Bill Eppridge

Bill Eppridge has lived his entire professional career looking through a lens; trying to capture an entire campaign or war in a single split-second shot. He photographed what was not supposed to be seen. He captured war as it was, not glorified and dressed up as was expected. Eppridge's ability to find the perfect shot to tell a story was what separated him from others. As I listened to him speak, I realized how much he had seen and the honor I had of listening to him speak. The big stories of the last fifty years have been seen by Eppridge. I was looking at a man that witnessed Woodstock, the Vietnam War, and the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. I feel that I could learn more from listening to him than I had from going to 100 J-1010 lectures. His real world experience engaged the listeners in a way that we seldom see. It showed me that stories do not need embelishments to be great, they simply need to be covered thoroughly and with great detail. Seeing Bill Eppridge speak and the wisdom I learned from it has taught me how close and how easy it can be talk to the people who know the most about journalsim.