A Brief History of Photojournalism PDF

A Brief History of Photojournalism Photojournalists are under-appreciated professionals who have done important work in maintaining an informed society. They are, an important part of a functioning democracy. Photojournalism differs from other types of commercial photography which involve pe...

A Brief History of Photojournalism Photojournalists are under-appreciated professionals who have done important work in maintaining an informed society. They are, an important part of a functioning democracy. Photojournalism differs from other types of commercial photography which involve people. Like in traditional print journalism, the photo- journalist’s job is to document a real story in the most authentic manner possible and with the utmost jour- nalistic integrity. Strictly speaking, the photojournalist is a reporter and not an artist. However, this does not mean that these photos which are reporting real-life can’t be taken artfully as the photographer sees fit. In fact, many works of photojournalism and documentary photography have hung on museum walls. The general consen- sus is that photojournalism is a form of journalism that gives visual support to the news story. It is not a form of photography that is supported by journalistic writing. While this might be the general view, most people can cite examples where the journalistic photo tells a story all on its own. It requires little to no writing to back it up. The Box Camera The first official attempts at war photography were made by the British government at the start of the Crimean War using the Box Camera. In March 1854, Gilbert Elliott was commissioned to photograph views of the Russian fortifications along the coast of the Baltic Sea. Due to the size and cumbersome nature of his photographic equipment, Elliott was limited in his choice of pictures. Because the Box Camera needed time for long exposures, he was only able to produce pictures of stationary objects, mostly posed pictures. This camera was later used in the American Civil War by American photographer Mathew Brady. This was the beginning of photojournalism in America. Golden Age Of Photojournalism - 35 mm Photojournalism With the advent of the first 35mm Leica camera in 1925, as well as the invention of the first commercial flash bulbs in 1927, the stage was set for the “golden age of photojournalism”. This so-called “golden age” lasted from the 1930s to the 1960s. The early 35mm cameras were the first that were small enough and light enough to easily carry into most environments. This new photographic freedom combined with less laborious print- ing methods. It rocketed photojournalism into a powerful and common way to convey newsworthy events around the world. The Great Depression The Great Depression spurred a number of photographers to leave the studio and start document- ing the lives of real people who had fallen on hard times. In a way, these images contained little real “news”. However, they certainly documented the lives in poverty and provided accurate accounts of real people’s lives. Walker Evans documented the lives of ordinary people for fifty years. His photos showed people in their day-to-day environments and featured subjects such as random old men chatting animatedly in front of an old storefront. They also showed dirty-faced poor children sitting in rags on wooden porches, seemingly oblivious to their plight. In a sense, he captured the indigenous nature that is universal to all humans. Dorothea Lange’s most famous photo is the so-called “migrant mother”. This powerful photo fea- tures a hungry and old-before-her-time depression era mother and her children. We know little about the mother and children in this iconic photo. Their names and history were never known. At the time the photo was taken she and her children had been living on frozen vegetables and birds the children had killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food and was essentially stranded with nothing to her name but a car with no wheels and lean-to-tent. Gordon Parks was the first African American photojournalist and he was a staff contributor to Life magazine. He documented major leaders of the Civil Rights movement such as Martin Luther King and Mal- colm X. Interestingly, he began his career as a fashion photographer.  Various magazines such as Life (probably the most famous of its time), Sports Illustrated, Paris Match, and Picture Post began publishing photos of events. Until that time, such events would never have been seen by the general public. Modern-Day Photojournalism When Life magazine made the announcement in 1972 that it was ceasing its weekly publication, many people claimed that photojournalism was dead. However, photojournalism is as alive today as it was then and has taken on more forms. Traditional print is still in existence, but has become much less important in this age of the internet. However, photojournalism is just as impactful viewed on a webpage as it is when viewed on the page of a magazine. People consume news voraciously, and have come to expect solid photo- graphic documentation of what is happening in the world around them. Citizen Journalism Another element of modern-day photojournalism that is still working its kinks out is the huge in- crease in “citizen journalism”. These days nearly everybody owns a camera, even if only a camera-phone. This means that random people have captured various important events. They just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Major news outlets such as CNN actually make it a point to use these amateur documentary photos when news stories break. While citizen journalism certainly has it plusses, many have questioned its collective objectivity. For example, some citizen journalists are activists documenting com- munities that they are members of and may not be able to report what they see objectively. Another aspect of citizen journalism that experts tend to criticize is the general lack of quality and sometimes substance. A quick snapshot with a cell phone might be the only photo of a significant and spontaneous event. When you move things up a notch, quality suffers.  For example, only official members of the press can enter certain venues and these are trained pho- tographers using professional equipment. Still, if the only witness to a groundbreaking news story happens to be shooting with a camera-phone, those images are going to be as important as the photos shot by a pro with a great camera. The Future Of Photojournalism Because of the growing number of citizen journalists with a camera, we have come to a point where we’re taking many photos but spending little time looking at them. However, we can see that the best photo- journalists continue to stand out no matter the image surplus in today’s society. This is evident on Instagram and other social media channels – great photojournalists still get a lot of attention! In addition to this, there’s also a whole new generation of photojournalists called visual storytellers. These mostly young people are taking advantage of the digital era and coming up with innovative images which are often more artistic than traditional photojournalism and focus on less explored topics.