photojournalism

=**Photojournalism**=



toc [|Photojournalism] is a type of journalism consisting of mainly photographs used to communicate the meaning of a certain article. Written language plays a relatively smaller role within this context. In other words, photojournalism can be explained as an articulate medium of communication resulting from the unification of still photography and written text. To further distinguish itself from other forms of communication, New York Times Art Listings recently presented a fascinating description of the field; photojournalism, according to the institution, is a medium that “can be used in what are intended as interpretively neutral ways to document life as it is [and] a vehicle for political, social and personal statements”. However, photojournalism is often more intricate than most people comprehend.

While it might be confused with similar branches of photography such as street photography, documentary photography, or celebrity photography, Photojournalism, according to the Online Dictionary, differentiates itself from other branches of photography because of the following characteristics:
 * **Timeliness** – meanings are embedded within the images in the context of a published chronological record of events
 * **Objectivity** – the images depict an event which is a fair and accurate representation of the event itself
 * **Narrative** – combined with other news elements, the images serve to educate and inform the readers certain messages



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**History and Foundations**
The term “photojournalism” is often thought to be coined by a Journalism professor of the University of Missouri School, Cliff Edom (1907-1991), who also built the first photojournalism workshop there back in 1946. Despite this, some attribute the invention of the term to Frank L. Mott, who once was the Dean of the School of Journalism.

Thanks to the advancements of printing technologies during the 1880’s, people had the opportunity to combine news events with still photographs. However, the earliest printed new stories included photographs at that time were printed by wood engravings, which were time consuming in comparison to today’s advanced, high-quality printers. Photojournalism was in its “golden age” from 1930’s to 1950’s. The then popular magazines such as Picture Post (London), Sports Illustrated (U.S.A.), and The Daily Graphic (New York) were successful in attracting readers around the country because of their incorporation of still images within the medium. Nonetheless, newspaper organizations still utilized letterpress printing machines which printed substandard pages of texts and images using economical oil-based ink and far-from-premium paper. It was not uncommon for readers to find it difficult to decipher (without the captions) the photographs which were often smudged and blurry.



**Photojournalism Today**
Today, photojournalism is gradually evolving to incorporate up-to-the-minute media forms. It is now heavily concentrated on the skilled use of colour and angles. These photographs are often used for decorative purposes. The internet has served as a new outlet for photojournalists to showcase their work. Some web companies even provide a place online for photojournalists to upload their photographic works and transform them into picture essays by themselves, which serves to maintain the tradition of photojournalism in an innovative way.

The merging of old and new photojournalistic forms is an example of how the digital age is playing a role in changing the field of photography. With the help of a laptop, an internet connection, and a [|digital camera], photojournalists can send high-quality photographs to their head offices or to publish photographic events at a much faster pace. Nevertheless, the digital age also brings forth the issue of ethics when it comes to the manipulation and reproduction of photographs on computers. The originally pure, as-is representations of events through photographs is now revolutionized to digital forms which can be altered discreetly by anyone, with the help of proper softwares. With the newly implements laws which are put forward to protect such matters, it is foreseeable that areas of photojournalism will continue to evolve in the near future.

**Bibliography**
http://en.mimi.hu/photography/photojournalism.html http://ddunleavy.typepad.com/the_big_picture/2005/10/photojournalism.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photojournalism http://www.mediaed.org.uk/posted_documents/Photojournalism.htm

Pictures borrowed from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photojournalism http://www.michaelcandid.com/wedding-photojournalism.html http://jprof.com/magazines/05goldagephotog.html[|]