They say a picture tells a thousand words,
although my history teacher seemed to disagree with this when I handed him a
hundred words and a picture of Hitler for our 1,100 word essay on World War II
(Sorry, Mr. Grieger!).
However, in a figurative sense, it is true in that pictures are quickly becoming a journalists most valuable resource. This
generation’s viewers, due to the enhancement of media technology, are becoming
very visually dependant. I can honestly say (though I doubt many other girls
would admit it) I’ve never bought Vogue for
the actual articles.
However, the basis for photojournalism has been
around a lot longer than modern media like cameras and television. The
history of picture stories date back to the times of cave drawings, such as the
ones found in Lascraux, France from 15,000- 10,000 BC, as well as the Book of Kells from Ireland in 800 AD.
Picture stories can also take the form biblical scenes and illuminated letters.
The Earliest newspaper photojournalism
however, is from 1860’s, illustrated with line drawings. From this,
photojournalism progressed further to digital capture and upload, moving
pictures and even to Photoshop, which creates ‘faux-tography’: an edited
reality. The best photos though, adhere to a simple set of photography
guidelines such as ‘the rule of thirds’, which creates strong positioning of
pictures, as well as framing, focus, angle and point of view and capturing ‘the
moment’. Some of the best photos were simply taken at the perfect moment, un-replicable.
These are the best kinds of photos an can dictate the entire angle of a story.
Like they say, sometimes you’ve just got to
be in the right place at the right time.
Photo Source: http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/well-readhead/
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