While technology allows anyone to take a photo, photojournalists deploy high ethical standards and a pursuit of objective truth in their reporting. Images made by photojournalists can add nuance and clarity to written stories, aid viewers in digesting large amounts of information, and help bring events to life.
Karsh Institute of Democracy Practitioner Fellow Sanjay Suchak has exemplified that approach during a career in photography that’s brought him up-close to history-defining events and people. Suchak’s fellowship, an extension of his professional work, focuses on the critical interplay between photojournalism and the health and vibrancy of democracy.
For Suchak, his fellowship with the Karsh Institute is a chance to give back to students and pay forward some of the mentorship he’s had in his own career.
Suchak is an experienced photojournalist whose photography credits span global, national, and local outlets including the New York Times Washington Post, ESPN, Richmond Times Dispatch, National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, Financial Times, and many more. His photography not only acts as a visual support to written journalism but stands alone as a vibrant storytelling mechanism, showcasing people, civic culture, and critical moments in history.
“This fellowship allows me to share my real-world experience through public programming and, most importantly to me, in the classroom with students,” Suchak said. “I’m showing them why it’s important to have strong photojournalism as part of our culture.”
“This fellowship allows me to share my real-world experience through public programming and, most importantly to me, in the classroom with students,” he said. “I’m showing them why it’s important to have strong photojournalism as part of our culture.”
In 2022, the New York Times used his work extensively in a profile of Devon Henry, a Virginia contractor who removed many of the Confederate statues and memorials that local and state governments voted to take down in recent years. Suchak spent months with Henry, carefully documenting the removal of and stories behind the statues that had been at the center of protest and counter-protest in America, and continue to have lasting impact on democratic norms, culture, and civic life.
Suchak also spent over a decade as the head university photographer at UVA. In this role, he often captured critical moments in University life—from a student-led vigil after the racist riots in 2017 to the joy of a national basketball championship two years later.
“The soft skills are the most important thing a photojournalist can bring to the table,” Suchak said. “Be reliable. Be curious. Be interested and honest. Show up early and stay late. If you have those skills, you could pretty much do anything in the world that you set your mind to, photography or otherwise.”
Kate Sweeney is an assistant professor of practice in the Department of Media Studies at UVA and an experienced journalist herself. She’s had Suchak guest lecture in her classes and said his view on the role of photography can benefit every student, regardless of their background or interest. But his perspective is especially beneficial to students who are looking to balance their professional skills with their creativity and passions, she said.
“He just offers students an absolute definitive example of somebody who has achieved a career that combines creativity and agency,” Sweeney said. “He has this great mind to think about his field, but his work also has the possibility to make change or influence thinking. And that just resonates.”
Suchak recently provided an opportunity for members of the public to learn about his, and fellow award-winning photographers’, experiences as photojournalists on the frontlines during at UVA’s Rotunda. Photojournalists Michael Robinson Chávez, Ryan M. Kelly, and Kirsten Luce joined Suchak on stage for a conversation about the ways in which photography can add nuance and clarity to written stories, aid viewers in digesting large amounts of information, and help bring events to life. The panel was hosted by the Karsh Institute in partnership with UVA’s Public Service Pathways program.
Suchak said much of his best work has been conditional on the trust of others, and that aspiring photographers should never overlook the interpersonal parts of the job.
“I’m no longer interested in being the breaking news photo guy. For me, the most interesting part is the story behind the story, and there are many layers that never get told.”
“I’m no longer interested in being the breaking news photo guy. For me, the most interesting part is the story behind the story, and there are many layers that never get told,” he said.
Suchak traces this lesson all the way back to his first paying job for photography: taking photos of a Salvation Army shelter near his native Buffalo, New York. He was right out of college, and in his own words, “vastly underprepared.”
“That said, I learned a pretty important lesson when I was there: empathy, time and listening can reveal a story and another side of things,” he said.
In addition to his work as a photojournalist and as a university photographer, Suchak has done extensive commercial photography and has a deep resume as a music photographer, working with many prominent musicians such as Public Enemy, Dave Matthews Band, The Grateful Dead, and Trey Anastasio of Phish.
The depth and breadth of his career is also a great model for students curious about making a living in the arts, Sweeney said.
“That’s another thing in the classroom that he has emphasized to them,” she said. “A lot of these students do have a lurking interest in the arts. And they are surrounded by friends going into consulting and law and medicine, and they feel pressured to have careers with a lot of structure and a lot of output. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But some have gotten the message that there’s no chance of having a career in the arts. Sanjay is like ‘no, hey if you love something and you need to do it, you just have to do it and do it again and again. And you can find a way.’”
One of the students Suchak has worked with is finding his own way to make his artistic skills into a professional pursuit. Domenick Fini is from Chesapeake, Va., and just finished his third year at UVA with a double major in Studio Art and Media Studies. He had opportunities to learn from Suchak over the academic year and got to know him as a practitioner.
Fini said the academic parts of his coursework are great for a scholarly understanding of photography, but that Suchak helped teach him to become a professional.
“It was exciting for me to see that someone could blend personal artistic work, which I was interested in, with a more professional and commercially based,” Fini said.
In terms of practical advice for aspiring photographers, Suchak said his best counsel is to get really good at one area of photography. This could be portraiture or capturing live events, but developing an identifiable skill gives an aspiring photojournalist a foundation to build on, he said.
“When you get known as the person that can do that one thing really well, the other opportunities will follow,” he said.
Beyond the specific approaches Suchak shares with students, Fini shared that what really made an impact was the way Suchak encourages students to view careers in the arts as concrete and possible.
“He kept reminding us during a student event to keep feeding the personal projects, that they can be the ones that propel you forward in your career. He acts as a great role model for working as a professional artist.”