The winds of change are sweeping across the photojournalism world and the concept of a photojournalist is re-shaping, even as I write this. Experiments are already well under way in press rooms of far-thinking newspapers, headed by the visions of hardcore photojournalists.
Some call it blasphemous. The death of photojournalism. At 30fps, does it all amount to having the fastest motordrive? Is video the future for photojournalists? There is no proof yet, but the indications are very much evident.
Fact. Print media offers limited scope for good photojournalism. As news holes reduce, space for images is limited to the single (or, at best two) large “candyfloss” photos catering to page design more than PJ content. In such a scenario, the PJ has been sidelined to the point of becoming secondary, dancing to the whims of everyone else in the newsroom. He was a dying breed.
Then came the re-awakening. The Internet boom brought in new and exciting opportunities for all. To the visionary PJ, it provided a space to showcase him true capabilities. It offered him a chance to carry out indepth work and let the world see the outcome.
A number of PJs at newspapers, especially in the US (Washington Post being a pionier among these), realised the potential and began putting up simple slide shows - collections of images brought into the newsroom that could not make it to print. Soon, the smart PJs started capturing sounds – field interviews and ambient sounds, setting these to the images in slideshows. Audio slideshows became a hit online. Today, the venerable Magnum has its own multimedia version in the Magnum InMotion project where audio is infused into images to create spellbinding audio slideshows.
From these beginings, it was just a matter of time before the idea of capturing video was thrown into the ring. Today a number of newspapers, notably the Dallas Morning News under the guidance of David Leelson (a strong advocate of video for PJs), routinely use video exclusively in the field. Single frames are “grabbed” and used in print while video presentations go online. Talk about getting the best of both worlds with little fuss!
High Definition video (HDV) is the technology that makes this possible. The use of HDV in pressrooms can only increase as the tech improves. The concept of a PJ as someone capturing “photos” will change. What we will have are hybrid entities capable of capturing photos, video and sound from the field and amalgamating that into slick Flash presentations online with the print editions using a few frames as secondary outlets.
It is really a matter of when, not whether. The smart PJs are already at work, experimenting with this new medium of expression. The tools may change. But this is one way we have found to survive and continue with our passion – which is making good images.
The cheese has moved, it's time to move to new cheese.
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