At the February 11 meeting of the Retired Men’s Association Bob Rimmer introduced Neil Vigdor, a reporter for the New York Times who covers breaking news, with a focus on politics. He is also an expert photographer, and his talk was titled “How Did He Get the Shot? The Photography of New York Times Breaking News Journalist Neil Vigdor.”
The breadth of Neil’s assignments extends to stories about crime, business, pop culture, and other topics. Previously, he was a member of the Times political team that covered the 2024 election and the 2022 midterms. He reported from every battleground state during the last election cycle, plus Iowa and New Hampshire. He also tracked voting legislation and kept tabs on threats against election officials.
Before politics, Neil covered a wide range of breaking news stories, including the police killing of George Floyd, the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, several mass shootings, pandemic-related news, and more. He has reported on four national conventions and two inaugurations. Neil graduated from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. He has covered Connecticut and national politics for The Hartford Courant and Hearst papers, including Greenwich Time. When he is not reporting, Neil moonlights in celestial and street photography. His work can be viewed on his website at www.neilvigdor.photoshelter.com.
Mr. Vigdor shared how his journey started at the Greenwich Time. He recalled a feature he wrote about residents with Leap Day birthdays, a project that led him to meet Peter Berg, an RMA member born on February 29, who eventually invited him to speak. The world of photojournalism, Vigdor explained, is currently grappling with the rise of artificial intelligence. In an era where digital tools can create anything, he noted that the public has become increasingly skeptical of extraordinary images. He described a Wild West environment where photographers must rely on metadata and watermarks to prove the authenticity of their work. His own portfolio, which includes over 90,000 images taken over the last several years, stands as a testament to the meticulous planning that AI cannot replicate. During his presentation, he showed and described many of his beautiful and creative photos.
He spoke of the tedium and extreme patience required of the craft, recounting a Fourth of July in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn where he and a group of fellow photographers stood in a single spot for four hours to capture the fireworks display over the Manhattan Bridge. Because tripods were banned in the public space, they scrambled to claim fence posts to steady their cameras for the long exposures required to freeze the light. The presentation highlighted how technology, when used as a tool rather than a replacement for reality, can reveal hidden wonders. Mr. Vigdor described a private firefly sanctuary in New Canaan, Connecticut, maintained by Bill and Mary Ellen McDonald. The couple has turned their property into a haven for the insects, hosting firefly viewing parties complete with ice cream sundaes. To capture the magic of these nights, Mr. Vigdor used stacking software—a tool originally designed for star trails—to layer 160 photos into a single, startling image that showed the dense, flickering volume of the fireflies against a backdrop of rotating stars centered on Polaris, the North Star.
His professional life as a political reporter for the Times provided some of the most dramatic stories of the afternoon. Mr. Vigdor spent much of the 2024 campaign cycle in battleground states, often working alongside Doug Mills, the chief White House photographer for the Times and winner of multiple Pulitzer Prizes. He spoke with awe of the technical precision Mr. Mills displayed in Butler, Pennsylvania, during the assassination attempt on Donald J. Trump. Using a Sony Alpha 1—the same high-speed mirrorless model Mr. Vigdor uses—Mr. Mills captured the air displacement of the bullet approaching the president using a shutter speed of 1/8,000th of a second. He recalled being sent to a protest at the Manhattan courthouse during the trial of Mr. Trump with only 27 minutes’ notice to identify a special guest surrogate for the campaign of President Biden. That guest turned out to be the actor Robert De Niro, who delivered a stinging rebuke of former President Trump before being heckled by a crowd of supporters. Mr. Vigdor described the scene as one of those rare, unscripted moments that a journalist loves to witness.
The conversation also touched on the sobering reality of the modern media landscape. Mr. Vigdor lamented the decline of regional journalism and the disappearance of many local and regional newspapers, specifically citing the Hartford Courant, where he worked for 18 months. He described the demoralizing impact of its acquisition by Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known for aggressive cost-cutting. While the New York Times has thrived by diversifying its digital offerings—including games like Wordle and its cooking app—he noted that many historic institutions, including the Courant, which dates to 1764 as the oldest paper continuously published in the US, have lost their physical buildings and seen their newsrooms hollowed out.
Even as he navigates the high-pressure world of national politics, Mr. Vigdor remains enchanted by the quiet moments. Whether it is tracking a snowy owl at Long Beach in Stratford or using a neutral density filter to take a long daytime exposure that blurs the waves at Greenwich Point, his work is driven by a desire to express visually what words sometimes cannot. He spoke of his first photography show at the Perrot Memorial Library and his travels to Bruges, Belgium, to capture the Gothic architecture and its Christmas markets. For him, the camera is not just a recording device; it is a way to find a different kind of truth in a rapidly changing world.
The RMA’s next presentation, “The Man Who Would Be King: Mohammed Bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia” by Karen Elliott House, is scheduled for 11 AM on Wednesday, February 25, 2026. RMA presentations are held at Christ Church Greenwich, Parish Hall, 254 E. Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830. Ms. House will be seen via Zoom at Parish Hall, as well as on the Internet.
Karen Elliott House is author of a new book, “The Man Who Would be King,” on Saudi Arabia and its ambitious Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. During nearly five decades of reporting from Saudi Arabia she also authored, “On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future” in 2012.
She brings that experience to her latest book on the Saudi Crown Prince and his country. The book is based on more than half a dozen extended interviews with the young Crown Prince who has unleashed unprecedented change in the kingdom.
Ms. House, a senior fellow at the Belfer Center at Harvard University, retired in March 2006 as Publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Senior Vice President of Dow Jones & Company. During a 32-year career with The Journal, she also served as foreign editor, diplomatic correspondent, and energy correspondent. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for international reporting for her coverage of the Middle East. Since her retirement she has focused on writing books and spent time with numerous foreign policy organizations.
She is a trustee of the RAND Corp. where she served as chairman of the board for a decade. She also is a trustee of the Trilateral Commission. A native of Matador, Texas, she received a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was named a distinguished Alumnus in 1992. She has received honorary degrees from Pepperdine University, Lafayette College and Boston University. Ms. House is the mother of four grown children and the happy grandmother of six.
To stream the presentation by Karen Elliott House at 11 AM on Wednesday, February 25, click on https://bit.ly/30IBj21. This presentation will also be available on local public access TV channels, Verizon FIOS channel 24 and Optimum channel 79.
Note: The views expressed in these presentations are those of the speakers. They are not intended to represent the views of the RMA or its members.
RMA speaker presentations are presented as a community service at no cost to in-person or Zoom attendees, regardless of gender. Any member of the public who would like to receive a weekly email announcement of future speakers should send a request to members@greenwichrma.org. The RMA urges all eligible individuals to consider becoming a member of our great organization, and thereby enjoy all the available fellowship, volunteer, and community service opportunities which the RMA offers to its members. For further information, go to https://greenwichrma.org/, or contact info@greenwichrma.org.
