Photojournalism

Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism (the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast) that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, and in some cases to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such as documentary photography, street photography or celebrity photography) by the qualities of:

History

Photojournalism has been a major element of newspaper and magazine reporting since the early twentieth century, although its historic origins have been traced to mid 19th century European battlefield photography by British press reporters in the Crimean War. Its use was greatly spurred by the development of the commercial 35mm Leica camera.

Related Topics:
Newspaper - Magazine - European - Crimean War - 35mm - Leica

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The invention of the term "photojournalism" is commonly attributed to Cliff Edom (1907?1991), who taught at the University of Missouri School of Journalism for 29 years. Edom establish the first photojournalism workshop there in 1946. Some attribute the word, instead, to the then-Dean of the School of Journalism, Frank L. Mott.

Related Topics:
Cliff Edom - University of Missouri - School - Journalism - 1946

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Golden Age

In the "golden age" of photojournalism (1930s–1950s), some magazines (Picture Post (London), Paris Match (Paris), Life (USA), Sports Illustrated (USA)) and newspapers (The Daily Mirror (London), The Daily Graphic (New York)) built their huge readerships and reputations largely on their use of photography, and photographers such as Robert Capa, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Margaret Bourke-White, W. Eugene Smith became well-known names.

Related Topics:
1930s - 1950s - Picture Post - Paris Match - Life - Sports Illustrated - The Daily Mirror - The Daily Graphic - Robert Capa - Alfred Eisenstaedt - Margaret Bourke-White - W. Eugene Smith

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Farm Security Administration

From 1935 to 1942, the Farm Security Administration and its predecessor the Resettlement Administration were part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, and were designed to address agricultural problems and rural poverty associated with the Great Depression. A special photographic section of the agency, headed by Roy Stryker, was intended merely to provide public relations for its programs, but instead produced what some consider one of the greatest collections of documentary photographs ever created in the U.S. If such documentary photography can be called 'photojournalism' remains debatable, since the FSA photographers had much more time and resources to create their work than would usually be the case.

Related Topics:
1935 - 1942 - Farm Security Administration - Franklin Roosevelt's - New Deal - Great Depression - Roy Stryker - Documentary photography

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World War II

World War II brought a tremendous increase in the supply and demand for quality photojournalism. In its latter stages, the war also stimulated the supply of new faster and smaller cameras from Japan to Europe and the USA.

Related Topics:
World War II - Japan - Europe - USA

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Magnum

In 1947, two years after World War II ended, the Magnum Photos photographic agency was founded by four photographers: Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, and David Seymour. Magnum differed from other agencies in that it was a cooperative (all members of the agency were also partial owners). Magnum is a highly respected photo agency and membership is extremely selective. There is a review process once a year during which portfolios from applicants are viewed by all current members. From there, the few who are invited to join must withstand a several-year probationary period before (with a vote every year by full members to see if the probationary members recent photo work is up to par) they can be considered full members.

Related Topics:
1947 - Magnum Photos - Robert Capa - Henri Cartier-Bresson - George Rodger - David Seymour

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many probationary members are asked to leave after one or two years. Some of the most famous contemporary Magnum photographers have left the agency for various reasons either to be independents or to begin their own agencies (Jim Nachtwey is a founding member of the VII photo agency. Sebastião Salgado founded Amazonia Images).

Related Topics:
Jim Nachtwey - Sebastião Salgado

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Magnum Photos has more or less been experiencing financial troubles for the last 40 years.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Acceptance by the art world

Since the late 1970s, photojournalism and documentary photography have increasingly been accorded a place in art galleries alongside fine art photography. Luc Delahaye and Chien-Chi Chang, both Magnum photographers, to name a few among many, exhibit in galleries regularly.

Related Topics:
Documentary photography - Fine art photography

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~