Sam Jessop The History of Photojournalism
Introduction My name is Sam Jessop and i am currently Photojournalism at Leeds metripolitan University. In this short book i will be exploring the many great steps in the exploration of photography throughout time. I will look at how storys and journeys were captured in times before cameras and film and i will also look at a more modern time and the manipulation of images in the current period. As i explore each section i look to gain a vast insite into how much and how far we’ve achieved and travelled to get to the very hi-tech cameras and computer programmes of today.
Myths A myth is a story based on tradition or legend, which has a deep symbolic meaning. A myth ‘conveys a truth’ to those who tell it and hear it, rather than necessarily recording a true event. Although some myths can be accounts of actual events, they have become transformed by symbolic meaning or shifted in time or place. Myths are often used to explain universal and local beginnings and involve supernatural beings. The great power of the meaning of these stories, to the culture in which they developed, is a major reason why they survive as long as they do. In this section I shall explore a couple of examples of myths from the past and modern age. First I will begin with the ancient myth of the Minotaur. The story begins with the Athenians being in debt to the king of Crete, Minos. They would pay him by giving seven young men and seven young women, that were sent every year to be devoured by the Minotaur, a beast with a human body and the head of a bull. it was strong and fierce and was kept in a labyrinth maze system constructed by Dædalus. It was built so well that anyone that entered would ever find a way out and would be surely killed by the beast. A young Athenian called Theseus rose to the challenge and swore he would kill the beast or die trying. He smuggled his way into the 14 youth that were to be sent away, they were then displayed to King Minos and his daughter Ariadne fell instantly in love with Theseus. She gave him a sword so that he could cut his way out of the maze and so he did after sleighing the beast, After escaping the labyrinth and taking Ariadne they set sale to Athens stopping off at a small island he left her, His excuse was that he saw a vision telling him to do so. On his return he had forgotten his pact with his father and didn’t raise the white sails signalling his safe return, Hi father then took his own life thinking his son had perished. I will now contrast that myth with a more modern age example would the myth that rapper 2 pac shakur faked his own death. Tupac Ameru Shakur, also known by stage names 2pac and Makaveli was rap musics biggest selling star, when on the 7th of September 1996, he was shot in a drive-by shooting, dying 7 days later on the 13th. That the killers have never been caught despite the high profile of the case, a murder of a multi-million selling artist on the Las Vegas strip on the night of a Mike Tyson fight would be enough to start rumours of a conspiracy in itself. The most interesting theory however is a mirror of the Paul is Dead Beatles myth, that Tupac had faked his own death, leaving the clues in his songs and artwork, the so called 7 day theory. Roots of this surfaced in the video for his song I Ain’t Mad At Cha, released just days after his death, which shows him being shot and performing from heaven, and his adoption of a stage name that was an obvious nod to Florentine civil servant Niccolo Machiavelli, author of ‘The Prince’, who outlined that faking ones own death could be used as a weapon against one’s enemies. Another point is the constant release of new material since his death, though does say in interview that there’s about 3 albums of material ready should he die, which explains the huge amount of posthumous releases.
5th-4th Centuries B.C. Chinese and Greek philosophers describe the basic principles of optics and the camera.
1837 Louis Daguerre’s first daguerreotype the first image that was fixed and did not fade and needed under thirty minutes of light exposure.
1727 Johann Heinrich Schulze discovered that silver nitrate darkened upon exposure to light.
1664-1666 Isaac Newton discovers that white light is composed of different colors.
1814 Joseph Niepce achieves first photographic image with camera obscura however, the image required eight hours of light exposure and later faded.
1841 William Henry Talbot patents the Calotype process – the first negative-positive process making possible the first multiple copies.
1884 George Eastman invents flexible, paper-based photographic film.
1851 Frederick Scott Archer invented the Collodion process images required only two or three seconds of light exposure.
1871 Richard Leach Maddox invented the gelatin dry plate silver bromide process – negatives no longer had to be developed immediately.
1985 Pixar introduces digital imaging processor.
1963 Polaroid introduces instant color film.
1913/1914 First 35mm still camera developed.
1984 Canon demonstrates first digital electronic still camera.
A Frozen Image For this section I will be researching into examples of an “Frozen image� which in a basic explanation is an photograph that is capturing a specific moment or act in an split second leaving the outcome either unknown or very clear. There are many different examples of this throughout the history of photography as there has always been a camera or two carried by soldiers and reporters a like, However i have decided to look into the more modern 21st century with the high spec cameras and technology we have at our disposal.I have decided to explore some photographs taken in a recent dark day in history 9/11. On this day 2 planes that had been taken over by terrorists crashed into the world trade centre only a couple of hours between them, The whole world watched as the twin towers bellowed black smoke and flames wondering how any of the people trapped above the crippled buildings and as the day went along many peoples fears were confirmed as many on there own workers began to jump out of the windows falling to their deaths as a last minute attempt of escape from the smoke and flames.
Many of the jumpers just alone one by one plummeting to their concrete graves at nearly 125 mph in most cases which took about ten seconds once they had reached that speed, However there were some reports of people becoming couples and holding hands as they fell. These photographs are much more hard hitting as it is almost like they had accepted they had no other choice and as an act of suicide held hands and jumped. Some more jumpers attempted to make home made parachutes using parachutes out of curtains or tablecloths, But they were ripped from there grasp as they descended. These photographs are moments into these poor jumpers last moments as their bodies weren’t a mound of broken bones as they hit the pavement more like obliterated in a pink mist as if they had never existed. You can look at these photographs in too ways: One way is that we have been able to capture the horror of the event and to remember their last moments, or you could look at it that we our technology has made us witness the horrific forced suicide of trapped survivors. In my opinion I believe more in the second point i just made there are many unanswered questions, But on thing we will never know is exactly what was going through there heads as the as their last moments were caught on camera.
Surrealist Imagery In this section I shall begin to look at the manipulation in photographs and painting a like through the ages. I will begin by researching in to the famous 20th century photographer and artist Man Ray and then in contrast i will research into the more modern 21st century Photographer and editor Rankin, I will then compare some of their pieces and explain their processes. I will Begin by Looking at the famous 20th century photographer and artist Man Ray. He has long been considered one of the innovative photographers/artists of the 20th century. Being a painter, writer sculptor, photographer and film-maker However man people believe he is best known for association with the French Surrealist group based in Paris in the 1920s and 30s, particularly for his highly unconventional photographic images. He was very creative with his and was the pioneer of Rayograms where he
Form – In this image there is many rings in a spiralling fashion towards the centre they’re a white colour with the background behind them in a black caused by the chemicals reaction to the light. Process – Man Ray would have created this image in a dark room by covering some photo paper in a reactive photographic paper whilst layering the different objects over each other the swirls could be ribbons and the circles bottle lids Content – In my opinion these photo grams are simple yet very effective in being a surrealist piece of art. It leaves the viewer of the piece asking many question as to the content of the image.
I will now look into the much more modern methods of 21st photographer and editor of multiple magazines Rankin. He first made his name in publishing, founding such magazines as Dazed and Confused in 1992. It provided a platform for emerging artists, photographers and writers. He made a distinctive mark in the arts and publishing worlds and has developed a cult status forming and moulding trends, and bringing some of the lights of fashion to the foreground.
Form – This photograph is a self portrait of Rankin he has taken in a studio with what looks like the word “cunt” scraped into his forehead. There was some studio lights that have been used on both sides of his face. Process – Rankin would have set up his camera on a tripod to take this image and then after taking the photograph using such tools as Adobe Photoshop he created the carved word on his forehead. he then would have added shading. Content – I believe this is a good example of the power of manipulating photos in the modern age. We can express our feelings an opinions and edit them into an image or photograph.
In conclusion whilst both artist’s methods are very different they are still manipulating the images to create un answered questions and in my opinion that is what surrealist art work is all about, it is an expression of the artists mood or feeling at that time and through there art work we could almost call it a gateway into their life.
Propaganda In its basic definition propaganda is a message designed to persuade an intended audience to make them think and act in a certain manner, Examples of this being advertising in commercial propaganda. Originally Propaganda was the name for a branch of the Roman Catholic Church responsible for ‘de propaganda fidei’ propagation of the faith. It has also been used in negative connotations within the 20th century when such regimes as Hitler’s Third Reich used every means to distort facts and spread falsehoods. Although there are many forms of propaganda in writing and video be it news reels and television broadcasts i shall be focusing on the world war two era of propaganda posters used by the axis and allies during the conflict. I will then analyse each image giving my own personal view and opinions and how the poster expresses itself to me.
For my first poster I will begin with one of probably most recognisable recruitment poster used during the war, Based on an equally iconic British recruiting poster used during the First World War. The poster contains a portrait of one of Americas icons “uncle Sam” sternly pointing his finger at the viewer with in big bold letters underneath “I want you for the US army” a very short and sharp statement obviously underlining Sam’s intent for you in the future. In my opinion this poster is very effective due to its simplicity and bluntness of the statement, it would really made you feel like you had the purpose and duty to serve in the army and after that Sam himself is demanding you do it who at the time would have seemed more iconic then the president.
In comparison to my previous poster this soviet one has a lot more happening with the poster itself. In the foreground a Russian soldier is stabbing a German soldier with his rifle and in the background waves and waves of Russian planes and tanks moving easily past the Germans killing everyone in their path with the words “on the land, in the skies and in the seas”. Now if you look at this poster in comparison to the plainer simpler American one this is much different be it in the use of colours of the illustrations, red being the colour of the soviet star at the time and black as the German uniform, red being an aggressive colour is used very well in this image as the Russians head home to victory as the quote states in all the theatres of war.
Social Comment A social comment is an expression of a certain persons opinion on an agenda usually with the objective of change within that subject or matter. A few examples of social commentary can be expressed in many ways and forms from newspaper articles and books to works of art and public speaking. In this section i will be focussing mainly on the public speaking or freedom of speech side of social comment as it can be the most lucrative part of social expression, I will begin by looking at an social artist that is working currently under the alias of “Banksy�. Banksy is a graffiti artist from Bristol, UK, whose artwork has appeared throughout London and other locations around the world. Despite this he carefully manages to keep his real name from the mainstream media. However, many newspapers assert that his real name is Robert or Robin Banks. Banksy, despite not calling himself an artist, has been considered by some as talented in that respect; he uses his original street art form, often in combination with a distinctive stencilling technique, to promote alternative aspects of politics from those promoted by the mainstream media.
Journeys In this section i will be looking into photographs of painting that show the story or tale of a journey. I will be looking into the history of the Journey demonstrated within the image. I have decided to look at one of the earliest imagery of a great journey with the crusades that took place in the 10 hundreds they were a series of holy wars declared by the the Christian countries of Europe against the Saracens occupying the holy city of Jerusalem. They would travel from all parts of Europe and begin there march, stricken with illness and death on their way piloging for food and supplies all in the name of god. After taking and losing the holy land many times over a period of years the nights tired and exhausted would have to re march the same way they came back many going astray or fleeing to new locations, rarely more then a quarter of those that set of returned. Over the years the crusades were documented in paintings and tapestry. For example this fairy modern adaptation of one of the many marches.
Story Telling Through A Photograph After researching into Narrative photography I stumbled onto this famous example. This iconic picture was taken in 1972 by Nick Ut, a young Vietnamese photographer working for the Associated Press. It shows a group of children fleeing from their village after the American troops had called in a Napalm strike, As you can see the children are all crying and screaming as they ran however the viewers eye is drawn to the naked girl running in the centre of this photograph her clothes have all be burnt off by the napalm reacting with them.
This a very hard hitting image as it was one of the first times the American public actually saw the effect the weaponry the American army was using against the Vietcong. I believe it is so effective because of the way the girl running towards the camera is presenting her arms as if you could reach out and hug her and cover up her naked body, Also that the soldiers walking behind them seem unperturbed by the children running past them.
Bradford Exhibition In this section i will be writing about our shot excertion to the “Roads To Wigan Pier” exhibition which displayed some local photographers from Bradford itself that were sent off with a small budget to capture the cities industriel qauters and to take a look into the workers’ lives that managed to create it. We were told to choose one image and answer the following questions on it. What is the name of the photograph’s photographer? Julian Germain. Describe what you can see? A young boy sat at an abandoned train track facing the camera. What is the point of view? The camera is a few metres away from the subject implying that the photographer wanted capture the maximum amount of background but at the same time still capturing the boy’s profile image. What has been included with in the image? Vegetation in the background has been included in the image perhaps to make the abadonment more obvious. What type of light is present in the photograph? It has been taken with black and white film using only natural light within the image. What does the image make you think about? It makes me feel inquizitive as to the boy’s motives for being at this certain location.
Summary My name is Sam Jessop and i am currently Photojournalism at Leeds metripolitan University. With in this book i have explored many steps in the exploration of photography thoughout time. I have looked at how storys and journeys have been captured in times before cameras and film and i have also looked into more modern times with the manipulation of images and photograhs of the current period. As i have explored each section i have gavered a vast insite into how much and how far we’ve achieved to get to the very high-tech cameras and computer programmes of today.