Moving on

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I've been with the Boston Globe for over five years now (the longest I've ever worked for a single company). For the past 2 and a half years, I've had the privilege to work on a blog called The Big Picture. I wrote about the launch when it was new back here. Since then the blog has grown phenomenally and I've grown into a role of curator, moderator, editor and storyteller - always trying to keep in mind that the stories are not mine and the images are not mine. I may have a knack for gathering photos together, but the stories are made great by the photographers and their subjects, and I thank them all. It's been an amazing journey, and I've discovered that it is a journey that I want to keep making - building on and building up (as appropriate). This is something I want to do, and do well, for years to come.In early February, I will be starting on what I hope is the next big step in that journey. I'll be moving to The Atlantic, and will be starting a new news photo blog titled "". (The Atlantic's Announcement, Twitter: @in_focus, Facebook fan page). The Boston Globe has chosen to keep the name "Big Picture", and will continue to post photos to the existing blog after my last entry on Friday, January 21st. I wish them the all the best.Why the move? Simply stated, I want to do more with the format. I see many opportunities ahead, and have wanted to do more with the blog for a long time, but have often been constrained by time. As anyone who knows me can tell you, working on the blog was always a passion, but was never my fulltime job. I was hired by the Globe over five years ago as a Web Developer, and part of the agreement to let me run the Big Picture was that I kept doing the other web development that needed to be done. I agreed to that arrangement, and tried my best to make it work, but in the end, it was often unworkable - one or the other job would suffer when there were crunch times.I wanted the opportunity to do this - telling news photo stories - as a fulltime job, and the Atlantic has offered that to me, for which I am grateful. I also think the Atlantic is a better overall fit for the type of international, wide-ranging storytelling I've practiced over the years. The Globe has been a good home and a great platform for over 425 entries since 2008 and I am truly grateful, but I've chosen to move on now, and really hope you'll come along and see what I'm up to. I feel very fortunate for what I've been able to accomplish to date, and for the opportunity given to me now. I really can't believe this is going to be my fulltime gig!-Alankokogiak@gmail.com