Photo Editing and Staging

Though I have little experience with video ethics, including the implication of staging video, I have a lot of photography experience. I know that the idea of cropping photographs or splicing images together in such a way that it alters the reality of a situation is wrong in still mediums, so I can only assume that the same standard should be followed when dealing with moving pictures or video footage. I think that the best photojournalists and videographers simply get it right the first time, and put in the time and effort necessary so that they get the good shot with that perfect light, or best frame, or capture the best moment at any given shoot. Using elaborate editing techniques or distorting reality, to me, is just sloppy photojournalism and a violation of the trust viewers have in journalists.  It should be avoided at all costs.

"Street Pictures" show that the ordinary can be beautiful

Throughout his collection of “Street Pictures”, David Snider impeccably blends simplicity with tried and true photographic techniques in order to create an accessible, yet masterful collection of documentary photography. In reviewing the samples of work we were linked to for our class assignment, never did I feel that he was reaching too far. Instead, I believed that he wanted his photography to be relatable to ordinary people not just trained professionals.

I particularly was attracted to a photo of children taken in Madison Square Park in New York City. Being something of a New York fan, I recognized the setting, and relatability and finding familiarity with viewers is something I feel is incredibly important, both in documentary and artistic photography. The leading lines and self-imposed framing created by the chain links on the bridge are ideal, and Snider uses them to his advantage, rather than casting them aside as a distracting element. Shadows too seem sculpted as a part of the image, rather than as an accidental occurrence. I also really like the various tones and tints visible in the photo, particularly the stark white of the child’s shoes, as contrasted with the dirt on the clothing of the other children around him or her.

The photo taken in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris also fascinated me. Truly, the tower is magnificent in person, and in many landscape photographs taken of it. However, Snider came at the image head on, and really made a relationship between the man in the foreground an the tower. While I can’t claim to understand exactly what Snider was going for, it seems to me that the enormity of the tower is meant to emphasize the normalcy of the man. To put it another way, while he’s the subject of the photgraph and in focus, he simply can not get away from the enormity of the landmark that towers behind him.

Looking at Snider’s pictures makes it evident that documentary or artistic photography does not have to be “boring”. There are unique angles to every image, and it takes a skilled and dedicated journalist or artist to capture them.

About that backpack journalism...

I identified most with Martha Stone’s article, which described the new backpack journalism phenomena and its followers as “a Jack of all trades, but a master of none.” While I clearly support versatility in journalism, as well as reporters for any medium to include skills that cross genres, I often feel that backpack journalism’s attitude leaves much to be desired. Writing skills seem to be sacrificed with no real regard, in exchange for several bells and whistles. As a media consumer, I’d rather have a well informed, articulated reporter than one able to present me with Flash graphics.
Perhaps as a journalism student, I’m naïve. That could certainly be the case. But I believe that it’s possible to meet a happy medium, and that this generation of backpack journalists, by virtue of being the first of a growing breed, have simply missed what’s important. Backpack journalists can and should be skilled communicators, both in their verbal and non verbal communication skills, and should not only strive to learn a hodge podge of skills, honing none of them fully.
But after recognizing these flaws in the current state of backpack journalism and the converged media world, I am also cognizant that this is not just a passing phenomena – backpack journalism is certainly here to say, and has its benefits in the way it relates to consumers. Jane Stevens wrote, “Editors must know what's possible, what's impossible, and how to integrate that into a minute-by-minute, hourly, daily, weekly, and long-term flow of news, information and storytelling without shouting, cursing, tripping, stumbling, falling or curling up into a fetal position.” And I think this is truly the epitome of our situation. We must learn how to use backpack journalism to our benefit, and not let it tear apart our newsroom and ruin the age-old traditions of how we see and feel about news.

Final Salute

This piece brought up for me the greatest strengths, weaknesses and trapfalls of "converged" online reporting.

I went onto the site and at first I was overwhelmed by the amount of information on that start page--stories of various types, ads, "helpful" site navigation tools interfering with my experience of the story. "Ok, I just need to dive into one of these so I can experience it."

I click on the story link. Same clutter. The moving story in the center, ads pasted on the left side, ads on the right and that same "helpful" navigator, all cluttering up the story. I read down, but really I didn't go past page 1 (of 10 or so) because the presentation felt so distasteful.

I go to the audio slideshow. After a few false starts trying to get the audio right, the story unfolds. I'm reminded what the real cost of war is, what it means every time a soldier dies, in a way that I haven't since a high school friend, also a marine, was killed in the first month of the war. I feel stupid for letting the war become just another issue instead of the concrete event it is.

I think of all the stories there must be every time someone, anywhere, dies. This story of grieving, seeing the casket, first in the funeral parlour, then being carried, brings back to me my grandfather's funeral, what it was like carrying his casket over ice and snow, in dread fear of falling.

I'll feel privileged if I can bring a story to someone in such a real way as a journalist.

Wow, converged reporting is great. This is amazing that I can experience this powerful story whenever I want to. This story couldn't be told this way in any other medium.

Back to the main page. "Oh, I see they have the story that was cluttered up with ads in PDF format, as it was originally presented in the newspaper. Great, I can see read this story the way it was meant to be." Click. "Acrobat 5.0 has encountered an error and needs to close down." (Damnit.) Click again. Same. Click on another link and this time it loads.

"Wow, this page is beautifully laid out. This is the story as it was meant to be. Now I can read this story without the obnoxious ads. This must've been what it was actually like in the newspaper--I wonder what it was like to read it in the actual newspaper. At least now there aren't any ink smudges."

Back to the main page. Try the 2nd page again--I guess Acrobat is working now.

"Acrobat 5.0 has encountered an error and needs to close down."

Damnit, I give up.