Can Photographs Change the World?

Photographs most definitely can change the world. However, a lot of the time, photographs just simply inspire the world to act on social issues. Photojournalism allows for news to be spread through emotions alone. There are no words to these stories; it is all inference and perspective. Therefore, it is the individual that must decide what to do with their emotion and reaction. If they do decide to take action, and say, donate money to a starving child, they have changed the world. If they choose to not take any action and go on with their day, they have also changed the world. Through this latter reason, it is desensitizing individuals both personally and those depicted in the photos. Desensitization is changing the world because humans are wired to be helpful, understanding, and kind yet for some reason the image was powerful enough to change a human’s mentality.

The image that has affected me is the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. It shows a staircase not connected to anything. This affected me because I cannot imagine my home and comfort zone to just be gone. At the same time, it shows personal artifacts scattered all about. This makes the impact even more personal. That family can no longer look at their family photos that were destroyed, for example. In conclusion, this image made me sympathize with our own human race which was ultimately defeated by nature.
The image of firefighters raising the American flag at Ground Zero right after 9/11 has changed America and the world. First of all, it hit home to Americans. It depicts patriotism like no other. Secondly, this patriotism that was being attacked, worked to convince many Americans that a war in the Middle East was necessary. Further, this war that began and has lasted over ten years has changed the world as well. All from this one picture, men have been inspired to join the military, families have been inspired to fund fighting, and children have been inspired to hate all Middle Easterners. The men who joined have died, the financial supporters have allowed for greater destruction, and the children now contribute to a stereotype, unjustly so. This is quite the change.

Although I do strongly agree that images change the world, I also agree with Jonathan Klein when it comes to some images. According to Klein, many images don’t necessarily change the world, but they do impact it. Yet, I find myself asking, if something is impacted, isn’t it changed? There are some images that attract people while others pass right by, not feeling any emotion. But at the end of the day, each person is going to react to a photo someday. And even if that impacts their way of thinking, it has changed it for the future, and changed the world that human is a part of. What is necessary to understand, is that even if an image has changed one individual, it has changed the world. This is illustrated through the reference to the Fenders in LIFE’s article.

Images should not be censored, yet there are somewhat logical reasons for why they are. As Professor Nordell explains, government censorship for protection and self-censorship regarding editors’ decisions are a couple of these reasons. But in the end, I agree with Ted Rall, “Americans need something. That is certain. Because they definitely do not know what is going on.” Altogether, censorship is only hurting the world. People are being killed by people who don’t even know why they are killing them. Americans are being told what to believe, when really the self is created through personal experience and conclusions.



Photo By: The Associated Press

Image Source: http://www.komonews.com/news/national/101745523.html



Photo By: Thomas E. Franklin

Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_at_Ground_Zero

Introduction to the History of Photojournalism

Photojournalism is the study of history through photography. Further, photojournalism is the act of taking photos for journals. It involves the community and portraying life in specific places throughout the world. It depicts human interaction through photography. After all, the photos tell a story. Journalism is a part of the whole word photojournalism for a reason; it combines the skills of being a journalist with the skills of being a photographer.

It is important to know the history of photojournalism because of just that; it is the history. With that being said, studying history in general is important. According to the first video, it is all about compassion and attitude. Therefore, it helps society learn about people and their behaviors. Also, according to Jason Henske, “it helps us appreciate multiple perspectives and interpretations.” By doing so, this explains why people have different actions and what those different actions can include.

Now that it is understood why history is important, this can be directly related to why the history of photojournalism is important. As said before, history teaches society about human behaviors. These behaviors are shown through photos that photojournalists take. As Professor Nordell quoted writer Pete Hamill, “news is a verb,” not only do photojournalists photograph humans, they photograph their actions. These actions help us understand the different perspectives and interpretations. Photojournalists travel different parts of the world depicting different cultures. When these photographs are published, it helps the viewer, thousands of miles away, to appreciate a different perspective on life. The history of photojournalism shows that overtime, various groups of people and lifestyles were covered and shared on a large scale.

Photojournalism is a dangerous job done by some of the most courageous and skilled people. As Zoriah said, “all war photographers want to get an image that will stop a war.” This shows that not only is photojournalism a journalistic, explanatory art, but it is also a social advocacy. Through the work of photojournalists, change and reform can and does spread throughout the world.

Photo By: Tom Stoddart
Image Source: http://www.photoconflict.com/theories/ethics-and-vision/

 

Photo By: G.M.B. Akash
Image Source: http://www.zoriah.net/blog/guest-photographerphotojournalist/page/2/

Jonathan Auch

 

Photo taken by Jonathan Auch
Image Source: https://www.tumblr.com/search/Jonathan+Auch