As a child, I associated Journalism with writing - and writing only. Not the fun kind of writing, but writing for a deadline, an uninteresting topic and an old cantankerous boss. I actually turned myself off the idea of it completely. I hated thinking that a career in Journalism - so focused on the written word - would be creatively restricted.
Nevertheless, we are an ingenious generation and technology is moving at a fast pace. In recent years Journalism has become as very much about the visual as it is the written. In this day and age, it is important for Journalists to enter the working world with a few prerequisites; That is the ability to digitally capture and upload photos, the ability to digitally manipulate photos and the ability to digitally publish photos (online).
But (as mentioned in the lecture), a picture can say 1000 words. Often the words are unnecessary, and a great story (and all that is behind it), can be told in a simple glance. Great Journalists are those who can capture photos in a way that utilises viewpoint, lighting and the timing - in a single click - capturing a moment both true to its atmosphere and the story behind it.
As a bit of an Ancient History bore, I can tell you that drawings and art works all over the world have been found and identified as the main source of communication all throughout history. These drawings were created for those who couldn't read and those who simply needed a graphic description for whatever the reason may be - regardless, it made it a hell of a lot easier for us to decipher them many, many years later. To name a few, we have the cave drawings seen in the Chauvet Cave in France, those found in the Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia, the famous stained glass windows that decorate the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy, and of course the Holy books. From Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Aztec drawings, historians have been able to uncover and solve some of the Ancient world's greatest mysteries. From these drawings alone, history has been created and is accessible to anyone who spares a moment to look at them.
Similarly, in the modern world, a photograph is all that is needed to reveal emotion, a scenario, a story and history - all in one glance. I personally believe that photos are the most effective and informative means of communication. They can be taken instantaneously, shared with the press of a button and - if taken by someone who knows what they are doing - create emotions that one could never discover with reading the written word.
Whilst the written word has taken people to places unimaginable, sometimes - if there is anyone is like me - they need to see it to believe it. And in the blink of an eye - rather than somewhere in the first 1000 pages of a novel or 100 words of a news story - the impact of a photo can be enough. Enough to know, to understand and to feel.
As a bit of an Ancient History bore, I can tell you that drawings and art works all over the world have been found and identified as the main source of communication all throughout history. These drawings were created for those who couldn't read and those who simply needed a graphic description for whatever the reason may be - regardless, it made it a hell of a lot easier for us to decipher them many, many years later. To name a few, we have the cave drawings seen in the Chauvet Cave in France, those found in the Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia, the famous stained glass windows that decorate the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy, and of course the Holy books. From Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Aztec drawings, historians have been able to uncover and solve some of the Ancient world's greatest mysteries. From these drawings alone, history has been created and is accessible to anyone who spares a moment to look at them.
Similarly, in the modern world, a photograph is all that is needed to reveal emotion, a scenario, a story and history - all in one glance. I personally believe that photos are the most effective and informative means of communication. They can be taken instantaneously, shared with the press of a button and - if taken by someone who knows what they are doing - create emotions that one could never discover with reading the written word.
Whilst the written word has taken people to places unimaginable, sometimes - if there is anyone is like me - they need to see it to believe it. And in the blink of an eye - rather than somewhere in the first 1000 pages of a novel or 100 words of a news story - the impact of a photo can be enough. Enough to know, to understand and to feel.
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