Photojournalism tells stories through photographs alone. It began in the mid-19th century with war photography and has since expanded to other newsworthy events. How audiences interpret photojournalism depends on their background knowledge and ability to decode symbolic meanings in photos. Effective photojournalism uses techniques like shot angles, types, and color schemes to convey emotion and perspective without words. Important photojournalists like Marilyn Silverstone used these techniques to capture raw, real scenes and advance the field despite challenges as a woman.

1. Photojournalism
Photojournalism is a way of telling a story by just using a photo, the photo is usually very
descriptive and evokes a lot of emotion. Photojournalism has shaped the way we receive
news and how we report it. It started as war photography in the mid-19th century and
throughout time it’s spread to other newsworthy events. Photojournalism has featured a lot
of controversial and risky photos, but the more controversy the more real the picture is. For
photojournalism the photographers like to take pictures of raw and real scenes,
photographers take everything into consideration, e.g. the scenery, the focus of the camera,
the shot type.
In modern day we abbreviate things as much as we can and try to use as less words and as
little effort as we can. Photojournalism can be interpreted as an easy way of telling a story
without having to use any words. I appreciate photojournalism because I think it’s
important to understand how difficult it is to tell a story and trigger emotions using just a
photograph.
Where photojournalism started
Crimean War – Roger Fenton
War photography is where the origin of photojournalism started, Roger Fenton was the first
official war photographer during the Crimean War 1850. Cameras were first created in 1816
so by 1850 we had more advanced technology, but, compared to modern day the cameras
were nowhere near as advanced, they were large and bulky, requiring photographers to
shoot landscapes or, if photographing people, to pose them because they couldn’t capture
moving shots. They required long exposures on plates that had to be developed
immediately in huge, mobile darkrooms. These photos were published in ‘Illustrated London
News’ it was the first newspaper that was able to include images with the paper. The first
time these type of war photos were exposed to the public was revolutionary because it was
the first-time people really saw what it was like.
American Civil War – Mathew Brady
Whereas Fenton was only able to focus on scenery pictures due to the lack of technology,
10 years later during the American Civil War photographer Mathew Brady recreated War
photography in a different way. With slightly advanced technology he explored different
scenery and began capturing scenes of camp life and the battlefield for newspaper ‘Harper’s
Weekly’. He started taking photos of troops before they left to fight because he assumed

2. that if they didn’t return then families would want portraits of them. However, after being
out and experiencing life on the field he became more interested in War itself. He began
taking photos of the war in 1861 and in a lot of situations he put himself in danger during
battle so he could get a good shot. Brady’s was a large operation, with him employing over
20 assistants, each equipped with a mobile darkroom.
World War 1
World War 1 was the first War where the technology was advanced to smaller cameras and
film formats that let professional photographers make images quickly and under difficult
light, making them able to capture moving images from the front line. The cameras were so
advanced that there was a camera called ‘The Vest Pocket Kodak’ introduced in 1912, they
became the most popular camera carried by soldiers. Although forbidden by some
militaries, including Britain’s, many soldiers took these cameras to the front.
“Photography seems to have played a substantial role in the personal life of soldiers, it
made them proud that they could inform their families with pictures and, more importantly,
to document their heroic participation in this war. After 1916, there were strict rules of
what to show and what not. But the pictures from the front, sent by soldiers to their
families, could not be controlled that much.” - Bodo von Dewitz, an expert on photography
during World War
Perspective
Photojournalism can be interpreted as different things for different people, for a lot of
people photojournalism is as standard as broadcasting the news on recent/current events
around the world. Or an audience can interpret photojournalism as just a meaningless
photograph, however it has a deeper meaning and demands a more serve thought process.
It entirely depends on the audience’s interpretation.
Photojournalism links well with the theory about perspective from Georgia O’Keeffe, her
artwork/career was orientated around perspective. Georgia O’Keeffe was an artist born on
15 November 1887; she was more famously known for her paintings of flowers. O’Keeffe

3. painted a lot of flowers that, to first glance looked just like flowers but after looking closer
they had another interpretation. O’Keeffe created her paintings so they would look like a
flower but also be interpreted as a vagina, like an illusion. The meaning behind O’Keeffe’s
double meaning paintings were interpreted as coming from a feminism point of view, trying
to stir emotions about women and symbolising female empowerment. However, just
because they were flowers/vaginas didn’t mean they demanded a further interpretation.
O’Keeffe refused to let any ‘women’s liberation’ or ‘feminist stuff’ immerse in her paintings.
It is obvious that the paintings were flowers and also resembled vaginas, but it wasn’t for a
feminist movement, it was just to distinguish her work from other contemporary male
artists. O’Keeffe is a great example of what the painting is, is entirely in the eye of the
beholder and depends on the perspective of the audience
“I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my
flower, you hung all your associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my
flower as if I think and see what you think and see—and I don't.” Georgia O’Keeffe talking
about her interpretation of her paintings.
I think Georgia O’Keeffe’s perspective is interesting to try and employ to the concept of
photojournalism because they are both dependent on how the audience receive it.
According to Stuart Hall’s reception theory there are three different ways that an audience
can receive a piece of media, and these perspectives are asserted by encoded and decoded
messages, this means that the producer will encode messages and values throughout the
text which are left to the audience to decode. Depending on the audience’s
background/cultural knowledge and their ability to understand the text the audience will
decode the media in different ways. The audience can either adopt a, dominant/preferred
reading, where they agree, understand and enjoy the text, or they take an oppositional
reading where they reject the preferred reading and disagree with the concept and the text,
or they follow a negotiated reading, a compromise between dominant and oppositional
where there are depending factors that they both agree and argue with. So, people who
enjoy and appreciate O’Keeffe’s art would adopt a dominant reading.
For photojournalism the way they receive the photo is completely dependent on the
audience’s ability to decode the photo because there is no text to support the photo, so for
photojournalism it is important for the photo to contain symbolic meanings. ( Symbolic
meaning is part of the semiotics theory from Charles
Sanders Peirce, a symbol semiotic is when there is no
visual link between the photo and the meaning of the
photo, so to understand the photo you would have to
know previous cultural knowledge and understand
parts of the photo through symbols or subtle links.)
This applies well to photojournalism because there is a
lot of photos where you have to understand the
previous cultural knowledge before understanding the
photo. So, different audiences have very different
readings of the same photo. I think this is a very
important part of photojournalism because the point
of photojournalism is to tell a story with a picture, and
as the same with any story if you have background
knowledge you will understand the story in a different
way. For example, a photograph from Alfred

4. Eisenstaedt’s of a sailor kissing a nurse, it is an iconic photo from the war. To the eye it is
just a photo of a nurse and a sailor kissing but with background and cultural knowledge the
viewer would understand that the two people in the picture don’t actually know each other
but just grabbed and kissed each other in the moment, due to celebrating on VJ day when
the war was declared over. This photo stands out and is a very powerful photo because it
commemorated such an important time in history successfully capturing the atmosphere.
Colours Scheme
Photojournalism can either be taken with or without colour, more than not they are
developed without colour. It is personal to the artists preference, but a lot of artists tend to
stay loyal to de-colourisation because it is the way that photojournalism first started in the
late 1800s. Choosing to develop the photo with or without colour both have their own
advantages and disadvantages.
Black and White
Photojournalism in black and white is a popular decision because the boldness and the
solidarity of the black and white together make a statement, and the way the dark and soft
tones complement each other are sometimes more descriptive then if the picture was in all
colour. The black and white emphasises the shadows and makes the photo immediately
more dramatic, a black and white effect is more timeless and classic. Removing the colour
from the photo can let the viewer have a new perspective and concentrate on the point of
the photo, taking away any interference. For example, in a photo if the sky was light blue
then this would give the viewer a false sense of security because of the sub conscious
connotations that our minds make, Blue skies are usually associated with tranquillity and
positiveness. But with the black and white effect it gives us the freedom to abandon stigmas
and sub conscious patterns that different colours tell us to feel.
In photographs colours can sometimes introduce aspects of magical realism, for example
they can give the photo a hazy tone and be misleading. For example war photos would have
been taken on the battle field, with green grass and during the middle of the day with the
sun, so the connotations of the photo are happy and positive, however the photo should
take us on an emotional journey and through a more dark and mournful process because of
the upsetting and serious meaning that the photos should provoke. So, to have the photos
processed without colours it gives the viewers the chance to appreciate the non-obvious
aspects of the photo and allows them to recognise the emotional connection they have with
the photo.
Colour
Although, it can be argued that colour gives the photo more context. And therefore, the
ability to have a deeper understanding of what is going on in the photo, so some artist still
keep they’re photos developed in colour. They even enhance colours to make them
overpower and highlight of the photo. The impact that colour has on photos is that colour
catches the eye, if there was a bright photo next to a black and white one then the viewers
eyes would immediately be drawn to the bright piece. However, art isn’t meant to fit into a
small box with just few peoples perspectives, there may be more people who would be
drawn to a black and white photo because it evokes mystery and depth but that point of
view is not glorified because in the media the most interesting and radiant piece of work is
the one that produces most attention with first glance.
The different colours in a photo can immediately set a tone and give the photo more detail,
cold colours can connate a winter day, or a calming, antiseptic day. Including colours in

5. photos can be effective from this point of view because isn’t photojournalism meant to tell
us a story, and it is easier to understand a story if you have more factors explaining it.
Sometimes artists will even leave some colours in and then decolourise the rest to send a
message to the viewer.
Structure
Shot Angle
The angle of a photo is important because different angles have different meanings. For
example; if the photograph is taken from an angle looking over the subject of the photo it
belittles the character, showing that they are inferior to viewer. It makes the audience feel
above them, in control, we call this a bird’s eye view. However, a worm’s eye view would be
the opposite. An eye level angle represents that the viewers are equal to the subject of the
photo, this angle would be used to humanise the photo, it would give the photo are more
relatable perspective for the viewer, instead of feeling either intimidated or in control. A lot
of people would interpret an eye level shot as a “normal” shot but if you are able to
understand the depth that the angle of the photo carries then you will be able to have a
deeper connection with the photo. A lot of photojournalists take their photos from an eye
level angle to emphasise the realismof the photo. It is also very important to use an eye
level photo because this angle doesn’t include any judgement it creates an idea of equality.
Shot Type
As well as the camera angle the shot type is just as important. There are numerous different
shot types in photography. For example, a long shot, where the camera includes an entire
scene, so typically shows the entire object or human figure and the background. Or there’s a
close up shot which is, a photo of a certain feature or part of the subject, it takes up most of
the frame. A close up of a person usually means a close up of their face, e.g. their eye. In
photojournalism a lot of the photos acquire an extreme long shot, or a long shot, with the
exception of a few close-up shots. It is predominantly long shots because this style of
photograph gives the photographer the freedom to have as much in the shot as possible,
which gives the photo more ability to tell a story. It is easier to set a scene and create an
atmosphere with a long shot and they are more likely to convey a tone and emotion.
However, a close-up shot is frequently used because in a close-up piece of photojournalism
the photo is usually a lot more descriptive and detailed because there is just one subject in
the photo for the viewer to focus on.
Marilyn Silverstone
Marilyn Silverstone was a photojournalist and ordained Buddhist, 9 March 1929 – 28
September 1999. She was born in London, but her family moved to America just before the
Second World War. She grew up in Scarsdale, New York. After graduating from Wellesley
College, she became an associate editor for Art News, Industrial Design and Interiors in the
early 1950s.She moved to Italy to make documentary art films.
Silverstone’s photography stood out for me against other photographers for multiple
reasons. Firstly, because when conducting my research finding famous photojournalists, I
found it very difficult to find women photojournalists. This is because it is a lot harder for
women to get publicity for doing the same job as men. When I searched ‘famous
photojournalists’ only 3 out of 10 results were women. So, Silverstone immediately stood
out to me as her work must be impressive. Also, in the time period it was even more

6. difficult for women to be appreciated as men were more successful and seen as inferior to
women.
I find Silverstone’s photographs interesting because she took a lot of photos from a portrait
angle instead of landscape. Most photojournalist photos are taken from a landscape angle
because a landscape photo can be more descriptive and lets you see more of the photo. But
Silverstone captures a lot of her photos using a portrait angle, this looks effective and makes
her photos stand out.
why are photojournalists important
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