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Award-winning photojournalist Spencer Platt speaks to Inklings

Award-winning photojournalist Spencer Platt speaks to Inklings

Renowned photojournalist and Staples graduate Spencer Platt ’89 visited Inklings during period 6 on Wednesday, April 24 to talk to aspiring journalists about his career.

Frequenting such publications as Time, Newsweek and The Los Angeles Times, Platt, who works for Getty images, is a recognized talent. In fact, he won the World Press Photo of the Year in 2006 for his photograph of a group of young Lebanese driving a car in the destruction of south Beirut.

Platt simply described the job description of photojournalists as being “give us art, make it happen.”

However, having navigated war-torn countries from Iraq to Lebanon and periodically risking his life in search of a powerful shot, it is clear that Platt’s job is much more challenging than he lets on.

“Most of the world doesn’t want you there,” Platt said. “People are always putting up walls, whether they’re in business suits or guns.”

Yet according to Platt, the beauty of photojournalism lies in exposing the public to the realities of the world.

After he showcased some of his poignant photos, many depicting poverty and grief stricken refugees, students were curious as to how he manages to cope with the horrors he faces in the field. Explaining the need to evolve a callousness in sake of journalism, Platt likened his interactions with his subjects to wearing a mask.

“You have to have a developed type of empathy to deal with people on the fly,” Platt said. “The most important part of photojournalism is that you need people to trust you and spend time with you. You can’t be an introvert.”

With a high tolerance for risk and a seeming immunity to fear, Platt’s life is never boring.

Student journalists in the room said they were not only drawn to the excitement of the profession, but also its capacity to change the world and evoke strong reactions.

Platt advised interested students to study as many languages as possible in preparation and to start from the ground up in the industry by interning at a small newspaper.

Inklings members said they feel fortunate to have gained so much experience in high school and look forward to seeing where their journeys take them journalistically in the future.

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Katie Settos, Creative Director
While many students at Staples spent their summers bumming it at Compo beach, Katie Settos was busy hiking the tallest mountain in Northern Europe. Katie spent three weeks of her summer on an action packed, challenging, and frankly dangerous backpacking trip through Norway; but that’s just the type of girl she is. No challenge is too big of a challenge for Settos, even if it means spending six hours climbing a slippery glacier in sub zero temperatures. Katie was totally up for test of spending half of her summer completely disconnected from the rest of the world: “I really like the outdoors, even though I’m not a sporty person.” Settos explained that her backpacking trip was one of the best experiences of her life, and that she was so glad she decided to go on it, “I just love a good adventure.” When Katie isn’t spending her summers going on adventures all over the globe, you can most likely find her designing fashion and sketching. Katie is a dedicated artist and describes her time drawing as “a distraction from school and stress.” Art is her happy place, a time where she has a peace of mind. Katie’s passion for fashion is fitting for her position at Inklings as the Creative Director. She gets to design, assemble, and put her own creative twist on almost every issue. So if you ever see Settos in the hall, make sure compliment on her amazing art abilities that help make Inklings what it is today, but also give her chocolate peanut butter ice cream; it’s a staple in her everyday routine.

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