Photojournalism - Alandra Chavarria

Photojournalism has a completely different way of operating, compared to other styles of photography. Many aspects of the photo are considered, before being chosen and paired with an article or story. Phillip Gefter, picture editor of the New York Times' front page discusses the process he goes through for choosing photos. Discussing photos is thrilling to him, and he loves doing it. For example, when it comes to a political story he considers the subjects and their body language, energy, facial expressions, etc. When choosing photographs, he finds it most important to reveal truth and authenticity regardless of his personal opinions or popular opinion.

Edward Steichen and Margaret Bourke-White set the precedence for the "visual tone" for photojournalism, which included bold lines, sharp lighting, and simple compositions. Diane Arbus, published photography that was blurred, grainy, and raw, challenging the polished look of magazine photography. By 1967, John Szarkowski described photojournalism as "a new generation" of photographers whose "aim has not been to reform life, but to know it."

New York photographers, specifically those who have done work for Look Magazine, were examples of artists who collaborated with their subjects, which then led to their advancement and success. Stanley Kubrick in particular, is an intriguing photojournalist who captured Roosevelt's death and had it published in Look at only age seventeen. His series of boxers and showgirls is especially interesting and inspiring to several artists, including myself.

The first essential points a photo editor looks for when choosing photos for the paper are who, what, where, when, and why. After that, they look at what the photo is about and how it looks. Photojournalism has a specific intention compared to art. Photojournalism is reporting on facts and events for editorial purposes. But sometimes it can be tough to pick the correct photo depending on the piece of news being written about. People tend to comprehend photos by formulating a series of words and ideas in their heads, then piecing it together, as opposed to conceptually interpreting the work. There is a tension between words and pictures because some find the journalism in the writing, while others find it in the photo evidence. There is a marriage between the two, that make a successful journalism piece.

Keeping photos alive are a huge part of being a photographer, even as a photojournalist. Cornell Capa, founder of the International Center of Photography was haunted by this idea after the death of his brother Robert who was killed on assignment in Indochina in 1954. He wanted nothing more than to make his work stay alive. He then became a photographer for Life magazine and believed that he was "to be a photographer for peace." After his own death, he was quoted: "There are two things I wanted to do. I wanted to show the things that needed to be corrected. And I wanted to show the things that needed to be appreciated."