a.
I don’t think my
definition of photojournalism has changed much, because I had a good idea of what
it was before. I do think my ideas on photojournalism have expanded more though
in the way that I understand more now about the actual job itself, the dilemmas
photojournalists sometimes face, and the experiences they have to go through. I
think I see photojournalism now as a more life risking career and I know a lot
more about the ethical issues photojournalist face, and the other types of
things they have to do within the job. So, if anything my knowledge of what
photojournalism was before has just expanded and furthered my thoughts and
ideas that I believed more.
b.
I think my ideas were
verified of why it was important to know the history of photojournalism. I
don’t think my ideas have really changed much, I think it’s still important to
know the history of a situation, or the reason or results from certain
photographs. I have seen though from learning in this class just how important it
is to the know the history of photojournalism, especially when you’re the one
doing the job so you can learn from others mistakes. I’ve learned seeing the
history of photojournalism can show certain strengths and struggles so you can learn
from that in your own career. Also, to know the history of photographs and
there meaning is essential in photojournalism, as I felt before as well. So, I think
I’ve learned even more ways that the history of photojournalism can be very
important, and different real life situations when it was.
c.
I think when we learned
about truths and non-truths I had a big learning or “ah-ha” moment. This is
because it expanded my thoughts a lot on what I saw a photo as truthful or not
truthful, and what the definition really was for those two ideas. This topic opened
my mind because I learned so many ways to view photos from my classmates, and
other photojournalists. I now see truth and non-truth in photos so differently
and in a way, I never thought about it before.
D.
I think photographs do change the world, as I felt before but I got to see some
great real life examples of when they actually have changed the world this
semester. One picture that I just talked a lot about in my photojournalistprofile that changed the world in a lot of ways was the famous photo taken by
Eddie Adams of a Vietnam war execution. This photo proved to “change the
world”, because it changed so many different people’s thoughts and views based
on just one photo. Many people after this photo viewed the war differently,
Americans felt that that America should not be in a war like that, it worried
and scared people so that photo changed a lot of peopled views and feelings
ultimately changing the world.
Image source: https://afranklin5.wordpress.com/2014/03/01/grandfather-passes-love-of-cinema-to-granddaughter-by-sharing-story/
photo by: Eddie Adams
There have been many other photos I’ve seen, and
learned about in this class as well that have changed the world, or a majority
of people’s thoughts and opinions. Another one being a photo we learned about
with the ethics of photojournalism. In this instance, there was a man who fell
in front of a train and a photographer took a picture. Everyone felt it was
wrong that saw the photo for someone to photograph a man as he was falling to
his death, and the fact that nobody stopped to help him but had time to snap a
photograph. This picture made it to the front page of the New York post, and
caused an outrage. Many people felt it was ethically wrong in so many ways to
do this, and changed their view on photography, the way they looked at
photojournalists and probably the post in general.
Photo by: J. Bryan Lowder
I think whenever a photograph
has a big outcry or response to something changing a lot of people’s views it
has ultimately changed the world in a way. Another photo that had a big impact
on me was the picture in the course content talking about women in
photojournalism with a women on the life magazine cover. This photo talks about
“great men of stature making life what it is” not even acknowledging women at
all was kind of a big deal article so this picture impacted me in that I was shocked
people talked like this. Especially living in time as I do now, where gender
inequality is a big deal. Especially since, as professor Nordell states “a
women was the first person to take a picture for time magazine” you’d think the magazine would point out both genders
rolls.
Image source: https://blackboard.aic.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_9571_1&content_id=_478941_1
Photo by: John Nordell
I did my creative
process based off a photojournalist/photographer named Ansel Adams. Adams main focus in his career, and what he
is known for is his incredible still black and white photography that captures nature as it is. So based on this
concept, I went out and took some nature, and outdoor photographs in black and
white to try and capture some of his type of ideas in photographs. I tried to
get some nature and landscape photography all in its natural setting. His ideas
were to portray the world and nature as it is, without setting it up or fixing
anything, which is what I tried to portray in my photographs, showing nature in
their natural beauty with a twist of black and white.
Photo by: Jessica Callahan
With this image, I basically just tried to capture nature in its natural form without setting it up, or moving it in any sort of way to capture the leaves, and what everything looks like without setting it up.
Photo by: Jessica Callahan
With this photo, I did more of a close up of nature to show its fine detail again, showing what it looks like in its natural environment and showing its natural beauty by showing all of the plants details. And of course in black and white, to show Ansel Adams type of photography in my own way.
Photo by: Jessica Callahan
This photo I did a little bit of a close up again. I showed the flower close up to show all of its features without moving it or doing anything too special. Though, I thought this photo came out really cool because you can see the water droplets all over the flower from the past rainfall. And I like how it focuses in on the flower and blurred the background a little to show the natural beauty of the flower.
Photo by: Jessica Callahan
With this photo, I took even more of an Ansel Adams
approach, by doing a full landscape shot. Most of his pictures were a lot like
this doing less close up, and more showing the whole beauty of a place. Though
my photo isn't in the middle of the snowy mountains or somewhere beautiful like
that, I took the idea of showing a landscape in its naked beauty like he did
within his photos.
Comparing
the photos, I took in my creative experiential process with my different
thoughts in my self-reflection immediately I realized how much deeper my
understanding of photojournalism has become. Based on the pictures I took with experimenting
to be like a certain photographer, I realize just how important the history of photography
is and how important it is to know about it. Old photographers and photography styles
inspire new types of photography or a new way of doing things. If we didn’t
have old pictures or events to base things off of we wouldn’t be able to grow.
As I did with this project, I looked at a photographers work and way of doing things
and with a twist did my own version of his pictures. I realized with this
project you need other photos and experiences to grow and make your own kinds
of creativity. I also now see the definition of photojournalism better within
this creative assignment as photojournalism is a way for you to portray your
own message, and your own interpretation of events. With this assignment and
the photos, I took I showed my own expression of nature the environment, and
what I saw to be true natural nature pictures. Though they weren’t exactly the
same types of photos as the photographer’s photos, they were how I felt about what
he once did and my own interpretation which is what I see photojournalism to be
about.
Some more things I
learned about the history of photojournalism while viewing my classmate’s photojournalist
profiles is how important photojournalism was through different past eras. Like
for example the photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus who worked during the war era and explains how important photojournalism
was to get war coverage. This helps to understand how important photojournalism
was in the past and how necessary it was during the wars, to get pictures and make
the world aware of what was going on. And it was important to get brave strong
women like her who could do it.
Photo by: Ap.org
Photo of Anja Niedringhaus.
Then there are people
who worked in a later era, the post war era. This was just as important, if not
more in the way that photojournalists of this time have to portray and show all
the post-war issues, so there was a lot for them to report on. Hetherington
states just how important by saying “Today’s
conflicts demand experienced chroniclers to record a nuanced truth- and to
counter the rampant distortion and propaganda of the Digital Age”. This helps us to understand how important
photojournalism was in history in different eras. I also learned more about the
cameras and technologies used and how they were essential, or not so important
in different eras.
Photo by: Tim Hetherington, photo of Liberian civil war rebels.
Like for James Nachtwey , who used the SLR camera for his war film photography and says it
allowed him to travel easily on foot, and get the photos he needed easily.
Reading about his experiences with the SLR helped me to understand the camera
more, and see what it was good for and how it was used best, like it was for
him while taking war photos.
Photo by: James Nachtwey. War photo with the SLR Camera.
