'Illiterate men can contemplate in the lines of a picture what they cannot learn by means of the written word.' -Pope Gregory I

PICTURE STORIES.
In the Journalism's lecture of week 4, the topic of discussion was: pictures. It's widely attributed that Frederick Barnard once said: 'A picture is worth a thousand words.' This saying has proven itself countlessly, time and time again. Every picture we see, conveys meaning and understanding across in ways words never could, which is why almost every news-worthy story has to have one.

In the time before literacy and words were common, or even in existence, stories were told with pictures: the cave paintings in France, Plato's cave (see below), all conveyed from anything to everything, to fables to epics.
When the Christian faith began expanding and building, they could not reach people through words as the general population was illiterate. Therefore, they constructed some of the most beautiful artworks to convey their perception of God, some of which are still conveyed just as easily today as they were thousands of years ago.

Journalism owes much to the life of pictures. Photography today can easily capture moments in time and hold them there for the world to marvel at. But there has been some debate over the possible travesty/miracle: 
Photoshop. 
Yes, this is the change to photography: to artificially enhance beyond a natural effect. Photoshop has caused much controversy on its ability to change faces and bodies, from artistic expressions (see below) to 'glamorising' celebrities, creating impossible figures and faces (see below) 

An effect of Photoshop: no illustrious change to make Obama appear beautiful, bigger-than-life or better, just expression of the artist.

(Source: http://www.flashuser.net/photoshop/30-photoshop-tutorials-for-stunning-photo-effects.html)

 The controversy with 'Photoshop Effect': changing a dry, old singstar into a luxurious, eternally-youthful singstar.

(Source: http://likecool.com/Madonna_Before_and_After_photoshop--Pic--Gear.html)

This tool frustrates people of today: many can believe that this is an offense to photos: They are meant to capture the moments of life. Altering them would merely take this away. However, this will be discussed later. For now, in order to keep this blog short: moving on to Photo-Journalism.


What makes a great photo?

'Burst of Joy', 1974

Gustavo Cuevas of Spain captured this photo of the unfortunate matador   being gored by his first bull.

Today, photos are used all over the world, and are almost necessary for the story to be considered a story in journalism. Cameras are available to almost anyone at any time, thanks to the blending of cameras and phones. Social media utilised photo-journalism to further protests and causes, such as the Arab Spring Riots. News today uses videos and cameras more than ever before, which can be argued that it unfortunately, slowly pushes the 'old media' style of newspaper into the gutter. What is the future holding for old media? I'll leave you with that.
Have some stories.
-Charlie Morris

 

"A picture has no meaning at all if it can't tell a story." Eetu Silanpaa