Photojournalism: Telling a Story Beyond Words.


When I think of Photojournalism, I think of ^rhapsouldize She has mentored me in the art of capturing a complete story within a photographic image and if not the complete story enough of a teaser to make me want to delve into what is going on.

This month I had the honor to see how ^Ghouldaddy would answer some of my most basic questions about Photojournalism. He is currently the
Gallery Director for Photojournalism as well as the Gallery Director for Pin-Ups. Being a Gallery Director myself, I can say that is a huge amount of work for one person.

He is a very talented artist/Photographer and one I have watched since the beginning of my dA Experience. He will be giving up his Photojournalism post and focus completely on Pin-Ups. Since he is leaving Photojournalism soon, I have found myself extremely fortunate to have this opportunity.

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The Bottom Line: The main message I have gotten from ^Ghouldaddy is that Photojournalism needs to be newsworthy.


How would one define Photojournalism? To quote ^Ghouldaddy “…."the shot" The shot that defines the story behind the photo, the shot that brings you to that moment in time when it was snapped. In a sense, it's a documentation of history. It's there to accompany a story and helps tell the story, it's not supposed to BE the story.

I was curious to find out if blurry concert images were Photojournalistic and I got a resounding NO! He told me that:

“Concert shots, hell ANY photojournalism shot should be a clear photo that makes you feel like you're there, holding up a point an shoot camera or cell phone and taking a picture from 50 rows back is not photojournalism….”

I found that interesting because I think that many here on dA could use a good “What is and what is NOT photojournalism FAQ!”

The newsworthy story doesn’t need to be chock full of sensationalism. The local PTA meeting can be a Photojournalism opportunity! Is there a school predator that parents are worried about or are they debating the next bake sale.

Time and time again as I learned about Photojournalism, it all boiled down to asking the question, “Is it newsworthy?”

What we would like to see here on dA is more quality in the gallery rather than quantity. That isn’t the Gallery Directors responsibility but it is the artists. Perhaps the new Photojournalist Gallery Director can encourage the community to step it up a notch!

I am going to finish this article with a few questions posed to ^Ghouldaddy I would like to encourage you all to thank him for the incredible job he has done as the Gallery Director of Photojournalism, especially if he has helped you. I personally admire him, respect him and find myself blessed to have learned from him.

• Do the photojournalists in your gallery get published?
Several deviants that are regular contributors to the Photojournalism gallery are published, myself included. deviants like *Slimmons, `cweeks (obviously) and ~SimonLarbalestier are but a few who have been published.

• What kind of miscat do you regularly see?
the largest one is an image that has zero sense of newsworthiness: for instance a snapshot of peoples friends playing in the cafeteria etc...yeah not photojournalism

• Is street photography the same?
Street Photography is Photojournalism’s fraternal twin ie they're the same, but not. A great deal of photojournalism can be considered street and vice versa. Street I would say is a bit more versatile than photojournalism, it doesn't have to be newsworthy to be considered street. I would say street really captures life more than PJ does, Photojournalism captures life’s events.

• Are images of homeless people PJ?
Depends on the situation again, what's being addressed in the shot

• War shots?
Most definitely, some of the world’s best photojournalists were/are wartime photographers Robert Cappa, JamesNachtwey and Eddie Adams to name a few


And finally the question of questions:
• What is the role of photojournalism and dA?
to document life

^shell4art
Community Projects Gallery Director