PHOTOJOURNALISM
Photojournalism to me, is all about capturing an image that tells a story. A story that has a reason or a meaning behind it. The story of course must be newsworthy. As photojournalism relates to news and what is happening in our everyday lives. It must be important to a large numbered audience viewing it, or even the local community.
As most journalism jobs, photojournalism pays depending on who you are taking the picture for, where the source is located, and what the assignment is. The assignments can range from taking a couple series of pictures for a magazine, covering an event for a newspaper, or having a couple feature pictures for an online news source, even advertising. It also depends on if you are working full time, part time or freelance. According to the PayScale website, the average salary for a photojournalist is $15.53 per hour (“PayScale”). But again, a lot of factors come into how photojournalists get paid. According to an article by Peta Pixel, the photographers for the New York Times get paid about $200 for a day’s work in general. (“The New York Times is More Than Doubling Its Day Rate for Photographers: Report”, 2017).
James Nachtwey is a famous photojournalist for his works. He is best known for his photos in Time Magazine with the photographs of the war. According to National Geographic, he made his living by becoming a freelance photographer at the beginning and eventually his photojournalism skills landed him a professional job (“National Geographic”). His clients were people that were present wherever the war was happening. People that were in towns that were getting destroyed or people in other places that were affected by the war.
Some professional organizations that support photojournalism are: Advertising Photographers of America (APA), American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), American Society of Picture Professionals (ASPP), and the American Association of Museums (AAM). Most of these organizations are non-profit organizations and mainly consists of volunteers that want to get their work out in the world. Such as the American Society of Media Photographers, their goal is to help photographers create connections with other professional photographers for their work, showing them “better business practices” and producing their publications as a business profession so they can communicate with the people that want their photos (“asmp”).
According to the New World Encyclopedia website, photojournalism did not start until about the 1850’s. Photography was developing before that but actual photographs of news worthy material did not start until that time. The “Golden Age” also according to the New World Encyclopedia started around the 1930’s. This was when some photographers started to build a name for themselves in highly read publications (“New Age Encyclopedia”).
If I could shoot for a publication it would be for the “Times”. Because I would love to live in New York and travel other places if needed, to photograph. Or I would also love to shoot for alternative press or rolling stone magazine.
Reference Page
About ASMP – Resources for Photographers. (n.d.). Retrieved August 30, 2017, from https://www.asmp.org/resources/about/
Cade, D. (2017, April 05). New York Times is More than Doubling Its Day Rate for Photographers: Report. Retrieved August 30, 2017, from https://petapixel.com/2017/04/04/new-york-times-doubling-day-rate-photographers-report/
“James Nachtwey.” James Nachtwey, www.jamesnachtwey.com/. Accessed 30 Aug. 2017.
“James Nachtwey.” Photographer James Nachtwey Biography — National Geographic, 16 Feb. 2017, www.nationalgeographic.com/contributors/n/photographer-james-nachtwey/. Accessed 30 Aug. 2017.
“Photojournalism.” Photojournalism – New World Encyclopedia, www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Photojournalism. Accessed 30 Aug. 2017.
“Photojournalist Salary.” PayScale, www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Photojournalist/Salary. Accessed 30 Aug. 2017.
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