Conclusion

Beginning the course, I didn’t really have a definition of photojournalism. I assumed that it could be any type of photos posted in a journal. After beginning the course vividly remember a video post in course content stating that photojournalism is simply- pictures of people doing things. Ever since then I have adopted that definition. However, after studying all the journalists I believe I have developed my own definition of photojournalism- pictures that have the ability to tell a story. I do not think that every picture is capable of telling a story and only ones that do should be considered photojournalism. In order for pictures to tell a story oftentimes, people are in it because facial expressions, poses, actions, body language all help tell that story, but there are other cases that a story could be told as well without people. 

Photo by: James Nachtwey

Photo by: James Nachtwey



Photo by: James Nachtwey

Above are three photos taken by James Nachtwey that are photojournalistic images that do not have people in them. The first is of an imprint a dead body left in the dirt after war. The bottom two images are of the disaster that 9/11 caused. In my opinion, all of these images tell stories and therefore, are photojournalistic images.

I used to have no idea the impact that photojournalism had on people and how necessary it is for teaching society... when it is done right. The history of photojournalism is equally as important because it is important to learn how much society has gained knowledge through photojournalism over time and how it is still evolving. However, I think that in order for photojournalism to be influential for society the photojournalists themselves need to be in touch with their biases. And it is equally as important for the viewers to be aware of their biases when viewing an image. Photojournalism and its history are all based on the perspective of the people looking at the photos and the perspective of the people taking the photos.

Throughout this course, I gained a lot of knowledge through looking at pictures that I never would have seen if I was never enrolled in this History of Photojournalism course. An "Ah-Ha" moment for me occurred when learning about the ethics of photojournalism. It had never occurred to me that the people that are getting paid to take pictures and share the truth with the world could, in fact, be the ones that are spreading the lies. In Liliya's Photojournalist Profile on Lyndsey Addario, she said that Lyndsey's biggest bias was when people try to spread lies instead of the truth. She went on to say that biases influence the kind of photography the photojournalist chooses to promote. This is scary because of the truth that pictures are supposed to have over words. 



Photo By: Lyndsey Addario

I always perceived the ethics in photojournalism to be invading someone's privacy or taking a photo of them while they are in a vulnerable state to get a message across to the world. For me, this was more of an unfortunate Ah-Ha because before I was under the assumption that pictures were the only thing in the world that could never lie because they are fact, they happened. Although naive, that allowed me to believe pictures more than words. I learned that sometimes that is not the case depending on who is behind the camera. I became aware that the ethics of photojournalism not only tests the photojournalist's respect for its subject, but it also tests the photojournalist's honesty and respect to the world. For example, "in 2016, photographer Eduardo Martins pulled off one of the biggest cons in the world of photography. After traveling the world and photographing "real" war content, his secret was soon exposed and unfortunately lost a lot of his credibility and reputation. This photograph is fake because 1, it is completely staged. 2. It is not in the country that Martins claims he photographed it in, and 3. Martins used actors to recreate this photograph," wrote classmate Alexa Costa. This was a big Ah-Ha moment for me. Below is the photo, staged and recreated by Eduardo Martins.

Photo by: Eduardo Martins

Another Ah-Ha moment I had was when I was doing my opioid project. This project really caused me to think outside of the box. about how I would present my information and pictures in an effective way for the viewers so it would be easy to understand and powerful. I think this semester was my best project because of how powerful it was and that was all because of the way I chose to present it.

Now it is time to revisit the most important question we touched on throughout this course. Do photographs change the world? When I answered this question in a previous I answered yes. My answer would still be yes. Pictures have something powerful about them that no words can describe. In my previous blog post titled "Can Photos Change the World" I said, "Pictures tell stories, share perspectives, teach, and provide evidence and reason. Truthfully, without pictures, everyone would be living in their own bubble and can only imagine what life is like for the rest of the world. They have the ability to show us things that we cannot experience in our immediate life." I still truly believe this. Photos have a way of making people remember and words just so not have that same effect. This reminded me of the cliche saying "seeing is believing." In this case, I think that could not be more true because when you use words or statistics, it does not stick in their minds because there is no feeling, emotion, empathy behind it. But when there are pictures it allows people to feel a connection, that what is happening in the photo is real, it is not just a statistic. That is why photos leave a long-lasting effect on people. Below are three photos that I saw this year that I will never forget. The last photo in the series below I saw for the first time in Haley's Photojournalist Profile on James Nachtwey. Like Haley, I was moved by this picture because it brought the reality of some people into my reality. She mentioned that as a photojournalist, presenting images that show humans suffering will affect change in society. As a child, I never went to bed hungry, and as this picture and as Haley implied, this child is malnourished and struggling. Pictures like this have the ability to catch the attention of naive, fortunate people like myself.

The Burning Monk
Photo by: Malcolm Browne



Photo By: James Nachtwey



Photo By: James Nachtwey

Results of Creative Experimental Exercise



Photo By: Leah Przybyszewski



Photo By: Leah Przybyszewski



Photo By: Leah Przybyszewski



Photo By: Leah Przybyszewski

Although I am not a professional photojournalist, a big part of my life has always been sports. Participating in sports at such a young age, it becomes apart of your heart, your being, and I know that without them I would not feel whole. This is why I choose to do my creative experimental exercise at an AIC Women's Basketball Game. When reading the photojournalist profiles Austin Albrecht wrote about photojournalist Patrick Smith who is a sports photojournalist. Similarly to what Austin said, being an athlete, I admire people that are able to push their bodies to their absolute limits. Sometimes I cannot witness this in person but the fact that photojournalists can witness it and share it with people like me makes me feel so fortunate. When conducting my creative exercise I put myself in the shoes of a photojournalist like Patrick Smith to witness and capture the experience of an athlete. Below is an image taken by Patrick Smith seen in Austin's Photojournalist Profile blog post.



Photo By: Patrick Smith

I think that when I took my pictures I included some biases because of how much I love sports. When I took my pictures, I took them of the team supporting each other, cheering for each other, all the positive aspects of sports. However, I neglected to show the negative aspects of sports like injures, fighting with teammates, etc. In my reflection, I talked a lot about biases, and knowing what yours are so you are able to identify them. I'm glad that after I took my pictures I was able to reflect on them and address the biases that I have. It is a very important trait to be able to address my own biases.