Photojournalism and Bias

"Going Home"

Photo by: Ed Clark

Year Created: 1945
Principle #1: Black and white
The picture is black and white probably because that's the technology that the photojournalist had on hand. The color matches the facial expression of the man. The black and white adds to the mood of the photo.
Principle #2: Facial expression
The main subject in the photo has a facial expression that resembles pain and sadness. It seems like he is grieving because he looks like he is crying. He could be at some sort of event because it looks like he is performing for a crowd.
Principle #3: Contrast
The photo has a lot of contrasts in it between the dark greys of the subject and the white of the building and piano. The piano keys really stand out because the white keys are adjacent to the black ones. The subject is stand out a lot because he is up against the white wall of the building.

In this picture, the main subject looks like he is in emotional pain or distress over something. He could be honoring someone or something at an event because it looks like he is marching or performing in front of a crowd. I noticed that the crowd mainly consists of all white females. I'm not exactly sure what kind of event he is at, but he looks like he is in uniform. After looking at the photo source, it says that the man is actually a funeral musician which goes along with the predictions that I made previously. To me, this picture has the same mood as a picture found in module 11 content by Bettye Lane. The image she took is of two girls at a women's rights protest. The photo is in black and white and their faces in the photo look miserable.


Photo by: Eddie Adams
Year Created: 1968
Principle #1: Main Subjects
In this photo, there are two main subjects, the man holding the gun and the man getting the gun pointed at him. Both of the main subjects are in two completely different positions. One man holds power and the other one does not.
Principle #2: Focus
The picture is a little blurry probably because in order to capture the picture the photojournalist didn't have time to focus on technique. This is an example of when content trumps quality. The photo is clear enough to tell a story.
Principle #3: Feelings
The image creates a scared feeling. I cannot imagine the things the victim is thinking. It is a traumatizing life or death situation.

I chose this as my truth image because to me it does not look fabricated with biases. It looks like the photojournalist stumbled upon a situation and had to snap a picture. The fear written on the victim's face looks very real and it doesn't seem like this picture has biases because it is a real situation that the photographer is not taking it to spark controversy, he is taking it to tell a story. Although this picture may seem true to me, someone that has other biases may choose this as an untrue biased picture. Because this picture is taken in Vietnam, I am not familiar with the culture there which I why I do not see any biased in this picture however, someone that may live there will see biased. An example of this would be seeing how different people's views are on the United States that are not from here compared to people's views on the United States that are from here. In his video "Photojournalism and Bias Part 2", ProfessorNordell talks about how as a photojournalist you have to reflect on your own biases and recognize what they are to determine if you want them to reflect in your work or not. (2 more references to module 11)


Photo by: Nam Y. Huh 
Year Created: 2016
Principle #1: In focus
The picture is in focus so the viewer's eyes are drawn to only one thing. The image is sharp so the viewer can see the expression and flaws. The focus helps define the main subject and the expressions.
Principle #2: Color
The image is in color because it helps define the subject. With the color, you can see skin texture and contrasts of color. You can also see fine details that you wouldn't be able to see in black and white.
Principle #3: Simplicity
The picture is very simple so the eyes are drawn to the subject. The background has some different colors in it but overall it does not draw the eye away from the main subject. Nothing about the background of the picture is distracting.

I chose this image as my not truth because it shows biases by the photographer. Although I find it amusing and rather realistic, the photographer purposely took this unflattering photo obviously because he has personal opinions of the subject. This picture is an example of Yellow Journalism. A picture that I would pick as truth would be the subject having a straight face with no ugly expressions. That image would show no biases, however, this image, in particular, was snapped with intentions of the subject looking unflattering.

Similarly, in Professor Nordell's video "Photojournalism and Bias," he talked about when he was working for The Boston Phoenix he took some very unflattering picture of Republican candidates and when he submitted them to his editor they loved the pictures even though they were biased. He also talks about how different networks, magazines, and companies have their own biases. Biased photos tell a story that is not always true, and they are also the spread of fake news, says Wired.com. And fake news if commonly spread by biased pictures begin taken. It happens often with famous, people and political figures.