Photojournalism Week
Welcome to Photojournalism Week! timothysim and I will be sharing some of our hard-earned knowledge (I can't speak for Tim, but some of mine had to be beat in
) about the world of photojournalism. Who's excited? 
If you ever have questions, don't hesitate to ask!
To kick-start the week, let's talk about what photojournalism is:
”I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated.”
- James Nachtwey
Photographers often capture nouns. It’s the whole reason for the image, right? Well, photojournalism is all about the verbs. Photojournalists have just seconds to capture key elements of events, to tell the story. Photojournalism gives us newsworthy photographs wherein the primary motivation is to recount a story. The photographer will not disturb the natural events of the scene (such as posing their subjects or asking them to reenact the scene).
In the real world, the photographs are accompanied by at least two sentences that tell the ’who, what, when, where and why’ of the image. These sentences are known as captions or cutlines. They inform the reader of what’s going on with the image. We'll be going over some of the basics of caption writing in another journal.
Accuracy of the image is vital to photojournalism. Journalists are ethically bound to not change anything about the story – no cloning out of unsightly poles, adding elements to the scene, or even removing blemishes. If it happened, it happened. At most, they can do basic editing such as correcting white-balance, slight sharpening, a push on the saturation, etc. Photojournalism isn’t fine art, it’s not the photographer’s job to make anyone look pretty.
CONCERTS & MUSICIANS
Photographs documenting concerts, audience, and the life and careers of musicians and artists.
DOCUMENTARY & EDITORIAL
Photographs used to chronicle significant & historical events in a truthful and objective manner.
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MILITARY
Photographs of military personnel, equipment, or other related images that document the armed forces around the world. This does not include posed moments involving service members or airsoft.
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NATURAL EVENTS
Photographs covering natural events and/or the results of such occurrences. Some examples include floods, fires, and hurricanes.
OTHER
Photojournalism photography that does not fit into any of the other categories.
PEOPLE
Photographs documenting people in a newsworthy setting, where the focus is telling a story in strictly journalistic terms. This category is often used for lifestyle journalism, depicting scenes of everyday life.
PERFORMING ARTS
Photographs documenting the forms of creative activity that are performed live, such as drama, music and dance.
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PLACES
Newsworthy photographs in which the location or setting is the main focus. One example is Stamatis' photo of the fire raging in Athens. It is a good landscape view of the city yet tells the story of what happened. This is the difference between other ordinary APN (Animal Plants and Nature) pictures.
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POLITICAL
Photographs depicting political events. Communicating some kind of political message, or depicting people trying to make a change.
PUBLIC GATHERINGS AND EVENTS
Photographs documenting public events (such as rallies, riots, marches, protests) in a newsworthy setting and in strictly journalistic terms.
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Photographs documenting sporting events, their locations, the equipment, or the athletes in the wide world of sports.
WEDDINGS
Photographs documenting a wedding or the reception in strictly journalistic terms. Candid images of the bride getting ready or the groomsmen joking around; these images are not posed portrait photographs.
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