The Journalistic Image

The journalistic image and photojournalism as a whole must be discussed not only as an evidential tool for recording historical events, but also as a psychological and emotional ‘trigger’ for the lay person viewing it, giving the subject an extremely personal aspect, which can then quite obviously colour any personal response.

Therefore, just as Orla Cronin discovered in her review on photography’s use in a therapeutic setting, ‘realism’ and ‘documentation’ become extremely subjective words, since to suggest that a photograph can show the full contextual complexity of a situation, for example, the reasons behind a skirmish in the Arab-Israeli conflict, is somewhat absurd. A single photograph cannot capture the full truth of reality as it was in that instant and in this way proves the point that any sort of photography cannot provide us with a full historical narrative of an event.

What photojournalism does provide however, is important evidence, which, when supported by other, often textual evidence and therefore when viewed in full context, can further aid our understanding of the historical narrative. This is the ideal situation though and, while it would be preferable that the journalistic image be viewed in this way, it does not often hold true.

The journalistic image can never be described as unbiased evidence precisely because it is an only an evidential recording of events but also an emotional ‘trigger’, one which has been specifically aimed to create a response by the photographer and, is therefore coloured not only by the viewer’s personal opinions on anything from political affiliation to their gender and class, but also by the photographer’s and, this, ultimately, is how propaganda is created.

Sources Used:

Cronin, Orla., 2004. Psychology and Photographic Theory. In Prosser, John., 2004. Image-based Research: A Sourcebook for Qualitative Researchers. Oxon: Routledgefalmer. p69-96.

Becker, Howard S., 2004. Visual sociology, Documentary Photography and Photojournalism. In Prosser, John., 2004. Image-based Research: A Sourcebook for Qualitative Researchers. Oxon: Routledgefalmer. p84-96.