Book Introduction Blog Post

Understanding history is one of the utmost important aspects of society, no matter what topic the history is pertaining. Much of this understanding is in order to keep history from repeating itself, for the good of society. This is very true when it comes to the subject of photojournalism, as well. Joanna Hayes, author of “Why Study History?” video, stated that “understanding the past is the key to understanding the present”. The idea is to build upon not detract from informing the public.

Photojournalism, as Professor Nordell explains extremely well in his, “What is photojournalism?” video, is more easily defined “if you divide the word, photojournalism, into two words; photo and journalism." Photographers use pictures, to tell news stories of events that cannot truly be put to or grasped with words. Often times, photojournalism is used in order to portray negative annotations, such as war, though this not always the case. 

War and other such topics tend to be hard to explain in-depth with words alone. In an effort to give stories more meaning, photographers attempt to capture images that will generate some sort of public upheaval. For example, Zoriah, a war time photojournalist, explains that “everyone wants to get an image that will stop a war”. As much as this notion is true, it is rarely executed. This is partially due to the fact that an image an story cannot completely persuade parties one way or another. This is an important notion to take in to account when studying the history of photojournalism. Those who study this topic can try and improve methods of action, based on history, to persuade the readers in a greater manner. 

Photojournalism is a long practiced art, and is actually extremely helpful for many young individuals in today’s society. This is due to the fact that, millennials in particular, have very short attention spans and rarely read news articles now a days. Though, photojournalism can grasp readers with a photo that gives off “aw” and actually peak the reader’s interest, both old and young alike. However, the images presented from photographers must be powerful and direct in order for them to truly be effective and gain a reader’s attention. 

Photo by: Fabio Bucciarelli

Image source: https://nppa.org/news/photojournalists-war-special-panel-discussion-rome

Photo by: Saibal Das
Image source: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/16/china-cleared-by-taliban-to-mine-for-copper-in-afghanistan.html