Photojournalism

We can categorise images the way we create documentary's.

The Poetic mode - "Resembling frgments of the world, a transformation on historical materical into a more abstract, lyrical form. It was associated with the 1920's and consisted of modernist idea's".

The Expositary mode - "Filmed with direct address with social issues assembled into an argumentative frame. These documentaries usually consist with a "voice by god" narration with some use of rhetoric and polemic surrounding WW2".

The Observational mode (Fly-On-The-Wall) - "This becmase known once technology was advanced in the 1920's to the 1930's when camera's becamse smaller and lighter. They were able to document life in a less intrusive manner where they had less control over lighting. Subjects were allowed to act freely and also left the documentarists free to record without interacting with the subjects".

The Participatory mode - "The encounter between the film maker and subject is recorded as the film makes actively engages with the subject who is aware of their presence. They ask questions of their subject sharing experiences with them and are heavily reliant on witnesses".

The Reflexive mode - "This mode demonstrates consciousness of the process of reading documentary and engages actively with issues of realism and representation. This mode also acknowledges the presences of the viewer and the modality judgements they arrive at. Corresponds to critical theory of the 1980's".

The Performative mode - "Acknowledges the emotional and subjective aspects of documentary and presents the idea's as part of a context, having different meanings of different people, often autobiographical in nature".

From the book: Magnum Magnum Edited by Brigitte Lardinois and Gerry Butler

First published in the United Kingdom in 2007 by Thames and Hudson Ltd.

With over 400 images by Magnum photographers, taken throughout 60 years, we discover the journey of photojournalism to doumentary today. From Henri Cartier Bresson introducing photojournalism to us in the 1930's, to Gueorgui Pinkhassov in 2006, we see the differences and simularites between Magnum Photographers, as well as how techonology has influenced Magnum Photographers.

For over 60 years, Magnum photographers have been responsible for capturing some of the world’s most memorable photographs, images recognizable as part of our cultural landscape. Magnum photographs are recognisable for their black and white colour, most likely taken with a 35mm lens, and they would show little fuss over the construction creating the ‘decisive moment’.

Magnum was founded just after WW2, when men would risk their lives in order to report the world within the war grounds in order to create the mass circulation in picture magazines. However, not all Magnum photographers were all about exploiting markets. It was about the nation of photographers building a relationship with each other working on assignments that they believed in, retaining the copyright after stories were published to continue their success.

Magnum photographers have to follow the ethic demands which maintain certain standards. Photographers are to work independently within the constraints of whatever commercial sphere they chose. The Magnum ethic demands that they should try to lead the market rather than to simply follow it, creating pictures according to their own promptings and selling them then placing them in the appropriate context.

Bruce Davidson

In 1957, Davidson became a member of Magnum. He started work as a freelance photographer for Life, then after recieving a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts he spent 2 years capturing a block in New York City. The images to the right are just a few of the images he took. Davidson's style tended to focus on different cultures as his photo's would consist of different people with different cultural backgrounds. The subjects were normally in front of the camera, and occasionaly looking straight into the lens. Davidson's photos were different from Henri Cartier Bresson's, as Davidson's subjects were aware they were being photographed, therefore having a reflexive mode.

Henri-Cartier Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson (August 22, 1908 – August 3, 2004) was a French photographer who was considered to be the father of modernist photojournalism. He was an early role model of the 35mm format and he helped develop the public's interest in 'street photography' or 'real life, honesty reportage'. His style of photographs have influenced generations of photographers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Cartier-Bresson

Henri-Cartier Bresson was a well known Magnum Agency Photojournalist, basing his concepts on the Pre/Post War. Bresson's work was know for being a 'decisive moment'. His images were taken without thought or meaning, just a moment in time, rreporting the reality of an event as natural as possible.

Bresson has 3 theories when capturing his images.

Natural Stance: Subjects were not to be looking at the camera, observational mode, Subjects were not to act up to the camera.
No staging: To create a decisive moment, capturing reality as natural as possible
No Agendas: No politics behind the concept of his images.

The two images below are a great example of Bresson's 'observational' and 'reflexive' photography. The subject in the left image, is completely un-aware of Bresson's presence, therefore creating a trully natural image. However, the image to the left the subject that is furthest away is looking straight into Bresson's camera, aware of his company, therefore changing his 'observational mode' photography into 'reflexive'. You can say that this image is reflexive because of how Bresson if reflecting on the womans life, capturing the real life situations of the day to day challenges these women face. Also, the first image looks as if Bresson has used the rule of thirds when contructing the image, for a better composition.

Martin Parr

Another well known Magnum photojournalist was Martin Parr (born 24 May 1952). He is mostly known for his photographic projects that take a critical look at the aspects of social issues in modern life, in particular provincial and suburban life in England. Unlike Henri-Cartier Bresson, Martin focused on twisting fiction with reality.

"With photography, I like to create fiction out of reality. I try and do this by taking society's natural prejudice and giving this a twist." - Martin Parr

http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.PhotographerDetail_VPage&l1=0&pid=2K7O3R13MJ3V&nm=Martin%20Parr

The image to the left, is one of my favourites by Martin Parr. It was taken at Ascot in 2003, and shows the contrast of social class within the event. When you first think of Ascot, you think of a high class, beautified event. However in the observational and reflexive image below, shows the struggle of how a lower social class tries to fit in to the uppper class way of life, yet you can see from Martin's image how this doesn't actually work and they are just made to look pathetic. I think he's captured the social issues within the UK very well.

The image to the right was taken on a beach in Latvia. From what Martin say's about people trying to force themselves into enjoying themselves, I believe that Martin is trying to suggest through the image about the hard times britain was going through back in 1999, therefore this reflexive image conveys this message perfectly. The deep depth of field is used to juxtapose the man's sadness to the people enjoying themselves in the background, showing how some poeple have to force themselves into enjoying a moment in life.

GB. England. Ascot. 2003.

LATVIA. Jurmula. "This is Jurmula, a beach resort near Riga, capital of Latvia. I love seasides, particularly old communist seasides. I've got a mental image of a vast number of people being forced to enjoy themselves. This was a sunday in July, and it had started to rain". 1999.

Thomas Hoepker

Working alongside documentaries for German TV, Hoepker's photographs began to be distributed by Magnum in 1964. When looking at Hoepker's images, I began to feel that he was trying to tell me something about the world, something about the way different cultures live, and how people deal with different situations. One photo that caught my eye was the view from Brooklyn, New York City on the 11th September. The reason it caught my eye was how 'casual' the people in the photograph were acting, when very clearly behind them the sky fills with smoke from the Twin Towers which had been hit by planes. Not one of the subjects look over towards the towers, and they are all just looking at each other, with what seems like they are having a lightened conversation. When looking at this photograph, I cant help but feel it's staged, that Hoepker's lieing to the audience, trying to make a point about how the world has become careless and that we are just getting used to conflict and violence. Although I find the image interesting, i dont agree with Hoepker's point he's trying to create.

Defining Reality

Realism is what we decide to be the truth. When looking into the reality of media texts, should meida create a 'mirrored' image of the world, or does it want to inevitabely deform the image intentionally? People's views on certain media texts may differentiate from individual perceptions, positions and approaches and therefore leaving one image to have several meanings. What one determines to be reality, another may not. As we live in a highly mediatised world, what we see in the media is our primary perception of the world, therefore arising a philisophical question on what is reality anyway, how do we know what it is and how do we accept it? Many photojournalists used photography as a form of social investigation which were used for understanding humanity or in attempt to improve social conditions. However, some photojournalists depicted their images to fake reality. For example, Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" (1934)

Dorethea Lange

This participatory image was spontaneously set up by Dorethea on the way home from another shoot. By looking at the image, it suggests the struggle to live a better life. It also shows the dependance of the woman to bring her family a better way of living by how her children are placed leaning on her, showing she has to support them. This image caused many controversial arguments when exposed into the media becuase of the public feeling they were being lied too and portraying society in a surreal form.

From the book: Through the Lens National Geographic Greatest Photos Published by the National Geographic Society 2003

This image to the left, was taken by W.Robert Moore in 1936 and shows cafe-goers enjoying a pleasent afternoon in Montparnasse - Left Bank center of bohemain life in Paris. What I like about this photo is the up spirited atmosphere it suggests through the denotations of the peoples smiling faces. However, the happy faces seem to be the only ones in focus due to the shallow depth of field, therefore suggesting Robert wanted the viewer to believe that everyone was happy in the photo. However, in 1936, a year before World War Two, a civil war started in Spain, causing trouble with other european countires, as well as Hitler getting more and more support from Mussolini, therefore causing panic accross europe. To me, this then suggests that this image was used a propoganda and was staged by Robert.

Walker Evans

This image titles 'Arcarde' was taken by Walker Evans. Born in Novemeber 1903, Evans was an American photographer who was known best for his work on documenting the effects of the Great Depression.

"Stare. It is way to educate your eye, and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long." - Walker Evans

Evans has captured this image with a deep depth of field, as everything we see is in focus, and for a reason. Evans wanted us to examine the detail within this photo to connote the busy life of human society, therefore showing a political reflexivity style. I like how the image looks busy as it keeps the viewer interested and always finding out more about the image everytime they look at it.

Lewis Hine

In 1907, Lewis Hine became the photographer of the National Child Labour Society Comitee. He then later on became a freelance photographer for The Survey, a leading social reform magazine. Lewis is famous for taking photos for the construction of the Empire State building and his images emphasized the human contribution and risks they took to improve to the modern industry. This image has influenced me to capture images in real life situations becasue you can show people's true personalities and how they appreciate society.