Book Introduction Blog Post - Building My Relationship with Photojournalism

A. 

1. Do you think that being knowledgable in all areas of our world's history is valuable regardless of what you do for work? 

I believe that in order to exist even outside of a job that you should be confident in your general education on history. This goes hand-in-hand with staying up to date on current news like politics because after all, that will inevitably become history, too. I think this quote from Module 2 by Marcus Garvey is a great representation of the importance of history to each individual; "A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots." 

2. If you, as a photojournalist, had to make the choice for your job to either only capture negative and tragic photos or only capture positive and optimistic photos for the rest of your career, which would you pick? Why? 

If I had to make this decision, I would definitely have to say I'd choose to only capture positive photos for the rest of my career. I say this because I feel like typically, what is documented by photojournalists is to spread a message to the world about something terrible that has happened. However, when I think of the photography aspect of it, my mind initially goes to capturing happy moments and sharing them as a reminder that there is good in the world and we do have the ability to keep it that way as opposed to the fact that there is too much evil in the world and that we should fix that. For example; I would never feel drawn to War Photography (especially after watching the "In Harms Way" video), because it is simply so morbid and dangerous. I would much prefer to document sporting events like the Olympics where there are victories that don't involve people dying! 

B. 

I took this photo of my dad watching the news as my example of photojournalism (9/9/24). When I think of how photojournalism shows itself in my day-to-day life, I immediately think of how often I see and hear the news just because of my dad. I got the idea to use this as my example of photojournalism image while I was watching the "Why Study History?" montage in Module 2. Each time a clip of a political figure showed up on the screen made me realize more and more that politics is a huge part of my personal definition of photojournalism. I knew my dad would be watching the news in his room tonight, and I liked the way that the TV lit up his silhouette. It's so interesting to think about how my dad and I have lived such drastically different lives regarding what we have experienced in history over the years, yet it still led to this moment where we were both watching the same news. 

I chose to photograph my bagel the other day (9/8/24), at Woodstar Café as my example of what is not photojournalism. It is simply an image of what my mom and I had to eat that day for lunch, and I, of course, am aware of that since I am the photographer. However, after watching the interview with Jason Henske, I had a slight change in perspective. Really, anything can be viewed as photojournalism. Henske works as a newspaper photographer in Brattleboro, VT. Because of how small the community is compared to the broad umbrella of topics that ABC News has to cover, any little thing can be important to capture and share. If I was a newspaper photographer for Northampton, MA, I could have very well been taking photos of my food for an article on the town's top-picks. I think this is a cool way to look at it. 

C. 

Regarding my current relationship to the news and photojournalism, I would say it is certainly stronger than it ever has been due to my enrollment in this course. As a marketing major with a digital media minor, it is undoubtedly one of the most crucial classes that I will take; never mind throughout college but especially during this semester. I have set a goal in the back of my mind to stay updated on current events in the news and photojournalism to ensure my success in my studies. I am studying the history of photojournalism because without it, my future job would be totally meaningless. For context, I hope to work in the social media marketing industry. I want to learn more about how I can make a positive impact on the world of photography and journalism by reviewing what has been successful historically. As far as current event topics that I am drawn to, I would say things related to music, travel, sports, and health/fitness in general. I consume news mainly through social media and the internet, but I guess you could also say that I involuntarily consume the news while my dad is watching it!