Photographing an Album Cover

I have writer’s block because of my guest.

In fact, describing William Snyder is so difficult that I’ve been waiting to write this for two days. I’m ready to give it a shot now, but let me say up front that there is little chance I will be able to convey in writing the talent of William Snyder.

Professor William Snyder – yup, he’s a professor – is a four-time Pulitzer Prize winning photographer and editor. A graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, William returned there 27 years after graduating from the Professional Photography program to chair the Photojournalism program. Now, as the Director of the Advertising Photography Program, he continues teaching, and has been chosen as an RIT Outstanding Alumnus, selected for the The Isaiah Thomas Award in Publishing, and has won the Frank J. Romano Endowed Prize for Publishing Entrepreneurship.

In between his graduating and then returning to RIT in 2008 William had a legendary career in journalism. After a few years at The Miami News, he moved on to The Dallas Morning News. For 15 years he was a staff photographer, winning many top photography awards, including a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism in 1989 (along with a DMN reporter and artist) for their special report on a 1985 airplane crash, the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for his pictures of ill and orphaned children living in desperate conditions in Romania and, along with fellow photographer and RIT grad Ken Geiger, the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News photography for their photographic coverage of the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

Moving up the ranks, Snyder served as the Night Photo Editor, Assignments Editor, Metro/Suburban Photo Editor, and Assistant Director of Photography in the DMN’s aggressive Collin County bureau.

I hope you are starting to see why telling Williams story is difficult…. his career path is amazing.

In 2005 William was named The Morning News’ Director of Photography. In 2006 the DMN staff won numerous awards, including: The Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography for their coverage of Hurricane Katrina; 12 awards in Pictures of the Year International including Photographer of the Year; Four awards in NPPA’s Best Of Photojournalism; and APME Texas Star Photographer of the Year. Again, William Snyder is one hell of a talented photographer, editor, and now professor.

I was lucky enough to meet William during this past year’s pandemic. Our mutual friend David Bergman, who’s been on the show himself for the episode Composition, Creativity, and Workflow , and who does the Adorama show Ask David Bergman, along with his Shoot From the Pit workshops, has been doing regular Zoom Happy Hours with his friends. Whenever there is someone there I don’t know I look them up, and when I looked up William I noticed something that stopped me cold… William is the photographer for the legendary band The Who! Holy crap.

Looking through his music photography I was in awe. It wasn’t just The Who, it was every damn band I loved growing up. His book, “Join Together (with the band)”  I need to get still, but I will for sure.

With clients like Time Magazine, Life Magazine, Sports illustrated, The Sunday New York Times, USA Today, Holiday Inn and more, I could do more shows with William than perhaps anyone I have ever met. I wanted to start strong, and had every intention of talking about a shot from his storied career with The Who, and then something happened – I saw a photo I knew very well. When I mentioned today’s image to William he replied “I have regrets about the situation – I shoulda, coulda, woulda if I had I been really smart”, and right then I knew I wanted to know, no, needed to know, what a “really smart” William would have changed.

Join photographer, journalist, editor, educator, professor, and four-time Pulitzer Prize winner William Snyder and me as we dive into what it took to photograph what would become a classic album cover – Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “The Sky is Crying” – on this Behind the Shot.

Connect with William

Website: williamsnyderphotography.com
Instagram: @jointogetherwiththeband

William’s’ Book

Join Together With The Band: jointogetherwiththebook.com

William’s’ Photographer Pick

Carol Guzy: Meet a Pro: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photojournalist Carol Guzy, via Adorama