Photo Journalism

Application, Context and Techniques

Application

Photo journalism was started by a french photographer named Henri Cartier-Bresson, he was one of the first photographers to use the Leica camera. The Leica camera was invented in Germany 1925, it was compact and quiet which meant it was easy to carry around and take picture in the right place at the right time. Cartier-Bresson was a surrealist, which meant where ever he went he saw a super reality behind reality, he could see possibilities of theatrical oppurtunities where ever he went. The pictures that Cartier-Bresson took were known as The Decisive Moment, he always knew at what moment to take the perfect picture; his most famous picture was taken in Paris 1933, of a man jumping into a puddle. The Decisive Moment is the slpit second you take a picture changes the whole meaning of the scenario in front of you, a second before or after the picture could mean nothing but if you catch it at the right moment the picture could escalate to a historical piece. 

Robert Capa worked for Life magazine and was sent to World War 2 as a photo journalist to take life changing pictures of the war. He approached the photography industry with a motto of get close and then get closer. He took one of the ultimate decisive moments in The Spanish Civil War 1936 of a soldier just been shot to death. He had taken some amazing pictures of the war, yet unfortunaltey his pictures were accidently destroyed whilst they were developing. Only a few had survived.

People were amazed by the risks that Robert Capa took for is passion of photography, which meant his work was highly respected, unlike the work of Tony Vaccaro.

Tony Vaccaro was not a a proffessional photo journalist but a U.S. army G.I. who had a love for photograph. During WW2 Tony Vaccaro always had a camera hanging around his neck, so in the middle of action he could quickly grab the camera and snap a picture in that moment. Unfortunatley Tony wasn't wealthy enough to afford the Leica camera so instead he used the Arga C3, as he was a G.I. he didnt have a proffessional photo developing studio, but he made do with soldiers helmets and the chemicals he found from a blown up camera shop. Although Tony worked hard to get his pictures ready for America, the U.S. army did not publish them as they didn't want a negative view fo the war, as the citizens of America would of realised that war is a horrible and disastrous act.
 


 
1933 - Henri Cartier-Bresson

Tony Vaccaro

  

Robert Capa

Context

Photo Journalism was created to show the reality of the war, to show how horrible and brutal the war turned out to be. Robert Capa was an official photo journalist and out himself in danger to get the photos he needed, his photos were published in the American magazine Life. Tony Vaccaro was also a photo journalist, yet publishers thought that his work was to graphic for the general public to see, and would give a negative view on the war.

Techniques

Techniques are rarely used in photo journalism, it is just the matter of being in the right place and the right time and capturing the Decisive Moment. It also takes having a good imagination, being able to walk into a room and picture a photograph in your mind, but also being able to take the picture in the way that they imagined it.