Journalism photography, also commonly known as photojournalism is a commercial genre of photography where photographs are used as a part of or to tell a story. Photojournalism has a very rigid framework in the ethics of the genre whereas the photography must show the news story in an impartial way, and it must not be a staged photograph. There have been several recent controversies involving photojournalism and a staged photograph could easily become a full misrepresentation of the truth if the context of the photograph has not been correctly stated.
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Photojournalism decisions
A photographer taking images for photojournalism often will need to take instant decisions whilst on the run, which could include being in the path of physical danger. So, the photographer may need to be fully aware of their situation that they may be involved with.
The art of photojournalism
Modern photojournalism is a somewhat thought of as a dying genre photography due to the introduction of the smart phone where events can be documented in real time by members of the public.
However, in reality professional photojournalists are sought after by both print and online news agencies such as Getty and Associated Press. Associated Press for example has dependable photojournalists that provide trusted imagery for areas such as corporate security, global security, general news, and technology.
These photographers provide news agencies with unbiased photographic records of events around the world. They must operate sometimes in dangerous locations and in places where the public would have no access to be able to document the events.
Well known photojournalism photographers
Some of the more well-known photographers in this genre are Robert Capa and Lynsey Addario. Capa lived only to age 40 but made his mark in the world. He documented important historical moments such as the Spanish Civil War (1936), the Chinese resistance to Japan (1938) and World War II (1939-1945). He was on Omaha Beach in 1944 during D-Day.
Addario is known for Pulitzer Prize winning work in Pakistan in 2009, was captured and subsequently released by the Libyan government in 2011, and recently ventured to Ukraine in March 2022 to document the conflict against Russia.
The photojournalism roles of both Capa and Addario brought them into contact with seriously dangerous environments across the world.
Photographers provide news agencies with unbiased photographic records of events around the world. They must operate sometimes in dangerous locations and in places where the public would have no access to be able to document the events.
Photojournalism principles
An interesting set of principles have been devised by Ross Collins, professor of communication at North Dakota State University.
These are:
- Get in close
- Find unusual angles
- Get identification
- Burn pixels
- Go beyond the cliché
- Avoid obvious posing
- Add light, but don’t make it obvious
- Focus faithfully
- Stay steady
- Dump poorly exposed photos
- Have guts
The Journalist
Photojournalist photographers will often work closely with journalists on assignment. The photographer will document the scene and the journalist will write the accompanying article. In this respect the photographer should be aware of the journalist’s requirements.
Post-Processing
It is imperative that no manipulation of the photography is done that may misrepresent the subject in any way. All photos do have some sort of editing applied whether it be highlights, shadows, exposure or other more expansive editing such as cropping, but it is important to ensure the changes do not misrepresent the scene. Most controversies surrounding photojournalism involve manipulation of the scene through staging which can result in a complete misrepresentation of the truth.
Photojournalism Portfolio
Create a website and maintain a portfolio of your photojournalism images and also display them on your social media accounts at TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
You may meet distinguished figures in photojournalism!
Photojournalism means asking the hard questions.