Bill Eppridge

There is no room for discrimination in journalism. Journalists everywhere cover the good, the bad, and the ugly. Bill Eppridge, a renowned photojournalist and Mizzou alumni, is no exception. Speaking for an Honor of Medal class at the University of Missouri, Eppridge was introduced as a man “ whose career was as diverse as the camera lenses in his bag.” This couldn’t be more true of Bill Eppridge who has photographed the young Barbara Streisand, the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, the Vietnam war, Woodstock, the Beatles in the U.S., and much more.  Those in attendance at the Honor of Medal class were lucky to catch a glimpse of the great works of Eppridge’s career, as well as a few of his current endeavors.  Eppridge also shared his opinion on the current state of photojournalism. He asserted that technology has impeded photojournalism by cutting the profits one can make on a photograph and by reducing the quality of photographs the public can get a hold of.  Eppridge mentioned that many think this problem to be unsolvable, however, he optimistically responded with the remark “ but they said painting was dead when the camera was invented.” The seemingly exponential growth of technology seems to be the dark cloud looming over every journalist and every major media outlet today. It seems that all we can do is embrace this change, but at what price? The media is so interested in controlling the technological world that we seem to have forgotten what journalism is all about.  It seems that the media should slow down a little and remember all the timeless contributions in media made by journalists like Bill Eppridge. It seems like a long time ago where a single black and white photograph could evoke emotion in thousands.