Introduction:
Photojournalism is a type of journalism defined as the practice of communicating news by photographs. “Photojournalism has brought about the second revolution in communications, after the invention of movable type in the 15th century.” (Mydans, 1989). The first evident printed journalistic photos are from 1853 when Carol Szathmari, a Romanian painter and photographer, documented the Crimean War, as documented by Rachael Towne in 2012 (Towne, 2012). Since then the use of photojournalism has branched out to the majority of people and social media applications such as Instagram, where amateur photo enthusiasts can participate in photojournalism. This blog will be looking into photojournalism in a digital age, the influence of the photographer on the image, and the desensitisation of society.
Photojournalism is a type of journalism defined as the practice of communicating news by photographs. “Photojournalism has brought about the second revolution in communications, after the invention of movable type in the 15th century.” (Mydans, 1989). The first evident printed journalistic photos are from 1853 when Carol Szathmari, a Romanian painter and photographer, documented the Crimean War, as documented by Rachael Towne in 2012 (Towne, 2012). Since then the use of photojournalism has branched out to the majority of people and social media applications such as Instagram, where amateur photo enthusiasts can participate in photojournalism. This blog will be looking into photojournalism in a digital age, the influence of the photographer on the image, and the desensitisation of society.
Photojournalism in a digital age:
In today’s digital age, the public can partake in photojournalism through social media apps like Instagram. “Because of the ease and speed of Web and cell phone technology, the lines between formal and informal reporting have become blurred as participatory journalism emerges (Yaschur 2012)” (Grayson, 2015). The ongoing argument of photojournalism vs. Instagram has since risen with the introduction of the social media platform, yet “if we stray from the need to defend the integrity of photojournalism, we can re-locate the debate hashed by Stern and Murphy in a larger conversation on the tools that allow journalism, particularly the process of journalism, to become more transparent, interesting, and accessible to its audience” (Jolly, 2012). This greatly suggests that with the use of Instagram we can journalise news and articles at a greater reach than ever before. With the power of digital technology, users can manipulate photos such as adding filters and altering images to evoke different emotions, therefore changing the original context of the image and addressing different subjects within an image.
Chase Jarvis accurately summarises how digital technology has helped in the distribution of photojournalism globally when he said this: “It’s the first time in the history of the world that creatives are also distributors. And that’s very profound if you think that up until the recent history, permission was required for us to be able to share work at any sort of scale. We had to get permission from galleries, from ad agencies or photo editors to be able to have our work out there. And now anybody with access to a computer can show their work in 200 countries around the world” (Jarvis, 2011). This can be backed up further by taking a look at blogs just like this one, anyone with internet access can view this blog. Photojournalism in has benefited greatly with the introduction of the internet and social media apps, as the reach that photojournalism can now make is far greater than before.
The above image is an example of an image that can be shared within a matter of seconds among online communities.
The influence of the photographer on the image:
A photograph is a form of art, it “is not simply made up of the content inside it; rather a photograph is always saturated with signs and symbols that, depending on both the status of photographer and viewer, changes meaning and significance through the eyes of others” (Lyons, 2011). The famous quote: “You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved” by Ansel Adams, suggests that a photographer imposes their own understanding and knowledge into a photograph. In the opinion of Roland Barthes “Ordinarily, the amateur is defined as an immature artist: someone who cannot – or who does not want to – attain the mastery of his profession. But in the field of photographic practice, it is the amateur, on the contrary, who is the attainment of the professional: for it is he who holds closest to the intelligence [noeme] of Photography” (Barthes, 1980), suggests that the amateur photographer over a professional photographer can really grasp the true art form of photography, and create the most meaning within an image. The influence of the photographer not only impacts how the audience will view the image but also how they would like to portray an emotion or subject.
As seen by the above photographs, a completely different effect is created as the significance of the emotion behind the image is portrayed with contrast.
Desensitisation of Society:
Desensitisation is linked to the ‘mean’ world that society has become, the “loss of emotion and societal value” (Lyons, 2011). For instance, the majority of the public would ignore and continue to walk past the homeless, not bothering to give them loose change that lingers in our pockets, because it’s not their problem. “Even the Bible instructs us to “care” for the less fortunate. Looking the other way can and should be construed as sinful.” (Lambert, 2013). Displayed below, this homeless man waits as not one person stops to offer help.
Desensitisation is linked to the ‘mean’ world that society has become, the “loss of emotion and societal value” (Lyons, 2011). For instance, the majority of the public would ignore and continue to walk past the homeless, not bothering to give them loose change that lingers in our pockets, because it’s not their problem. “Even the Bible instructs us to “care” for the less fortunate. Looking the other way can and should be construed as sinful.” (Lambert, 2013). Displayed below, this homeless man waits as not one person stops to offer help.
Animal cruelty, another aspect of life that is continually brought up through photojournalism, the majority of the public, again, just acknowledge this as part of society today. Linking to the debate on whether animals deserve equal rights to human beings, the below photograph of chickens being sold on the street shows them unable to freely move. Society today has become completely desensitised to violence and suffering.
References
All Images used in this blog were taken and edited by myself (Lucas Kirchberger). ©
- Barthes, R. (1980). Camera Lucida Reflections on Photography. France: Hill & Wang.
- Grayson, L. (2015). Citizen Photojournalism. Journalism Practice, 568-577.
- Jarvis, C. (2011). Chase Jarvis Interview. (C. Maher, & L. Berman, Interviewers)
- Jolly, J. (2012). Photojournalism v. Instagram, The Battle Continues? Future Journalism Project Media Lab.
- Lambert, C. (2013, February 7). The Public has been Desensitised to Homelessness. Retrieved from Voice of San Diego: http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/letters/the-public-has-been-desensitized-to-homelessness/
- Lyons, S. (2011). The identity of photography: Exploring realism and the nature of photography in photojournalism. Macquarie Matrix, 54-67.
- Mydans, C. (1989). The Best Job in the World. Time, 49.
- Towne, R. (2012, September 18). A Brief History of Photojournalism. Retrieved from Light Stalking: http://www.lightstalking.com/a-brief-history-of-photojournalism/
All Images used in this blog were taken and edited by myself (Lucas Kirchberger). ©