Concluding Chapter

To this day, I still believe photojournalism to be a type of journalism that tells a story through a photograph. Photojournalism, as it should tell a story, it should also make the viewer of the image think about the photo and analyze it. For example, if the subject of the photo is of a woman crying, it should make people wonder why she is crying. To make this photograph of a woman crying, the photographer might adjust his or her camera to make the photograph more dramatic. For example, the photographer might use the technique of shallow depth of field or make the photograph out of focus.

Learning about the history of photojournalism makes me now have a deeper understanding of photography and photojournalism. Now when I look at a photograph in a magazine, I take my time to actually look at it, to look at what the photograph consists of and what techniques the photojournalist might have used. I search for the photographic styles the photographer might have used such as Rule of Thirds or Quality of Light. Learning more about the history of photojournalism made me realize how much of a passion for photography I have.

In my opinion, I think photographs do change the world, whether it be change for the good or change for the bad. This is where ethics and bias comes into play. In the beginning of this course, I didn’t even put the thought of ethics or bias in the mix. If a photo is published and causes ethical issues with either the subject of the image or just the viewers of the image, it can change the world for the bad. Photographs can also change the world by highlighting a tragic event, for example, the incident at the Boston Marathon or what happened at Sandy Hook. These events changed the world is the way that makes people scared for their lives and images taken from these tragedies saddened the world even more.

To this day, the image taken at Sandy Hook of the terrified children walking outside after the shooting affects me in ways I can not explain. Each time I see it, I get a pit in my stomach. Another image that really impacted me was the image of a girl shot down in Haiti and photojournalist crowding around her body taking photos, not even thinking about the ethics of respecting her and everyone involved. One last image that impacted me during this course was another image from Sandy Hook of a family member crying uncontrollably. I couldn't imagine the feeling of not knowing if one of your family members is safe in a situation like this, especially a young child.

Image By: Shannon Hicks 

  Image Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sandy-hook-american-kid-has-died-gun-every-other-day-n478746

Image By: Nathan Weber 

Image Source: http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2011/04/07/is-this-photo-ethical/

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

I learned a lot from my classmates when reading and viewing all of their Photojournalist Profiles. By watching Linnea Herbertsson's video, I felt like I was part of a history lesson of photojournalist Paul Hansen. All of the visuals she provided helped me better understand who Hansen was as a photojournalist. I also enjoyed how Courtney Patridge structured her Photojournalist Profile, She made it easy to read and made the transitions of each topic easier to understand, Lastly, I appreciated how Jessica Callahan made a video of herself explaining who Eddie Adams was. I felt like I was in an actual classroom. Again, I feel like I learned a lot more by watching her video rather than just reading about who Adams was.

Creative Experiential Exercise:

As I've mentioned in the past, I have a strong passion for photography and learning about the History of Photojournalism throughout the length of this course has taught me to broaden my horizons and take more chances when experimenting with photojournalism. I've learned more skills than I knew in the past that will help me become a better photographer in the future. Below are some photos I took while experimenting with photojournalism.