Chapter 3: The Art of Photojournalism

Photo by Samueal Bourne

Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inside_view_of_Moti_Masjid_by_Samuel_Bourne_(2).jpg

Year Created: 1880

This image uses great depth. My eyes are drawn, through the beautiful architecture, to the doorway at the very end. As a result of depth, my eyes have to look all the way through the image in order to see the end point. It allows me to view the entire image.

The details of the architecture gives this image great texture. The different levels of the sculpting are viewable allowing for the eye to see what is pointed, rounded and smooth. The smoothness of the building brings a peaceful feeling to the table.

This image is very simple and far from cluttered. There is a great deal of free space in the image but the openness of it is just perfect. The simplicity and lack of distractions makes for a calm looking photo.

I chose this photo because of the calming effect it brought upon me. The openness of the photo almost allows me to put myself there. Also the various aspects of architecture are just beautiful and I found that very appealing to the eye.

Photo by Samuel H. Gottscho

Image Source:http://jjja.therndm.com/archive/1930s-new-york-samuel-h-gottscho/467

Year Created: 1930's
I believe the background of this photo is what makes this photo so compelling. The background is out of focus but clear enough that you get the city effect. Without the skyscrapers in the background, it would be very difficult to identify where this photo was taken. The background allows for identification.
The image is very busy and some aspects of it are out of focus. This allows for the viewer to focus on certain points more than others. The points that are out of focus are easily identifiable, as they are famous landmarks in New York City, so they do not need to be crystal clear. The way to photographer focused to picture allows for focus on the more overlooked aspects of the city.
The photo's main subject, taking up about 2/3 of the image,  through my eyes are the skyscrapers within the background. If the photo was just the skyscrapers then you would have a photo of just the skyline of New York City, which is very commonly photographed. This adds a little extra of what else is in the city besides the big buildings.
I chose this photo for a couple of reasons. One, because I enjoy black and white photography. Secondly because many photos of the city are taken at night with all of the buildings lit up so I thought this was a different way of looking at the city.

Photo by Robert Frank

Image Source: http://www.urban-photography-art.com/robert-frank.html

Year Created: 1958

The lighting in this photo is very dark and dramatic. The lighting creates a dark image and a sense of doom. The lighting also makes you wonder if something is about to go wrong.

The shadow created also creates a feeling of uneasiness. You can see the shadow of the body crossing the road in between the narrow opening between the two vehicles. Again like the lighting, the placement of the shadow makes me wonder if the person is in danger and if something is about to go wrong.

The contrast of this image is very low contrast. There is not much difference between the lightest and the darkest color. The darkness of the photo contributes to the uneasy feeling of the photo. The contract gives me a feeling of impending doom while viewing it.

I chose this photo because of the contrast and shadows. I liked the way the shadows created feelings and made me wonder what was really happening. Also the blurriness of the body made me wonder if he was moving quickly or just strolling through the street.

Chapter 2: Pre-Digital Photographic Technology

The research and development of color film start far before to actual invention of color film. According to the Photographic Research Center at Boston University, the first color photographs were produced in the late 1860's. "In France, Louis Ducos du Hauron announces a subtractive color process to produce color prints, using three glass plate negatives exposed through red, green, and blue filters. From these negatives, colored positives are made by applying complimentary colored cyan, magenta, and yellow dyes. This is a complex procedure and the exposure times are very long." Color photographs became possible long before color film was developed. The processes in which color photographs came to be were very lengthy and time consuming. According to the timeline provided by the Photographic Research Center, color film came to be in 1936. "Kodak introduces Kodachrome 35mm still film and 8mm home movie film, with an ASA of 10."  Although it took some time, 35mm color film was invented and changed photojournalism and the jobs of photojournalists forever.

Photo by Louis Ducos du Hauron

Image Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_photography_technology

The invention of color film, changed the profession of photojournalists and photojournalism together. In order to get color or black and white photographs before, it was a very lengthy, dangerous process. According to Zeller, the stabilization of the plates and chemicals were vital. "Each time they moved, they had to secure bottles of chemicals and plate. Each time they stopped, it had to be level." invention of color film not only sped up the process of color photography but improved the quality of the photos as well. Color film brought a whole new world to photojournalists and photojournalism. The film allowed for their messages to be conveyed with more color and ultimately more meaning. According to Professor Nordell, "The term photography is derived from two Greek words, meaning light, phos, and writing graphic." Adding color film to the equation added more light to these photos and overall more meaning and appreciation.

Photo by Courtney Patridge

Taking a photo today. with digital photography, is much different that it was years ago with a film camera. First of all, digital photography can be taken with a digital camera, cell phone, web cam and many other items with cameras. Film was used is cameras that typically were bulky. People may not have always had their cameras with them because it was extra baggage. Today, a photo opportunity is almost never missed because we can just pull our phone out and have a camera right at our finger tips. Photographs that once made people nervous and skeptical have become widely accepted. According to Professor Nordell, publishers of newspapers used to hesitate before publishing photos in their papers. "Even when photographs first came out, there was some controversy of whether ... some newspaper owners felt like my paper's not solid anymore, I'm using photographs." A perfect example is a photograph that was taken by Margaret Bourke-White. It was a black and white photo of people lined up in front of a sign that said "World's Highest Standard of Living" and "theres no way like the american way." When people say this photograph they assumed that these people were standing in a breadline and that it was taken during the Great Depression. According to Alex Welwyn-Holmes, the author of a blog post, those were myths. "It was not shot during 1929-32 crisis. It did not depict a breadline of workers laid off by the depression."

Another difference is with digital photography, we have the capability to view the photo right away. If we like it and think it came out well, we can keep it. If we are not happy with they way it came out we can delete it and make room for more. With film, each photo taken meant that was one less photo you could take before having to change the film. Once the film was used, it needed to be replaced. Also photos could not be seen until they had been developed, which meant what someone may have thought was a good picture may have not been so good. 

Chapter 1: Can Photographs Change the World?

To start this off, I am just going to throw my thoughts and opinions out there on the table. Do I believe photos can change the world? No, but I do believe they can have an impact on the world and the people in it by giving us the power to visualize the written word and word of mouth. According to Joshua Haruni, photos are not nearly as powerful as the written word. "Photographs can be very beautiful, informative, ugly or anything else the photographer chooses to show. Photographs can definitely inspire us, but the written word has the ability to spark the imagination to greater depths than any photograph, whose content is limited to what exists in the frame." Personally, I believe the opposite of this. If I read an article or hear a news story, I am left to interpret the visual aspect of it myself. The way I interpret the happening could be right on the money or very far from the reality. Photographs let us view what we read or heard and sparks a level or emotion that reading cannot.

One photo that has specifically affected me is shown below. This photo shows two young girls. One of them is smoking, skinny, in a bikini, with makeup on and the focus of the photo. The other girl happens to be in a t-shirt, chubby and in the background. When I first saw this photo the first thing that came to my mind is the pressure that society puts on women to look a certain way. The media and tabloids are filled with celebrities that have gained or lost weight, left their house without makeup and new workouts to make your body look better. Women are expected to constantly look a certain way and thats unfortunate. There is nothing wrong with either of these little girls, but the focus and attention is on the little girl in the front. Is the attention on her because of her rebellious actions or because of how she looks? That is up to the viewers to determine.

Photo by Mary Ellen Mark

Image Source:  http://www.codigonuevo.com/mary-ellen-mark-la-fotografa/

I previously learned that photojournalists take photos of things happening, verbs. These things happening change the world, but the photos of them happening do not. Just because the photos themselves do not produce change, they can produce emotion and impact. According to Jonathan Klein, photos can change the world. "In my industry we believe that images can change the world. ... The truth is we know the images themselves don't change the world but we are also aware that since the beginning of photography, images have provoked reactions in people and those reactions have caused change to happen." The picture below shows a historic event that has gone down in history as the worst terrorist attack performed on the United States. The event changed the United States and the world forever. As for the picture, it produces a variety of emotions for everyone.

Photo by Spencer Platt

Image Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/11/september-11-photos_n_3902818.html

The media can be very manipulative. Who decides what photographs we see and those that are never published? There are two sides to every story. There are the people that are in favor of something and then the opposing side. For example, pro-choice versus pro-life and pro-war versus anti-war. When a story is published in the media, you have to wonder if the author in favor of or against? According to a infographic Jason at Frugal Dad created, the media is controlled by a very small number. "Media has never been more consolidated. 6 media giants control a staggering 90% of what we read, watch or listen too." That number puts the integrity and possible biases of the media we see daily into consideration. Are these media executives and journalists trained in ethical, justified and logical journaling? How do we know if what we are reading is factual. We often times don't.

Unpaid and upcoming journalists can upload content to a website called iReport. According to CNN, any content posted on iReport that will be presented in broadcast goes through a process called vetting. King briefly mentions what material is vetted. "What we call vetting we do only to things [we] want to highlight inside CNN proper," The process of vetting includes contacting the contributing journalist and verifying the provided information. According to King, they try to confirm as many details as possible. "We will call the international desk at CNN and find the person who is an expert in the area wherever the story took place, and figure out what are they hearing, what do they know ... We will check local media and will call local people in field. We will call our affiliates and try to get to a place where we can confirm as many details as possible." Does it make me feel better that CNN does what they can to make sure they are presenting factual data? Yes it does, but unfortunately CNN is only one news station out of many so it makes me question the integrity of the others. 

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. 

Photo by James Nachetwey

Image source: http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1878837,00.html

Photo by Unknown

Image Source: http://blog.volgyiattila.com/2012/12/03/photojournalist-twins-with-unique-adventures/