What is Photojournalism?

Photojournalism is a type of journalism that aims to tell a story through a series of pictures. Unlike general picture taking, photojournalist have a specific agenda of what is needed to be captured in order to present the story. With photojournalism, truth and realism about an event, person, object, etc. is illustrated through pictures in an honest fashion. Even with tabloids, the photographer must refrain from manipulating and altering the picture, thus allowing the photograph to speak for itself. Words are powerful in representing a story, but images help reinforce and bring to life the words that are being displayed. Photojournalists are able to take the art of taking photographs and the ability to tell a story and bring it to life.

There are different aspects of photojournalism (examples included):

- [News (Spot/General)]

~Jay Janner~

Tony Park-Flowers and his 7-year-old son, Tyler Park Flowers, mourn during the burial of Tyler’s twin brother, Tevin, at Evergreen Cemetery on Saturday Feb. 9, 2008. Tevin died Feb. 1, two days after he was found hanging from a hook by his clothes at a North Austin charter school. The incident was ruled an accidental death.

- [Feature]

~Kuni Takahashi~

Zeborah Ball-Paul, right, and Theodora Beasley celebrate Sen. Barack Obama’s victory against Sen. John McCain in the U.S presidential election at Grant Park in Chicago on November 4, 2008.

- [Portraits]

~Tomasz Gudzowaty~

- [Illustrations]

~Kevin Vandivier~

- [Sports Action/Feature]

~Pailin Wedel~

A seven year-old boy gets water splashed on him after a near knock out in the last round at the Khao Lak boxing stadium in Khao Lak Thailand. Little boys train for Muay Thai to earn extra money for their families and to keep out of trouble.

(Pictures obtained by NPPA website)

Inspirational Photojournalist

“It is one thing to photograph people. It is another to make others care about them by revealing the core of their humanness.”

~ Paul Strand

[Wire Wheel - Photographed by Paul Strand 1917]

Paul Strand is a famous photographer and filmmaker who established photography as a form of art in the 20th century. This allowed images of all kind to be visualized and perceived in a different unique manner. Photography today has gone into a new level. Strand's photography varies from different genres which has inspired my work as an aspiring photojournalist.

David Hume Kennerly

(Pulitzer Prize Winning Photojournalist)

He also inspired my photo journalistic work. He traveled around the world taking amazing pictures. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 1972 of the Vietnam War. Currently he took pictures of the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. This picture is an extraordinary picture because it's a rare case in which all 5 presidents are together to take a picture. He was able to photograph every United States President since Richard Nixon due to the fact that he was appointed as the White House's photographer.

Among his notable Pulitzer Prize photos, Kennerly also took very well known pictorials and portraits, which are two of my favorite categories in photojournalism.

Kennerly's Pictorials
Kennerly's Portraits
[Left: Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, Studio City, California, 1998]
[Right: Actress Mia Farrow on the set of John and Mary, New York City, 1969]

[Queen Elizabeth at the White House, Washington D.C., 1976]

Photography allows me to capture the precious moments in time. Especially with portraits pictures, I am able to capture the personality of the subject. I honestly stand by the cliche that "a picture is worth a thousand words." A picture alone can tell a lot about a person. A lot of my pictures have been inspired by the city of Chicago.

As a photojournalist, I am constantly learning new techniques and different strategies to capture insightful pictures. Although candid pictures are not my forte, I am trying out new techniques to capture images that will illustrate great emotions and personality.

I choose to take pictures in the most well defined areas to best capture the subject's personality. The use of nature lighting as oppose to florescent lighting really helps bring out the beauty of the picture giving it a natural finish. Here are a few portrait pictures that I have taken.

Photojournalism vs. General Photography

General Photography aims to capture pictures of any sort for any reasons. Anyone can simply take a picture. 

Photojournalism on the other hand, capture pictures in order to tell a story.

According to Mark M. Hancock, a professional photojournalist, "A photojournalist is a visual reporter of facts. The public places trust in its reporters to tell the truth. The same trust is extended to photojournalists as visual reporters.This responsibility is paramount to a photojournalist. At all times, we have many thousands of people seeing through our eyes and expecting to see the truth. Most people immediately understand an image."

[Bernie Boston, Noted Photojournalist]

Photojournalism is not a form of manipulation or alterations. There is a code of ethics that prevents this. Unlike other photographs, photojournalism is suppose to present a sense of truth. 

Technical Aspects of Modern Photojournalism

According to Jim McNay, Brooks Institute of Photography, NPPA Past President,

"Contemporary photojournalism, whether done with the traditional still camera or the more modern multimedia tools of computer and video camera, is still one of the more interesting “I-don’t-work-in-an-office” jobs aspiring visual storytellers can pursue. This profession also allows one to work from almost anywhere, whether that be one’s hometown, one’s own country, or from any particular location in the world. If photographers can get to the stories and content they want to cover, they can do this work from anywhere."

In the past photojournalism took a different toll. The first camera was invented by by Charles and Vincent Chevalier in Paris, which consisted of a wooden box that could not capture permanent pictures. Later with the discovery of silver salts by Johann Heinrich Schulze, pictures were able to be captured permanently.

The first camera looked like this:

It was primiarly a wooden box that had a sliding cover. It limited the capabilities of a photojournalist to capture quality pictures.

Later with new inventions for the cameras, like dry plates and optical lens with flash, photojournalism was able to improve significantly.

Now with the invention of digital cameras, photojournalism is able to exceed it's limits.

Such smaller, lighter and more efficient cameras have greatly impacted the roles of photojournalists. The ability to store images on a memory card as oppose to film allows the photojournalist to capture an abundance of images without being limited. Photojournalists are now equipped with the freedom to store a lot of pictures onto the memory cards.

With technological advancements, there are also a lot of programs that aid in the editing of photos. With photographs, photojournalists are recommend to add captions in order to better explain their photos. Programs within the Adobe Design Premium package consists of Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Bridge, which all can aid photojournalist in editing their photos.

With a group of images from Renee Byer, a 2007 Pulitzer Prize Winner, I was able to construct a multi-image newspaper layout using Adobe InDesign.
Also with use of the same program, I was able to form a layout for another 2004 Pulitzer Prize winner, Carolyn Cole.

My Photojournalism Work

[Pictorials] - Millennium Park & The Windy City

[The Bean]

[The Bean]

[The Bean with Sky Scrapers]

[Greek Towers at Millennium Park - Chicago]

[Sky Rises along the Chicago River]

[Statue based on the painting of American Gothic]

[Donald Trump's International Hotel & Tower]

Pictorial pictures are my most favorite types of photo journalistic work. Living in Chicago, I am inspired to capture the essence and beauty of the city. Although Chicago undergoes unexpected weather changes, it is not always easy to capture Chicago in it's beauty. However with the appropriate lighting and weather, the outcome of the images in of Chicago is great.

[Portraits]

Environmental portraits are the other types of pictures that I enjoy taking. It allows me to capture the personality of the person through use of their surroundings. Again since I am from Chicago, most of the environmental portraits are taken in Chicago.

Chicago inspired musician, Julian J. Choi, depicts in his music the realities of growing up as an Asian-American deep within urban Chicago. His music transcends a message of love, social justice, and peace. Choi's sense of musical style is reminiscent of a feel good vocalist that encompasses originality of classical music. Light, yet passionate, he delivers his message with melodic and rhythmic changes throughout his work that spans many genres in the musical world.
Christie Chen, a 22-year-old New Yorker from New York City moved to the Windy City at the age of 12-years-old. For the past ten years, she lives in Chicago's infamous Chinatown with her family. Chinatown is filled with diversity, style, and culture, which inspires her as well as the urban setting of the city in her love for music and dance. Her style is encompassed in her passion for shoes. Chen owns a bountiful of shoes, Nike's Dunks being one of her favorites.

With her blue Mini Cooper S, she zooms throughout the city in seek of embracing different adventures. She finds that she is learning somethings new each day in the city of Chicago.

Chen's style consists of an edgy, urban personal linked with her cultural identity.

Photojournalism Inspires

A lot of photojournalists like John Gress, a freelance photoojournalist who was granted honroable mention for Sports Photojournalist by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), have inspired upcoming photojournalists through their impeccable work.

Photojournalism has enhanced the overall quality of news. It helps enforce the articles of the news. Readers are able to grasp a better understanding and aspect of the news with the assistance of the photos.

Often times it is difficult for a photojournalist to capture quality pictures. Sometimes they are not always able to capture the pictures that they have set out to do. With modern technology, the temptation to manipulate and alter pictures is available but should not be used.

The ability for photojournalist like John Gress to capture amazing expressionist pictures shows that incredibility of a photojournalist. The pictures that he has captures shows such reality that could not have been manipulated. Normally photojournalists are skeptical to take such unjust actions due to the probability of putting their profession on the line. Nonetheless, with photojournalism there is a sense of trust that is greater and respected.

The ability of photojournalist to caputure such pictures inspires any aspiring or amateur photojournalist like me.

Continuation of My Work

Art Perceived found at the Museum of Contemporary Art at Chicago

[More on Pictorial Pictures]