State of the State

Jim Beckel been a member of The Oklahoman's photo staff for 25 years. During that time, he and his cameras have covered virtually every type of news and feature story imaginable, traveling to all regions of Oklahoma to document events and provide photo coverage to accompany reporters' stories.

The greatest benefit of his job is the opportunity to meet a wide variety of wonderful people, from all walks of life, who allow him to share their stories through his photos. His career as a photojournalist has allowed him to understand that covering the plight of a homeless veteran is every bit important as photographing a high-ranking state official speaking about policy matters.

While it's true that I am employed by The Oklahoman, I try to be constantly mindful that the person I am actually working for is the reader of our newspaper.