From Roland Burris’s testimony before the House impeachment committee, to the House impeachment
vote, to Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s appearance before the Senate that will soon try him, dramatic events unfolded
rapidly at the Capitol last week. Among the many there to record it was
Jonathan Kirshner, a Springfield-based photographer who specializes in
capturing iconic storytelling images, especially in the world of politics.
His experience includes previously working as a staff photographer at the State Journal-Register in Springfield, the Record Searchlight newspaper in Redding, Calif., and internships at National Geographic magazine and several newspapers. His photography career began at the age of 16
when he started working for newspapers in southern California.
Kirshner is a graduate of Western Kentucky University’s photojournalism program where he was a two-time William Randolph Hearst
Journalism competition finalist, 2nd place College Photographer of the Year,
1st place Roy Howard National Reporting winner and was named the Kentucky News
Photographer Association’s student and professional photographer of the year.
Recently his coverage of the historic overtime legislative session received a
second place picture story award in the 2008 Illinois Associated Press Editors
Association Editorial Excellence contest. His work can be seen at
www.jonathankirshner.com and www.lovelightphotography.com.
This article appears in Jan 15-21, 2009.
