Concluding Chapter

Image: Shortnose Sturgeon

Image By: Sirjana Lamichhane

Image created: 2017

For my creative experiential exercise, I went to the Springfield Museum. With all the knowledge of photojournalism learned from this course, I felt like taking images is an art that involves many technicalities. The different principles regarding assessment and composition were in my mind. I tried my best to use those artistic principles and make my images as natural as possible. From the 34 images I took, I shortlisted the following 5 images to present to you. I took all the images from my IPhone 6 camera. I first went to the science museum where I took the images of the Shortnose Sturgeon and bullfrog family. Then I got a chance to look at many beautiful portraits from the 17th to 19th century in the art museum. I also took images of their description about my subject placed beside each portrait. The images of these portraits as shown below are similar to the exact portrait. I used the lights and focus to take those images. I tried my best to limit my self-interest as well as my bias as far as possible. Seeing those mesmerizing portraits in real life was an amazing experience. I wonder if there are such artistic portraits made these days. I do not know if it was legal to take photographs of those portraits, but as a photojournalist I took a risk to present these portraits. These images can symbolize the richness of talent in the artists of that era. 

Image: Bullfrog in the diorama

Image by: Sirjana Lamichhane

Image created: 2017

Image: Miss Fanny Peabody

Portrait By: George Healy

Created: 1881

Image by: Sirjana Lamichhane 

Image: Portrait of Venice

Portrait by: Bernardo Bellotto

Created: 1740

Image by: Sirjana Lamichhane

Image: Portrait of Madame de Servan

Portrait by: Unknown Artist

Created: 19th century

Image by: Sirjana Lamichhane

After this course, I have learned about different aspects of photojournalism, besides just taking photographs to illustrate stories. I learned about the ethics, bias and motivation involved in this process, along with its rich history. With all these aspects in my mind, I would like to revise my definition. Photojournalism is an art of taking true and real images without involving self-interest, and following all the guidelines by NPPA to illustrate true stories regarding any incident and injustice. Furthermore, it is to grab the attention of people to the matter shown in the images, so that the public is aware of any issues and can work to resolve them. It is very important to know about the situation behind the scene in photojournalism; this emphasizes the knowledge of the History of Photojournalism. The different hardships and problems tackled by the photojournalist can stand as a lesson for the new and upcoming men and women who choose a career in photojournalism. The future photojournalists should also be aware of ethics and the consequences of violating the code of conduct. 

I found it tough to determine any one “Ah-ha” moment during this course, but I did choose one. I admire the idea of Jonathan Klein of Getty Images when he says, “We bring to each image our own values, our own belief systems, and as a result of that, the image resonates with us”. Photojournalists carry a huge responsibility to the public, of showing the people situations and events from all over the world, as seen through their own eyes. I think images have a much greater power, which is able to evoke emotion in people and cause them to act. Although they cannot be the sole reason for bringing any change, they play a vital role in intensifying the situation. I believe every photojournalist uses the various techniques in creating meaningful images, not just for themselves, but also for the individuals who view them. 

While thinking about an image that had a powerful impact on me, the only picture was the image taken byLynsey Addario, where she presented Sudanese rebels passing by the dead bodiesof Sudanese soldiers. This image shows so many things that affected me emotionally. The stones scattered around the bodies made me wonder if the cause of the soldiers’ deaths was by throwing stones at them. The rebels walking past the dead bodies shows the loss of humanity from people in war zone, since they appear to show no compassion for the loss of life. Besides all this, the expanse of the desert illustrates the harsh conditions of people living in war zones.

Image by: LynseyAddario

Image created: 2016

I gained a lot of knowledge about the history of photojournalism and the role of historians, which I used during my creative experiential exercise. I used the techniques for assessing images when I took my photos. I tried to use the rule of third and depth of field to take the images of the Shortnose Sturgeon and the bullfrog family, in order to clearly show the environment in which they live. Similarly, I understand the role ethics and bias plays in the photojournalism profession. As a result, I did not use any of the effects available in modern technology to alter the images in any aspect and presented them to you as they appeared in my camera. I have not inserted my own ideas or concepts about anything in these photographs.

Louis Scarfo presented information that the warphotographer Tim Hetherington spent more time with the subject, rather thanjust 1-2 hours, to get a clearer picture of their lives. However, spending toomuch time with a subject can create sympathy or other emotions towards them,which may result in bias. I also got to know about pink belly where each member in a platoon strikes in stomach until it bruise. It is shown in the image below.

Image by : Tim Hetherington

Kelly Reilly pointed out that although photojournalismwas a man’s job during mid 20th century, Ruth Orkin found her success.She worked for publication like New York Times, co-directed an Oscar nominatedfilm and showed the Metropolitan Museum of Art to people. I also got to know that the honesty in her image lead to images like "American Girl in Italy" as shown below.

Image by : Ruth Orkin

Andrew Iovanna showed in his video how David Guttenfelder used Instagram to post pictures illustrating the everyday life of people living in North Korea, without censorship. He shows us how the photojournalist tried to piece together a picture of this country, which remains unknown to most of the world. I also liked the idea how black and white brought a life to this image. This image is so intense that it could evoke emotion in any human being.

Image by : David Guttenfelder

Technology-Back to Future

I am from a small village in Nepal. In my childhood, I did not get to know much about photographic technology. We had a portrait of our grandfather in our house.  The first camera I got to take a photo with was a color film camera by Kodak. It was an amazing experience at that time. A few years later, our school called a photographer to take a group photo of our class. This was the first time I had heard about a digital camera. During my high school days, I learned about mobile phones with cameras. I still remember the day when Steve Jobs launched the IPhone.

I agree with the point made in the video – the revolvingreporter that was like a super hero. He came with so many super powers, like acamera in his right eye, the phonograph speaker and the typewriter. Thereporter was dominating the city with all these abilities. Just like then, modern day technology like social networking are dominating our modern cities. In my opinion, the only change is that instead of being a big monstrous structure, technology comes in the size of a mobile phone. Unlike those days, it is more efficient and technology is constantly improving.   

I expect that in 2026, the photojournalistic technology will have advanced even more. One of the most certain elements is a more powerful camera in the Iphone. I believe the time when people have to carry heavy photographic equipment will be long gone. I expect the control of media by various corporations to end. As mentioned by Luke Allen in his blog, drones can be used to provide information, which certain corporations or governments want to hide. Additionally, I expect an advancement of drone technology to cover war zones. This could save the lives of many photojournalists who put their life at risk to bring these events to the public.

A Photojournalistic Profile-Lynsey Addario

Here is my powerpoint link about photojournalistic profile of Lynsey Addario.

Lynsey addario profile 1 12-17 from Zeena Kafle

Planning My Photojournalist Profile

I am going to profile to portray the life of Lynsey Addario. I am planning to create my photojournalistic profile using a PowerPoint presentation. In this presentation, I will start with the image of the photojournalist. I will provide thorough, specific and cited answers to each of the questions in one slide followed by an image taken by the photojournalist. The order of the slides will be same as the question presented in the course module.  For the assessment of the photographic style, I will present the image in one slide followed by its assessment in the next slide.

I will try my best to use the effective historical research skills found in the syllabus. At the end of the slide, I will present the link of all the sources used to gather data and information. I will also try my best to relate to some specific incidents or use quotations. After completion of the profile, I will embed the PowerPoint presentation on a post in my blog

What motivates a Photojournalist

Image: Lynsey Addario

Image by: John Moore/Getty Image

Lynsey Addario is a famous war photographer. She explains her motivation to be an “unstated missionto stir the emotions of people like herself”. When I read about all the hardships photojournalists have to go across and leave their comfort zone, a simple question arises in my mind. Why do they do this? Then I read stories from Lynsey Addario and Felix Masi to get my answers. As explained by Masi in thevideo, his main motivation was to convey and portray the story of people livingin poverty. The main motivation of a photojournalist is to present these problems going on around the world. These images will portray the real problem and urge people to find solutions.

Image: Children in a village of Mayan, Kenya

Image by: Lynsey Addario

Image: Ansel Adam

Image by: Unknown 

Ansel Adam is a famous photojournalist known for his love towards Environment and Wilderness. He describes his experience with the environment as “a mystique: avalid, intangible, non-materialistic experience.” This experience is the motivation for him. Through the work of art or photojournalism, he is appealing to all human beings to understand the earth’s beauty and conserve it. Humans have a natural tendency for developing a feeling of satisfaction or happiness when getting in touch with something that is admired. This feeling is similar to the feeling Professor Nordell might have got while taking the photograph of the rap group, Run-D.M.C.

Image: Grassy Valley

Image by: Ansel Adam

Image: Stephanie Sinclair

Image by: Unknown

According to Stephanie Sinclair“The worst day is not when my safety is at risk; it’s when I can’t get thepictures I want. You have a chance to get voices heard, so every day counts”. Her motivation is to let the voice of the suppressed and abused women to be heard by the world. As shown in the video by Lewis Hine, he tries to portray the cruelty of child labor resulting in many child labor reforms. Stephanie is also a progressive reformer like Lewis Hane working on ending the child marriage customs from different parts of the world.

 Image: Too Young To Wed

 Image by:Stephanie Sinclair

Image:Motivation map

Image by:Sirjana Lamichhane

Every person has a different perception and they view things in their own way. Just as with these photojournalists, I have my own motivation. I compared the reasons I did things as outlined in my motivational map along with those of these three photojournalists. The fact is that a photojournalist can be the eyes of society and let people know about the injustice and problems going on around the world. Just like Addario, I feel images should be able to stir emotion in people and grab their attention towards these conflict zones. I also feel like Ansel Adam does on making people concerned about environmental issues through works of art. Similarly, my motivation is also parallel to Stephanie Sinclair, who is working to abolish child marriages.

Responding to M11- Photojournalism and Bias

After seeing all the images I feel like photojournalist uses images to appeal the emotion, attachment and love of people. In the same way, due to some self-centered motives, they can use this images to deceive the views and create a false impression on people.

The image of President Elect Donald Trump as presented by Andrew Iovanna creates a false impression on people. The facial expression is overexposed. I agree with his idea that even after few seconds’ delay would depict a different emotion. I can point out the biasness of photojournalist in the image using logic.

Similarly, the image shown by Ashley Alvarado about Iranian missile launch do not depict truth. It is a well-known fact about the failure of the fourth missile launch. But Iranian official photoshopped the image to hide their unsuccessfulness. I agree with his idea that few photojournalists also photoshopped their images to garner more attention to their stories. 

The image presented by Sam Scarfo about 9/11 attack strikes both emotional and intellectual aspect. This image simply reminds the devastation caused on that day. Whereas, the amount of smoke shows the destruction of property burnt down by those attacks.

Photojournalism and Bias

Image: Going Home

Image by: Ed Clark

Image created: April 13, 1945

This image shows Jackson as its main subject, a man who is a personal friend of Roosevelt and a celebrated musician.  Looking simply at this image, it illustrates the devastation and horror caused by the sudden death of the president. However, every story has another side. Just as seen in Professor Nordell’s video, in which he tried to make the republicans look silly. In the image by Clark, the scenario is a little different. The photojournalist tried to convey only one part of the story by revealing the suffering of the people who liked President Roosevelt. It does not convey the emotions of the president’s naysayers, who disagreed with some of his policies. For me, I believe President Roosevelt was an iconic president and the nation lost a huge asset with his death: this image illustrates that tragedy.

Subject’s Expression: The expression of the subjects clearly illustrates the pain and tragedy the people are feeling. The expression on Jackson’s face as he plays the accordion also suggests that he must be devastated and is singing a sad song to mourn his loss.

Rule of third: The photojournalist made a clear use of rule of third by placing the main subject off-center. He clearly used the remaining space to gather some sympathy toward the sudden loss by showing several people mourning Roosevelt’s death. This has also helped the image to be pleasant to our eyes.

Background compliment’s or distracts from composition: The background is completely suitable for the subjects. The sad faces compliment the face of the subjects. It also helped to create an environment of sorrow for the reader to experience.

Image: Earthquake damage in Bhaktapur, Nepal

Image by: Daniel Berehulak, NYT

Image created: April 29, 2015

I have a personal connection with this image and the tragedy it shows. Since I was born in Nepal and lived there for so many years, it always been close to my heart. As explained by ShahidulAlam, photojournalists can be an activist in the video. This photojournalist has done a great job by clearly illustrating the impact of the earthquake. I believe this image represents the truth because an earthquake of 7.8 magnitude can cause such devastation. From my memory, most of the buildings destroyed seem to be in the older section of the city, and therefore have outdated standards. Similarly, as mentioned in the blog by Patrick Kiger, images like this can generate a huge sympathy as by the image - Stonewall Uprising. In this case, many countries put forward their hand of support to help Nepal recover from the earthquake.

Depth of field: The photojournalist has made a great use of field and tried to capture as much area of devastation as possible from a high viewpoint. The depth of field clearly illustrates how much damage was caused. This also shows some people and armies working on to rescue victims of the earthquake.

What feelings does the image create: This image creates a feeling of sympathy to help the people who suffered this tragedy. The image is about the destruction caused by the massive earthquake and how a few rescue team are working on finding survivors. It makes us feel that rescue of the victims has not yet been done fully and urges us to help.

Abstraction: This image symbolizes the destruction that nature can cause at its deadliest. It also represents that human beings and the constructions we build are quite tiny in front of nature. It also indicates a sense of humanity through the rescue team working on the field.

Image: Antelopes and bridge inTibet

Image by: Liu Weiqiang

Image created: 2006

This image shows Tibetian Antelopes passing under a bridge. The purpose of this image is to garner some sympathy towards the Tibetian Antelopes by placing them with the newly inaugurated train service. These species are very rare and are distracted by very small sounds as well. They like to live in their natural habitats and do not like the presence of human beings. The train passing by must have caused an enormous sound, yet the animals seem to be moving in a normal patter, not in a frightened one. I believe this image must have been forged by using two different images. As explained in the article about yellow photojournalism in the course module, “This genre wasappealing and distinctive in its typography, in its lavish use ofillustrations, in its aggressive newsgathering technique”. By use of the eye-catching power of this image the photojournalist won some awards as well. However, Commodified images like this threatens photographers’ primary role as storytellers. When the true story about this image came out the photojournalist had to resign from his job .

Contrast Inappropriate: There are lots of bright and dark spaces in the image. This causes an unpleasant effect to our eyes. There is a huge difference in terms of light in the dark and light space.

Depth of the field: The use of the depth adds the main essence of this image. The photojournalist used the entire depth by showing the whole train as well as the herd of Antelopes. The depth was also used to present the entire barren space present.

Use of Light: The use of light seems to be exaggerated in this image in order to make it eye catching. It feels like some sort of editing technology has been used by the photojournalists. The difference between the cloudy part and remaining part seems unrealistic.