What Motivates Photojournalists?

JAMES NACHTWEY

Photo by: Unknown

Photo source: http://www.myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=Nachwey_James

James Nachtwey grew up in Massachusetts. He graduated with his Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Dartmouth College in 1970 where he studied Art History and Political Science. The images from the Vietnam War and the American Civil rights movement had a strong impact on his decision to become a photographer.

After working in New Mexico as a newspaper photographer from 1976-1980 James moved to New York to begin his career as a freelance magazine photographer. In 1981 James covered the civil strife in Northern Ireland during the IRA hunger strike. This was his first foreign assignment. Since then, James devoted his career documenting wars, critical social issues, and conflicts. “Why photograph war? Is it possible to put an end to human behavior which has existed throughout history by means of photography? The proportions of that notion seem ridiculously out of balance yet that very idea has motivated me.” (1)

Photo by: James Nachtwey
Photo source: http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20060605,00.html

In 1984 James became a contracted photographer for Time magazine. He was previously associated with Black Star from 1980-1985. He was also a member of Magnum from 1986-2001. He became one of the founding members of the photo agency VII in 2001. "I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated." (2)

“For me the strength of photography lies in its ability to evoke a sense of humanity…used well it can be a powerful antidote to war. In a way, if an individual assumes the risk of placing himself in the middle of a war in order to communicate to the rest of the world what it is happening – he is trying to negotiate for peace.” (3)

 

CHARLOTTE BROOKS

Photo by: Unknown

Photo source: http://www.apag.us/charlotte-brooks/

 

Charlotte Brooks (Finkelstein) was born in Brooklyn, New York where she grew up. She graduated from Erasmus Hall, Brooklyn College and later attended the University of Minnesota. Charlotte returned to New York to further follow her childhood interests in photography and dance. She studied with Bernice Abbott at the New School for Social Research and in 1942 got a job. In 1943 she became Gjon Mili’s assistant and became well experienced in his Modernist style. She went out on her own in 1944 and after her images were brought to the attention of Roy Stryker she joined his project at Standard Oil of New Jersey documenting in photographs the story of oil during World War II. In 1946 when Stryker’s FSA team returned from war, the job ended.

After freelancing for the next three years, her friend Arthur Rothstein introduced her to the people at LOOK magazine in 1951 where she worked until it ended in 1971. As a female magazine staff photographer at that time, Brooks changed the workplace for future women photojournalists. When she joined the American Society for Magazine Photographers she was only one of three female members. In 1953 she served as its secretary and vice-president. (4)

Charlotte Brooks was “a sociologist with a camera.” She enjoyed documenting changes in the American life. Some of the things she likes documenting include politics, health and science, education, families, urban and suburban issues, entertainment, racial conflicts, and women's roles. Charlotte has accomplished her goals at a time when her gender, religious background, and sexual preference presented her with extra challenges.   

Photo by: Charlotte Brooks and Dave Zingg test underwater cameras for Look's magazine
Photo source: http://2neat.com/magazines/index.phpmain_page=product_info&cPath=1_19&products_id=156

Look’s Magazine focused on middle class life and that fit Brooks well. Being able to show how people lived first motivated her as a sociologists and then as a photojournalist. Her work as a photojournalist allowed her to witness the American way of life.  

Brooks appreciated that photojournalism allowed her to “become a sociologist with a camera; to be economically independent; and to give back to her community through the Arts Center that she and Julie Arden helped found in White Pond, New York, in 1976.” In the mid-1970s Brooks led a photography workshop for the U.S. State Department in Romania and Soviet Georgia. She also mentored neighborhood teens with Arden. “Brooks' life story is a saga of determination, and her photographs record the changing fabric of life in the 1950s and 1960s.” (5)

 LEWIS HINE

Photo by: Unknown 

Photo source: http://academic.uprm.edu/laviles/id194.htm

 

Lewis Hine was born on September 26, 1874. He studies sociology in Chicago and New York from 1900-1907, before finding work at the Ethical Culture School. While he was teaching he was given a camera “the camera became a powerful means of recording social injustice and labor abuses.”  Hines had a special interest in social welfares and in reform movements. This led him to his first documentary series in 1905; immigrants on Ellis Island. He left teaching in 1908 and became a investigator and photographer for the National Labor Committee. (6, 7)

He became best known for his documentation of exploited child workers and government projects. He used his camera in New York where he witnessed and captured poverty. His goal was to “create intimate and personal human portraits.” (8) He travelled over 12,000 miles in a year’s period taking pictures of children working in factories. Often times he would have to pose as a fire inspector because factory owners often refused Hine’s permission to take pictures. Hines used these images to reform child labor.

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Photo by: Lewis Hine

Photo source: http://www.ecouterre.com/7-photos-that-changed-child-labor-laws-in-america-forever/lewis-hine-child-labor-1/

 “Hines photos opened people’s eyes and told them that there are many problems in this country that we need to fix.” (8) After working for the National Child Labor Committee for eight years, in 1916 Congress eventually agreed to pass legislation to protect children. “Hines showed determination while documenting child labor by risking his physical health, his work on this project was the driving force behind changing the public opinion and was essential in the fight for stricter child labor laws.” (8)

He then began working for the Red Cross during the first World War. This gave him the opportunity to photograph the living conditions of French and Belgian civilians who suffered from the impact of the war.

Hine struggled making enough money from his photography. He lost his home in January 1940 after failing to keep up repayments to the Home Owners. On November 3, 1940 Lewis Hines died in extreme poverty. (6)



MY MOTIVATION

While researching photojournalists and what keeps them motivated, the 3 photojournalists that I chose have at least one similar piece of motivation that I carry. James Nachtwey - STRENGTH, Charlotte Brooks - INDEPENDENCE, and Lewis Hines - DETERMINATION. I feel that these are all very important and they keep many people motivated in life.

 

1.  http://petapixel.com/2010/10/11/james-nachtwey-on-the-importance-of-photography-in-war/
2. http://www.jamesnachtwey.com/
3. http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2013/01/would-you-die-for-the-photo-a-look-at-war-photography/
4. http://www.apag.us/charlotte-brooks/
5. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/womphotoj/brooksessay.html
6. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/IRhine.htm
7. http://academic.uprm.edu/laviles/id194.htm
8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mplPjjex4I8&feature=player_embedded