Photojournalism and Bias

Image by Ed Clark 

In this photograph, I see an African American Navy officer playing an accordion. He has tears rolling down his face and is under a lot of distress. In the image, he is also the only African American present and is surround by white people, majority white women. The people in the background look upset and some are even staring at the man. They look as if they have no sympathy for the man and are even wondering why he is so upset. In Professor Nordell’s video on Photojournalism and bias, he stated “People who were fed a diet of pictures might forget important things like reading and writing”. Connecting this quote to the image, I don’t think this picture takes anything away from people. It displays the raw emotions that people need to see in order to have a better understanding of the situation. I think this picture makes people want to actually read into what the story behind this image is.

Principle #1: Subject’s Expression

The subject’s expression is the eye-catching factor in the image. He is expressing how sad and upset he is. The hears rolling down his face just add to that heart-breaking emotion and that he is truly hurt by something. It seems like he is playing his accordion because he has to and can’t let his emotions get in his way.

Principle #2: Is the image black & white or color?

The photo is black and white. I feel like the image being black and white adds to the dynamic and feelings the image contains. It also mirrors what the image is showing because you see only one black person surround by white people. It adds to what time period the image was taken in and makes they subject stand out even more.

Principle #3: What feelings does the image create?

This image creates feelings of sadness. It also seems like that man is dealing with some type of loss and is forced to keep playing without dealing with his emotions. It created a feeling that the man isn’t in control and very powerless in the situation. The image definitely grows on me and causes me to look at it more and more. As I look at it I wonder what is the reason behind the man’s tears and why is he forced or continuing to the accordion if he is so upset.

Image by Liberty Congress 

This image above depicted the truth to me because it looks very natural. The Great depression was very hard time for Americans so to see people in a very blink or upset state was common in photography then. In the Article, The Rules of Photojournalism are Keeping Us from the Truth, Donald Weber states “Photographer choose where their frames goes. They selectivelychoose what the audience will see, will believe.” In this case, Dorothea Lange portrayed the individuals just as they were and display the true feeling the Great Depression created. She chose to show the mother and child in dirty clothes, with serious or blank expressions. The Great depression affected every family and was very rough on everyone. She wanted the real and truth of what the time did to families. This way people could see how that time period impacted Americans.Referring to the article, Four ways to Knowing, I could tell the image was the truth because of language/authority. This means that you know something because someone who knows more than you told you about it. My knowledge on the Great Depression is from what teachers taught me in school. I know it was the roughest time for America and there wasn’t much happiness in people lives.

Principle #1:In or out of focus
The main subjects in the photo are clear and in focus. The viewers are able to see the texture of the clothes and the rips are very noticeable. The background doesn’t have much going on but its blurry and out of focus. This way the main subjects are able to stand out more and catch the viewers eyes. I think the focus difference make the image more powerful and adds value to it.

Principle #2: Keep it simple 

The image is very simple and easy to tell what going on. The image isn’t cluttered at all. There are three subjects that take up the picture and capture the eye very easily. As said before the background is blurry so nothing there to make the viewers eyes wander.

Principle #3:Rule of thirds
The photographer didn’t avoid the middle and decided to place the subject right in center third. The subjects fall vertically in the center third of the image. I think the subjects being in the center adds to the value and makes the image unique because I feel most photographers try to place subject off center instead of the middle.

Image by: Dorothea Lange

This image above doesn’t show the truth in my opinion. I believe the main goal of capturing the Great Depression was to show how bad life was and the impact of it had on the families. The sadness and hardships was told through photographs. Many images taken during these times were of people that were sad and upset. This image doesn’t show how terrible the Great Depression was. This shows that even though people weren’t going through a very tough point of their life, they still had some hope. In Professor Nordell’s second video, he stated that the truth of the photograph "depends on the lens choice,angle, and what perspective you’re trying to get across with your photograph.” This means that the many aspects of a photograph can determine the truth behind an image. The perspective of this image means a lot because it the way you look at it. The way I see this image is that the mother and daughter are laughing. I think the photographer was just trying to capture a raw moment between the mother and child without telling a real story.

Principle #1: Does the image remind you of any work of or photograph you have seen?
This photograph reminds me of many others taken during the great depression. One in particular is the “Migrant Mother” taken by Dorothea Lange. They both were taken of mothers with their children. These images were taken in order to capture the feelings of despair and struggle that was inflicted on families during that time.

Principle #2: Obvious main subject
The two main subjects in the image are the mother and child. They are the main focus in the image and take up most of the picture. There isn’t a lot of space for other things to be in the background of the image. The main subject isn’t crowding the photograph but they don’t really leave room for other things to catch your focus.

Principle #3: Background compliments or detracts from composition
The background of this image compliments the composition. In the background, you can see that there is a cardboard box and some other random objects. The background is also out of focus and isn’t that clear when you really look at it.

The yellow journalism is known for its journals that may or may not be true. “For those editors, "yellow journalism" was an evocative term of reproach, a colorful way of excoriating-and marginalizing-the Journal and the World.” It was a way to express journals that included images that might not be true. These journals were also written in order to get more publicity and attention. These images would cause the mind to think and would stir up some interesting conversation.