Exercise: An essay on photojournalism

Photojournalism and the Tabloid Press by Karin E Becker (in The Photography Reader by Liz Wells)

• Taking the opening and closing paragraphs, summarise the writer’s basic contention and conclusion. 

These talk about the immediate, direct appeal of photos. Is it ‘true’ journalism? It seems excluded from the ‘serious’ press. Tabloids - display and appeal of photos are used to judge the tabloid press as ‘merely’ popular. Critique from tabloid directed against elite journalism. How photos are used as a news vehicle and deconstruction of news. There is a dichotomy between serious journalistic photography and tabloid photography. 

• What does the conclusion add to the opening statement? 

Photojournalism has a popular status rather than journalism. The essays are not cleanly edited and are not composed as well. Lots of overlaps between photos and text. The emotional nature of photos was mentioned and how subjects may be presented as social equals. 

• Stages of the argument

The early picture press

 This described the history of illustrated magazines from the 1840’s in various European countries. It mentions America from the 1850’s. These magazines used illustrators and sent them to events to engrave pictures on their return. ‘Eye witness.’ At the time wood engravings were thought to be truer. Sometimes engravings were made from a photo. In the 1890’s there was a gradual change to using photos. The successful depiction of 

‘Maine’  and how it was explained. The war with Spain saw an increase in weekly magazines in the US. Advertising support grew. It is believed that use of photos may have increased magazine sales at the beginning of the century. d

The tabloid=sensationalism=photography

Daily newspapers took longer to use photos as it was felt the process was too cumbersome at the start. Tabloid press in the 1920‘s - sensational photos of violence, sex, accidents and society scandals. Sensational journalism breaks ethical guidelines to sell more papers by attracting attention. It is not always subject matter but the way photos are reproduced that appealed to emotions and created the sensation. Examples are the cameraman watching an execution with a camera taped to his ankle at the point of death. 

The daily press ‘supplements’ the news

Daily newspapers in Europe and North America didn’t have regular photos until 1920, mainly in tabloids. As tabloids had lowered credibility of the press, it was hard for photos  to be seen as a medium for serious news. Weekly supplements started with the daily press in magazine format - better reproduction. Newspapers were the primary product and were not seen to be downgraded by the photo. 

The picture magazines’ legacy

Mass circulation picture magazines mainly emerged between the wars in Germany and other European countries, and the late 1930’s in England and the US. They established new genres of photo reportage. Photo essays and documenting people. Documentary photography was accepted as art and started to be  seen in museums. The status of photojournalism and photojournalists reached unprecedented heights. 

The contemporary domain of the tabloid

Many different kinds of newspapers are in tabloid format. There is a varying degree of overlap with the elite press. Reliance on news stand selling - ie the front page sells. More presence of photos. Three broad categories of coverage - private or other persons in circumstances that make them newsworthy, celebrities and ‘news’ style events.

Plain pictures of ordinary people

Often a photo in a very plain setting is used with words to explain what happened. May resemble an ordinary family photo without the words. Often people are looking at the camera. Accessible to viewers. Co-operative. Or could be ID portrait style or candid showing events that are underway. 

Celebrities

Usually shown posing at home with family. Seeing the ‘real’ person. Angle and eye contact bring them to viewer’s level. Often alongside performance or file photos. Candid photos appear quite often but not as much as we think. Most paarazzi photos appear in the weekly press. 

The news event

‘News’ has many definitions but there is a core of national and international news events covered. Reminds us often what may appear candid but maybe more planned. Experiences with lots of emotion. Sometimes photos are grainy or underexposed - accepted as the ‘tabloid style.’ How ordinary people are affected by events. 

Reframing the picture in words and layout

Photos - meaning in relation to how they are seen. Relationship to words - tabloid press more dramatic. Headlines used a lot. Meaning of this relationship between photos and text. Text illustrates the image. Often direct quotes are used, to do with the people in the photos. Use of first/third person. Apart from events or part of it. Montages used as well as retouching - not good for representation of fact. Photos should be a window. 

* Becker contrasts the use of photos in the tabloid press with their use elsewhere. Do these contrasts bolster her central argument or detract from it?  Bolster - pointing out differences and why - does bolster. Numerous contrasts but not representative. 

* How successful do you think the writer has been in arguing her case? Very. This made me a lot more informed. Lots of examples were covering a long period of time. Not quite decisive though about the original contention. 

Book review: Selbst portrait Che Guevara 2005 Ernesto che Guevario

This showed lots of photos of Che Guevara as a child, trips to South America and writings etc, letters and history. There was a real sense of a family album as all the photos were different styles and sizes. Images of India. He had his own self portraits too, and a history of everything. 

Book Review: De Fotografo - Fotos of Che Guevara

Different places in South America, documentary style, meaning the photos are not always straight. Lots of different sizes. Sports in Mexico, Chichen Itza. Aspects of war. Some images of India in 1959 that were really grainy. Beche - style shots of factories in Cuba. Black and white images mixed in amid colour images. Lots of artefacts in the sky. 

Book Review: Cien Imagenes de la Revolution Cubana 1953-1966 by Pedro Alvarez Tabio

Black and white images of fighters, behind the scenes and front line. Both soldiers and civilians are shown in the pictures. Che Guevara portraits, tanks and people in fields. Towards the end many of the photos showed people in fields. There was quite a mix of ordinary life shots between set up politically motivated shots. There was a shot of Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela, as well as a balance of street photos vs war photos. 

Book Review: Im kopf waren wir schon in Deutschland: Heimats imigration in 27 Portraits by Goethe Institut

This book followed people who are taking the Start Deutsch 1 exam, which is needed to settle in Germany. It introduces them with a portrait, then talks about the impact of the exam and why they came to Germany. Clear, striking photos of their homelands follow, together with their written thoughts about it. 

Exhibition: Museum Kunstpalast Duesseldorf

Reiner Ruthenbeck.

Among the varied collection of modern and 19th Century traditional art was a collection of black and white photos.
One series depicted what looked like a cello concert, and behind the scenes  photos of people lying down with the cello, covering the cello up etc. Great photos of an audience enthralled in the music.
Another series, "Leben Mit Pop," was an interesting collection of photos taken around pop concerts from the early 1960's. The last photos depicted a demonstration which seems to have taken place in London. 

Exhibition: K21 Gallery Duesseldorf June 2013

This gallery had several photo exhibitions running.
Thomas Ruff: large prints of starscapes, this is a series of negatives he bought of the southern hemisphere that were taken for scientific research. The stars appear amazingly clearly and the size makes them seem as if you are looking right at the sky. Beautiful.

Christian Boltanski: Having seen one of his exhibitions during a photography course in London, I knew to expect the unexpected! On the walls, you see portraits enlarged from newspapers of both victims and perpetrators of crimes. A metal box of photos is under each photo which is lit individually by a small spot light. The room has a rack of linen sheets, giving an air of forensics. Nothing distinguishes the victims from the perpetrators, giving an eerie sense of uncertainty.

Bernd and Hilda Becher: This was well organised small portraits arranged in blocks of 3 down by 5 across depicting their industrial architecture series. The buildings are clear and have an odd sense of beauty about them.

Wolfgang Tilmans: This took up the whole lower ground floor of K21, and was more like a series of mini-exhibitions. It was hard to believe at times that all the photos were taken by the same person as there was such variation. There were large prints of the stars and moon, capturing large pictures of landscapes (mainly tree branches) emphasising colour. Some were merely a print of one colour on a large piece of photographic paper. Others were stark documentary style, some documenting male genitalia and sexual acts, as well as some portraits.