History of Photojournalism: History and Photojournalism as a Whole

If you were to ask five people the definition of photojournalism, the likelihood of getting two of the same definitions are slim to none. Photojournalism is a word that in interpreted differently by everyone that hears it. A simple definition is to break the word down, journalism through photos. What truly is photojournalism? According to Professor Nordel this is what photojournalism is. “A good way to look at it on a fundamental level is to divide the word into two words, photo and journalism. So we could say it’s photographs created to be published in journals.” Who is responsible for photojournalism? Photographers that are multidisciplinary in journalism and document a journal through photographs. Lastly, what do these photojournalists do? What do they take pictures of? According to Professor Nordel, as he speaks of a writer Pete Hamel, this is what photojournalists do and take pictures of. “Photojournalists take pictures of verbs, of things happening.”

Why should we study history? According to Ken Burns, history tells a story. "People tend to forget the word history contains the word story." Our nation, the country we live in is completely, one hundred percent based off of history. History is what civilized our country, freed the slaves and made us a free nation. The wars we fought, the documents our leaders signed and everything else that led us to where we are as a nation today, has been documented through history as well as photojournalism.

History is available in a variety of different forms. You can read history books, view pictures and even listen to audio tapes. Different people learn and retain information differently. Some people may be a visual learner and have to see things whiles other can read a dense text books and remember it all. What is important is that we all walk away understanding the history we viewed or read. According to a video made by Joanna Hayes, understanding history is key. "Understand the past is key to understanding the present." Everything happens as a result of something. If someone is curious as to why something is the way it is today, they need to understand what happened in the past to make it the way it is today.

Lastly, why is photojournalism just as important has history? Photojournalism captures history in images that can be visualized. Unfortunately war and violence are a huge part of our country's history, but it got us where we are today. James Nachetwey speaks about why war, such an inhumane action, should be photographed. "The strength of photography lies in it's ability to evoke a sense of humanity. If war is an attempt to negate humanity, then photography can be perceived as the opposite of war and if its used well it can be a powerful ingredient in the antidote to war." What I get from Nachetwey is he hopes by capturing an unfavorable, powerful image to invoke emotion in people that they will want to make a change. Photojournalism captures verbs as mentioned above, allowing people to see actions. Seeing connects at a higher level than reading and that is why I believe the history of photojournalism is just as important as general history.