is an internationally recognized, award-winning innovator in

journalism and multimedia.

He recently published The Principles of Multimedia

Journalism: Packaging Digital News Routledge, 2015.
Koci is a national Emmy award winning multimedia
producer who worked as a visual journalist at the San Jose
Mercury News for 15 years.

His photographic work has appeared in The New York

Times, Wired, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, The Los
Angeles Times, USA Today, and a National Geographic
Book on iPhone Photography, among others. He has been
named one of the Top 25 Influential Communications
Professors and one of the Top 100 Photographers on the
Web.

His work for the Mercury News covering the Latino

Diaspora and the California Youth Prison System earned
him two Pulitzer Prize nominations and in 2003, the James
K. Batten Knight Ridder Excellence Award.

In 2006, Richard was named deputy director of

photography and multimedia at the Mercury News after
spearheading the creation of the organizations first visual
journalism website, MercuryNewsPhoto.com.

He has taught multimedia workshops and presented

keynotes for dozens of professional organizations and was
most recently invited to be a visiting professor at the
prestigious Paris-Sorbonne University.

In 2011 Koci Hernandez was named an Assistant Professor

of New Media at the Graduate School of Journalism at UC
Berkeley.


How much have the structure and the substance of

photography been affected by the digital era? What is your
opinion on the use of filters and Hipstamatic?

Personally, I don't believe the structure or substance of photography

has been affected by the digital era.
I believe the frequency with which photographs are taken and
disseminated and the general democratization of photography is
certainly at the forefront of change.
I don't have any particularly strong feelings against the use of filters
or applications like Hipstamatic because anyone who has practiced
photography pre-digital and pre-mobile knows that the filtration,
manipulation and process that Instagram filters and these mobile
apps create are something that can be created with filters on the end
of lenses, particular kinds of analog film and other darkroom
techniques.
So really, it's nothing new to photography just a digitization of pre-
existing processes.

You are considered to be one of the most influential
communications professors who affect the world of
communication and most specifically, photography. What is the
element that differentiates your work from others and
influences so many artists?

Well, thank you for the compliment. This is probably the most difficult
question to answer but I'd hope that my fearlessness, or more
realistically my cautious optimism in embracing new technologies
and potential tools for storytelling keep my art fresh and hopefully
inspirational to others, as so many others have inspired me with the
same qualities.

I remember a few of your Instagram photographs that I dont

see any more. Why have you removed them?

That's a great question. About two years ago I cleaned out my

Instagram feed. It was nothing more than a common Spring cleaning
if you will. I was in the mindset of not feeling comfortable with having
everything I had done be permanently posted. I was thinking of my
work as 'seasonal' and constantly transforming and how wonderful it
would be to clear-out the old and let in some new fresh air. So I
deleted all of my previously posted images and started anew. It was
a great feeling and I suspect that once I feel that my Instagram feed
becomes cluttered again, I will repeat the process.


Can a tool, even if this is a mobile phone, narrate a photo essay?

What I have in mind is Everyday in Africa, by Peter DiCampo. On
the other hand, can a mobile phone cope in low light
circumstances or the fast rhythm that photojournalism requires?

I believe that the answer is yes, not really based on my opinion but
based on the visual evidence before us. There are plenty of
photojournalists who are approving and very difficult journalistic
situations that a mobile phone can be a very effective tool despite
challenging circumstances. Mobile devices have been used to cover
the Olympics, conflict zones, Political campaigns and everything in
between. Certainly the devices limitations in low lighting can be
constricting, but I think were slowly beginning to see that change with
new sensors and technology.


Will you tell us a few things about the National Geographic

Book on iPhone photography?

Yes, It was the brainchild of photographer Carsten Peter, a frequent

contributor to Natgeo magazine. I was honored to be asked to
participate in the book project, which highlighted my iPhone work and
allowed me to offer my favorite apps and tips and tricks to using the
device in a professional manner.
 Dont use your phone. People are not ready to answer. Use
poetry! Jack Kerouac. Is your work iPhone poetry? What role
does confusion play in your work?

I wouldn't go so far as to say poetry and I would add my own line here
which would be don't use your phone use your eye! But one of my
motivating factors is always trying to create a sense of mystery in my
photography. I certainly do think that the idea of confusion or uncertainty
goes hand in hand with a sense of mystery.

Is less more?

No, less is less and that's the way I like it. I'm a big fan of minimalism.

In many of your photographs there are people wearing hats. Why

is that?

That's a very long story that has taken me many years to figure out
myself. But to cut straight to the chase, my constant search for men in
hats is part of my own psychological baggage of trying to find and
connect with my father.

Would you like to hold a workshop in Greece in order to expand

mobile-photography?

Of Course!!!!

Can you give us a few tips on mobile photography?

Here are a few staples:

1. It's all about the light. Photographing in the right light -- early morning
or late evening -- has the potential to make the most 'boring' situation
into a spectacular one.

2. Never use the mobile zoom. It's terrible and the first step to an
unsuccessful image. If you want to get close, zoom with your feet! Get
close and your images improve.

3. Lock your exposure and focus. Your photos will improve 100% . With
the default camera app, you can tap and hold on the screen to set where
you want your exposure and focus. Once the box "blinks," it's locked.
You can also use other apps like ProCamera to separately set and lock
the exposure and focus.

4. Silence your inner critic. See if you can go one day of shooting every
time your inner voice says, 'I'd like to take a picture.'"

5. Edit, edit edit. Restrain yourself from sharing everything. Post only the
best, and your audience will grow. We don't need to see all 10,000 of
your ugly children. I try and pick my least ugly. It's hard to choose and
very personal.

6. Technical proficiency is overrated in the mobile photography

world. Instead, exercise your power of observation. Learn to look and
see deeply.

7. Filters don't replace a good eye. Never have, never will! You still
need the basics. Look for the moment and light and subject. If you
choose to add a sepia, black and white or other nostalgic or creative
filter later [with an app such as Instagram or Hipstamatic], that's OK, but
remember...lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig. And if it's for journalism, he
added, then it needs to be unfiltered.

8. Shoot from the hip for better candids. Hold the phone about waist-
level and tap away. Your friends and family will not know what you're
doing. Be sneaky about it. The moment they know you're shooting, the
images become less candid. You'll get a lot more bad shots, but when
you get a good one, you'll want to hang it on the wall! Or literally shoot
from the heart, place your thumb on shutter button and bring your phone
close to your heart/chest and snap away.
 9. Give yourself assignments and deadlines. Take 20 images of one
thing from different angles. You'll begin to see the world differently, even
if it's just walking around the bowl of fruit on your kitchen table and
observing how the light falls on it from different angles.

10. You have to know what you want to see before you can see it. Make
a list of things you want to photograph today and find them! If you know
my work, then you know the No. 1 thing on my list are men in fedoras!
Or any hat for that matter! Except baseball caps, those don't count, :)

11. Study other photographers. I spend an unhealthy amount of time

looking at images. It's the only way to get better, in my humble opinion.
My favorites are Roy Decarava, so happy we discovered Vivian Maier,
there are so many others, find your favorite!

12. Always be ready. "You want to make sure that when your mind and
heart says 'shoot,' you have no excuses, like Oh, my camera was in my
purse, pocket or, gasp, your camera wasn't around. It's one of the main
reasons I love mobile photography -- my camera is always with me.