Photojournalism Research Creating and using images to develop and tell news storys is the basis when it comes to photojournalism. Compared to a normal journalist, a photojournalist is also a report but uses his or hers images instead of words. This is what significantly keeps them apart from other photography practitioners. When it comes to studying photojournalism, we must also look into the two types of staging photographs which is ontology and decisive moment. Ontology is the art of staging reality within photographs. This includes arranging the subjects to better increase the drama of the scene. In complete contrast to this style you have decisive moment photography. This style means taking a photo without adjusting anything capturing a "true" image. Practitioners of photojournalism For My research into photojournalism I will look into three practicioners. As he was the person who first developed the photojournalist ideology I will look into Henri Cartier Bresson. I will also look into Walker Evans and his ideas about photography as anthropology. And finally I will look at Jeff Wall to get a better idea off how modern photography works and how frozen images in time allow audiences to come to their own conclusions. |
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Henri Cartier Bresson "To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart. It's a way of life" Within the photography world, Bresson is one of the most famous people and considered the father of modern day photography. He was an early developer of the 35 mm film format which generations after him have continued to use and he developed the new technique of "decisive moment" photography. This format of photography is what made Bresson the idol for photographers that he is. The idea of the decisive moment is something I wish to incorporate into my own work as I find that it one of the most interesting and real forms of photography. When it comes to news journalism, Bressons style is easily the most dramatic and tells a story to the audience that seems more real. Walker Evans Evans was a photographer in the US who is famous for his depictions of the great depression which afflicted the country in 1929. His photographs we're considered to be highly influenced by the study of anthropology (looking at people). He is a great example of a practitioner due to his style of working with and taking pictures of people. As a photojournalist and a documentary film maker, working with people is a key aspect of what I will need to do so taking inspiration from Evans will hopefully mean that I too will be able to get good and interesting images of the public. Jeff Wall Unlike the other two practitioners, Jeff Wall is a modern photographer working in staged images and colour photography. His style of staging images is taking the ideology laid down by Bresson but creating them instead of just letting them happen naturally. This is an interesting spin on a technique I have already looked into in depth and something I could look at doing myself. Wall also looks at the images he takes as frozen images in time. This is an interesting concept as it allows the audience of each image to come to their own conclusions about what is happening. Whether this is due to their age, gender or ethnicity, everyone can read into the same thing differently. This is something I will try to emulate in my photo essay and in my documentary film making as I think it is a very interesting concept making the audience actually think about what they are looking at. |
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