Assignment 3 - Photo Journal 2

Press vs Art photogrphy

The main differences and similarities between art and press photography;

There are some examplse of press photography:

                                         

                                  By: James Vellacott  "Some members of the Royal Family on the balcony at Buckingham Palace."

Source: http://www.ephotozine.com/article/press-photography-and-long-lenses-12044

      

                                                  Caption competition                                              

By: Leon Neal "During the visit to Britain by US President Barack Obama, I was covering a number of the meetings inside number 10 Downing Street. It included this one between the president, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Prime Minister David Cameron. I have absolutely no idea what was said, but I love the body language between the three subjects. While the prime minister had moved out of the way to allow us to photograph Mr Clegg and President Obama, the combination of the apparent giggling fit on the left, and the rather stern look from Mr Cameron, makes for an amusing caption competition shot."

Source:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-16180487

                                  

                                           Earthquake in Japan

By: Ishinomaki port, Miyagi prefecture, Japan "Boats rest on a pier at Ishinomaki port, in Miyagi prefecture, on 15 April, more than a month after a tsunami devastated large areas of northeastern Japan. Ishinomaki was one of the most seriously affected cities in the region, hit by several waves of up to 10 meters high. All Japan’s harbors were closed briefly after the tsunami; those in the disaster zone reopened to limited shipping traffic only at the end of March"

Source:http://www.worldpressphoto.org/photo/2012larslindqvistgn-2?gallery=2634

There are some exsamples of art photography:

By: Patrick Desmet "Creating a montage has always been one of the favorite creative outlets of Patrick Desmet. Patrick is a fine art photographer living in Belgium. He started his digital photography in1995. Everyone believes creativity and uniqueness dancing in his portfolio. The tone and the images transcend the subject and move into a highly personal area that's endlessly satisfying to look at. The use of colors, textures, lighting and pose are spot on in the vast majority of images in his portfolio. Your eyeballs will get ecstatic with such viewing his adventure."

Source:http://blog.pokkisam.com/content/unique-art-photography-patrick-desmet

1. The main differences and similarities between art and press photography.

Photography has a very important role in both press and art in the world today. However, there are many differences and similarities between art and press photos in some ways. Art photography is done to express the artist's perceptions and emotions and to share them with the public. Art photography can be altered and manipulated by using edit programs to make its image more easily understandable because it doesn’t have to expose a truth, so the photographers can express and describe their images whatever they want. On the other hand, Press photography is a form used to capture images in events which are going on in the world to record and tell the news. As photojournalists, the main role is to display facts and reality to the viewers, and they have to follow a Code of Ethics when capturing photos. Therefore, photojournalists are not allowed to alter the reality of the situation. The main similarities between art and press photography is that both types of photography capture a story and provide the viewer the feeling of emotions such as exciting, sadness or happiness. Therefore, people can easily understand and get the message through the photography. Another similarity between art and press photography is that they both used the same type of tool like a camera to capture the image and can be edited. Even though press photography limited to a certain degree, it can be edited to improve the quality of the picture by changing the shading, color and contrast without changing the original facts or information, and art photography can be edited with no any limits or boundaries.

2. Is it ethical and acceptable to alter art photographs? Why? Why not? 

Yes, it is ethical and acceptable to alter art photographs. From my point of view, Art photography should express and show the feelings, thoughts, and the creativity of the photographer. In art photography, the photographer don't have to follow a set of rules; therefore, the artists can change their images and alter it adding more details to express their vision better to the public, so when people see that images, they can be able to grasp what the artist is trying to capture.

3. Is it ethical and acceptable to alter press photographs? Why? Why not?

 No, it is not ethical and acceptable to alter press photographs. According to The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), photojournalists must not manipulate their images or add or alter in any way that can mislead viewers or misrepresent subjects, so press photographs must provide accurate truthful facts. The only acceptable changes are used to improve the quality of the photo without changing the facts on the photo itself. Its main purpose in the media is to tell the story without changing the reality and truth. As a press photographer, they must be concerned with producing accurate news for the public and they have the responsibility to preserve its images as a matter of historical record.

Source:

http://www.photography-schools.com/photojournalismhistory.htm

Friend, D. (2004). The Digital Journalist: Cartier-Bresson’s Decisive Moment. Retrieved on Nov. 08, 2011 from: http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0412/friend.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine-art_photography

- http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics.html