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Photojournalism: News Photography

 Photographs of happenings that have news values, and reported immediately. Photography of unexpected occurrences / spot news, or breaking news.  Most news photographs also have documentary value.  Thus serious news photographers are also documentary photographers.

Study the PDF below (for academic use only)

News Photography PDF

Why do we need news photography?

The story becomes tangible with a picture: A picture can let the reader see what a person, or a place, or a building, or an event looks like. The picture shows the news.

The page becomes attractive and inviting to read: Newspapers without pictures do not make the news easy to read. A page without a picture is just a slab of grey text. It looks boring and many people will not bother to read what is written on it.

Provides evidence for the event reported: Since the readers can see it with their own eyes, the photograph takes them to the place of action, and familiarizes them with people and happenings.

Two types of News Photos

The happening: It is the image of the real happening and people. For example the images of an an earthquake, a murder, or a demonstration that happened. It could be images of particular people who are involved with it.

The epitome: This image shows on a small scale a larger reality. For example, one impoverished mother, with no milk to feed her child, watching her baby starve to death communicates the state of poverty in the country. Epitomes are important to news pictures because it is impossible to cover 10,000 people starving.

News Photography is characterised by news values: Timeliness, Prominence, Impact / Consequence, Conflict / Negativity, Proximity, Currency / Relevance, Human interest, and Oddity / Bizarre.

How to go about taking news photography?

  • We never know when a spot news will happen; so be prepared at all times.
  • Be familiar with your camera controls.
  • Having one camera body with a wide-angle lens, and another with a telephoto, gives you options while you work on an event. Some even choose to have two cameras.
  • What matters most are people, take pictures of people with identification.
  • Basic shots: long shot, medium shot, and close up. Remember you cant go back to take more shots.
  • First shoot the usual angles. Shoot from all possible angles. Beyond that look for different and unusual images. Make your photographs stand out.
  • Try to capture the peak and decisive moment. Wait for the right moment.
  • Often you’ll find the best photos either before, or after, an event. Don’t leave right after it’s over. For example, A political candidate may be talking to a family after a news conference. Or a trophy winner may be celebrating with friends.

News Photography, Photojournalism
News Photography

How to caption a news photograph?

  • A caption of the photograph explains what is in the frame and places it in the context.
  • The information must be accurate.
  • The caption can give new information. Don’t just repeat the news headline.
  • Always identify the main people in the photograph. Avoid confusion by stating ‘left to right’. 
  • Whenever possible, use present tense. That creates a sense of immediacy and impact.
  • Conversational language is the best. Write a caption as though you are talking to a friend.
  • The tone of the caption should match the tone of the image. If an image is serious do not try to be humorous.

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