XIV
ILLUSTRATED SPECIAL ARTICLES
It would require a surveyor of extraordinary skill to mark the boundary between the lands of Photographs-With-Explanatory-Data and Articles-Illustrated-With-Photographs. Since the dividing line is so vague it is not difficult to pass from the one to the other.
The jump from the making of photographs to the writing of non-fiction is not a difficult one to make. In his rambles after salable photographs the press-photographer may unearth a subject to which a single photograph does not do justice. Then the making of more photographs and the writing of an article about them is the logical and the progressive and the more remunerative thing to do.
Indeed, subjects which would not sell otherwise may be made very useful to an editor by the writing of an enticing article around them. At once, there is a means of broadening one's market and of disposing of photographs, by themselves, unsalable. An illustrated article naturally calls forth a fatter cheque than would the text or the photographs alone. There is as much a demand for illustrated articles as there is for photographs; so that the photographer with the ability to tell facts simply and clearly has two avenues of revenue.
Many illustrated articles sold to magazines are just groups of photographs with interesting texts written about them. A search through a few magazines reveals a broad variety.
From Popular Mechanics:
- New Mountain-Road Now Open to Traffic.
- New Orleans Public Elevator.
- Artistic Roof-Garden Features City-Factory.
- Steamer Repaired in Eighteen Days.
- Where the Earth Collapsed.
- Flying Anglers Troll for Deep-Sea Fish.
- A Four-Track Concrete Railroad-Bridge.
- Waterfalls Near Big City Just Discovered.
- Concrete Smokestack Difficult to Demolish.
- Vast Stores of Mineral Paint-Pigments in Salton Sea.
From Illustrated World:
- What the Circus Does in Winter.
- Snow on the Overland Trail.
- City over Coal-Mines Slowly Sinking.
- Running the Farm by Windmill.
- Truck Equipped for Sealer of Weights and Measures.
- Marvelous Development in the Hemp-Industry.
- Public Camp-Conveniences.
- Mud-Splashing Guards for Autos.
- Work for Waterfalls Everywhere.
- Building the Road to Fit the Car.
- Heading Off Mountain-Floods.
- Lawn-Pools and Fountains in Concrete.