History of Photojournalism

By: Michael Bartolo

Photojournalism over the years

Photojournalism has had a dramatic

change due to 1 major advancement that

has had developments over the year’s:

Technology

Technology

Let’s face it, we are in a technologically

advanced world.

We have it at our fingertips, it’s but

well worth the investment.

Technology has drastically changed our

world for the better, but in some cases

not so much.

Pre-technology

Photo by : unknown

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/dat

e/2010/01

Imagine a moment that

you wanted to capture

and had to set up a

camera like this ->

By time you set up that

camera, the moment

you wanted to capture

is GONE!!!

WILSON

SNOWFLAKE

BENTLEY

UNIT

WW2

John Morris said “A darkroom technician was almost as anxious to

see the invasion images as Capa himself. In his haste, the

technician dried the film too quickly. The excess heat melted the

emulsion on all but 10 of the frames. Those that remained were

blurred, surreal shots, which succinctly conveyed the chaos and

confusion of the day.”

Famous D-Day photographer Robert Cappa faced a challenge

trying to get photo’s he took developed.

Imagine if he had a satellite phone, a DSLR,

SLR, Wi-Fi, or an SD Card.

Photo by: Robert Cappa

http://www.skylighters.org/photos/robertcapa.ht

ml

Leafax

1990 mobile computer system

photographers could take with them

Transmission speeds were

still slow, and required

18 steps

Photo by unknown

http://www.adorama.com/alc/0012375/article/H

ow-Digital-Technology-Has-Changed-

Photojournalism

Problems for the photojournalists:

• Bulky to carry around

• Slow transmission

• Many steps to transmit photo

Imagine Standing on a battlefield after taking a photo and having to

transmit it to the editor can be dangerous and time

consuming for the journalist.

Though photojournalists were able to submit work via

satellite rather than having to develop photo’s and send

them.

Photo by : Satellite Signals Limited

http://www.satsig.net/africa/spidersat-

tanzania-satellite-communications.htm

Cheryl meyer said “some

photojournalists struggled with

smaller satellite phones,

sometimes waiting for up to 3

hours for a photo move”

Technological advancement

nowA photo can be taken and within

second’s sent via Wi-Fi virtually

anywhere

Photo by : unknown

http://beautyhigh.com/how-to-take-perfect-prom-picture-gifs/

Though with advancements comes a price

“A good digital SLR was upwards of $10,000 and didn’t have a quality level that

matched film” according to Mark Lent

Lent also said:“In the past 20 years, the

abilities of the working photojournalist

have changed almost as much as the

technology. What editors once considered

a “low-tech” job has become one of the

most technically demanding positions at

any media outlet.”

So you can see that being a photojournalist you had to adapt to the

change quickly to stay in the journalism business. I’m sure their were

plenty of old-timers who liked their old ways.

According to Steve: “According Smaller,

lighter and more powerful cameras and

equipment have made the job of

photojournalists easier.”

http://gizmodo.com/5326026/nikon-

d3000-beginners-10mp-dslr-with-

educational-menus-for-600/

“The modern photojournalist must be an IT manager, writer, videographer, video and photo editor, webmaster, and computer repair technician…and oh yeah, they have to be technically accomplished photographers, too. Since photographers often work alone and away from their offices, having all of these abilities becomes crucial because you can’t send for the publication’s IT staff 250 miles away when you’re having issues with your laptop, Internet, or workflow.” Lent stated

Wi-Fi

With the advancement of the internet

and capablilties on devices,

photojournalists are able to submit

photo’s to their editors without

hesitation.

Technological Advancement

timeline1851

Frederick Scott Archer invented the Collodion

process - images required only two or three

seconds of light exposure.

1871

Richard Leach Maddox invented the gelatin dry

plate silver bromide process - negatives no

longer had to be developed immediately.

1888

Eastman patents Kodak roll-film camera..

1948

Edwin Land markets the Polaroid camera.

1913/1914

First 35mm still camera developed.

Timeline of advancement

continued1990

Eastman Kodak announces Photo CD as a

digital image storage medium.

1999

Secure Digital (SD) cards were launched

2005

WiFi cameras, which first made an

appearance in 2005

From film

With film gone, photojournalists no

longer have to purchase film which is

saving their company and themselves

money.

Investing in a Wi-Fi enabled camera is

beneficial in the long run, even tough the

cost might be a bit high.

The End…Here is a short iMovie I created with photo’s I

had laying around in my house of family

members and myself to show how picture

taking has changed over the year’s and

affected the quality of the photo’s