“When things happen to
people, they radiate a light. Because they have a picture caught inside them.
Because they were there and you weren't. And because you only got a piece. And
because all you can do is shrink and blow up that one tiny piece.”
I've always been more of a text
person. Even before filling out those Multiple Intelligences or ‘how am I smart’
quizzes you're always given in high school I was aware that writing was my
biggest strength and the best way for me to learn. My results from those
quizzes said the same: strength - linguistics; learning style - written. I'm
also really good at memory recall when it comes to things discussed (oral
learning). But pictures? They are my weakest link. I think that makes it
understandable that I was slightly reluctant to participate in this week's
lecture.
But I was wrong - I really enjoyed
the lecture!
There were many points provided that
I was already aware of. The history of pictures I knew all about due to my
being a passionate history student. From ancient caves to biblical references;
I had seen all of these. I was also aware of the developments of pictures over
time and how much simpler and easier it is to take a photo and share it nowadays.
For example, many people only need a decent phone rather than a professional camera to develop their skills and develop an interest in
photography.
(I've
additionally noticed a difference between generations as my dad prefers his
professional cameras to the smart phone and video camera that I own, as seen below.)
But I was still able to learn more
and realise the depth to decent pictures as methods of telling stories. My
favourite example used is a famous one of an Afghanistan girl on the Times
Magazine (see below). I have never read
the article from that magazine, but I can recognise that photo (and style) and
immediately associate it with a news article, which I believe is a powerful action.
That photo captures my attention, is retained in my memory. I'm also, for all
that I love text, one of those people that enjoys looking at photos, finding it
feels more personal and I like to feel part of the scene, but I didn't really
know this, or make myself identify this part of my personality until this
lecture.
Here are some examples of story-telling photos, including the Afghanistan girl from Time Magazine previously mentioned:
There is a series of really funny
video from my favourite internet personas (who I will probably reference many
times on this blog) who really highlight this focus and affection for photos. It
started with one of their videos’ still frames being of ‘giraffe love’ despite
not really having much to do with that topic at all, and yet somehow the video
gained millions of views and became their most popular video. This escalated
into a series of videos where this fact was mentioned, all with their main
images being that of ‘giraffe love’ and all receiving larger number of views. I’ve
linked the latest video of this phenomenon which is dated two years after the
others and actually discussed giraffe mating habits. You only have to watch the
first 30 seconds or so, but if you are curious, the entire video is
educational, and more than just a little disturbing.
To me, this proves that pictures that stand
out and make you question lead you to venture out and discover more. I find
this logic applies to journalism. Of course, you generally try to keep things
more relevant when it comes to telling a factual story.
In the course of a day I have learnt
to appreciate visual affects much more. Taking a photo is one thing, but
telling a story is something completely different and requires an entirely
different set of skills. I mean how many photos do we have that just sit on our
hard drives on our computers, or in the albums on Facebook? How many of them
actually tell a story? The fact that they are different never hit me until
today.
As a side note, I'm an incredibly
lazy person. But hearing talk of journalism becoming more and more of a 'one
person operation' I feel a little intimidated, but also more excited at all the
possibilities. In the case of what that means for journalism, if one can do it
themselves, will we then be able to hear more alternating points of views
(citizen journalists - bloggers?) or be able to see things from a personal view
due to technology and the ability to whip out the phone camera at just the
right time? Furthermore, it makes me wonder over what this means for my future -
the skills I will require and will obtain through experience and seeking
different opportunities out.
There are two factors of journalism
that I greatly appreciate; it makes things more personal - an event could take
place on the other side of the Earth, but we can find out and even watch it
happening live as if we are part of it, and see things from another's point of
view. The second relates to the revelation I sort of made during this lecture,
looking over the timeline of pictures and that is that journalism is always
moving, always exciting. You will never get the same thing twice, just like a
photo. There will be many things the similar, but not a duplicate.
Journalism is moving towards more
photos, more pictures and cartoons to deliver information.
All in all, this lecture made me
realise that although I may learn first and fore mostly through text, I am not
immune to the power of a good picture telling a story.
If you don't know what quizzes I
meant, here are a couple of links to what I found were pretty decent tests:
Also, thanks to ImageBlogs, which many of the images in this blog were located.
http://www.imageblogs.org/splendid-examples-photo-journalism-19-images
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