PHOTOJOURNALISM

JOUR 2300 – PRINCIPLES OF NEWS

MAYBORN SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM

WHY PHOTOJOURNALISM?

Captures reality – a snapshot of history

Raw, honest, personal, emotional

Powerful storytelling device

Before TV: it painted pictures of war, human life and suffering never seen before

Photos influence opinion, evoke reaction

WHY PHOTOJOURNALISM?

War, famine, Civil Rights, celebrity, politics, death, political upheaval

Why do photojournalists do what they do?

“One feels he has a responsibility to cover the events of his time, that he has a strong feeling that this is a moment of history that should be recorded.”

-- Photographer Carl Mydans

“From a book to a Web site, from a series of photographs to a digital flipbook, my work—and that of many of my colleagues— is looking at the long-standing notion that it is the task of a photographer to capture a decisive moment.”

-- Ed Kashi, Multimedia Adds New Dimensions to the Art of Storytelling, http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/102094/Multimedia-Adds-New-Dimensions-to-the-Art-of-Storytelling.aspx

GORDON PARKS

Photography as a tool to capture history … :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDEWN5k53yY

THE “DECISIVE MOMENT”

Photos have to ‘tell’ a story

Some circumstances are easy:

• Academy Awards; Principal awarding the diploma; a ‘handshake’ closing a deal

Others are more difficult

• Keep shooting until you get it• The “Aha” Moment • Feel it in your gut

LASTING IMPRESSIONS

LASTING IMPRESSIONS

THE PROCESS

http://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk/dagprocess.htm

A BRIEF HISTORYLouis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre invented the daguerreotype process in France.

The invention was announced to the public on August 19, 1839 at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris.

American photographers quickly capitalized on this new invention, which was capable of capturing a "truthful likeness."

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/daghtml/dagdag.html

FAMOUS DAGUERREOTYPES

SAMPLE DAGUERREOTYPES

THE CHALLENGES

Photographers limited to what they could shoot

Had to carry dark room equipment with them

Focus on portraits

Few news event photos of anything until Mathew Brady and Civil War

EASTMAN KODAK

George Eastman:

1880s/90s: Introduced an affordable handheld camera that used film

APPETITE FOR IMAGES

At turn of the century, newspaper publishers began to realize readers wanted illustrations, images

In 1888, National Geographic Society published its first magazie

MATHEW BRADYSet out to cover the Civil WarSending images to newspapers that revealed the horror of war

Images fueled resentment of war

Government sought control

http://rctc-photo-1.blogspot.com/2010/09/mathew-brady.html

http://www.cvltnation.com/casualties-of-war/

MILITARY CENSORSHIP

Military leaders tried to prevent publishers from running images

Hired their own photographers to “direct the visual representation of the war”.

Justified the the control of the press to protect the safety of soldiers

Restricted access to the front lines

Some photojournalists made up fake pictures

Source: “Photojournalism and today’s news, Visualizing Reality, Loup Langton (2009)

PHOTOS AS REALITY & POLITICAL PAWNS

1930s: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Farm Security Administration hired photographers to chronicle the lives of farm families

“Grapes of Wrath” type photos that were “direct, honest and truthful portrayals of American life” in the 1930s

Migrant Mother, by Dorothea Lange, Life Magazine, 1936

Source http://www.worldsfamousphotos.com/2007/03/21/migrant-mother-1936/

http://www.studio360.org/story/287358-american-icons-migrant-mother/

LIFE MAGAZINE

A magazine dedicated to photos, created by Henry R. Luce

Considered the first news magazine

"We tell the truth as we see it," Mr. Luce once explained when his magazines took sides on controversies. And he was accustomed to urge his editors to make a judgment. He believed that objectivity was impossible. "Show me a man who claims he is objective," he told an interviewer, "and I'll show you a man with illusions."

-- http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0403.html

PHOTOJOURNALISM HISTORY

History of Photojournalism by Serena Carter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5G64cpuL4U

Power of Photojournalism:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XONXeUndHl8

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i9H7FEw338

The History of Photojournalism – The story of Life Magazine through the eyes of its photographers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFDJEoWGaGY

WHAT MAKES A GREAT PHOTOGRAPH

Toren Beasley, principal, Seaberry Design and former photo editor, Newhouse News Service:

- Captures that moment in time

- Conveys the human condition

- “Can’t tell the whole truth in a single picture”

- Objectivity doesn’t exist: A photographer’s image represents what he/she decided to shoot at that moment

“Historically, photojournalism has resided somewhere between reportage, the delivery of information, and individual interpretation.”

- Wendy Watriss, http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/102074/Steps-Learned-Along-the-Way-Redefining-Photojournalisms-Power.aspx

WHAT MAKES A GREAT PHOTOGRAPH

Composition

The organization of:

Shape

Lines

Texture

1. What story am I telling?

• Why am I taking this photo?2. What is the visual focal point of this shot?

• Remember the Rule of Thirds3. What competing focal points are there?

• Remember: Avoid Clutter and Avoid Mergers4. What is in the background and foreground?

• Use your eyes to analyze the scene5. Am I close enough?

6. What is the main source of light?

10 QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ASK

7. Is my Framing Straight?

8. What other perspectives could I capture this subject from?

• Remember: Use the angles9. How would holding the camera in the other format change this shot?

10. How will the eye travel through this image?

• Remember: Lines/Visual Concepts

10 QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ASK

Source: http://digital-photography-school.com/10-questions

Positioning of main focal point of image

• The rule is: if you place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally

• Balancing image, light, background, colors, textures

• Creating a sense of motion• Creating a depth of perception

RULE OF THIRDS

http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds#sthash.ucvhNWrP.dpuf

RULE OF THIRDS

http://photoinf.com/General/ITRC_UMT/Composition_Basics_-_How_to_Get_Good_Pictures/Rule_of_Thirds.htm

You want to avoid “surprises” in the background

Learn to see what the camera sees

COMPOSITION CONT. - AVOID CLUTTER

COMPOSITION CONT. – AVOID MERGERS

Don’t shoot pictures from the same height

• Shoot low, get high• Get close: Shoot from different angles

ANGLES

CONSIDER THESE VISUAL CONCEPTS

Reflections

Lines

Shadows

Curves

IMPACT OF DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY & MULTIMEDIA

Readers look at images first, then text

Stories are more interesting when they include photo(s)

Add audio and you create a more engaging piece

The best photos show people doing something – avoid buildings and things

SOURCE: Elements of News Writing, James W. Kershner, 2012

IMPACT OF DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHYNew ways of telling stories via multimedia

It allows photographers to focus on a story and produce more content with greater control over how those pictures are presented.

The meaning of visual stories can be directed through the construction of a narrative that draws on sound and text as well as photographs and video.

SOURCE: http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/102097/Photojournalism-in-the-New-Media-Economy.aspx

IMPACT OF DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHYIt overcomes restrictions on getting longer and more complex stories published for a global audience, especially younger generations who do not consume traditional media.

It is an effective response to the conceptual challenge of how to provide context for a photograph.

It can overcome photojournalism’s objectification of people by giving subjects their own voice.SOURCE: http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/102097/Photojournalism-in-the-New-Media-Economy.aspx

PHOTOJOURNALISTS’ FUTURE

Greater opportunities as the barriers to publishing are lower, technology is less expensive and distribution is much easier

OPPORTUNITIES DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Flexibility

Immediacy

Permanence/Archival

Interactivity

“Photographers who understand they are publishers as well as producers, for whom engaging a loyal community is more valuable than chasing a mass audience, will be in a powerful position.

“They will be the ones who use social media in combination with traditional tools to activate partnerships with other interested parties to fund their stories, host their stories, circulate their stories, and engage with their stories.”-- David Campbell, http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/102097/Photojournalism-in-the-New-Media-Economy.aspx

CHALLENGES

Unlimited capacity• The Ol’ Days: Limited space, wrong photo, badly

cropped, size of photo doesn’t do event justice• Slide shows, photo galleries

Multiple publishing formats

More tools to improve quality – or manipulate

Control • Greater control on which images to use• Higher risk of managing copyright – ethical issues

ETHICS

Transparency & Disclosure

Tell people what you have done, if anything, to manipulate a photograph

NPPA offers the following guidelines:

ETHICS

1. Be accurate and comprehensive in the representation of subjects.

2. Resist being manipulated by staged photo opportunities.

3. Be complete and provide context when photographing or recording subjects. Avoid stereotyping individuals and groups. Recognize and work to avoid presenting one's own biases in the work.

4. Treat all subjects with respect and dignity. Give special consideration to vulnerable subjects and compassion to victims of crime or tragedy. Intrude on private moments of grief only when the public has an overriding and justifiable need to see.Source: https://nppa.org/code_of_ethics

ETHICS

5. While photographing subjects do not intentionally contribute to, alter, or seek to alter or influence events.

6. Editing should maintain the integrity of the photographic images' content and context.

7. Do not manipulate images or add or alter sound in any way that can mislead viewers or misrepresent subjects.

Source: https://nppa.org/code_of_ethics

ETHICS

7. Do not pay sources or subjects or reward them materially for information or participation.

8. Do not accept gifts, favors, or compensation from those who might seek to influence coverage.

9. Do not intentionally sabotage the efforts of other journalists.

Source: https://nppa.org/code_of_ethics

http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/kerry2.asp

HERE’S WHAT RAN

This photo ran in 2004 when then-Sen. John Kerry was running for president.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/kerry2.asp

HERE’S THE TRUTH

Jane Fonda, Republican National Convention, 1972

John Kerry, Mineola, NY, 1971

These photos were merged to re-create an image that Fonda, a well-known actress and anti-war activist, was joined by Kerry, who served in the Vietnam War, but later spoke out against it.

Click HERE for more examples.

ACCURATE PORTRAYAL

Photojournalists are charged with shooting events as they happen

Photo editors / publishers must be careful on how they portray people

Trying to avoid extreme behavior or only certain types of images can be misleading

For example, only showing Africans bare-breasted and impoverished. Only showing images of scantily clad women . Only showing men dressed in crisp suits and ties.

IMAGES … CLINTON

IMAGES … OBAMA

IMAGES … MCCAIN

IMAGES … ROMNEY

TODAY’S QUESTION

You’re a photographer for a small local newspaper who have just gotten an assignment to cover a shooting at a local mall. When you get to the scene, there numerous bloody dead bodies outside and inside the mall. You start shooting dozens of pictures of the bodies. When you get back to the newsroom, you show your editor the images.

Do you publish or not?

Give three reasons why you would or would not publish the pictures.

MAYBORN LINKSStudent Projects:

War Comes Home: http://warcomeshome.themaybornproject.com/

Heart of Mexico: http://heartofmexico2013.com

- http://heartofmexico2013.com/portfolio/just-go/

Hatch Visuals: http://hatchvisuals.com

The work of Professor Thorne Anderson: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/04/17/afghanistan_the_beautiful