History of Photojournalism

Photojournalism is the use of photographs to tell a news story to the public. These images tell a story about an event and can be used with text or independently. For centuries, photojournalists have been taking images of specific events. The Crimean War was the first big event that was captured with photography.

 

Photo by: Roger Fenton
Photo Source: http://theredlist.fr/wiki-2-16-601-798-view-pioneers-profile-fenton-roger.html


There is a distinct difference between a photographer and a photojournalist. A photographer is someone who takes pictures, but a photojournalist is someone who takes specific pictures of the aftermath of an event to tell its story in the news. Furthermore, in more recent time photojournalism has now adapted to multimedia and even documentary filmmaking. These photos form collective memories around the world because of the technology developed through the internet, and other mobile devices

(I just thought this would be a fun clip to add in because it goes to show how phone friendly many of us have become! But think how fast she can send that pic to news media or post it online.)

Photo by: "Found via Reddit"
Photo Source: http://www.globalnerdy.com/2012/04/09/sign-of-the-times-or-has-13000-worth-of-camera-gear-uses-phone-instead/

Photojournalists create pictures that capture many different emotions. The work of good photojournalists represents images that become a part of history. It is important to know the History of Photojournalism because it allows us to look back on an event through a photo that represents the story; days, weeks, months, and even years later. It is truly amazing how in just one picture a story can be told. Hence the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

 

 9/11 Firefighters walk of courage.

 

Photo by: Robert McMahan
Photo Source: http://www.mcmahanphoto.com/walkofcourage.html