Lecture Five

"If it makes you laugh, if it makes you cry, if it rips your heart out, it's a good picture."

Stained Glass Window from Westminister Abbey

This lecture, following naturally on from our previous lectures on text and sound, examined the visual aspect of journalism, being picture stories. Undeniably picture stories are everywhere – in magazines, newspapers, films, television, games, advertisements, and even in money.

The history of picture stories is vast – spanning from Australian Indigenous Cave stories, to highly illustrated holy books and stained glass, to line drawings in newspapers and finally to the modern phenomena of Instagram. 

A picture tells a thousand words. Such a fact is evidently true when one looks at society’s preoccupation with images. In 2011, 14 million Instagram accounts were created and in one second, on average, 60 photos are uploaded. Further, by mid-2011 it was estimated that 100 billion photos existed on Facebook. These statistics are truly astounding.

The development of photojournalism has resulted in the ability to digitally capture and upload images within seconds.  By natural extension, digital manipulation has developed along side photojournalism. Editing software such as Photoshop, allows for the manipulation of images – a good and bad thing.  Positively, the editing of images allows for images to be enhanced and enriched – amplifying the power of the picture. Negatively, however digital manipulation has played a significant role in society’s “distorted perception” of what is "beautiful." Teenage girls are particularly affected, being exposed to unrealistic depictions of women in fashion magazines and advertisements– a fact highlighted in this Dove campaign: 

The Rule of Thirds

As I hope I have established, images have and remain inherently powerful. This begs the question, what makes a great photo? A tricky question indeed. Distilled to its simplest form, however, there can be seen to be seven fundamental elements that make a “great photo.” Framing, focus, angle and point of view, exposure, timing, the rule of thirds and the ability to capture “the moment” are all important factors photographers must consider when striving for a “great photo.” Additionally, for moving pictures “capturing” the scene and sound are also fundamental elements. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this lecture. I love art and am an avid admirer of photography. For me, images can be so profound and I truly do believe that a picture tells a thousand words. As Finnish Photographer Eetu Sillanpaa famously noted, “a picture has no meaning at all if it can’t tell a story.” 

Sillanpaa's photograph taken from the Kauhajoki school shooting in Finland. It was awarded Best News Photograph of the year in 2008.