Q: Audio, photo, interview all at once? HOW?!

From one of my students:
“When doing the next assignment with audio and photos, how would I get both audio and photos at the same time? I have an audio interview set up for thursday and I have made a list of questions I am going to ask him. Do I go about asking him if I can take photos of him, or what kind of photos would you suggest me taking?”

My response:

I’ll outline what I would do, but keep in mind that I am giving you this advice based on years of failing at photos/audio/interviewing all at once. Here’s my step by step approach, and it worked last Monday when I went out for a story:

1. At first, conduct the interview with the tape recorder off, unless you want to ensure accuracy of quotes. Consider this an informational part of the interview — this could be on the phone or in person. Sometimes it takes people time before they start telling you about their lives, which is understandable.

2. When that part of the interview is nearly finished, tell your source that you need to ask him some more questions for the tape recorder. Explain to him that these may be repeated questions but that he should answer as though he’s speaking to someone in the tape recorder, and not to you, someone who has already heard his story. This portion of the interview may take 45 minutes, but it’ll be more concise. While he speaks, nod and smile, but don’t say anything. Or, say something — leading him to retell a wonderful anecdote or offer more detailed explanation. Respond, physically, as though you’re hearing the stories for the first time.

3. Now that the audio/interview part is done, ask him if he wouldn’t mind letting you follow him around for a while as you take photos. If he’s not OK with this, or if he seems tired after telling you some pretty harrowing
stuff, ask him to reschedule the interview. Expect that possibility. When/if you meet him again, you’ll notice that he’ll have visibly relaxed because he knows you now. I often schedule two interviews — one I call the
preliminary interview, and the second I call the main interview. By the time the second one comes around, it’s as though we’re old friends. You may want to consider that preliminary interview as the notepad and pen
interview, and the secondary interview as the 45-minute audio recording and photo session.

4. Then follow him around to take photos. I tend to schedule time with people so that I can interview them, then watch them at work. I find that people have a need to tell me what they’re about before I start shadowing them, though often this part of the interview doesn’t result in much beyond canned quotes. Whatever you do, realize that you probably can’t do all those things at once, which is why you need to figure out what works for you.

NOTE: This is my experience and I will likely change my methods as I become more experienced. If you have a methodology that improves on this one — and you probably do — please let us know!