Chapter Nine- What Motivates Photojournalists?

Photo By: Kristen Foster 

Each individual has something that drives them to complete certain tasks or just to guide them through life. This can be a certain goal or person that motivates them to be the best they can be and to get the job done. This is especially true among photojournalists.

Photo By: Peter Stackpole

The first photojournalist I researched was Marie Hansen. Hansen caught my eye typically because she worked during a time when the workforce was male dominant, and she still stuck out. As Kevin Ames states in the article On Photography: Marie Hansen, 1918-1969, “Marie Hansen realized and wrote that women photojournalists had the same capabilities as men. She worked hard to be accepted as equal”. What truly motivated Hansen was the need to rise above society’s beliefs, to be the best photojournalist that she could be. As Lynn Johnson stated in the video Lynn Johnson Women in Photojournalism “This world of photojournalism, world of photography, is still very much a male community”. For Hansen to make her mark in a male predominant field, and still be recognized today she had to be motivated to be better than the societal norms told her she could be. 

Photo By:Marie Hansen

“A good news photographer, particularly in magazine work, must fill some rather awesome qualifications. He, or she, must have a reporter’s nose for news, a movie director’s sense of the dramatic, an artist’s eye for composition and lighting, a scientist’s interest in chemistry and optics, and a public relations expert’s diplomacy.”-Marie Hansen 

Photo By: David Burnett

Another photojournalist that stuck out to me in my research was David Burnett. Not only was he a photojournalist, but he also became and entrepreneur when he opened up his own phot agency. According to Ash Grant’s article Top 10 Photojournalists “Even though he opened his own photo agency, Burnett was still heavily devoted to his job and passion as a photographer”. Burnett used his passion for photojournalism as his motivation to keep pursuing his own career aside from owning a business. In the video Kenyan Photojournalist Felix Masi says “I could see joy, I could see pain through my lens”. This quotation closely relates to Burnett’s motivation because he truly cared about successfully conveying human emotion in his work .

Photo By: David Burnett

“The greatest photographs are motivated by human feeling” -David Burnett 

Photo By: Ruth Orkin 

The final photojournalist that stuck out to me during my research was Robert Capa. What was so unique about Capa was that he, at a very young age, started a completely new life on his own, even changing his name. According to Ash Grant’s article Top Ten Photojournalists, “Robert Capa, born as Endre Friedmann, is well-known for his wartime photos during WWII as well as his boldness and bravery and his involvement in Magnum Photos. His life as a photographer started at the age of 18 when he moved out of his native home in Hungary and left for Berlin where he worked as a darkroom apprentice”. What motivated Capa was to create a new life for himself centered around what he was passionate about, photojournalism. As stated on the Gordan Parks Foundation’s website “Born into poverty and segregation in Kansas in 1912, Parks was drawn to photography as a young man when he saw images of migrant workers published in a magazine”. Photojournalist Gordan Parks’s story resembles the life of Capa. Both rose above the situations they were born into and changed their lives for the better as a result of their passion for photojournalism.

Photo By: Robert Capa 

“If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough.”-Robert Capa

A similarity in motivation that I noticed among these photojournalists and myself was the drive to make a better life for ourselves. For instance, Capa literally moved to an entirely knew country to make a better life for himself. A significant difference that I noticed was that none of these photojournalists brought up money as a motivation to them, whereas I included money on my motivation chart. I think that this difference has a lot to do with the fact that they are much older than I am and they have more life experiences that have matured them. Overall, the most significant motivation among these photojournalists has been the passion for photojournalism.

Chapter 8: Photojournalism and Bias

Photo By: Ed Clark

When looking at this image, taken by Life Magazine photojournalist Ed Clark, it is difficult to not get emotional. The man playing the piano accordion appears to be a sailor as he is wearing a United States Navy hat. Just the raw emotion on the mans face is enough to bring tears to my eyes. It seems that he is experiencing the loss of someone he loves potentially a friend he served alongside. That kind of loss is something that we can all potentially relate to, which makes the emotion even more intense.
As Professor Nordell states in his video Photojournalism and Bias-Part 2 “Today, I more likely subscribe to the rule that I wouldn’t want to photograph somebody in a way that I, myself, would not want to be photographed”. This photograph captures one of the moments many would not want to be photographed. The subject is in such a vulnerable state right now due to the loss he has experienced. The rest of the people in the photograph seem to display the same sadness, which contributes to the melancholy interpretation of this photograph.

Is the Photo in Black and White or Color? This photograph being in black and white really adds to the emotion portrayed. The grief in this photo is emphasized by the darkness and lack of bright colors. The choice of using black and white draws the audience’s attention to the subject

Subject’s Expression: The subject of this photograph is extremely upset. He is in tears while grieving the loss of a loves one. He appears to be holding it together enough to be playing the music at the funeral.

Obvious main subject, about ¼ to 2/3 of image area: It is very obvious who the subject of the photograph is. The man takes up the most space in the center of the photograph. He also appears to be the most emotionally impacted.

Photo By: Tara Copp

                             

The article The Rules of Photojournalism Are Keeping Us From the Truth by Donald Weber describes truth as “objectivity, righteousness, infallibility, etc”. This image displays what I believe to be truth. Soldiers who were killed in the Korean war over fifty years ago were finally brought home in 2014. During this event, they were recognized for the bravery and loyalty to their country and they were finally put to rest. In his video Photojournalism and Bias-Part 2, Professor Nordell talks about “opening the doors for the photographs and ideas, a viewpoint of photographers from developing nations”. This image is one that can resonate with almost anyone of any culture or background. The emotions this photograph brings on are so pure. The families of those who were killed can now get closure for their loved ones.

Depth of Field: The appropriate amount of area is in focus in this image. The main focal points can be seen with is. For instance, the flag-covered coffin can be easily seen along with the military personnel gathered around.

Background compliments or detracts from composition: There is a lot to this photograph. For instance, there are people gathered all around and even farther back are the graves of other soldiers who have died. All of these components compliment the photo and make it more powerful.

In or Out of Focus: The image Is very sharp. You can see great detail in the entire photograph. For instance, the tree branches and writing on the closer tombstones can easily be seen.

Photo By: Joe Raedle

I chose this image to represent not truth because there is not a career more filled with lies than that of politics. It is a known fact that some of the most well-known political faces have been caught in severe scandals, some even resulting in actions like impeachments. In my opinion, politics is the least important societal aspect today. There are people in this world that are starving and rather than actually getting up and doing something about it, these people will sit around and debate over how they would change it if they were elected, and those who are elected rarely ever follow through with the promises they made that got them elected in the first place. A perfect example of this is from the Watching America article The American Circus by Francisco G. Basterra who says “The man in the White House has caused the international order to become unhinged, detaching it from its classical axes. The international reliability of Trump’s America, wrapped up in itself, has evaporated”. People in other countries can see just how messed up our political system and priorities as a country are, but citizens of our own country cannot. This idea can be connected with that of yellow journalism. For instance, in module eleven content, there’s a New York Post with the headline Trump slams media over sham dossier with the caption “yellow journalism” under Trump’s photograph.

KEEP IT SIMPLE: The image isn’t too cluttered. There are three subjects. Attention is brought mainly to Elizabeth Warren, as she is in the center of the photo. The background of the photo is pretty simple.

Contrast Appropriate: There is a lot of contrast in this photograph. There is a lot of dark colors that can be seen in the background and on the male clothing. Brighter colors appear on Warren’s clothing, the podiums, and the flag displayed in the background.

Quality of Light: The light can be seen as both engaging and dramatic. For instance, the bold colors add a darker tone drawing the viewers’ attention in. The lighter aspects and more of a dramatic aspect in contrast to the darker areas

Chapter 7: Ethics of Photojournalism

Photo By: Kristen Foster 

It may come as a surprise to some to realize that photojournalism can be a very controversial profession. When a photojournalist sets their mind to capturing a certain moment, they will usually do just about anything to not let that moment slip away. That is when the lines between what is ethically right and wrong begin to blur.

 A perfect example of controversy in photojournalism is brought to light in the History Channel’s article These Are the 10 Most Controversial Moments in the History of Photography. The controversy was started by a photographer named “Mathew Brady—whose 1864 portrait of Abraham Lincoln is visible on the $5 bill—organized an exhibition in his New York studio called‘The Dead of Antietam’”. Photographer Alexander Gardner, who worked for Brady, was sent to photograph the bodies of dead soldiers to be shown to the entire country.

Photo By: Alexander Gardner

  

There were many conflicting viewpoints when it came to the perception of Brady’s photographs. For instance, some were not bothered by the work, while others were completely shocked. In the History channel article previously stated the sentence “If he has not brought bodies and laid them in our dooryards and along the streets, he has done something very like it” was used to describe Brady’s work. This quotation really brings to light the ethical issues of Brady’s photographs. The same article mentions a quotation from The New York Times that reads as follows “Mr. Brady has done something tobring home to us the terrible reality and earnestness of war”. This specific quotation touches upon Brady’s main focus behind these gruesome photographs, and that is to expose the harsh reality that is war (death, blood, corpses, etc.).

Some ethic principles that I mentioned in my map include empathy and respect. These two principles were missing from Brady’s work. For instance, it does not seem that he really considered the families of the dead soldiers he had Gardner photograph. It was both insensitive and disrespectful for these pictures of these soldiers to be published, when considering their own families that will be exposed to these photographs. Overall, ethics need to be determined by the photojournalist at that specific moment, but I really do not believe that Brady’s work was ethically right in this situation.

Photo By: Alexander Gardner