[Leica] Death of photojournalism

[rhart76 at gmail.com (Roger Hart)]

I don't think the recent, rapid technological changes in photography, or
image capture or whatever you want to call it, are as responsible for the
what some are deeming the "death of photojournalism," as is the state of the
economy. I do believe there is still a deep interest in quality photography,
but the publications that used to assign photographers and buy their
photographs, can longer do so. With pressure from internet sites forcing
traditional media outlets to abandon long-standing methods of doing
business, everyone has gotten squeezed in the process. The downturn in the
economy has only exacerbated an already volatile situation.

In regard to the comments about cellphone cameras and point-and-shoots, we
must remember there has always been a market for once-in-a-lifetime photos
regardless of how they were shot. A tiny camera attached to a shoe to
photograph an execution or a point-and-shoot capturing an engine falling off
an airliner about to crash. The subject matter would almost always trump
image quality.

But, I do believe there is still a great need for these story tellers who
with their cameras, loaded with film or memory cards, go out into the world
and bring back amazing stories. How the photojournalists will be paid for
their efforts must still be sorted out, as right now, no one wants to pay
for internet sites. But that too, I believe, will change with time. There
also could be opportunities for high-quality printed magazines to thrive
again, as they could be viewed as real luxury items...holding something in
your hand as opposed to reading it on a screen.

So I'm not convinced that photojournalism is dead. I was a faithful
practioner of the art for 20 years, and while the profession is undergoing a
revolution, as long as there are stories to tell, there will be story
tellers grabbing their cameras, and there will be those who want to read the
stories.

Roger Hart
Detroit
USA


On Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 9:15 PM, Lawrence Zeitlin <lrzeitlin at 
gmail.com>wrote:

>  On Aug 9, 2009, at 8:52 PM, Steve Barbour wrote:
> >
> >> from NYT...
> >>
> >> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/business/media/10photo.html?_r=1
> >>
> >>
> >> does anyone see an opportunity for rejuvenation?
> >>
> ----------
>
> The demise of photojournalism is a natural concomitant of technical
> advances
> in image making. I groaned when automatic everything cameras obsoleted all
> my hard won knowledge of focusing, setting exposure, and adjusting shutter
> speeds. I moaned when digital cameras obsoleted my darkroom skills. Now the
> creative aspects of photography have been diminished as well. The public
> cares little for nicely composed images. Just the facts, mam. With 50
> million picture capable cell phones in the hands of the US public and
> another hundred million world wide, it is almost a certainty that someone
> will capture an image of every newsworthy event. The riots in Iran and the
> hanging of Saddam Hussein are two cases in point. No professional
> photojournalist was there for the hanging and few were on site in Iran. But
> the cell phone images ran in the papers and on TV.
>
> Two hundred years ago, if you wanted a picture of grandmother on the wall,
> you hired a portrait painter. Affluent Dutch merchants hired Rembrandt.
> Where are the portrait painters today? Replaced by photographers. And now
> the photographers are losing out to the digital P&S and cell phone. We had
> a
> good lock on the imaging market for 150 years. Today photojournalists are
> in
> the same league as the buggy whip makers.
>
> Incidentally, my son-in-law, a news anchor for an ABC affiliate TV station
> in a major market was issued both a photo capable cell phone and a Kodak HD
> pocket sized video camera. He is to snap photos and videos of news worthy
> events whenever he comes across them. The pictures cannot be used on air
> (yet) because that would violate the news cameramen's union contract but
> they are prominently displayed on the station's web site. The station has
> fired most of its studio camera operators, camera positioning being done by
> computer controlled by the director.
>
> Larry Z
>
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