Photojournalism. the discusion Thread.

Hello there people.
First I will introduce myself. I’m a 24 year old photography and photojournalism enthusiastic (but never studied nor one or the other in regular studies, I have mi reasons for that). Bu I have mi basis on photography, cause I have myself the last years as a photography aficionado and student (some university courses).

Yes I know, It sound as another stupid kid (or adult) claiming to get a camera which he didn’t know even to use it and Jump into the fire of a war or conflict to get a Pulitzer the second day. PLEASE, absent this kind of guys and imaginations.
No, I’m totally conscious about the world of photojournalism(what’s not only wars and natural disasters), even that It have been very hard for me to look for information about it, or even opinions of professionals, etc, usually is not the most discussed matter in any forum, community etc.

Well. Then I’m gona be a little foolish kid and say the words, I want to be a photojournalist.

I know some things about the industry, for example that photojournalist are disappearing in so many parts of the press, sending directly the journalist with compact cameras to cover the news. But still exist. I know too, that is becoming different cause the technologies and is harder for a freelance to go anywhere and be able to take photos as people of newsletters and agencies do (cause this last ones have loooooot of help and things easier, as interprets, drivers etc. No words about money stuff).
With this panorama, the no answer question. How to be a photojournalist? Well, here it comes mi personal opinion, not very useful cause mi really little knowledge, but believe me when I say I’ve been investigating for a while and thinking a lot on it.
Being watched buy the people they have to watch you is EVERYTHING, and of course they have to like what they see. What is the problem here, is not enough to be a good photographer, is not enough to have very beautiful street photos or travel photos. You need HISTORIES! And you have to look for them, you have to investigate, speak with the people, make contacts and take photos of events, before, until and after. And this again, is a really hard journalism job, wich usually does a team of persons or a person based in a big net of informers and with so many facilities (like a regular salary) that we don’t have (and education, university journalism major for example).

(This will be the second step after becoming a good photographer learn the technique, etc. etc., to have material, to make a portfolio).

Well third step, we are good photographers, we have a nice portfolio (Nothing like wars and guns or international news covered, just local things, cultural things, BUT Nice photos and some histories no one more had ever told about). Show your material! CAREFULL show a little part of it, be professional. Even if the tribe in the middle of the jungle is amazing, they never seen foreigners in their town or whatever, your work would be boring if you show 5 photos of women posing (even if they are all super nice portraits and different women) make a really little selection of your histories. First we have in our disposal, flickr, 500px and other platforms. But I think it will be indispensable to make a personal and professional looking website.

Well we have been taking photos for free, working in investigation and making a whole journalist job for almost 1 or 2 years, maybe more. We have a website with a really nice photojournalism job (and maybe some travel photos too). Now get in touch with agencies and newsletters. How to do it? No idea, I’m not in this step yet.

I’m a young man, I haven’t studied journalism, nor audiovisuals or other majors. But I’m so much better photographer and sometimes journalist than much of that lazy guys studding a major just going class all weeks to wait until weekend party. On the other hand, this education, this help of knowing about the industry, history etc. Is a lack I’m trying to fulfill. And here my dear friends, is where I need help.

Lots of questions come to my mind fast as lightning strikes:

1- Where to get information about history of photojournalist (books, articles, etc.)?
2- Names of good photographers?
3- Projects ?
( Of course I’m a history aficionado, and know so many things about last centuries international history ad local history of some places. I also know a lot of photojournalist, easy ways is looking the first agencies or the Pulitzer, world press and other prices and keep investigating about them, their projects and trajectory. But need some more names, some projects, and some history of photojournalism or journalism books to look at.)
4- One I have myself to start in this by mi own. How to investigate and look for good histories?
5- ? How to work Once I’m there?
6- Which agencies are they, or which we know?
7- How to contact to newspapers, agencies etc.?

Well hundreds of questions we can do ourselves. THIS POST is to make this question EACH OTHER and answer in the level we are capable off. Aficionados, professionals, everyone has his opinion or experience, but please be reasonable and don’t go out of the threat PHOTOJOURNALISM.
And please again, don’t post stupid comments, as:’’ Photojournalist is dead.’’ Or ‘’Is impossible…’’. Resonate your comments every time with some basis.

In all internet I didn’t find any util post about this. In any forum or community. Lets do it here…

A warm hello for all of you.

Asiertxo

Asierxo,

I'm rather perplexed and confused by your very first post. When developed, who knows, it could work as an article for a magazine you might interest. Now, it seems a long speech and far beyond the scope of this forum. Here, we just want "Windows to your world, in photographs".

So, please take some pictures, return and share the best of them and we can talk. Otherwise, good luck on your project for photojournalism.

Asher

Maybe we can answer some of the questions.

It so happens that I met a few photographers working as photojournalists in the past few years. They are photojournalists in the sense that they are photographers employed by the press (daily papers or weekly magazines) to take photographs. Their photographs appear in the papers or magazines.

All of them work locally. Their daily job consists mainly of being sent out to take portraits of people being interviewed. Sometimes, they also get to photograph local events or buildings. Typical of such events is the inauguration of a new road, factory or community building. It don't believe they photograph sports or events, usually the events organise the pictures themselves.

This is not very glamorous, but this is where most of the money is. It seems, however, that you are interested in something else. If I understood correctly, you want to be a reporter. You want to be sent to an event so as to send back pictures. That does not happen anymore today, unless you are part of a video crew.

What you could do is to choose a recent event, go there, and design and shoot a reportage on a subject. The subjects needs to be both related to recent news but not too much. Recent successful subjects include life in the Fukushima area after the tsunami or construction of the Olympics in Sochi. You will find some ideas here, look at the categories "contemporary issues", "daily life" and "observed portraits". The catch is that the people who do that are self-financed, so it means that you need to be able to support yourself for a few months when shooting and find a magazine to publish the pictures afterwards. The only real difficulty is that it has to be a story, not a collection of pictures.

Thanks for this first replies.

First, Asher, perplexed? Why? Far beyond the view of the forum? (you will know better than I but...) WHY?
The tittle of this forum is the next one: ( Photography Discussions > Photojournalism - Street - Documentary ). I'm asking no more than a 'discussion' about 'photojournalism', both words and significances added in the forum tittles. Of course i will show you up some photos soon, but can't for a while cause I haven't them with me.

Jerome, that's a nice point of view, the problem is the one I presented: as freelance with no experience is very hard to go any place where a international new is happening and cover it.The people off agencies or the freelances worked with agencies or newspapers have a lot of help, contacts etc. which makes their work easier in so many aspect's (no easy, easier).

On the other hand i wash wandering and I will, two kind of answers. The first with information, some professional here, people like Jerome who has known people in the profession etc, giving some little information about the job, or some students or aficionado sharing some book name, photographers names etc.
the second kind of post will be the discussion, I think is a really nice matter on the photography and can be discussed a lot. some examples:
Is photojournalism dead as many experts said?
How about the ethic on photojournalism? When to stop taking pictures or where to show them?
Etc. etc.

Well on my part I gona make another little aportation (not on mi photos but on information on the web).
some photojournalist names and webs:
-Manu bravo : http://www.manubrabo.eu/bio
-James nachtway : http://www.jamesnachtwey.com/
javier manzano : http://www.javiermanzano.com/docmain.html


By mi art to say that I'm in china and cant enter in most of the pages of internet. and of course haven't got any public or private library here with a nice English r Spanish book collection, and mi Chinese is not good enough, them everything i have to investigate about is with mi reduced access to the net.

Have a nice time and wait your answers in one or in the other aspect.

Asiertxo.


A little edit: What do you all think about mi, lets name it strategy. Mi opinion around the million dolar question, how to be a photojournalist?

thread (sorry for my spelling fail) ….corrected ADK

PD: I'm copying this thread in another discussion forum, hope not to be a problem for the community, cause writing it all again would kill me, at the point that English is not mi mother language (Is mi third) and cant write so fluently, (and the orthography correcter is not working... haha!)

Asiertxo Las said:

thread (sorry for my spelling fail) ….corrected ADK

PD: I'm copying this thread in another discussion forum, hope not to be a problem for the community, cause writing it all again would kill me, at the point that English is not mi mother language (Is mi third) and cant write so fluently, (and the orthography correcter is not working... haha!)

Click to expand...

Your welcome, Asiertxo! I commend your persistence in spite of the great barriers you have to getting information in China in either Spanish or English.

Asher

Asiertxo Las said:

Jerome, that's a nice point of view, the problem is the one I presented: as freelance with no experience is very hard to go any place where a international new is happening and cover it.

Click to expand...

It is not difficult if you are prepared to pay for it yourself. I have a friend who is taking pictures in Kiev, Ukraine, as we speak. He bought his plane ticket himself.

But you don't have to travel very far. You say you are in China. There are plenty of things to photograph in China and relatively few people capable to get the info out to western media. Simple themes that would sell:
-the Chinese new rich
-pollution (also positive development, we never hear about these)
-rural life
-beekeeping in China
-what happened to all what was constructed for the Beijing olympic games (we are still in an Olympic year)
-what happened to the people displaced with the 3 gorges dam.

Produce a cohesive series of 10-20 pictures telling one of these stories and finding a magazine to publish it won't be difficult. The difficulty lies in telling a story. And, of course, there are a few rules to follow (for example, some of your pictures need to allow space for text on them), but this is comparatively simple.

Jerome Marot said:

It is not difficult if you are prepared to pay for it yourself. I have a friend who is taking pictures in Kiev, Ukraine, as we speak. He bought his plane ticket himself.

But you don't have to travel very far. You say you are in China. There are plenty of things to photograph in China and relatively few people capable to get the info out to western media. Simple themes that would sell:
-the Chinese new rich
-pollution (also positive development, we never hear about these)
-rural life
-beekeeping in China
-what happened to all what was constructed for the Beijing olympic games (we are still in an Olympic year)
-what happened to the people displaced with the 3 gorges dam.

Produce a cohesive series of 10-20 pictures telling one of these stories and finding a magazine to publish it won't be difficult. The difficulty lies in telling a story. And, of course, there are a few rules to follow (for example, some of your pictures need to allow space for text on them), but this is comparatively simple.

Click to expand...

Brilliant suggestions!

Nice ideas.

Dind't thought about the beekeeping (bbut I have a few photos of a guy working on it withoit any kind of protection suit...
The one of beijin is a nice idea but im too far from beijin to do thia project now (had thought on it before)
The others are part of mi acyual projects examples:/past 10 days in rural zones during chinese spring festival in towns they never seen a foreigner/ Taking pictures about the trash business and how the chinese are so dif of western on this./ Etc.
And the last one I dont realy understand.
Realy they are nice ideas or other point of views for.actual projects thanks. In the other hand, now im looming for somemore cultural or traditional reportage (have one, working on every weekend, about traditional boat making and fishing in a village, for example).
Now im like more looking about this.kind of projects and info about photojournalism, as profesion, history, photographers a.d their projects etc. And thinking on some historyes back home for the six weeks Im gona be there, I want to take enough material (adding some older mat) To make a exibition here in china.

Good that you have some subjects of your own. Now, can you please post a series of images on one of these subjects so that we can give an opinion?

Don't b so hasty about wanting to see my photos. Gonna pass a wile until this happen. Why? I'm too perfectionist, I'm still working in this projects taking photos every week and have some thousands of photos of work to view, order, select and edit. In the other hand I'm studding and working, then haven't got so much time by now. But don't worry you will see some soon.

I think 'soon' has been and gone now...where are they?

this post never was, Is, or going to be about my personal photographs. If I have to saw something is going to be in another place and Soon can be when Im ready for it or when I want. In two days or two years.

This post Is a try to speak about the photojournalism, I see that is not a very active comunity interested on it here.

By the moment Im working in my own projects and speaking with people about this world, getting little closer by time.