JOUR 1111 Lecture 4: Power Through Pictures

Photo journalism was the topic of the day. Most of the content Bruce spoke about had been covered in my COMU1999 lectures, but it was useful to hear Bruce's angle on the topic. 

The main theme of the class was based on the importance of picture stories, and how they have evolved over time. Australian indigenous cave paintings and early century Holy books are an examples of picture stories.

By outlining these primitive concepts, an illustration of how these forms of visual communication have evolved and filtered into the media over time. The first use of photo journalism began in 1880. The rate at which technology has evolved is astounding. 

We went on to look at some hilarious (but sad) examples of digital manipulation. This was my favourite example - 

But what makes a great photo? Aspects such as framing, focus, viewpoint and lighting were all touched on by Bruce. The importance of timing was emphasised, as it was stressed that a photographer’s ability to ‘capture the moment’ is vital.

“A picture has no meaning at all if it can’t tell a story.” - Eetu Silanpaa

Here are a few images which are true to Eetu Silanpaa's words. 

Robert Peraza, who lost his son Robert David Peraza in 9/11, pauses at his son’s name at the North Pool of the 9/11 Memorial. (Getty Images / Justin Lane)

A protester gets sprayed in the face with pepper spray at an Occupy Portland protest. (Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian)

Chile's Puyehue volcano erupts, causing air traffic cancellations across South America, New Zealand, Australia and forcing over 3,000 people to evacuate. (Reuters)

Facebook played an extremely important role in the uprisings throughout the Middle East. (Source: theatlanticwire.com)

A U.S. Army soldier takes five with an Afghan boy during a patrol in Pul-e Alam, a town in Logar province, eastern Afghanistan. (Reuters / Umit Bektas)

A woman rebel fighter supporter fires an AK-47 rifle as she reacts to the news of the withdrawal of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces from Benghazi on March 19. (Reuters / Goran Tomasevic)

 A man sits in front of a destroyed apartment building following the Joplin, Missouri tornado. (Reuters)

A demonstrator shows his bottom to riot police during a protest by European workers and trade union representatives to demand better job protection in the European Union countries in Brussels on March 24. (Reuters / Thierry Roge)