Journalists everywhere are facing the twin challenges of recession and rapidly changing technology. With his blog, Tokyo Photojournalist, Tony McNicol showcases his work as a Japan-based freelance journalist and discusses photojournalism in the age of Flickr and Twitter. In this interview with The Japan Times, McNicol talks about freelancing from Japan, the ease of photo theft on the Internet, and why anime legend Hayao Miyazaki would make a wonderful prime minister.
What came first for you — words or photos?
I started as a writer and I gradually began taking photos to accompany my articles. And now, I try to do illustrated articles but sometimes I only do writing and, now, sometimes, I only do photo jobs as well. So when I say photojournalist, I don't mean just a photographer — I'm a journalist who also does photography.
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