Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Lund: Reading Response 3

Photojournalism

Page One: A Conversation with Philip Gefter, Picture Editor of the New York Times' Front Page
Philip Gefter has an extremely important job that takes hours of careful consideration every day. After looking at hundreds of photos a day Gefter has to find a balance between his fine art training and real photojournalism. He brings a balance to the front page that "works both journalistically and visually". I find it interesting that he originally did not like the addition of color to the front page but he now loves it. What I am curious about, is how well his paper is doing and how much longer he will actually be overlooking the front page of the print version of the Times'. I wonder this because print media is a dying thing and most people consume their news online at this point. Though I do not think it would be too difficult to transfer into an all technological world for this job.

History's First Draft Looks Much Better With Pictures
This article talks about how photojournalism has shaped the way we look at history. In the past all that a man would experience was what happened around him. But with the invention of photography and including it in the paper or other print media, we begin to share knowledge and news with something that the language barrier does not influence. What I found very interesting was that the subject was the most important part of photojournalism. When I thought about this a little more it began to make a lot of sense. Even though the rest of photography is important such as exposure, composition, sharpness, etc. what dominated all of that was capturing the moment that told the strongest story. Some of photojournalism’s best moments depict photographs that people can link to the corresponding story or moment without knowing much about the story itself. Such as the couple kissing in Times Square representing the end of the war. Moments such as these are collected together along with their original text in a book titled Things as They Are: Photojournalism in Context Since 1955

Reflections of New York's Luckiest: Look Magazine
Look magazine established a style of its own thy followed the lives of ordinary people. This is in contrast to its competitor LIFE magazine. They never shyed away from the goofy human interest stories and also shifted their direction after WWII to more family stories and photographs. The museum exhibit Willing to Be Lucky presented 130 photographs of artists, dancers, actors, architects, showgirls, boxers, and eccentrics. This exhibit made a point that magazine editors, art directors, and photographers have attempted to create compelling images that helped advance careers.

Reading Newspaper Pictures: A Thousand Words and Then Some
A photograph is nothing unless the viewer understands what the importance is of what they are looking at. In this article Gefter discusses the importance of captioning in photojournalism. "Some people need to know what they're looking at before they can appreciate it" If someone were to show you a photograph of a girl holding a dog and crying you might be compelled to feel pathos towards the girl. However, if a caption followed the imaged and said “Girl reunites with dog after two years” we immediately begin to have a greater understanding for the photograph as well as a wider range of emotions to be felt because we can begin to connect with the contents. People appreciate the photos better when they know the story of an image. The purpose of photography should not be to capture a subject, but to capture the story of the subject with the use of photos

Cornel Capa, Photojournalist and Museum Founder Dies at Ninety.
"I wanted to show things that needed to be corrected. I wanted to show the things that needed to be appreciated." Cornel Capa was a huge part of Life Magazine and had a long running career in photojournalism. His family also partook in the photo industry as his older brother (Robert Capa) was a photographer as well. He was big into photography with politics and social justice. Mr. Capa wanted to be a photographer of peace and his morals and influences on the world actually have little to do with an artistic ability. Rather he captured what people needed to see. From the day his brother died he worried about that would happen to the work of photographers after they die.

Response:
Photojournalism is certainly an interesting realm. Finding the balance between art and stories is something that I myself am capable of. I feel as if I don’t quite have the artistic eye of the fine art photographer. Nor am I really literate enough to write the stories that my photographs my need like these people. But capturing that pivotal moment that tells a story with visuals only and it not too deep or does not take too much analysis is something that I aspire to be able to do in the future. Create a sort of simplistic beauty that can be enhanced with words. These photojournalists are inspiring and only make me want to follow my dream more.

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