Vital Stillness Photojournalism Seizes a Vital Moment of Reality Maria Kareen V. Estonido

Photojournalism can be said as something that is specialized photography. This is said when

people became accustomed to photography that from then onwards, people would bring their camera, go

to places where events are taking place and capture that moment. Photojournalism would start in those

events and moments that the photographers captured.

There are different ways to describe photojournalism. This is because there are several types of

them depending on the event one is covering. One photojournalist named Lewis Hine could describe the

photojournalism he is practicing as something that shows child labor abuse. This is because in several of

his photographs Hine showed young children working in different kinds of works. Photojournalism to

him can also be something that shows people in action for instance the Men at Work collection. But for

another photojournalist, Willie Vicoy, photojournalism could be something that captures war in action,

which is considered the earliest form of photojournalism. He was good in capturing the terror and

brutality of war. For another photojournalist, travel photojournalism could also be the focus, just like

Cheryl Diaz Meyer who has captured so many events during his travel while being with the US soldiers.

Her kind of photography could be described as something that shows the reality of the world in many

places no matter how ugly it is.

I would describe photojournalism as a way of capturing images that are important for the public.

It is a substantial part of a news story for it gives the public a glimpse of the whole story. It also entails a

certain level of danger. The images that are taken have its purpose, primarily to capture a moment that

may instantly change but by capturing it there are several factors that would get in one’s way. In war

photography factors such as exploding bombs, guns fired, etc., make it difficult for photojournalist to

document the event.

Photojournalism also shows through its image the whole story. It does not require someone to

take a photo and write a very long story describing everything that has happened; the photo itself speaks

the story. For instance when a basketball team loses a game, a picture of the player the team is most

reliant missing the winning shot can describe the event. Situations may vary but there are several ways a

photojournalist can capture an event and tell the viewers the story behind it.

I can also say that studying photojournalism can be very difficult in a natural level but practicing

it would be so much more. I can imagine the photojournalists who have covered an event that only

happened in a split of time, how did they decide when to press the shutter release button? How did they

handle the chaos happening around them? How did they decide to compose in a short period of time?

These questions were answered by those photojournalists through the photos they have taken and it is not

an easy task but what gives them satisfaction is that they have provided vital information to the public

they are serving.