NEWSLETTER



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Jim Gehrz

Star Tribune Photojournalist

By Alyssa Schafer

It has been decades since Jim Gehrz discovered photography. As a kid he would sneak into his older brother’s darkroom to develop photos he had taken by using a reflector telescope. His love of photography may have been sparked by his boyhood photos of the moon and the stars, but Gehrz said his interest in photojournalism caught fire while he was in college.

	While attending Hamline University, Gehrz began to understand the power photographs have when they are viewed as a means to communicate. After he graduated in 1979 with a B.A. in English/Journalism, he began his professional career at the Worthington Daily
Globe, where he solidified his attitudes toward photojournalism.

“It’s the hard work you put into finding that instant of clarity in a situation of what might otherwise appear to be totally random chaos that makes the challenge so fulfilling,” Gehrz said.

Gehrz will talk about that instant of clarity in his upcoming presentation, It’s All About the Moment: Trying to find the extraordinary aspects of every day life, which he will present at the 2006 Western Canadian News Photographers Association (WCNPA) conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba this May.

Gehrz, 2005 National Press Photographers Association Photographer of the Year, is looking forward to the conference because it will afford him “an opportunity to spread the word about the very high level of photojournalism we have at newspapers all over the state of Minnesota.”

Gehrz grew up in St. Paul, and has been a Minnesota News Photographers Association member since 1983. After being named Minnesota Photographer of the Year for the first time in 1985, Gehrz claimed three more Minnesota POY titles and went on to be named Wisconsin POY six times.

Gehrz said he enjoys participating in contests because they motivate him to build new portfolios. They also provide an objective forum in which to have his work judged. Gehrz is constantly looking for ways to improve his work, taking cues from a variety of sources.

Gehrz said the first person to influence him was not a photographer, but rather the American artist Norman Rockwell. The simplistic beauty of Rockwell’s work is something Gehrz strives to emulate through his photography.

Photojournalists that have influenced Gehrz include James Nachtwey of VII, Carol Guzy of The Washington Post and John White of the Chicago Sun-Times. “Once I saw the amazing work that John White was doing in Chicago day in and day out, I knew I had found my calling,” said Gehrz. “I admire the high level of work he achieved as well as his passion.”

In 2004, Gehrz got an opportunity to capture an inspirational story on film. He was sent to photograph patients at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Medical Center. There, he photographed Staff Sgt. Jessica Clements, who suffered a near-fatal head injury while serving in Iraq.

Gehrz has received a great deal of recognition for his work on the Jessica Clements story. For his series of photos of Clements, Back from Iraq, Gehrz was nominated as a finalist for a 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. Also, his photos were recently featured on 60 Minutes in the story “The Wounds of War.”

“ I think the story worked because of the amazing person we were documenting,” Gehrz said. "Jessica is full of life and her positive personality, energy and will to live seemed to shine through, despite the terrible situation she faced. As the photojournalist, I was simply fortunate enough to be the one to share her story.”

Gehrz works hard to strike a balance between work obligations and family responsibilities. He said that despite all of the demands of photography, he is able to maintain an acceptable balance between his desire to tell a story in the best way he can and his desire to enjoy a fulfilling family life. Gehrz has three children, Michael, Casie and Alyssa.

To view more of Jim Gehrz's Pulitzer entry go to
http://www.mnpa.org/poy/2004/story/first/index.html

A happy staff Sgt. Jessica Clements (right) awaits her deployment in Iraq at Fort Campbell, KY. At left, Clements reads a hometown newspaper while waiting for a truck to refuel.

Some shrapnel remains in Jessica's brain, too precariously located to be removed safely. While the initial surgery to restore Jessica’s skull at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, was successful, she had to undergo an additional, emergency surgery to relieve swelling.

Jessica listens to Mason Andrews, a fourth year medical student, as he examines the surgical site where a portion of her skull was replaced. Just two weeks after surgery, Jessica was allowed to go home to Ohio for a visit.

Laughter once again fills the home of Kim Wyatt (middle, playing with granddaughter Isabella) as her daughter, Staff Sgt. Jessica Clements plans her wedding with older sister, Utahna Neese (not pictured). Jessica was allowed to come home for a short convalescent leave following her initial surgery. Of her recovery, Jessica's mother said tearfully, "It's a miracle."