PhotojournalismWedding Photojournalism

What is Photojournalism?

A journalist tells stories. A Photographer takes pic-tures. Combined together you have a photographer who uses pictures to a story. Photojournalism is a form (art form) of creating images that tell/com-municate a specific story. It means that the work has to be both honest and truthful.Different divisions within Photojournalism:- Sports Photojournalism- War Photojournalism- Glamour Photojournalism- Spot News Photojournalism- Travel Photojournalism- Wildlife Photojournalism- Wedding Photojournalism

10 Ethics a Photojournalist should follow:-Be accurate and comprehensive in the representa-tion of subjects-Resist being manipulated by staged photo oppor-tunities-Be complete and provide context when photo-graphing or recording subjects-Avoid stereotyping individuals and groups-Recognize and work to avoid presenting one’s own biases in the work-Treat all subjects with respect and dignity-Editing should maintain the integrity of the pho-tographic images’ content and context-Do not manipulate images or add or alter sound in any way that can mislead viewers or misrepre-

sent subjects-Do not pay sources or subjects or reward them materially for information or participation-Do not intentionally sabotage the efforts of other journalists.

History of photojournalism:The very first printed journalistic photos had to be interpreted from engravings. This practice started in 1853 with the first know photojournalist: Carol Szathmari, a Romanian painter and photographer, who documented the Crimean War. This engrav-ing technique was used in the American Civil War as well to print the photographs of Mathew Brady in the publication Harper’s Weekly.

The early 35mm cameras were the first that were small enough and light enough to easily carry into most environments. This new photographic freedom combined with less laborious printing methods rocketed photojournalism into a power-ful and common way to convey newsworthy events around the world.The Great Depression spurred a number of pho-tographers to leave the studio and start document-ing the lives of real people who had fallen on hard times. In a way, these images contained little real “news”. However, they certainly documented the lives that were touched by poverty and provided accurate accounts of real people’s lives.

Practioners of photojournalism:The very first printed journalistic photos had to be interpreted from engravings. This practice started in 1853 with the first know photojournalist: Carol Szathmari, a Romanian painter and photographer, who documented the Crimean War. This engrav-ing technique was used in the American Civil War as well to print the photographs of Mathew Brady in the publication Harper’s Weekly.

The early 35mm cameras were the first that were small enough and light enough to easily carry into most environments. This new photographic freedom combined with less laborious printing methods rocketed photojournalism into a power-ful and common way to convey newsworthy events around the world.The Great Depression spurred a number of pho-tographers to leave the studio and start document-ing the lives of real people who had fallen on hard times. In a way, these images contained little real “news”. However, they certainly documented the lives that were touched by poverty and provided accurate accounts of real people’s lives.

Practioners of Photojournalism

Henri Cartlier-BressonHenri Cartlier Bresson born 1908-2004 was a French Photographer and was/still is considered to be the Father of Modern Photojournalism, and early adopter of the 35mm and a master on can-did photography. He helped develop the “street photography” or “real-life reportage” style that has influenced generations of photographers that followed. Henri Cartlier Bresson waited for key moments in time to capture a photo.

Gordon ParksGordon Parks was the first African American recognized as an important photojournalist and was a staff contributor to Life magazine. He doc-umented major leaders of the Civil Rights move-ment such as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Interestingly, he began his career as a fashion photographer.

Bill BrandtBill Brandt was born 1904-1983. He was a British photographer/photojournalist whose high-resoltu-ion images ranged from documentation on British society, to portraits, landscaoes and nudes. He grew up most of his youth in World War I, as you may be able to tell from some of his photographs. Bill Brandt captures moments in time which is key, meaning that waiting is essential.

Wedding Photojournalism

Wedding photojournalism the same as photojour-nalism, applying the same rules/ethics to a wed-ding. Telling a story and documenting the day and tose special/natural moments.Joe BuissinkJoe’s photography is about capturing the moments, and the essence of the person in those moments. His work redefines wedding photography, and has been described as Fine Art by his most notable ce-lebrity clients. Joe has become a world-renowned teacher in the photographic field. His teachings have taken him on an international platform from Japan and Australia to England, Scotland and Ire-land as well as in the United States.

Vincent OpokuVincent is a creative, contemporary, wedding sto-ry-teller based in South London. He love stories. He believes they have the power to transform lives and preserve beautiful moments that are not to be forgotten. Every person has a unique story; but when two individuals in love decide to get mar-ried, a very special story unfolds. A story of prom-ise, unity, trust, passion, hope, joy, tears, laughter, and commitment. Being a wedding photographer allows him to witness such amazing stories and gives me the honour of documenting them.

Ryan BrenizerRyan Brenizer has never felt so blessed by pho-tography as when he is photographing a wedding. At weddings, we are most visibly ourselves -- the walls we walk around with come tumbling down under the forces of joy, anxiety (and sometimes a bit of alcohol). To document that experience, the relationship of friends, families, and a couple launching a new stage in their life, is an incredible feeling.

Questions

These are the questions I asked and sent to some practioners:

What do you believe photojournalism is?Why do you think it’s important?When it comes to wedding photography what makes the photos unique/stand out?Why is wedding photography important?How do you make sure you complete the task of a wedding photographer?Why is wedding photography important to you?Would you call yourself a photojournalist? why?How long have you been partaking this for?How would you define your style?How do you make sure you get the best pictures you can?What makes weddings special for you?

“Wedding Photos are unique/stand out because the contain moments that often evoke an emotion-al response/attachment.. For example, capturing the joyful tears of a mother as her daughter walks down the aisle.”

“I believe that wedding photography is so impor-tant and yet often undervalued by a lot of couples getting married. My reason is that, you can spend ten’s of thousands on a wedding venue, spend a lot on the bride’s dress as well as a lot of money on the catering of your guest, however, you only have the venue for one day, you are unlikely to wear that dress again and the food you provided for you guest will be digested and out of their system in a matter of hours…the only thing that will last, the only memories that you will have to share with your family, friends and future kids are the photo-graphs from your wedding.”

“My job is to be unobtrusive at the wedding and document in silence. That said… I also wear the hat of director, psychologist, coordinator, and fireman. All these roles makes me the wedding photographer I am today.”

“Documenting history, people in moments, events, is vital for posterity and preserves our history.”

“Weddings are amazing! They are chaotic, fun, emotional, get to eat some amazing food and meet some interesting people. Most importantly wed-dings are very pivotal days in the lives of two peo-ple in love, declaring to spend their lives together, to be there to see it all unfold before my eyes is simply mind-blowing.”

“I am 90% PJ. I also create and prompt moments. Whatever it takes to give my clients what they deserve of their special day. Then there are the formals… 15 minutes worth.”

Quotes

“If it makes you laugh, if it makes you cry, if it rips out your heart, that’s a good picture” - Eddie Adams

“Photographers deal in things which are continu-ally vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.” - Henri Cartlier Bresson

“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything” - Aaron Siskind

“Memory is very important, the memory of each photo taken, flowing at the same speed as the event. During the work, you have to be sure that you haven’t left any holes, that you’ve captured everything, because afterwards it will be too late.” - Henri Cartlier Bresson

“A great photograph stops a moment from running away.” - Anonymous

Artefact

When it came to thinking about my artefact and thinking about what I actually would create to show my findings and what I have learnt. I thought about the things I could possibly create such as:

-Magazine/book-Video of different images-Behind the scenes documentary-Posters-Manifesto

I liked the idea of having a video of different imag-es telling the story, and also a book, as a story book telling a story as you flick along of the day.

I drafted up how I wanted to story book and video to look like:

The layout wasn’t really good and it got a bit con-fusing because of all the lines so it may have been a bit hard to follow, also the lines were a bit uncom-fortable for those viewing it. Another thing was that you I wasnt showing/telling exactly what I had learnt through the project. It didn’t say anything about photojournalism/wedding photojournalism so I had to put in some context about what I learnt, and how /i may have applied it to my own work.

ConclusionTo conclude I believe that this project has made me think of not just photojournalism but pho-tography in a new light. I knew that with pictures you should always aim to tell a stroy to the view-er, but I didn’t really think about it beyond the surface. I think the most influential thing I came across in my findings was the interview with Henri

Cartlier-Bresson because he had a lot of interest-ing things to say. Eventhough he is called a ‘pho-tographer’ and the father of Journalism he didnt seem to think so. He said that a camera is just a tool in which he used to create art, and how there was no different between a camera and a paint brush or pencil. He also said that a photojournal-ist should be responsive instead of wanting things to happen, that way they capture the true sincere-ity of a picture.

I think some of the downfalls in my research is that I stuck to wedding photography quite a lot and I don’t think I did enough on photojournal-ism, because wedding photography is quite lim-ited to what exactly I could find out so it is quite repeatitive and everything is a long the same lines. Another thing I didnt research into was the commentators and what they say about the practice, and what they say aout the past and the future which I think could of made the research and the artefact a bit more interesting.

Overall I believe that the project was good be-cause before I didn’t really want to go into photo-journalism even though I do weddings from time to time photojournalism never really interested me, until I started researching it more and it began to get interesting because I saw it from a different side and point of view.