COURTNEY COLES / ROCK SHOOTER

Photojournalism is defined as, “the art or practice of communicating news by photographs,” according to the English Oxford Living Dictionary (2018). I believe the true definition of photojournalism goes beyond the dictionary definition. I think it can be defined as telling a story, not just news, through a photograph. Photojournalism distinguishes itself from other forms of reportage photography because it not only reports or documents a moment in time, but it tells a story and conveys emotion.

Photojournalists make a living by selling their work to organizations, publications, magazines, etc. The “clients” are the organizations and photo agencies. A few professional organizations that represent photojournalists are the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) and Professional Photographers of America (PPA). The reason for joining such organizations is because you can join a community of other photographers you can learn from. These organizations typically provide workshops for photographers and are also a great way to network with other professionals.

Photo agencies are another way in which you can make money as a photographer. Agencies purchase your photos and are a great way of getting your photos out and seen by others. Some examples of photo agencies are Getty Images and Magnum Photo.

Photojournalism began with the creation of smaller, more portable, cameras in the late 1920s. The “golden age” of photojournalism was the 1930s-1960s.

There are many contemporary sources of photojournalism, thanks to the internet. Great work can be found in The New York Times and National Geographic, just to name a couple. A contemporary photojournalist whose work I would like to emulate is Courtney Coles. Her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Substream magazine, Idobi radio, Paste Magazine, among others (Coles, 2018). One of her projects that I would like to emulate is called “invite me into your life.” She takes photos inside a person’s room and photographs them there. I think that this is very intimate and could capture more of who someone really is. It could also help me learn how to capture good light inside.

Sources

Photojournalism | Definition of photojournalism in English by Oxford Dictionaries. 2018.

Retrieved August 29, 2018, from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/photojournalism

Coles, C. (2018). Courtney Coles. Retrieved August 29, 2018, from

http://www.courtneycoles.com/about