Photojournalism: A Non-Mainstream Media - Research Paper Example

Introduction A photo-essay is an arrangement of pictures in an order that conveys meaning or elicit emotional reactions among the audience. Some of these essays are purely photographic but arranged in a sequential order while others have captions or small texts added to augment the pictures. The person reading the photographs imagines the heart, mind and soul of the photographer. These essays are centred on a particular theme which the photojournalist wants to pass across. This research looks into the works of photojournalists in the 20th and early 21st Century. It highlights how picture stories began and gives examples of picture essays and their effect in raising societal awareness on issues afflicting them. It also gives examples of two photographers and their styles to evaluate picture composition and its effects. It further gives an appreciation for this topic showing its relevance to the modern society in resolving disputes and championing universal freedom and protection of human rights. Thesis statement Picture stories, picture essays and photojournalism have led to and still contributing to societal change due to the emotional responses they evoke among the audience. In analysing this thesis statement, we take a look at great photographers whose work has contributed to a global awakening because of how they capture the audience. From the medieval times, the world has been faced with many challenges including wars, hunger and social unrests. Religious and ethnic segregation is still being practised in some nations that have not entrenched freedom for every citizen in their constitutions. Photojournalist like Bruce Davidson has used pictures to highlight the evolvement of Brooklyn gangs and civil rights movements in America. Picture stories Use of picture stories began in early 20th century with increasing global wars and related catastrophes going on at the time. A photographer could make an arrangement of pictures in a continuous and logical order that can easily be followed by the audience; this is to make them interpret the message being passed. During this period, there were also family issues cropping up due to factors such as increasing drug abuse and alcohol uptake during the ‘rock and roll’ age. This led to domestic violence and related consequences that destroyed family units and social fabric. There were freelance photographers who documented these times driven by the need to influence citizens’ and decision makers’ emotions for the society to be restored to its former peaceful self. This was coupled with improvements in the field of photography which led to development of smaller cameras with good picture quality in terms of texture and other picture elements. The need for in-depth observation of particular topics was as a result of the frequencies with which these societal issues came up. It is only through agenda setting, by any form of media, that awareness is created which eventually results to enactment of legislations to protect other potential victims. The most compelling photo essay of this century is the Japanese Tsunami shots taken by The Getty Images photographer, Yomiuri Shimbun and others. These were photos showing the destruction and power on the catastrophe. One picture has a boat on the roof of a storey building; this depicts the magnitude of the tsunami (Shimbun, p. 41). These pictures caused emotional responses among the global community with many countries contributing towards rebuilding Japan to restore its affected citizens to normalcy. I was also moved by these pictures as I saw a number of cities drowned within the Japanese Eastern coastline. Picture essays As earlier established, picture essays are centred on a single theme that the photojournalist wants to pass across. These pictures by Todd Drake depict Muslims as people who want to live with other faiths in harmony and every member of the community, including women, contribute to overall development. The first one has an original by-line that quotes the Holy Quran; the verse speaks about the need for coexistence among different religions represented in modern society. It says that living in togetherness gives a fresh perspective towards humanity irrespective of gender, ethnicity, social class or religious considerations. The second picture shows a Muslim woman working in a garage; they have traditionally been confined to the kitchen according to conservative cultural practices. The modern Muslim woman wants her voice to be heard and be having equal education and employment opportunities as their male counterparts. Religious tolerance and freedom of worship is a hot topic in these modern times as societies merge across many countries. The photojournalist portrayed, through the picture, what the Muslims wanted to pass across. In helping achieve a Muslim American community, free of negative perception fuelled by images fed through mainstream media, Mr. Drake passes across the point that no one can truly know a religion without fully understanding the people who follow it. The second picture from the Time Photos is a depiction of state of affairs after the Bosnian War. Ethnic cleansing was done in the area and this picture summarizes what the war has affected humanity. The conflict cost the region lives and resources; these unrests characterised the better part of 20th century. Photojournalists then had to beam the images to raise awareness on human atrocities conducted at the time; this is done to create a lasting image in the citizen’s mind so they cannot let themselves be dragged to a dark past. The third photo essay is about Martin Luther King Jr. He was an icon in America as the human rights champion. In the first photo, he is holding a baby and a light is cast upon their faces; this shows the birth of a new America where everyone will be living in harmony irrespective of their racial affiliations. The second is taken out in the streets where he took his civil rights campaigns. At the background are the faces of members of the black community who came together to support his movement. This show of solidarity has an implied meaning that only through togetherness will people succeed in fighting for their rights. 2 photographers Donna Ferrato is an American photographer who began her career in Paris. Her photo themes range from domestic violence, juvenile problems, child abuse, social unrests and sex. Her initial drive to develop a photojournalistic career was inspired by a face to face encounter of a woman being beaten by her husband. Her photos are distinguished by the high level of empathy they elicit in the audiences’ mind. She goes out to investigate happenings in the social scene and at the family level then take films when she finds something addressing her thematic areas. In the above photo, she came across someone beating her wife helplessly after a fierce exchange induced by drugs. She even went ahead and grabbed his arm. Eugene Richards is another photographer addressing the same themes as Donna Ferrato; his themes are inspired by the life he went through in his childhood days where he was exposed to poverty in his rural Arkansas and drug life in Philadelphia. In the photo, the album held shows a picture of the past which is filled with tranquil; the background shows the present evolving culture depicted by a squirming boy. This is to indicate the transitions the society has undergone due to rising social evils (Prince & Brad, p. 7). Richards uses imagery to create a mental picture in audience’s mind; in the above picture, the viewer has to interpret the picture components in order to deduce what the photographer is passing across. Donna Ferrato and Eugene Richards’ materials are both compelling because of the focus given to the themes. Donna’s photos are very severe but communicated using a single language. The latter uses a combination of artistic elements to convey a deeper meaning while sticking to the central theme. 2 photographic styles Infrared photos are taken using an image sensing device that is relatively sensitive to infrared light. The normal lenses can have inbuilt red mark or diamond referred to as an index mark which is used to produce these images. Macro photography denotes pictures taken from close range and are full of details. It is used to capture small objects and living things for instance, small ants. The main similarity between these two photography styles are used to show minute details that would have otherwise been left out when captured using normal techniques. This precision is achieved by adjusting and adding other components to the lenses. They are strong shooting techniques because they produce images of high quality and one of its applications is its use in research laboratories to beam small images. Future of photojournalism The future of photojournalism lies in new innovations created to give better products for instance; there are a lot of opportunities to be explored in moving images. According to a renowned photographer with the Guardian, Dan Chung, many media houses in the United States and Asia increasingly prefer video or motion pictures over contemporary photographs. According to Britton (p.5), DSLR video and Nikon’s Motion Snapshot gives amateur photographers the opportunity to use still photography background to produce moving images as seen in Vimeo.com. Crowd-funding is another concept that allows them to have different avenues to share their work to remain sustainable. This is because newspaper and magazines companies are getting increasingly hesitant to hire someone on a long term project. The internet provides a platform where these people can merchandise their products to a mass audience (Laforet, p. 2). Documentary photography Photojournalism gives an account of past and significant events that influenced humans in a way. The stories covered have to posses the qualities of new materials that include immediacy, timeliness and evoking human interest. Learning documentary photography delves deeper into the study subject by investigating intricate issues that would otherwise not have been covered by other journalists. The images captured are brutal, aimed at evoking emotions to cause attitude change in the society. This helps photojournalists have the desire to be involved in investigative journalism but based on observation of things happening around us. Conclusion All the examples pictorial examples shown above caused a stir among the global citizenry at the time the events captured were happening. In defending the thesis question, I believe photo stories, photo essays and photojournalism can still be relevant in the modern time if innovatively used by employing modern formats for instance, DSLR video. Works cited Laforet, Vincent. "Could this be the future of photojournalism? « Vincent Laforet's Blog." Vincent Laforet's Blog. N.p., 16 Mar. 2011. Web. 23 May 2012. . Britton, Barney. " 'No Future in Photojournalism' Interview: Dan Chung: Digital Photography Review." Digital Photography Review. N.p., 10 Feb. 2012. Web. 23 May 2012. . Prince, Douglas, and Brad Richman. "Museum of Contemporary Photography." Museum of Contemporary Photography. N.p., n.d., 2004. Web. 23 May 2012. . Shimbun, Yomiuri. "Japan Tsunami: 20 Unforgettable Pictures." Daily Nature and Science News and Headlines | National Geographic News. N.p., 15 Mar. 2011. Web. 23 May 2012. Read More