CAMEREN VALENZUELA’S PHOTOJOURNALISM PAPER

Photojournalism is a form of storytelling where photography and journalism are mixed. The photographs aren’t ordinary either. Each photograph shows emotions and some sort of narrative. Compared to other parts of photography, photojournalism focuses on the truth, providing viewers with a realistic view of a news story. Photojournalism is also about being in the right place at the right time, capturing the best angle and composition of the story.

There is still a profession in photojournalism today. As more of our media is consumed through social media like Facebook and Instagram, photojournalism is more important than ever for viewers to understand a story. Photo content is a must in today’s media landscape as more of today’s generation are visual learners.

Making a living in photojournalism requires the ability to be flexible and able to adapt to different situations. Many photojournalists are freelancers and look for gigs from media outlets, publications, and other organizations. A very common way in today’s era of media for photojournalists to promote their work is through social media. With almost 64% of the world on some sort of social media platform, photojournalism via social media is the best way to land clients and gigs.

As a sports photographer myself, I respect and look up to a lot of sports photojournalists before me. From the iconic photo of Muhammad Ali shot by Neil Leifer to the iconic picture of the “Willie Mays Catch” photographed by Frank Hurley, there are tons of great sports photojournalists who have impacted the sports world.

1900-1930s:

Charles Conlon -Sports Photojournalist

George Graham Bain -Sports Photojournalist

Robert Capa- War Photojournalist

1930-1950s:

Hy Peskin – Sports Photojournalist

Nat Fein – Sports Photojournalist

Barney Stein – Sports Photojournalist

1960-1980s

John G Zimmerman – Sports Photojournalist

James Drake – Sports Photojournalist

Tony Triolo – Sports Photojournalist

1990s-Present

Brad Mangin – Sports Photojournalist

Simon Bruty- Sports Photojournalist

John Biever – Sports Photojournalist

Charles Conlon – Legendary baseball player, Ty Cobb sliding into third base. I like this photo because of the frozen action and the grit and toughness that this photo projects

George Grantham Bain – Herman A. Schaefer, a baseball player for the Washington Senators trying out an old school camera from 1911. I like this photo because it shows the work and process of operating one of these older cameras.

Robert Capa – Soldiers in World War I preparing for the invasion of Normandy Beach. I enjoy this photo because of how historic this photo is and what is to come in the future of this picture.

Hy Peskin- Jackie Robinson sliding into third base in his Major League Debut. I enjoy this photo because of the history of Jackie Robinson in this event. He was the first African-American player in baseball and probably any sport that included white people as well.

Nat Fein- Babe Ruth being commemorated for his efforts in the MLB during his retirement parade. This photo is one of the more iconic photos in MLB history because of the impact of Babe Ruth and what he did for the sports, and that is why I enjoy this photo so much.

Barney Stein – Jackie Robinson posing for his photo for the first time in a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform. This is a great picture because of the historic impact that Jackie Robinson had in the MLB and all of the sports world.

John G. Zimmerman – Wilt Chamberlin dunking the ball into the basket. This photo is one of the first that I could find where the camera was rigged behind the backboard. This photo changed the way basketball photography was taken and this has been an iconic angle for basketball photography.

James Drake – Legendary Jets quarterback, Joe Namath posing in what seems to be the Vegas Strip (I am not entirely sure). I really enjoy this photo because Namath the subject is beautifully lit up and the background still shows all of the beautiful lights. This is a very great and colored photo, especially since it was shot in the 60s.

Tony Triolo – Hank Aaron hitting his 715th career homerun, passing Babe Ruth and holding the record for most career homeruns until 2007. I really like this shot because of how iconic this photo is and how much of a story this one photo tells. Compared to other sports photojournalists, Triolo shot this at a wider angle compared to a close up. I believe the wider angle works for this scene and really paints the picture well.

Brad Mangin – Rickey Henderson holding up the base that would be his 939th career stolen base, breaking Lou Brock’s record and still holding the record to this day. Brad Mangin might be one of if not the greatest baseball photographers of the modern era. His work shows so much emotion and really tells a story. This photo I really like because of how iconic this photo has been in baseball. It also shows the joy and excitement of Rickey accomplishing his goal of beating the stolen base record.

Simon Bruty – Red Sox pitcher, Chris Sale delivering a pitch. I really enjoy this photo because this photo shows the motion of pitching. From the different arm movements and the leg movements, this photo feels abstract and unique. It might not be photojournalistic due to it not being so “sharp” but I feel like this photo could work.

John Biever – Green Bay Packers linebacker Diyral Briggs holding up a World Champs newspaper after winning Super Bowl 45. Biever could be included in almost every category from the 60s on, but I chose to use his most recent work for this fun fact. Biever has shot at every Super Bowl since the innagural Super Bowl back in 1967. He is the only photographer to do so and I thought that would be a cool fact to add. I really enjoy this photo because of the emotion on Briggs face. It shows the confetti symbolizing the win, the newspaper describing what win it is, and the Super Bowl logo patch on his jersey also saying what event this is.