Traditional photojournalism practices as the main medium of news has been decreasing mainly due to new mediums like TV and Internet witch ironically like photography has been a result of a demand on technological evolution, this with a more recent tendency for entertainment lead news witch goes further way from the more serious photojournalistic essays. The accessibility of the public to the new technologies; the speed transmition of the information, live capability would be some among of the many factors that influenced the establishment of these new media forms. An example of this digital shift is Photo8.com an international photojournalism magazine and more recently the Times Inc announced the end of publishing Life Magazine witch a landmark for photojournalism to give place to online version (New York Reuters, 26/03/2007). The choice of entertainment based news compared with the space given to the news of wars or disasters witch seems to dominate especially on Tabloids newspapers and others new mainstream magazines like Heat or Nuts have been more part of the readership showing the today’s interest on celebrities and fame. One of some issues that underlie this selection is the treatment given by some of the media to audience as consumers making decisions at some level of what should or should not be included. Although there is a transformation and maybe a reinvention of the photojournalism generated by the technological advances and the respectively social context, this has been for some time created some resistance in some more traditional photojournalists. Who see their work restricted in the space given or associated with different perspectives from their own at some level leading to some find other spaces to present their work for instance books, exhibitions, Internet, etc.
Two of traditional photojournalism is the work of Simon Norfolk and Jonathan Olley producing their work in books, exhibitions and their websites. Their work blurs the boundaries of photojournalism, documentary photography and artistic, this combination has transformed much of the traditional photojournalism as well extending the possibilities in witch works are approached and presented. Proof of that is the way that Norfolk, Olley and many others once recognized mainly by photojournalists now seen as artists, these works are not categorized for today’s mainstream photojournalism viewed by less of a broad audience.
Simon Norfolk has done several photo essays on aftermath war covering among others Afghanistan, Bosnia, Israel/ Palestine, Iraq, etc his work has been exhibited all over the world recognized with major international awards. His photographs hold within themselves a paradox caused by their beauty caused by the slightly saturated colors and the soft light of pleasant scenes contrasting with an underling cruel reality. Norfolk also tries to register an emphasis the phases of conflict by different weapons in the aftermath essays of war as an attempt to describe and present the different phases of the war. Other of his later work Supecomputers where he explores the relation between machine and human based on detail suggesting a philosophical debate of technological on society. This body of work reminds of some of the works of Germanic photographers from Düsseldorf Academy where straight photographs from industrial sites rich on detail also suggesting a philosophical debate beyond the physical industrial structures. The artistic and subjective elements are a constant presence on Norfolk’s work resulting in more artistic approach once compared with early photojournalism.
Jonathan Olley work also been widely exhibited such as: Tate Britain; ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art); Imperial War Museum with major awards. in contrary to Norfolk the lack of pleasure or beauty is predominate in Olley’s work specially on the Castles of Ustler, (fig. 4) a photo essay about the Northern Ireland's police stations, army barracks and watchtowers. A sense of authority and surveillance from these structures over the landscape is a constant presence, making the eye hard to rest, failing to escape from the photographs. In this work the empirical structures provide a feeling of power over the viewer as well as black and white approach witch reinforces the coldness of the subject. Interestedly this work includes an essay by the architectural historian David Brett witch traces back the history of police barracks, this relation reinforces Olley’s work in a factual perspective. Even thought Olley photographs hold a artistic element this seems to be having a close relation with the early photojournalism practice by photographers like the founders of Magnum Photos.
The new technologies and Medias as well as society have made photojournalism in many ways reinvent itself especially in the contents and the forms that are presented. A concern is the today’s phenomena of entertainment lead news witch are a big part of the news contents and it goes further away from the more serious events happening all over the world. An essential element on photojournalism is the degree of the viewer interpretation witch depends heavily on the context given within the photograph and the text related as well as the function of raising awareness about serious issues of the world. The works like the ones of Norfolk and Olley in a gallery environment has a more of elite audience due to the space presented and the knowledge needed in order to the viewer to capture in full the interpretation by the Photojournalist. There is much photojournalism that has all the essential elements being visionary on the issues raised to the public awareness and the way witch is presented. This is the case of the two different works and their respectively approaches witch are not to be judged by any specific artistic criteria but as interpretation of the events within its context as well as of being capable to provoke questions about the world events, witch is ended found in their works. And that is what mainly defines traditional photojournalism.
References:
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Farquharson, A. (2003) Citibank Photography Prize 2003, London: Photographers’ Gallery
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Photographs:
Figure 1: ‘Normandy. Omaha Beach, The first waveof American Troops at Dawn. June 6th’, 1944 by Robert Capa.
Figure 2: ‘Burial at Sea from the U.S.S Bunker Hill Marshall Islands Campaign’, 1944 by W. Eugene Smith.
Figure 3: ‘Girl in the Picture’, 1972 by Nick Ut.
Figure 4: ‘The Brickworks at Hassain Khil’, from: Afghanistan: Chronotopia by Simon Norfolk.
Figure 5: ‘Fort, Newtonhamilton, South Armagh’, from The Castles of Ulster by Jonathan Olley
Marco Pereira
14/05/2007
