When we think about our recent world history and talk of events like 9/11, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and countless other tragic, heroic and life changing events, our minds play back the images we’ve seen on television.

The images that we conjure were first recorded by TV News Photojournalists. These cameramen and women stand on the front lines, engulfed in the moment, their skill and visual sensitivities working to capture history on the fly.

How we see our world - was first viewed by them.

The images tell the story and they are crafted through lighting, lens selection, camera angles and many of the same skills all camera operators use. However, these “operators” have honed an instant, instinctual feel for how they will shoot the world they’ve been paid to capture.

They watch the world’s top stories unfold through small black and white television monitors mounted inside their viewfinders.

At 30 frames per second, they choose how we will see ourselves. Our joys and successes, our grief and terror, our births and last death rattles. The moments that shape our lives roll through their cameras. Unblinking, exposed, a moving record – our history.

From some far remote corner of the world to a teeming metropolis or small hometown, they shift effortlessly their abilities to tell their stories with clarity, compassion and honesty.

This text contains portraits of 17 top TV News Photojournalists. All have received the highest awards and accolades from their industry. They are the noted leaders in their field and share an almost religious dedication to communicate what is true. Their images are arresting and memorable and stick in the subconscious of our mass media culture.

Foremost, they are storytellers, journalists with a lens. Their stories, the equipment they use and the techniques that serve them everyday are outlined in the following chapters.

Their stories have been divided to take the reader through a progression of skills that cover the world of TV News Photojournalism. This text was designed with the potential to accompany a college level class. Each chapter takes the reader into a different skill or knowledge required of today’s news cameramen and women. For the working professional, it is my hope that the insights provided by the stories in this book serve to reinvigorate and offer a lasting homage for the profession of TV News Photojournalists.