Rebecca Baker

Photo Journalism

31 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment

by Rebecca in Entertainment Arts Tags: Week10

"Under Weeping Skies" Steven Siewert

There is more to photo journalism than taking a quick snap of a local teams football practise or travelling to a foreign country and taking photos of pretty scenery. These photos have their purpose of course, but photo journalism is also involved in the business of creating meaning. “We want a photograph to tell a story” (Editor of The Courier, Stuart Howie)

“There are two musts in regard to news photographs. The photograph must be newsworthy… [and] must be in focus”. (Alysen et al 2003) This particular example by Steven Siewert called “Under Weeping Skies” was in the final lot of Walkley Press Photo Awards for 2007. The photo features Spud Murphy, a Vietnam veteran, who stood in April for his 27th dawn service in Martin Place, Sydney.

Siewert has used a long exposure, which resulted in turning the pouring rain into lines of light, thus illuminating the stoic character of a classic Australian figure. (2007 SMH) Using a long exposure increases the risk of blurring the picture if the camera is not kept perfectly still. This can be a problem associated with taking a photo like this; however Siewert has done this perfectly as we can even see the rain bouncing off his war medal.

There are a number of things that make a photo ‘work’ in terms of journalism beyond those first basic rules of being newsworthy, telling a story and in focus and this photograph incorporates most of them. Firstly the photo must have the right context. There are many types of news photographs. With the ‘rise of citizen journalism’ (2008, Flew) there are hundreds of examples online of what not to do. This photograph excels in its field because of its composition, quality and its context. Photographs that stand out in news journalism such as this one often have;

A Relative context-Can the audience understand the image and process it? Of course we all interpret things differently but in many ways a news photograph needs to be self explanatory. “Images in photographs will not mean the same thing to each viewer” (Earle, 2001) This photograph says to me, service, pride and support. The way that the eye is drawn to the medal as the rain sprays off it in a different direction shows that there is something more to be seen here than just a man standing in the rain. For example; it tells a story, and I know this because I am Australian and I understand what the day is about.

An Emotional context-Does the image bring about a personal reaction? This image provokes a patriotic personal reaction-showing pride for ones country by standing for a memorial service, despite the weather. It was reported on the Sydney Morning Herald that Mr Murphy shrugged away offers of cover although he was surrounding by a ‘sea of umbrellas’. Images in this context often correspond to a moment in history in which viewers can recall that particular emotion when they see the photograph again.

Create shock, defy expectation & capture events- this is ‘people orientated’ and can encourage emotion, but can also capture unique situations, reshaping the way people view the world around them. This can also be anything from recording everyday situations or events that are secretive. These types of images can also be investigative or documentary photographs of people and places.
This photograph is obviously a great example of its genre, as it fulfils the criteria on many levels and I doubt it could be improved!

Bibliography
Alysen.B, Sedorkin.G, Oakham.M, Patching.P (2003) Reporting in a Multimedia Word, Allen & Unwin
Earle. B, Study Guide, (2009) CMM29Styles and Genres of Journalism, School of Humanities, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Griffith University, QLD.
Fairfax Digital, The Sydney Morning Herald n.d Viewed Dec 20-24 2009,
Flew. T (2008) New Media an Introduction: 3rd edition, Oxford University Press