Elora Kelsh_Reading Response 3: Photojournalism

PHOTOJOURNALISM

Conversation with Philip Gefter

Philip Gefter is a photojournalist for the New York Times, who is the Page One picture editor for the newspaper. He goes through thousands of images per day to pick the best ones that are most relevant to the stories that will also be on the front page, the most important and noticeable page of any newspaper, then discusses them with all the heads of other departments and collaboratively decide which pictures are best. His job seems very stressful to me and requires lots of attention to detail and lots of processing of images, which of course comes with every photographer’s job, but usually only with their own photographs while Gefter is looking at many photographer’s images per day. It was interesting to learn how impactful each picture is when it goes along with text, how important it is for the reputation and meaning of the newspaper, especially for the ones on the first page; the ones that people first see, they have to be able pop out the most.

History’s First Draft Looks Much Better With Pictures

This article expands on the idea of major events that were covered in newspapers starting in the 50s were effective because of the photographs matched with the events; ie. assassination of John F. Kennedy, the brutality of the Vietnam war, etc. I particularly enjoy the quote “ a picture may not be worth a thousand words, but a picture and a good caption are worth a thousand and ten. The image is only as valuable as the information provides” (132).  Photographs are very influential on people and have developed the news genre. It was also interesting to learn how the visual tone for photojournalism was set by Edward Steichen and Margaret Bourke-White in the 1930s. While television occurred and became a competitor for news magazines, magazines triumphed in the fact that their photos defined the moment forever in the form of a permanent record. The subject is considered more important than the aesthetics of the image in photojournalism, due to the nature of the need of photos for journalism – the “decisive moment” is what is strived for.

Reflections of New York’s Luckiest: Look Magazine

This article talks about the success of people who work in New York for Look Magazine. What stood out to me in particular was how Stanley Kubrik worked there before he became a film director; I could always tell that he must have had some background in photography because of the compositional beauty of his films, in particular, 2001 Space Odyssey.
Look was also a magazine that was strived to be in by celebrities. They shot up and coming actors in a very artistic way and were a renowned magazine. Many of their pictures gave the impression of being an authentic moment, but the photos were always carefully set up; “a hallmark of feature photography of the era” (137).  Becoming known in New York and being in magazines was usually considered a triumph, but doesn’t mean everyone becomes a star.

Reading Newspaper Pictures: A Thousand Words, and Then Some

The author states in this article that many people question the liveliness of a photograph unless it is paired with editorial facts and refers it to “a matter of simple sensory mistrust” (139).  Lots of people need to know what the photograph subject and context is before they can appreciate how it looks; therefore making the process once removed. Photographs then become a piece of evidence of observation of something that happened. Captions highlight photographs’ poignancy, and should be to the point, like the photograph itself; one should also be able to understand what a picture might look light with solely its caption. This point kind of reminds me of the importance of a title to a photograph – provides context to the photo when paired with a single word that defines it. This article highlights the “photo-op”, especially for photojournalists, so that they can help with the viewer’s interpretation of whatever photograph; he does this by explaining different situations where the photo is successful with this.”Art derives from a contemplation of ideas, while journalism reports on facts and events” (143).

Cornell Capa, Photojournalist and Museum Founder, Dies at Ninety

This article is about a cherished, successful, and respected photography who dies at an old age. He was very influential and produced “images in which genuine human feeling predominates over commercial cynicism or disinterested formalism,” that were mostly on political and social justice subjects. He was a part of Life magazine and produced many bold, graphic, clean images that Life is famously known to contain usually.

Personal Response:

I believe that this section of the book was interesting because it was about photography in a context that I’m not as familiar with. I prefer using photography as a form of art, but I understand the importance of photography as well, and the historical context that they carry with them, especially when paired with captions that explain what they are portraying. I find it very interesting the weight that they have in the journalistic world, and completely agree with how necessary and helpful they are.