Budding photographer-reporters at Olympic Week

During the 27th Olympic Week – a week for young people from the Lausanne area to try out sports during their school holidays – the new photo-journalism workshop was fully booked. Every day, six teams of one reporter and one photographer reported on and photographed, in their own way, the 40 activities on offer. The teams were briefed by Jean-Frédéric, a journalist from the Lausanne daily newspaper 24 Heures, Nathalie, from the Swiss Camera Museum, and two photography students.

Tracking down excellence, friendship and respect
Before heading off to track down key sporting or creative moments extolling one of the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect, the youngsters learned in record time the basics of journalistic writing style (“who, what, where, when, how” and “writing to be read”), as well as how to use a digital camera, often already familiar to them.

Olympic Week Gazette
The budding photographer-reporters then had three hours to decide upon a subject, set down a quirky anecdote, and capture a rare moment or an original position. Back at base, under the expert eyes of their guides, the youngsters worked on their text, found a catchy headline, chose the best images and thus created the Olympic Week Gazette of the day.

An enriching experience
So what did the two experts think of these few days? Jean-Frédéric, 29, “noticed that most of these youngsters knew perfectly well what excellence, friendship and respect were. The words ‘fair play’ came up often. What’s more, working alongside them makes one think about oneself and one’s own journalistic work. It was an enriching experience.” Nathalie, the photographer, said “I am always surprised at the youngsters’ interest and ability to listen. In this particular instance, most of them really took their mission to heart. As for the photos, many of them were able to capture the ideal moment and the great atmosphere!”