Page 109 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media
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Digital Still Photography
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Kenny Irby of the Poynter Institute defines photojournalism as the craft
of employing photographic storytelling to document life. It is universal
and transcends cultural and language boundaries.
Photojournalism is not restricted to still pictures or film cameras or
any location. Photojournalism tells stories about life. Sometimes those
stories can be held in the hands to be examined in detail. Sometimes
the stories flicker across a television screen at 30 frames per second.
Sometimes the stories are organized online and can be explored by the
viewer.
However presented, the basis for good photojournalism comes from
news judgment and reporting skills employed by the storyteller. We
have been storytellers since the first human beings began to describe
their surroundings. They were interested in the news of the day. Where
is the food? Is there better shelter? We’ve been using pictures to tell
and enhance the stories for thousands of years.
The Power of the Still Photograph
The demise of still photojournalism has been forecast for decades, but
nothing matches the power of that well-chosen frozen moment in time.
