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Showing posts from September, 2019

Chapter two - Pre-Digital Photographic Technology

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      During the pre-digital era, technology was extremely limited. Some pre-digital technology included, Dry Plate Collodion, Photogravure, Wet Plate Collodion and more. An interesting pre-digital technology was Dry Plate Collodion. To understand the Dry Plate method, you must be knowledgeable of the Wet Plate Collodi o n. This technology was a dominant method in 1851.   Merriam-Webster Dictionary  defines the wet collodion method as: “ A n early process in which the negative is prepared by coating a glass plate with collodion containing iodide, exposing in a camera while wet, developing with pyrogallol or acidified ferrous sulfate, and fixing in a cyanide solution or hypo .”  The Wet Plate Collodion Method was a very tedious and time-consuming method. As mentioned in the video  The Wet Collodion Process  by Getty Museum, “ Producing a wet collodion image had to be done quickly and efficiently. This is because collodion the main chemical use...

Chapter one - Can photographs change the world?

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     Can photographs change the world?  When asked this question, my initial thought reminds me of Kevin Carter’s photo of a vulture praying on a famished African child. A photo of such nature is breath-taking and unforgettable. This photo shows the reality of poverty  in some countries in Africa.   It is evident,  Africa does not have the resources  nor assistance that it  needs.  This photo  was taken with intent to  spread awareness  about the poverty in South Sudan ,  Africa.  From an opposing standpoint this also caused  criticism toward Kevin Carter. T he public felt like  he should have done more to help . On the contrary, this  photo  received an  extreme  amount of publicity and  awareness  to poverty,   which is commonly overlooked.  Photo by Kevin Carter       A photograph by Therese Frare showed David Kirby, a y...

Introduction to the History of Photojournalism

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History allows us to learn about and understand events that occurred in past. There are many reasons why history is studied.  In the video  "Why Study History?",  Joanna Hayes answers this by saying, " And understanding the past is key to understanding the present ." This concept relates to many subjects beyond photojournalism. For example, many "Introduction to..." college courses begin with the history of the concept. It is impossible to learn current information without learning how something began or why it began.   According to the video, " What is photojournalism ?" by Professor Nordell, " A good way to look at photojournalism on a fundamental level is to divide the word into two words: photo and journalism ." On a simple level, photojournalism may be defined as journalism through images.   Merriam-Webster Dictionary  defines photojournalism as:   " Journalism in which written copy is subordinate to pictorial usually ...