Does photojournalism work anymore?

[radar]

That's the title of an interesting blog discussion at the SMH.

http://blogs.smh.com.au/photographers/archives/2008/01/does_photojournalism_work_anym.html

Interesting topic and some interesting comments there as well.

Cheers,

André

[Glen]

Interesting read, Thanks Andre

[PiroStitch]

Thanks for posting the article. This is something which I've been thinking about a lot for the past few months.

Merriam Webster

pho·to·jour·nal·ism
fō-tō-ˈjər-nə-ˌli-zəm
noun

Journalism in which written copy is subordinate to pictorial usually photographic presentation of news stories or in which a high proportion of pictorial presentation is used; broadly : news photography

Photojournalism will not die because of the influx of DSLRs or due to video. Photography will always captivate people in a way that video can't and vice versa. Photography, more-so photojournalism captures that single moment of humanity, culture, emotion and reality. It's also the expression of the photographer in that single moment of reality of the environment. There will always be a fear of the extinction or detriment of a particular style or artform. A classic example is painting and drawing. One of the purposes of these two artforms in the past was to record a visual image of the environment as experienced by the artist. When the photograph arrived, it was possible to capture an image of that moment within the blink of an eye. What happened to painting and drawing? It took on a new form and there are artists who still paint and draw moments in life.

This style serves a purpose to everybody. Capturing an image which tells a thousand words is not an easy thing to do. Photojournalism isn't about taking photos of every random that walks by in the street. Just because there are more consumers with dslrs nowadays, it doesn't mean that everyone will end up being a would-be photojournalist. It's a style that takes years to develop.

Other practical reasons why photojournalism will not die - war photography or visual reportage of a riot or violent situation. It's far easier to capture the essence of the situation with the click of a shutter than running around with a video camera - think Blair Witch or Cloverfield.

How do we educate people who are so caught up in their everyday life and struggles that the world is a much bigger place out there? In this day and age, we need photojournalism to suit this purpose. Antsl (on this forum) and Steve McCurry (American photojournalist) are two photographers I regard highly in this style. There are many other photographers (Cartier-Bresson) who I find inspiring and of a level which I aim to aspire to but these are the two that popped into mind when I read this article.

[ozimax]

From a personal perspective, I don't think it will die. I much prefer viewing still image galleries than "youtube" etc sites. Much more is left to the imagination, much like reading a book is a far more enjoyable enterprise than watching the movie. I think.

[zafra52]

I just borrow from my local library The Great Life Photographers by Thames & Hudson and I can only mourn the demise of Life magazine. These photographers and their work is an inspiration to any one; whether you like photography or not.

[Reschsmooth]

This is a great read: http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spe/2003/jfk/stories/063002dnmetshot.378ed.html.

I think this story illustrates the importance of good photojournalism and implies, to me, that good PJ will continue.

[BT*ist]

Cool article and cool comments.

My single thought - if we all have the attention span of four- or five- year olds (and speaking for myself : at times I do), why on Earth would I sit down and watch a 30-second clip when I could look at a single image which I can linger over as long as I feel is necessary. Photojournalism is even more important in a time-poor world. When all we have is instants, an image of an instant is entirely appropriate.

Other thoughts:
- taking a still from a video stream is okay, but I think there are elements of composition that are just not going to work unless you do considerable pp'ing from a video capture as well
- the 'truth' of an image in an Adobe Photoshop world is an issue. I don't think it undermines photojournalism, but it may require some kind of ethics in the same way as written journalism

Thanks for the link!

[PiroStitch]

Thanks for that link Patrick! I just bought a book of The Best of Life photos from 1936 to 1972 for $5 and it has Bob Jackson's photo in it! Would have love to have seen Beers' photo though.