STANFIELD PROVIDING A VISION FOR VISUAL PEOPLE
 
His name doesn't appear in photo credits anymore, but Chris Stanfield said his job as a photo editor is just as rewarding as taking pictures, or even more so.

Stanfield, a news and sports photo editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and soon to become director of photography for the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press, hopes to bring some of his enthusiasm for mentoring photojournalists into his position as president of the Associated Press Photo Managers group.

" As newspapers continue to put more stock in their visuals every day, it's really important that those in charge of leading photo departments have a place to go," Stanfield said, adding that the mission of APPM, which was founded in 2001, is to assist the people in charge of photos at newspapers of every size.

Stanfield is the only founding member of APPM who will have served in every office of the organization. That institutional knowledge, he said, should prove beneficial when he becomes president at the end of this week's Associated Press Managing Editors and APPM conference.

Stanfield began his photojournalism career in 1993 after studying mass communication with an emphasis in photojournalism at Southeast Missouri State University. He worked as a staff photographer at the Southeast Missourian in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and later at newspapers in Dyersburg, Tenn., Jackson, Tenn., and Shreveport, La.

He returned to the Southeast Missourian as the newspaper's first photo editor. He said part of the reason he decided to take the position is because "photojournalism needs younger, enthusiastic mid-level editors."

Stanfield also served as a photo editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune in Missouri until joining the Post-Dispatch. He will assume his new job in St. Paul in November.

"It's a wonderful time to be a photo editor," Stanfield said. "We are in a renaissance period for photography."

He predicts the importance of photos and visuals in newspapers will only continue to grow. And as it does, APPM will be there to provide service to photo departments across the nation, he said.

Along with that service, Stanfield said, the organization is also beneficial because it is a "melting pot of the industry's best photographers."

"I am really excited about what APPM can provide," he said. "It is an invaluable resource for photo editors in this country."

Stanfield described photographers as "sailboat captains out to sea with no one to provide light."

"APPM offers that light," he said.