Lecture 5: A Picture Tells A Thousand Words

Photo-journalism is definitely not for me. After battling through COMU1999 last semester, this lecture made me uncomfortable. That is not to say that i don't appreciate or understand the relevance and importance of photo-journalism. In a contemporary sense a could image makes or breaks a story. An image is extremely important in hooking and capturing an audience, especially in a highly competitive and fast paced medium such as the internet.

I am a strong advocate for stumble upon and am constantly finding myself spending hours 'stumbling' interests such as travel and sports photography.

In an explosive and instant 21st century news environment, pictures often come as the first source of news or information. The capability of  people globally to take photos and be able to upload them within seconds to social media such as Twitter or Facebook, has heralded a new age of front line journalism.

images found on Stumbleupon such as,

 www.buzzfeed.com/pepsinext/10-beautiful-places-in-the-world-that-actually-exi/

onebigphoto.com/baby-chameleons/

constantly engaged me and succeeded in encouraging me to spend a long period of time browsing their site.

New and interesting images never get old. That is the hidden beauty of photo journalism. Multiple and detailed perspective can be given within an instant through a few careful taken photos.

With the current technological capabilities photos and images now can be altered and manipulated. This is an interesting and often controversial development in which almost anything can be made to look real or realistic. Programs such as photoshop are readily accessible and easy to use. Criticism of the air brushing and alteration of front page models to look almost inhumanly beautiful is testament to the away in which we can be persuaded and encouraged by media outlets.

peace. x

Kissing couple during the Vancouver Riots