history of photojournalism

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HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNALISM

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Page 1: History of Photojournalism

HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNALISM

Page 2: History of Photojournalism

ABOUT MEMy name is James Bell and I study Photographic Journalism at Leeds Metropolitan University. I am from a small town called Baldock, Hertfordshire and I attended a Sixth Form college there, studying Media Studies, English Literature and Photography and came out with pretty average

grades. When i'm not studying, I enjoy taking photographs in my spare time and drinking numer-ous cups of tea. My aspirations for the future are to graduate from University and to travel and explore more than the United Kingdom. On my travels I would like to document my findings

whilst visiting the typical British travelling destinations such as Australlia, New Zealand, Thailand and maybe South America.

WWW.JAMESBELLL.WORDPRESS.COM

Page 3: History of Photojournalism

CONTENTMyths: The Centaurs & Chiron

The Frozen Moment, Constructed & Cap-tured

History of Image Acquisition

Surrealism

Propaganda

Social Commentary

Once Upon a Time

Journey

Impressions Gallery Visit

Page 4: History of Photojournalism

MYTHS: THE CENTAUR & CHIRONThere are many definitions of myths and people have different interpretations of what a myth actually is. The typical Syno-nyms of a myth is 'fable/legend', and in other sources it is said to be a traditional story from thousands of years ago, concerning people or explaining a certain phenomenon.

In William Bascom's article “The Forms of Folk-lore: Prose Narratives” he defines myths as "tales believed as true, usually sacred, set in the distant past or other worlds or parts of the world, and with extra-human, inhuman, or heroic characters". But as with anything, whether a person chooses to believe these stories is a different matter. As with anything, it is up to the person whether they believe in such stories, for example the bible. The bible contains stories which have been passed down through generations and as with anything, as time goes on, things become more powerful, and we are usually set to try and believe in it. In my opinion the reason that the majority of people choose not to believe in 'myths' is the fact that the images and paintings we see of 'mythical crea-tures' are something of a fairy tale in children's books. For example a centaur, a composite race of two creatures, half human and part horse. Whereas Christianity is drilled into children's heads from a young age, but instead of being in a colourful book with pretty pictures, the bible is all text and preached from these powerful and over-whelming buildings.

In Greek Mythology the Centaur was often known for their lustfulness and drunkenness and described as wild and savage. 'Chiron' was seen as the wise creature out of the pack, and was revered as a tutor to many heroes, including - Achilles, Perseus and many others. The myths say that a fight broke out between Hercules and the centaurs, which many died. Chiron chose not to fight, but was acci-dentally wounded by Hercules. As Chiron was the only immortal creature out of the centaurs, he could not die but instead lived in terrible pain.

The painting on the right titled 'Pallas and the Cen-taur' shows a complete contrast to what a centaurs characteristics are supposed to be like. Myths de-scribe the Centaur as wild and savage creatures, but this painting says otherwise. As we can see the woman has full control of the creature, holding his head with an abiding grip. But also the Centaurs bow is turned away, as if he is bowing down to Athena and is trembling with fear. Athena was known as the goddess of heroic endeavour and also the virgin patroness of Athens. So she was a very important figure, and this is clearly portrayed in Sandro Botticelli's painting. I think this painting is telling us how the gods conquer over everything, even the most wild of creatures.

Pallas and the Centaur (1482/83) by Sandro Botticelli

Page 5: History of Photojournalism

Focusing again on Chiron, the wise and immortal centaur, whom stood out amongst all of his other fellow family and friends. We can see from paintings and read about this creature in myths and we can see how important he was. For example in the painting of Chiron and Achilles by Pompeo Batoni (1746) we can see that Chiron was of importance to all living things, including humans. The myths tell us that Chiron was a great teacher, but also friend. This can be seen in many paintings which represent him as a completely different creature to his fellow Centaurs. As he is in no way being savage, just like other Centaurs are described in mythology. Although in the painting by Batoni, the focus is mainly on Achilles as Chiron's back is facing us. This could suggest how the painter is trying to portray the importance of the human, rather than the teacher. Although you could interpretate the painting in a different way and you could say by having Chiron having his front facing away, with just his back on show, it exposes his strength as the painter has exposed Chiron's back muscles, which shows power and strength. It could also back up the point about how he was different from other Centaurs, as the focus is not on him and he was just wise and wanted to teach others the knowledge he had picked up himself. In mythology it was said that Chiron had been instructed by Apollo and Artemis, so his knowledge and wisdom was said to be very vast. He was particularly known for his skills in hunting, medicine, music and the art of prophecy. I think Batoni is trying to portray Chiron's love for music in the painting as it appears he is teaching Achilles to play the harp or some sort of stringed instrument.

I think if we compare paintings from different time periods, we are going to interpret things differently. As with anything, as time goes on different things are picked up and it's almost like a game of chinese whispers, so we just believe what we see and follow the facts from these sources; paintings, art, written work etc.

Vase from 520BC. Shows Chiron teaching Achilles. Potter signed by Pamphaios

The vase on the right is dated to about 520BC, and it shows Chiron holding Achilles. Chrion also appears to be holding a dead tree branch which has something hanging from it. This could be seen as a sacrifice or something to do with his teaching of healing, which is being aimed at Achilles. The vase could be depicting a lesson as both Chiron and Achilles are both wearing similar robes, and Chiron's focus is on Achilles as he is seen in his hand, almost as if he is a Father and protecting Achilles.

I think if we compare the art work of Chiron in the painting by Pompeo Batoni and the vase of Chiron teaching Achilles, we can see that the Chiron was very different and important as he is seen as the predominant figure in both bits of work. The myth of the centaurs, particularly Chiron tells us about how important this creatures wisdom was towards his students, especially Achilles. In Greek mythology, we hear more about the human's and not their teachers, so I think the art work almost preserves what they done and how they contributed to their society.

Chiron and Achilles (1746) by Pompeo Batoni

Page 6: History of Photojournalism

"Photography is not like painting," Cartier-Bresson told the Washington Post in 1957. "There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative," he said. "Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever."

Here's an example of Cartier-Bresson capturing and freezing that moment. If he would have taken the photograph a second earlier or later, there would be just an image of just a stairway and cobbled street. But he has managed to time the image perfectly and capture this cyclist. I also like the positioning of where he has taken the photo-graph and it's almost like the railings of the staircase follow the curb of the road round.

Another image by Henri Cartier-Bresson which captures that perfect moment is shown on the left. Again the photograph was taken at the perfect point. I really like the contrast between the man leaping and the flooded street. The way his silhouette sits perfectly below him like there's another world beneath his feet, which just mirrors his actions. I believe the man may have been in a rush to get somewhere or even trying to escape from the ladder as the surround-ing area has flooded. The fact we cannot define the person in the image also adds this sense of mystery and makes it that even more interesting.

In my future work i'm going to experiment and focus on candid photography, capturing images which give the viewer a story to un-ravel and tell with their own interpretation.

Many of Cartier-Bressons photographs focus on candid photogra-phy, where he pretty much just goes with it and captures what he sees at that moment in time. I think this allows yourself to create a story when looking back at the image and have your mind let loose with imagination on the subject within the photograph. Only the photographer himself will have a true definition of the image and know what is going on. This still allows other people to have their own interpretation and wonder what happened in between all of the gaps of the photograph being taken.

THE FROZEN MOMENT

CONSTRUCTED &CAPTURED

Page 7: History of Photojournalism

I think Atget captured a perfect moment here and gives us this example of that 'frozen moment'. It makes us question what was happening that has gained these people's attention and what happened after this split second the photograph was taken. And this is where you have to decide yourself about what is happening and what was the artist trying to say?

Dorothea Lange was an American documentary photographer whose work struck me as very powerful and shocking. Most of her images, particu-larly ones from the era of 'The Great Depression' show pain and suffering, not just from physical signs such as ges-tures, but also the connotations in the actual image. For example the image below by Lange, entitled 'Migrant Mother' shows a Mother appearing to look saddened or concerned, whilst her children hide behind their Mother. The connotations of the children hiding could be that they are upset or de-pressed as they have no food.

I focused on the work of Dorothea Lange and Eugène Atget. Atget particularly focused and docu-mented on architecture and street scenes through out France. The large format camera that Atget used gave off this eerie feel, and made many of his street images of people and architecture appear quite gloomy, yet fascinating.

Page 8: History of Photojournalism

HISTORY OF IMAGE ACQUISITION

965-1040 : Alhazen studies camera obscura

1727 : Johann Heinrich Schulze iscovered that silver nitrate darkened upon exposure to light.

1826 : The �rst perma-nent photograph was an image produced by the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce

1834 : Henry Fox Talbot creates permanent (negative) images using paper soaked in silver chloride and �xed with a salt solution. Talbot created positive images by contact printing onto another sheet of paper.

1837 : Louis Daguerre’s �rst daguerreotype

1900 : Brownie camera is introduced

Page 9: History of Photojournalism

1913/14 : 35mm Camera is developed

1947 : Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, and David Seymour start the photographer-owned Magnum picture agency

1948 : Edwin Land markets the Polaroid camera.

1968 : Image of the Earth from the Moon

1990 : First digital camera - Dycam Model 1

1990 : Adobe Photoshop is introduced2000 : First camera phone released in Japan - J-phone 2002 : digital cameras outsell �lm

cameras2004: Kodak ceases production of �lm camera’s

Page 10: History of Photojournalism

SURREALISM Surrealism is said to have originated in the late 1910s and early 1920s. It experi-mented with a new mode of expression called automatic writing, or automatism. André Breton (1896–1966), sometimes known as the Father of Surrealism was influenced by the psychological theories and dream studies of Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) and the political ideas of Karl Marx (1818–1883). This could be the reason for the 'crazy' and imaginative artwork.

The image by Salvador Dalí depicts Jesus Christ on the cross in a dark-ened sky floating over the sea. It's completed with a boat and fisher-men because its design is based on a drawing by the 16th century Spanish friar 'Saint John of the Cross'. A lot of Dali's work was thought up in his dreams, which allowed him to come up with these bizarre images. "In the first place, in 1950, I had a 'cosmic dream' in which I saw this image in colour and which in my dream represented the 'nucleus of the atom.' This nucleus later took on a meta-physical sense; I consid-ered it 'the very unity of the universe,' the Christ!" In order to create this painting, Dali used a Hollywood stunt-man, hanging from an overhead gantry so he could paint in the desired angle.

The cropped image entitled ‘Tears’ by Man Ray shows us a woman who appears to be crying in distress as she looks up. The photograph is left to our own interpreta-tion as the image has been manipulated and we cannot see any other gestures on the woman’s face. The tears have been put onto the image and apparently the image is an ex-lover of the artist. So this could suggest why he doesn’t want to show her whole face. He wants to present her as upset and feeling remoseful for maybe breaking up with him.

Christ of Saint John of the Cross (1951)

Page 11: History of Photojournalism

This photograph of Beth Ditto to me is an example of modern day surrealism as the image has been manipulated and edited to meet the needs of the fashion industry today. The image has been touched up for a glamour magazine, and photogra-pher Rankin has really provided viewers with that glamour. Beth Ditto’s hair, eyes, skin has all been made to look more ‘beautiful’ as this is what the public and readers of these sort of magazines are look-ing for.

The well-known surrealist piece introduced the image of the soft melting pocket watch. It epitomizes Dalí's theory of "softness" and "hardness", which was central to his thinking at the time. (via wiki). Dawn Ades wrote, "The soft watches are an unconscious symbol of the relativity of space and time, a Surrealist meditation on the collapse of our notions of a fixed cosmic order". Dalí responded by saying the soft watches were not inspired by the theory of rela-tivity, but by the surrealist perception of a 'Camembert cheese' melting in the sun. So the image is left open to our own interpretation and personally when I look at this bizarre image I think about how time is just an object, such as a pocket watch and it can be stretched to our own desire and time is what we make of it.

Page 12: History of Photojournalism

I think personally that propaganda only shows what people want to see or hear. Propaganda is used to ensure that people only got to know what the government wanted their people to know. Hidden messages are always within propaganda. Propaganda designers know you are on your guard. To get around your guard, they don't put one message into a piece of propaganda - they put lots of messages into each piece. In war many pieces of war propaganda they provide the viewer with this bold and brave front, basically saying "everything is going to be okay." For example in the posters above, they are bold and in your face. The three US posters, each are giving the viewer a different message. The poster of the woman flexing her arm in the bottom right is obviously aimed at women. The message is that American women are tough, brave and also strong, and they should not be scared, but prepared. The poster of Hitler with his pants down is more of a humorous poster, suggesting that he will be captured but also looking like an absolute idiot. It could also be to encourage the war effort and production of weapons. The poster showing 'King Kong' is describing the German monster seizing freedom symbolized by a woman and threatens the culture. This is an alternative to Uncle Sam needs you. Uncle Sam in the top left poster is known as the patriotic symbol of America. The poster shows him pointing out at you almost, screaming "I Want You For U.S Army" this is aimed at young people and is to encour-age them to join the military.

PROPAGANDA

Page 13: History of Photojournalism

PROPAGANDA

The poster above is one of the most famous world war one pieces of propa-ganda used in Britain. It depicts Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War. By having this bold figure on the front pointing at ‘you’ it encourages young adults to sign up and fight for their country. This poster is similar to the ‘Uncle Sam’ propaganda in America and they both have a strong message to the viewer when they first see this. The poster was designed by Alfred Leete and appeared on the cover of popular magazine of the time ‘London Opinion’ on 5 September 1914, a month after war was declared on Germany.

This poster advertises war loan vouchers and it depicts a heap of silver coins falling through the hands of someone as they convert into bullets. The artist who created the poster is unknown but it was published by the Parliamentary War Savings Committee

This piece of propaganda is directed at American citi-zens and it is trying to persuade Americans to buy Lib-erty bonds and it saying by buying these bonds, you will ‘stamp’ out the Kaiser and have him removed.

Page 14: History of Photojournalism

In society today, we are seen to have a freedom of speech. Everyone is entitled to publicize and express their opinions on certain topics. Many people express their views of society today through commentary on tv shows, radio, newspaper articles and also in art. An artist who is often in the public eye and press is Banksy. His street art combines graffiti and stenciling to provide a comment about the social and political world.

"Banksy's works have dealt with an array of political and social themes, including anti-war, anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, anti-imperialism, anti-authoritarianism, anarchism, nihilism, and existentialism."

SOCIAL COMMENTARY

-http://www.zimbio.com/Banksy/articles/WLIEbavUzlk/Find+best+Stabilitees+Banksy+Stencil+Grafitti

Page 15: History of Photojournalism

Banksy’s artwork puts into perspective what is important in the world and also allows us to reacess our everyday lives. He wants to get a message across and he does this by causing uproar in the media world. His work has also been questionable to whether it is indeed art, or just graffiti that makes streets look scruffy. In my opinion from the images on this page, it is a mes-sage to us, the people who complain about hating monday mornings or take holidays for granted. The image on the left shows an African child in a ‘I hate Mondays!’ shirt which definitely is a message to the people of this world who moan about things that are not important.

Page 16: History of Photojournalism

We've all been told stories or told them ourselves. Sto-rytelling is the means of sharing an experience with somebody. It can be used to teach something, or simply please the mind of somebody. The storytelling we often know of is the traditional folklore and fairytales which explores the imagination of many people, particularly the younger audience. I would say storytelling is a cru-cial part of your youth and it requires you to imagine the words or pictures you see in more detail, provok-ing endless thoughts and dreams.

A story can also be told from a photograph or a paint-ing. A lot of the time we don't know what is happening in a photograph, so we come up with our own story.

I think this is a powerful photograph as it shows happiness, which can be seen in the boys face. The happiness is contrasted by the rough roads he's run-ning on with his rugged clothes and bare feet. But he is overjoyed to see this jeep full of people that none of that stuff matters to him. Not his clothes, the conditions he's living in or the rough and un-pleasant bounce as he hits the road.

This photograph was taken by Robert F. Sargent, entitled 'Into The Jaws of Death', shows the Normandy Landings. The title of the photograph is powerful in itself and sug-gests that this is the beach that would be the death of these men, there's no positivity about it as they are walking in open water and the metaphor of 'Into The Jaws of Death' is quite literal. The photograph tells us the story that war war is disgusting and frightening. The men have to cross the choppy water, which is probably freez-ing in order for them to be shot at and watch their friends limbs be torn away from their body. Not only do they have to carry their weapons and bags, but also when they disperse from the water, they have to carry the weight of water which drenches their uniform. I think when looking at images like this, we really can say to ourselves that we have it VERY easy. Photographs like this allow these men to never be forgotten about.

ONCE UPON A TIME

Page 17: History of Photojournalism

JOURNEY

The Barque of Dante by Eugène Delacroix, 1822. The painting shows Dante and Virgil venturing through the river styx as they are hassled by tormented souls. The painting suggests that their journey was filled with pain and suffering.

A Journey is an act of travel, but it is not just a trip, it's also a process and discovery that can be physical but also mental. A journey can also be based on religion, for example the middle class hundreds of years ago would go on pilgrimages to cathedrals. These pilgrimages would be nothing like our journey when we go on holiday. These journey's would be filled with danger, such as pirates and bandits. Cultural journey's would take place from Britain to Rome and these travels would be through words in journals and also through art in sketchbooks.

Dante Alighieri, a major Italian poet of the middle ages wrote a poem which described Dante's journey through hell (Inferno), purgatory (purgatorio), and paradise (paradiso).

Inferno consists of Dante being lost in a dark wood where he is ap-proached by three beasts (lion, leopard and wolf) in which he cannot avoid and is unable to find the "straight way" to salvation. Dante be-comes aware that he is falling into a "deep place" and is rescued by Virgil, and the two venture to the Underworld.

After Dante and Virgil both survive the depths of hell and ascend out of the underworld, they travel to the mountain of purgatory on the far side of the world. The mountain consists of seven terraces, corre-sponding to the seven deadly sins. (Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth,Greed, Glutton and Lust). The story tells us Dante's journey through the seven levels of suffering and his spiritual growth on his way until he finally reaches the earthly paradise which is at the top of the mountain. The poem suggests that all sin arises from love.

Paradiso is the final part to Divine Comedy and it tells us about Dante's journey through heaven, in which he is guided by Beatrice.

Page 18: History of Photojournalism

JOURNEY

The etching by Gustave Dore presents us with Dante and Virgil in the dark woods before they begin their journey to the gates of inferno - 1890, Gustave Dore.

Observance of celestial helmsman and arrival of souls on shores of Purgatory - 1868, Gus-tave Dore

The vision of Purgatory and Paradise by Dante Alighieri - 1868, Gustave Dore.

Page 19: History of Photojournalism

What is the name of the work and who is the photographer?

Tom Draper - Retired Tug Master at Foulridge Near Colne by Huw Davies

Describe what you can see?

It shows an elderly man, called Tom Draper, sitting down at a table with papers and documents placed in front of him, which relate to his work, Foulridge Tunnel. I get the idea that he is looking back on his job, feeling nostalgic and all of the other emotions that come with missing something. It's quite an intimate photograph as it ex-poses him to the viewer, as it lets us into his life and look at something he has worked as his whole life. He was the last tug master, and he had operated the service since he was 12 years old, working through World War One.

Do you like the image? Explain your answer.

I like the image a lot, the fact this man has let Huw Davies into the comfort of his home to record and document on his life shows he is proud to share what this man has done for work his whole life. The black and white also adds this eerie feel to the image and exposes his facial wrinkles and expres-sions, which makes it very interesting and also allows us to understand this mans life and story better.

Consider the composition - where are things placed within the image? What effect does this have?

I think the composition of this image is interesting and feel things have been purposely placed in certain places on purpose. The focus is on Tom Draper, but our eyes are also drawn to his personal belongings around his home, even noticing small things such as plug sockets and the dim light bulb in the background which doesn't appear to light up the gloomy looking room. The way docu-ments about Foulridge tunnel have been placed on the table to face Tom add a personal touch to the photo-graph and allows us to experience this personal moment with this man. A job he is proud of doing, and had done his entire life since the age of 12.

What is the point of view - where has the camera been positioned? Close up or far away? What does this imply?

The point of view is of Tom and a section of his home, maybe the living room with the kitchen just behind him. The camera would have been positioned here purposely by Huw Davies, as he would have wanted to capture the life of this man by including more than just his face.

What has been included and what has been left out of the image?

We want to be close to this man, but not too close as we want to see surroundings as well as his face. This allows us to see objects and possessions around his home.

What type of light is present within the image? Is it natural or artificial? What atmosphere/mood does this create?

Natural lighting is present within the image, and it is being provided from windows. Natural lighting gives a personal, yet intimate feel to the image, as well as quite gloomy. The dark shadows conceal and reveal certain sections of the image. There is some artificial light in the background, but it doesn't seem to be making much dif-ference.

What associations does the work have for you? What does it make you think about, how does it make you feel?

The photograph interest me and makes me wonder and think about what job I will have when I am older, and whether or not I will have a passion for it as these people do, such as Tom.

Page 20: History of Photojournalism

THE END

My magazine has come to an end and I hope you enjoyed viewing it. I had fun creating and researching for it. There were certain subjects which I enjoyed more than others but overall I have enjoyed my first assignment for the module ‘History of Photojournalism’. My favourite subject was the Once Upon a time and felt it had the most to talk about, espeically re-

searching into war photography and hearing about the struggles that they had to go through. If I could do anything different next time it would be to under go some primary research for some of the tasks and taking my own photographs, rather than using all secondary resources. My least favourite task was the History of image acquisi-tion timeline, as I felt I rushed some of this and found it quite stressful finding a suitable layout in comparison to my other

pages in my magazine. But in conclusion to this task, I thoroughly enjoyed the lectures I attended and I feel I learnt various bits of new informa-

tion, which I’ve found fascinating.