Is Photojournalism Art?

Photo by Charles Shepherd, 1865

Background compliments composition - The background as well as the magicians in the foreground are very symmetrical, while the dancer is asymmetrical. She is off-center and caught in an asymmetrical pose while surrounded by the very symmetrical elements of the two columns and the bits of wall behind them. It creates another level of contrast beyond just values, because the eye is also drawn to the contrast of the asymmetry of the dancer against such a symmetrical background. The elements of the columns and how the dancer is still caught within them also creates a framing effect that's better suited to be discussed in use of lines but is still relevant here.

Use of lines - The lines the columns in the background make almost perfectly splits the photograph into vertical thirds. While the main subject, the dancer, is not quite on one of the vertical third lines created by the columns, her left arm is which helps guide the eye to the rest of her. The parallel lines of the columns and how they split the photograph frames the dancer which helps highlight her to the viewer. From below, the lines on the floor also aide in leading the eye up to her because they lead up to her from the bottom of the photograph due to the perspective, like they'd converge at her feet if they continued.

Black and White or Color - This photograph is in black and white, though given it was taken around 1865 it's due to technical limitations and not by choice. Of course, this does lend it a classy, antique look, given the strong association with black and white and the early days of photography. It does more effectively bring out the difference in value between the skin of the dancer and musicians and their paler clothes than it would in color, though the overall contrast of the image in this regard could be stronger.

Why? I really like the aesthetic of the traditional clothing. I'm hardly any fashion expert, but I collect images of outfits I like to look at later, and this image looked exactly like something I would save for later reference. As I said before, the degree of symmetry in most of the image is very interesting to me. It's almost startlingly mirrored save for the dancer and maybe slight differences in posing for the musicians. Also since this picture is quite old, I wondered if the dancer was moving very slowly when the picture was taken or she paused or was deliberately posed for the picture, considering motion photography needed some innovation before it could be pulled off successfully.

 

Photo by Dorothea Lange, 1943

 

Subject's Expression - The subject (the woman) has a fairly neutral expression and stance. She doesn't seem to be aware of the camera as she's looking at the man at the edge of the frame. It creates the impression that this was a candid photograph taken without her knowledge, maybe as she happened to be passing by an interesting background, though that probably wasn't the case given how cumbersome photography still was in Lange's time.

Quality of Light - The light isn't necessarily flat, but it's also not exceedingly dramatic either. It's got that diffused look of regular sunlight to it. The effect does make the image look more natural, as if this shot was taken spontaneously in broad daylight as opposed to scoped out or planned (though it probably was to some degree given the equipment of the time). What saves it from looking completely flat is that the light is clearly coming from the other side of the woman's face, so there is some dynamism to it instead of her facing being evenly lit and as a result, flattened in a lighting sense.

Keep it Simple - The composition is quite simple despite looking busy in the lower left hand area. The three important elements of the photograph are the "serve you" sign, the woman, and the man at the edge of the frame. They all take up the majority of the image and splitting the image into these 3 major elements keeps the composition from becoming overly complicated.

Why? What caught my eye about this image was the "serve you" sign above the woman's head. The black-and-white quality combined with the sign gave me the impression of a photograph I'd see in one of my history textbooks when we'd be reading about civil rights. I'm not quite sure if that was the intent behind the image, but it was the mental association I had when I first saw this photograph. I also think that the "serve you" being above a black woman's head seems to imply some sort of explicit narrative or commentary that might have to do with civil rights, but I'm not familiar enough with the background of the photograph or the decade to make a judgement on that.

Photo by Eloisa Lopez, February 18th, 2021

Contrast Appropriate - The background of the photograph is a forest which is very dark in values, with the dark greens and browns as well as a minimal amount of the paler sky to be seen. By comparison, the two people sitting down stand out starkly in their bright white outfits of a significantly paler value. Leaving them as the largest area of pale values gives significant contrast to the image and helps draw the eye to them naturally.

Rule of Thirds - The subjects in the white clothes are at approximately the lower left crashpoint of this photograph if a rule of thirds grid was laid over it. This means they are at one of the optimal points for the eye in a photograph using the rule of thirds, which also avoids putting them smack in the middle of the frame. It does contribute to the effect of them looking small in the photograph, as the composition is mostly empty of anything else of explicit interest.

Depth of Field - This photograph is using maximum depth of field, as details like the trees farther from the people in the photograph are in focus. In the corner, there's a small twig or branch that's intersecting the foreground of the frame so close it's blurred (not sure what the technical term is for that), which adds to the maximum depth by adding something close to help put the depth into perspective. What using maximum depth of field for this shot does is that it makes the two people feel small because they're taking up very little of the typical wide frame for the maximum depth of field shot.

Why? Eloisa Lopez is a Filipino photojournalist. Since this assignment gave me the opportunity, I wanted to try to find a photojournalist that was specifically Filipino so I could try to draw it closer to my own heritage. Lopez's work intrigued me because I didn't know that Filipino people actively dealt with rodents like bats in order to mitigate the spread of viruses. Her work was personally very informative to me and I want to take a closer look at it when I have some free time.