Lecture 5

This lecture on photo journalism is one I have been hanging out for since the start of semester. Although I love the written word, photos and videos have a special place in my heart. I love capturing life through the lens and being able to revisit it over and over again with absolute clarity.

The lecture kicked off by taking a look at the history of pictures and their importance within society. History shows us that the art of story telling through pictures has been around for thousands and thousands of years, right back to the cave paintings in France some 17 thousand years ago. In cultures such as these, pictures were relied on heavily for communication and story telling. As we moved to a more recent age, it was interesting to see pictures come back as an essential storytelling aid, first appearing in newspapers in 1880, since then pictures and video have become an integral part of journalism. Audiences today need to see the action and witness the proof.

This in turn made me think carefully about the manipulation of photos and videos. Certainly with the introduction of photo-shop and various editing technology, we have become a very skeptical bunch. When we see something truly unbelievable we've learnt that its probably just some editing trick and someone with far too much time on their hands. It is also slightly scary how something so honest, like film or a photo, can be manipulated (at times) so convincingly! Thankfully, as children of technology, we've learnt tell tale signs that a photo is lying to us.

With my love for images it's only natural that I am a user of Instagram and Tumblr. I think social networking sites such as Tumblr, Flicker and Instagram are just fantastic sources of inspiration, even if it does take a lot of sifting before you find something really great. These sites are only popular because of the magic of the image. Everyone loves to share their photos and see other peoples in return. However, there is no doubt they are also fuelled by our egos and our secret belief that we are actually amazing photographers (thanks Instagram filters for this magnificent illusion!).

The tips and tricks of taking a great shot, was all revision but it was great to revisit the basics before I begin my factual story telling exercise.