Chronological Stages Of Photojournalism Essay
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THE CHRONOLOGICAL STAGES OF PHOTOJOURNALISM
The origins of photojournalism can be seen in documentary photography as early as the 1870’s. People were interested as to what far away countries looked like and what famous people looked like but never had the chance to see them. Photographers such as Roger Fenton went out and took photographs of the English troops in the Crimea. Over the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Matthew Brady brought together many photographers including Tim O’ Sullivan to cover the American Civil War (1861-1865). Tim O’ Sullivan went on to document Nevada and the Rockies. All used collodion plates.
Documentary photography then progressed and went on to show the lives of the poor. Dr. Bernado hired professional photographers to take photographs of the boys who were brought in to the homes and then these photographs were mounted onto card and sold to raise money for the homes. John Thomson in 1877 published a book, Street Life in London; it contained photographs of the poor people in London.
There are many elements that contributed to the beginnings of photojournalism, the 35mm camera was the main breakthrough and avid new photo reporters were eager to go out and take photographs. Editors of newspapers and magazines began to see the potential of photography and how it could make the sales of their newspapers and magazines rise. The idea that people could look at the news instead of reading it meant that many more people could understand what was going on in the far reaches of the world. Compulsory education for children of up to 10 years of age started around 1880-1890’s, this meant that far more people could read although not perfectly but enough to read the captions placed beneath the photographs.
People at the time were fascinated with how people lived in other parts of the world and to be able to see the actual thing instead of just reading about it was a fantastic thing. People of all classes could view the entire world from the pages of newspapers and magazines. The birthplace of photojournalism was in Germany with the advancement of technology, manufacturers started to look into producing better quality lenses. Germany already had the most sophisticated printing technology and this was absolutely necessary to mass-produce thousands of prints for weekly magazines. They researched designs on new types of glass. In 1914 Oscar Barnack was a designer working for Leitz a German company which made microscopes. He designed a camera for his own personnel use which used a 35mm wide film made for movie cameras and within the next ten years Leitz developed the model and put it on the market under the name Leica. This was the
true beginning of photojournalism, armed with a compact and reliable camera photographers could take amazing photographs without any hassle.
The camera in the foreground is the
1924 model and the camera in the
background is a 1960’s model of the
same camera. The name Leica came
from Lei/tz and ca/mera. Press
photographers were not keen on the
35mm format as when enlarged a
coarse grain pattern appeared.
It was not until the 1930’s-1940’s
that emulsion technology improved.
Photographers became spontaneous with the new Leica 35mm cameras. Gone were the days of studio photography and posing, instead photographers could go out into the streets and take photographs of everyday situations. As there was not any more waiting for the long exposures people went out and if they saw something which was good they could point and shoot. This was revolutionary. You could see how the reporter felt by the way he composed his photograph and by what the actual subject was.
The 1925 Ermanox was a 6 x 9-cm plate and had a max aperture of f1.8. This camera was popular as used with sensitive plates it would give almost instant exposures using indoor light; there was no need for burning flashpowder. This camera used glass plates that had to be removed after each exposure. Therefore people began to take ‘candid’ photographs and this improved many newspapers and magazines during the 1930’s. During the 1920’s a large number of mass-media magazines all illustrated with photographs flooded onto the German market. Before the development of the Leica and the Ermanox photographers had to drag around a large plate camera, many editors did not know of these two new cameras which had been developed. Kurt Korff editor of the Berlin illustrated Newspaper (BIZ) realised that the conservative press photographers had came to a dead end although it did have its achievements.
In 1921 the Communist Arbeiter Illustrierte Zeitung (AIZ) was founded, one of its many contributors was John heartfield. He was famous for his new style in photomontages, meanwhile in Hungary another magazine Erdekes Ussag was another early example of photojournalism. In 1923 the Munich Illustrated Press (MIP) was first published its editor was Hungarian Stephan Lorant. The BIZ and MIP soon reached a circulation of half a million. Many more magazines followed such as; the Hamburg Illustrated and the Frankfurt Illustrated there were also a small amount of other magazines on the market.
The Berlin Illustrated Newspaper was in lead of all the other magazines, which was due to the serial novels that were aimed at the middle-class reader. The cover of most magazines were dominated by a large photograph, AIZ, Picture Post and New York’s Life had the cover completely dominated by a large photograph while the BIZ had a white border around the edges due to a technical reason. This made the magazines more attractive and made then stand out from the racks of endless magazine and newspapers. If it were not for the editors who were willing to experiment with the new cameras and explore new areas these magazines would not have been possible.
Instead of words telling a story the photographs took over and the story would be based around a theme of photographs. Erich Salomon was the BIZ most talented photographer and a Jewish doctor. He became well known when he published pictures taken secretly at a murder trial; these proved so successful that he became a full-time professional. He got the top stories for the BIZ as he took advantage of his ability to speak seven languages and often dressed up in disguise and got into political conferences. Using the Ermanox he took photographs with the camera half hidden under his jacket, as the Ermanox had a big aperture and could be used indoors with artificial light he succeeded in producing photographs that were unique for that time.
Another candid photographer was Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995), he began taking photographs at the age of 14 and by the age of 29 he had sold his first photograph. He began his free-lance career in 1928 working for Pacific and Atlantic Photos' Berlin office. He used a Miroflex camera and produced many stunning photographs. In 1935 he moved on to live in America where he purchased a Rolleiflex camera and just a year later he became of the few original photographers for Life Magazine. Using a 2 ¼” Rolleiflex camera he would mix in with crowds and take candid photographs. The Rolleiflex did not have to be held to the eye to use, therefore he just stood motionless, clicking away at American soldiers saying their goodbyes to their wives and loved ones.
One of his most famous photographs was in New York’s Time Square on VJ 1945. It shows a sailor passionately kissing a nurse, Eisenstaedt had always liked spontaneous photography and this was a perfect example. Although the photograph looks like it has been staged, it has not and this is the beauty of photojournalism. People of the public began to see how good spontaneous photography could be.
Photojournalism allowed the world to the truth. Rumours could be made about wars and who was winning, what the conditions were like, but nobody had proof. Photojournalists provided the world with...
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