What Does a Press Photographer Do?

News photography is the reporting of events that are happening in the form of photographic pictures. It is a form of news report using the camera to make on-site documentary of news facts. Photographs are the main means for news photography to disseminate information. They are mainly accomplished by snapping. Their purpose is to explain events, disseminate news, and cause influence. In addition, news photography is usually accompanied by a short text description to explain the background and process of the event.

news photography

From May 5th to 8th, 1842, a major fire broke out in Hamburg, Germany. Two Germans, Bauau and Sterzner, photographed the remains of the fire using the Daguerre silver method. Early news photography, heavy equipment, complicated technical operations, can only record static

Photography

Image observation

Since advocating "grabbing the news" in the era of picture reading, domestic photography reports have indeed made great progress.

The planning of news photography reports must make the most of the strengths of photography: namely

Timeliness

News photography must embody a "new" word, and it must reflect the news facts that are happening and attracting attention. Such as political events, economic news, social hotspots, international relations, and documentary reports reflecting social life.

Authenticity

Authenticity is where the life of news photography lies. False news reports can only be condemned.

Typical

The typicality of news photography reports includes three aspects: typical events, typical images, and typical moments.

Presence

The news capture of news photography should be based on accurately reflecting the event, and have a strong sense of scene;

Appeal

News photography plays an increasingly important role in the fast-developing modern journalism. News photography combines news, ideology, authenticity, timeliness, and imagery, and can concentrate the emotions of the news subject in the picture. Give people a concise, shocking effect, "one picture is worth a thousand words". News photography meets readers in the form of news photos with short text descriptions. It is different from the active images on movies and television, but is a static image, which instantly freezes the image of the news on a single frame. Mr. Jiang Qisheng once suggested that news photography should be "five demands", that is, to be new, to be truthful, to be alive, to be affectionate, and to be interested. This requires news photographers to go deeper into their lives and, in the premise of strictly observing the rules of news photography, strive to co-exist news and artistry in news photos, which has both strong news value and high artistic appreciation value. News photography requires the unity of truth, goodness and beauty in content and form. It is necessary to use artistic techniques, grasp typical moments, and let the image "speak." In this way, it will have a strong ideology and appeal, and it will have a more shocking effect.

visual impact

Visual impact refers to the force that does not require the imagination of the audience to appear directly in front of the audience, and can leave an impression in the audience's mind.

A physical shooting method that makes news pictures impactful : Emphasize a characteristic place in the scene to make it have a strong visual impact. All you have to do is get closer to the subject, and you can get better visual impact than long-distance shooting. In addition, the selection of shooting points should not be outdated, and the photography language should be concise and clear.

Information content

News photography mainly uses instant images to reveal news facts and spread news information. The more information a news photo condenses, the greater the value of the news and the more innovative it is. In the Netherlands, for example, when a car accident occurred, two photographers from Deutsche Press and the Associated Press were present. The German News Agency reporter shot the moment when a car hit a wall and came out of the building. The Associated Press filmed the moment when the car passed through the building and collided with an oncoming car. As a result, most newspapers use Associated Press photos. The photo of the Associated Press not only reflects the plot of the car crashing through the wall and passing through the building, but also the ending of the collision with another vehicle after passing through the building. Two aspects of information content: one is the factual information content and the other is the emotional information content. In news photography practice, we often find this phenomenon: Some news photos do not seem to contain much information content, but they are also popular with readers. What is the reason? This is because the information content of news photos includes two aspects, the factual information content and the emotional information content. Many news photos are popular because they are not so informative, but emotionally informative.

One of the Pulitzer Press Photo Awards

A picture of the girl with big eyes in the series of photos of "I'm going to school" by Xie Hailong, a reporter from China Youth Daily, is a typical example. Compared with another photo in the group photo, "School Teachers and Students", this photo contains significantly less factual information. In "Teachers and Students of the Whole School", images of rural backgrounds, large plates, rural teachers wearing Chinese uniforms, and diligent children condense all kinds of specific information for children in poor mountain areas to learn. However, the previous photo contains more emotional information. The beauty of the little girl contrasts sharply with the harsh environment of the impoverished mountains. The little girl's big eyes reveal her innocence, simplicity, persistence and hope, like a searchlight. It constrains the audience s conscience and soul equally, which strongly impacts the audience s soul and makes you unable to escape. Because of this, authors and readers have become accustomed to using this photo as a representative of the entire series of photos, and even the organizers of the National Hope Project have used this photo as a logo for event promotion.

Symbolic

It is a moment that is known for its generality and connotation. Its image often reveals a certain allegorical meaning, metaphorically shows the connotation between the outside, and more penetrates the subjective knowledge of the photographer. And thoughts and emotions. Therefore, the information capacity is greater, the news value is higher, the visual impact is stronger, and it is more innovative. In addition, the symbolic moment does not seek to reflect the full picture of the event, but only highlights the most profound and symbolic corner and part of the event, letting people see the whole leopard. Therefore, it is full of new ideas for reporters to give full play to their subjective initiative. The picture provides a wide and free space.

The world-famous news photos "The Disaster of Bhopal" (Photo by Pablo Bartholomew) and "The Bad Consequences of Drought in Uganda" (Photo by Mike Wells) are good examples. Neither of the two photos reporting the disaster news described the disaster in a positive detail, but just selected the most symbolic corner of the disaster to show the disaster. It was novel and unique, and obtained excellent communication effects. The former chose to bury the child who was killed by poisoning, which prominently represented the victim's round, fatally injured eyes, symbolizing that he was not staring; his lips twitched slightly, and his moaning and accusations at the end of his life seemed to remain. The latter picture is a close-up shot of the white and generous palms holding the palms of a black teenager who resembles chicken feet, using the thin and thin palms to symbolize the evil consequences of Uganda's drought.

Humorous moment

In the development of most news events, there is no shortage of humorous moments. This is a seemingly unrelated or meaningless event, but it actually reflects the meaning and nature of the event from another angle and side, and it can inspire people's minds and be a pleasant moment. Capturing this moment requires photographers to have humorous thinking. Humorous thinking can make people break the habitual connection between things and observe the world from another angle. The humorous momentary pictures often give the image a magical and novel meaning. Taking this moment is the main way for news photos to take new ideas and have a visual sense.

On December 7, 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union negotiated a reduction of their medium-range strategic nuclear missiles, which lasted seven years, and finally made a breakthrough. They signed a pilot agreement. Photojournalist Tim Clary captures a humorous moment in this very stylized and serious news event-Gorbachev and Reagan will shake hands and congratulate after signing an agreement to exchange text The moment they hold together. In the photograph "Deal", Reagan and Gorbachev were like businessmen. After some bargaining, they finally reached a deal. They were very innovative. Although they did not have a strong impact, they were shocked. People's thoughts.

Novel moment

That is, at the scene of a news event, due to the special shooting position and angle of the reporter, the news event captured is a refreshing and distinctive momentary image. This moment is known for its novel and unique picture.

Most of the subjects faced by news photography are those that are stylized and rarely changed, such as winning prizes in sports competitions, annual people's congresses, and so on. Capturing novel moments is the main way to get new ideas in your photos and outperform many competitors. For example, the rostrum of the National People's Congress is arranged in the same way every year. In this case, it seems that it is difficult for a photojournalist to take a refreshingly good picture. However, when a meeting of the Seventh National People's Congress was held in 1988, a photojournalist tied the camera to his own hand and extended his arm. In this way, the shooting point moved tens of centimeters forward, and the shooting angle also occurred. Variety. As a result, the photos he took of the conference made readers feel fresh.

Hu Yue's "The Birth of a New Record" is also a good example. Chinese high jumper Zhu Jianhua broke the world record for men's high jump with a record of 2.38 meters in the Fifth National Games. In the warm cheers of the audience, Zhu Jianhua went around the court to pay tribute to the audience. At this time, many photojournalists rushed forward and followed the shooting, while Hu Yue calmly stood on the stand and took a unique news photo of "New Birth of Records"-followed by enthusiastic audiences and sports reporters. In front, Zhu Jianhua cheered to the audience-the pictures are novel and refreshing.

Exclusive photos

Innovative news photos are often exclusive photos of news scenes. They must be fully prepared for shooting. In addition to the necessary interview preparations and technical preparations, it is more important to carefully observe the situation of the news scene and to have a good idea.

China Youth Daily reporter Liu Zhankun's exclusive news photo "September 23 Beijing Sleepless Night" is a typical example. The content of the photo was a moment when people surprised, or hoped, or confused, on the live broadcast of Beijing TV's September 23 Beijing Night when Samaranch announced that the 2000 Olympic Games will be hosted in Sydney. This is an exclusive photo, and its success was undoubtedly due to the reporter's on-site observation in advance. At the shooting scene at the time, only reporters from Beijing TV could film on the front of the venue. All reporters were arranged to the second floor, and only the back of the crowd in the live broadcast hall could be seen. Liu Zhankun quietly surveyed the terrain, and even knew which door was the shortest distance from the front of the venue. When the moment that touched hundreds of millions of people came, he quietly and quickly rushed downstairs, flexed to the front of the venue flexibly, and captured the fleeting moment very calmly.

Character action

Expressions and actions are the external manifestation of a person's inner emotions and are the key to revealing the spirit, temperament, and personality characteristics of a person. News photography expresses the inner spirit, thoughts and feelings of the characters. It must be through human actions. Actions are the most basic characteristics of the image used by news photography to "speak", that is, the activity image, or a certain plot image in group activities. The use of action to express a person's personality in news photography must be linked to the expression of the person's thoughts and feelings, that is, to show the character's thoughts and emotions through the character's characteristic expression and posture in the action.

Pendulum application

Regarding the shooting phenomenon, Wang Wenlan, director of the photography department of China Daily, vice chairman of the China Photographers Association, and academic committee member of the China Press and Photographic Society, once said: At that time, the difference in shooting methods came from the falsification of many photos during the Cultural Revolution, which caused a long time of controversy. From the photos of Jose, many of them were placed, designed and planned, such as technology The second-class award mask, but it does not affect the authenticity of the photo and the reliability and readability of the news event. Instead, it improves the impact through the design of the screen. No matter what method you use to shoot, snap, or pose To achieve the effect of the picture, it should be your sole criterion for success. "