Chapter 8-Photojournalism and Bias.

What is bias? According to the Free Dictionary, bias is a preference or an inclination, especially one that inhibits impartial judgment."

Photo by: Ed Clark 

Image Source: http://www.thegreatleapsideways.com/?p=209

In this photograph, I see a navy shipman playing the according which appears to be at the White House. This photograph was taking at the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s funeral. This image captures a lot of emotion. I see people in the background and the shipman clearly upset over the loss of Roosevelt. This image is a clear example of truth in photojournalism. As Professor Nordell stated, photojournalists' goal is "opening doors opening minds for photographs and ideas of viewpoint of photographers from developing nations while at the same time opening the minds of others from other nations."

Subject's expression: From the second of looking at this image, you can tell that the subject is very distraught and very emotional about what is going on at that very moment the photograph was taken. 

Rule of Thirds: For this image, Clark followed the Rule of Thirds by positioning himself so the main subject is not in the center of the photograph but off to the side. This image is a great example of what Rule of Thirds is.

In Focus: The main subject of the image is completely in focus. The sharpness of the image really brings out the subject and makes him stand out. The background is out of focus just enough to compliment the image.

Image A:Truth

Image by: Daily Mail

Image Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2293364/Revealed-How-Sandy-Hook-shooter-Adam-Lanza-passed-classroom-children--empty.html 

This image is an example in truth photojournalism because this photograph was not at all posed. This image was taken by a photojournalist on the day of the tragedy that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School. This image shows the emotion of a girl waiting to hear whether or not her sister is okay. I have a feeling that maybe this girl did not want to be photographed at this moment. I agree with Professor Nordell when he says "I wouldn't want to photograph somebody in a way where I wouldn't want to be photographed".  I myself would not want to be photographed in any way that somebody else wouldn't want to be photographed. As a photojournalist, that;s the exact question you have to ask yourself. Photojournalist Shahidul Alam states we "live in a very unequal world. While that is the case we need to be very conscious about where we position ourselves." This again brings us to the point that as a photojournalist or a photographer, you need to be very conscious about what you are about to photograph and ask yourself, is this ethical. 

Subject's Expression: Again, the subject of this photo is clearly distraught and doesn't know what to do with herself at that moment in time. It also appears that it is hard for her to breathe because she is holding her chest as she is trying to talk on the phone. 

Depth of Field: The photojournalist that captured this image used shallow depth of field with the subject in focus and the background out of focus. This technique was a good one to use to make the subject stand out more and to bring out more emotion. 

Keep it Simple: There are no distractions in the image to steer the viewer away from the subject. The background is simple with only vehicles and it helps that the vehicles are blurred. 

Image B: Not Truth

Image by: Chicago Tribune 

Image Source: http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/assignment-chicago/2012/07/hipstamatic-photojournalism.html

This image is an example of untruthful photojournalism because it seems like the photographer asked the subject to look to the side and not directly at the camera. The subject also looks like he was positioned to stand off to the side. Professor Nordell made a good point in Photojournalism Pt. 2 in saying that it depends on your viewpoint and your bias in understanding whether or not an image is staged or it is the truth. According to the article The Rules of Photojournalism Are Keeping Us From the Truth, "A technically proficient image may trick the viewer into thinking he or she is seeing something of substance, of what is commonly referred to as truthful."

Rule of Thirds: The main subject of the image is positioned to the side and not directly in the center of the camera. 

In or Out of Focus: The image is not quite in focus and a little out of focus, The main subject also could be in a little more focus. Using the technique of shallow depth of field could have possibly made this image better. 

Keep it Simple: There are absolutely no distractions to steer away from the subject. The image is very simple with only what looks to be pillars in the background.