Photojournalism....

[PointandShoot12608]

Ok, so I am very new to this. I am currently taking photography classes and we got an assignment of photojournalism. I have a few ideas but would like to get some input from other photographers.

Should I go with life as a father/policeman or fire fighter, or more of a tear jerker story?

Like I said I'm very new and appreciate all the input I can get.

 

[Derrel]

A more complete question might help get some responses. As it is phrased, the question you ask is very difficult to answer. You're asking for answers to a question that's poorly phrased, and which leaves almost everything to the imagination.

 

[sashbar]

I do not know about other states but fire fighters in California are a real feast for a photographer. Anything from cars to uniform is very photogenic.

 

[Designer]

.. or more of a tear jerker story?

Yes.

If you can elicit emotion in your teacher, it will be a winner.

 

[PointandShoot12608]

That's what he told us. I am just trying to get ideas since I have never done photojournalism before. This is all a class assignment. I am near Austin and am not sure what to do. Thanks for your input, I appreciate it.

 

[Designer]

First you find the story, then you take one or more photographs in an attempt to "tell the story".

Finding a story might be the easy part.

 

[Gary A.]

If 'reported' in the right light ... most anything can be considered photojournalism. How you shoot (treat) the subject matter is more important than what the subject matter may be. Photojournalism photographs are designed to report ... to tell a story.

Does the teacher want a photo story, (more than one photo illustrating a story), or a single photo illustrating a story?

An image of a single flower or a formal portrait of a person, generally wouldn't be considered photojournalism. But if you shot the flower as a story ... "The first bloom of Spring ..." or "Flowers of the Rose Parade ..." would be considered photojournalism. But ... your submission for your assignment will not have the advantage of text to explain the image. So you photo must also tell a story without text. S0 the second example of the formal portrait needs to show more than just the head and shoulders ... you need to shoot an environmental portrait which includes enough elements/info in the photo to let the viewer construct a story about the person.

Read a few newspapers (online is cheap) ... then emulate.

Photojournalism:

1) Hard News (police scanner stuff / fires / political / current events / et al;
2) Sports news;
3) Business/Finance news;
4) Entertainment/Arts news; and
5) Feature/Human Interest (Features can be anything of interest which isn't necessarily time-critical. In other words a story which can run, today ... or tomorrow ... or in a month.)

"1. Timing
The word news means exactly that - things which are new. Topics which are current are good news. Consumers are used to receiving the latest updates, and there is so much news about that old news is quickly discarded.

A story with only average interest needs to be told quickly if it is to be told at all. If it happened today, it's news. If the same thing happened last week, it's no longer interesting.

2. Significance
The number of people affected by the story is important. A plane crash in which hundreds of people died is more significant than a crash killing a dozen.

3. Proximity
Stories which happen near to us have more significance. The closer the story to home, the more newsworthy it is. For someone living in France, a major plane crash in the USA has a similar news value to a small plane crash near Paris.

Note that proximity doesn't have to mean geographical distance. Stories from countries with which we have a particular bond or similarity have the same effect. For example, Australians would be expected to relate more to a story from a distant Western nation than a story from a much closer Asian country.

4. Prominence
Famous people get more coverage just because they are famous. If you break your arm it won't make the news, but if the Queen of England breaks her arm it's big news.

5. Human Interest
Human interest stories are a bit of a special case. They often disregard the main rules of newsworthiness; for example, they don't date as quickly, they need not affect a large number of people, and it may not matter where in the world the story takes place.

Human interest stories appeal to emotion. They aim to evoke responses such as amusement or sadness. Television news programs often place a humorous or quirky story at the end of the show to finish on a feel-good note. Newspapers often have a dedicated area for offbeat or interesting items."

 

[vintagesnaps]

This seems like a broad topic, to do 'photojournalism'; I'd suggest you ask the instructor for guidelines.

If you're interested in firefighters/police officers you might contact a station in your area and see if you can find one that would let you come in and take photos and talk to their staff.

Find out if any of them have had any particular experiences they'd want to relate, let them know you want to focus on what it's like to be a dad and do that type work, etc. See where it takes you, that could shape the story into a feature on certain people and experiences or on the station as a whole.

 

[imagemaker46]

Ask your teacher to do the story on him. In this world of photography, it's sure to be a tear jerker.

 

[dennybeall]

Two things - First off you need to know the definition your instructor has for photojournalism. There are many. My definition is a photo or series of photos shot on location, shot handheld, that tells a story.
Ask others on here and you'll get different opinions so that tells you that you need to know the instructors?????

 

[JoeW]

As others have pointed out, it's unclear what your assignment is and what your'e seeking at this point.

I "assume" that you've been asked to tell a story with pictures. You can tell a story with almost anything...a parade...a wedding...a football game...trying to get out the door each morning to get to work...a restaurant starting up and prepping till the point that patrons actually show up. Just about anything could be used to tell a story.

Additionally, there are lots of ways to tell a story with photos. The easiest way (conceptually) is to tell it from start to finish. This is basically a sequence with the setup, beginning and eventual ending of the activity. A second approach is to tell the story from a range of different perspectives (so if you're focusing on a restaurant you show a photo from a patron's perspective, from the server's perspective, from a bookkeeper/manager, from the chef, a finished meal, a stack of dirty dishes) with a series of "artsy" photos. A third approach to seek to capture the "magic moment" or key events. You don't just shoot a basketball game, you capture a picture of a player being mobbed by teammates while the opponents are collapsed on the court in fatigue and defeat. You don't just shoot the pregnant mom and the baby, you get a picture of an exhausted mom crying in joy as she holds her newborn in the delivery room. You may be shooting a number of events but there should be "A" shot that tells the story itself so this is a tough style to work as a photojournalist, it's a "money shot" that tells the entire story with one picture (and then the other shots just fill in details and provide context and drama).

Last of all, depending upon the role of the subject and the skill of the photographer, you can make just about any person a tear jerker or a boring story.

 

[John_Olexa]

When I was shooting photojournalism I had a scanner in my car, and when there was a fire call or accident call... I went too. Sports can be considered photojournalism. you could check with local high schools in your area. with baseball / softball starting up shouldn't be to hard to get permission.

 

[decyjohn]

Photojournalism works on multiple levels, from covering breaking news and wars, to forming visual narratives and feature stories that help to illuminate and clarify the issues of our time with a depth and perspective that few other mediums can achieve. The universal nature of photography and the ability to capture time and freeze it in a way the mind remembers is a searing and unique quality of this medium.