pictures are fairly simple images.