ISSUE

Spring 2010

Visual Journalism

Photojournalism is changing, propelled by newsroom budget cuts, multimedia possibilities, and the ubiquity of digital images. In Visual Journalism, photojournalists write about emerging digital business strategies and their efforts to expand the reach of their photographs online and on gallery walls. They also share ideas about how to fund projects of personal passion and societal value. Their words tell vital stories about how they do their work; slideshows of their photographs—exclusive to our Web site—and multimedia presentations convey their visual stories. Read and watch as the future of photojournalism unfolds.

Download PDF

Articles

The Impact of Images: First, They Must Be Seen
Features

The Impact of Images: First, They Must Be Seen

Through photographs transformed into comic images and other creative collaborations, the work of a photojournalist is connecting with new audiences in creative ways.
Marcus Bleasdale
April 7, 2010
Visual Journalism

The Fluidity of the Frame and Caption

When keywords become invisible captions and cameras increasingly do what darkrooms once did, how photojournalists approach their job changes.
Venkat Srinivasan
March 30, 2010
Visual Journalism

A New Focus: Adjusting to Viewers’ Increasing Sophistication About Images

In an age when visual literacy is common, photojournalists may need to bring fresh sensibilities to their work.
Jörg M. Colberg
March 30, 2010
Opinion

When Journalists Were Targets

Sunday Dare wrote a book, “Guerilla Journalism: Dispatches from the Underground,” about his experiences working as an independent journalist in Nigeria when that country was ruled by a military dictatorship.RELATED…
March 30, 2010
Technology

Meditating on the Conventions and Meaning of Photography

RELATED ARTICLE“Failing to Harness the Web’s Visual Promise“– Fred RitchinFred Ritchin’s book “After Photography” is a rich stew of memoir, history (remember the darkened image of O.J. Simpson on the…
Jan Gardner
March 30, 2010
Opinion

Digital Stories Are Being Chosen and Consumed à la Dim Sum

In the absence of a front page—or even a home page, will readers confront a crisis of context? Or will convenience and a self-confidence in judgment triumph?
Michele Weldon
March 30, 2010
Nieman Notes

A Nieman Fellow Joins Jimmy Breslin’s Other Friends in Celebrating His Common Touch

‘It was a cross between “This Is Your Life” and an Irish wake, the important difference being, of course, that the corpse was still warm and still pretty ornery.’
Kevin Cullen
March 30, 2010
Nieman Notes

Slain Sri Lankan Journalist Honored for His Commitment to a Free Press

Lasantha WickrematungeThe Nieman Class of 2010 presented two Louis Lyons awards in recognition of the many risks journalists working in conflict zones face on the job. In addition to honoring…
March 30, 2010
Nieman Notes

Reaching Out With Appreciation to Brave Colleagues in Afghanistan

Through the Lyons award and a teleconference with journalists in Kabul, the Niemans pay tribute to the work of Afghan reporters and hear about the difficulties they face.
James Reynolds
March 30, 2010
Opinion

Are Newspapers Dying? The View of an Aspiring Journalist

‘In The Republican’s newsroom I experienced something of a disconnect between the old vanguard of journalists who filled the paper’s top posts and younger staffers who were frustrated by the…
Sam Butterfield
March 30, 2010
Opinion

Moving Across the Border: Teaching Journalism in Hong Kong

‘As a student from Shenzhen, an industrial city just across the border, said: “Once I’ve discovered all the resources out there, I don’t want them taken away from me.” ’
Michael J. Jordan
March 30, 2010
Opinion

Connecting What Happened Then With What Happens Now

‘To focus on Don Hollenbeck’s death is to miss the lessons of his life.’
Stuart Watson
March 30, 2010
Opinion

What Changed Journalism—Forever—Were Engineers

‘Like the other engineer that has succeeded in killing journalism’s economic model—Craigslist’s Craig Newmark—Google’s founders have nothing against journalists, newspapers or our search for truth, justice and the American way.’
Joel Kaplan
March 30, 2010
Opinion

A Journalist Joins the Nigerian Government—If Only for A While

‘I wanted my freedom back—the freedom to be able to tell truth to power.’
Sunday Dare
March 30, 2010
Documentary Photography
Visual Journalism

Documentary Photography

The impact that photographs can have is illuminated in a look back at iconic images.
Glenn Ruga
March 30, 2010
Visual Journalism

Documentary Photographers Have Their Say in Words and Pictures

A heroin addict is being injected by his friend on a roadside in Pakistan in the early morning. Photo by Yusuke Harada from “Behind the War on Terror” on SocialDocumentary.net.…
Glenn Ruga
March 30, 2010
Features

Demotix: Inventing a New Marketplace

Photographers—amateur and professional—send their images to this Web site and split the fee if they are sold for publication.
Turi Munthe
March 30, 2010
Features

Music Lessons Inform Photojournalism’s Future

‘The record business died as the digital music business was born. Photojournalism finds itself at a similar juncture now.’
Ian Ginsberg
March 30, 2010
Features

What Crisis?

‘It’s not about finding new ways to do old things, but time to radically rethink our business models by redefining our products, our partners, and our clients.’
Stephen Mayes
March 30, 2010
Features

Too Many Similar Images, Too Much Left Unexplored

In May 2009, Stephen Mayes spoke at the World Press Photo awards ceremony in Amsterdam. He had served as secretary of the jury for the awards from 2004 to 2009,…
Stephen Mayes
March 30, 2010
Journalist’s Trade

Recognizing the Special Value of Still Photos in a Video World

Arleen White struggles to cope after the judge accepted a plea of manslaughter in connection with the murder of her 15-year-old son. Photo by Nuri Vallbona/The Miami Herald.RELATED ARTICLE“Being a…
Nuri Vallbona
March 30, 2010
Journalist’s Trade

Being a Photojournalist Doesn’t Equal Job Security

After taking a buyout, a longtime newspaper photographer thinks about her future direction in an industry where multimedia now rules and technological know-how is essential.
Nuri Vallbona
March 30, 2010
Journalist’s Trade

Our Emotional Journey—Traveled Together

‘Journalism, at its best, is collaboration. No single reporter can ask every question. No photographer can capture every scene.’
Lane DeGregory
March 30, 2010
Journalist’s Trade

The Camera—It’s Only the Starting Point to Change

‘So how does a global news organization such as The Associated Press get this technology working for us? In short, how do we train our photojournalists to use it?’
Santiago Lyon
March 30, 2010
Journalist’s Trade

Partnership of Photojournalist and Writer

‘With our close collaboration, I felt for the first time as a photographer that I was working with a writer who really wanted to hear what I thought about the…
Melissa Lyttle
March 30, 2010
Features

Preparing the Next Generation of Photojournalists

Exposure, a photojournalism, documentary studies, and human rights program, ‘prepares students for immersive experiences and guides them in their efforts to document through photography what they observe.’
Sherman Teichman
March 30, 2010
Features

Carving New Pathways With Photojournalism Students

‘I ask myself what I should be teaching my students. How can I prepare them so they can find good jobs? Figuring this out is my daily challenge.’
Josh Meltzer
March 30, 2010
Features

Taking Time to Rethink, Adjust and Move Forward

‘Today, how we divide our time and do our work and get paid for it has virtually no connection to how things worked for those who started out a decade…
Justin Mott
March 30, 2010
Features

‘Destiny’s Children’: A Legacy of War and Gangs

The recent launch of the Web site “Destiny’s Children” ends one phase of a two-decade project on youth gangs while it begins another.
Donna DeCesare
March 30, 2010
Features

Photojournalists Reach Viewers in Different Ways

Using emerging funding strategies and finding fresh venues to display their work, photographers bring foreign news reporting to new audiences.
Iason Athanasiadis
March 30, 2010
Features

Pushing Past Technology to Reach Enduring Issues

‘I want my students to be engaged not just about making a product … they’ll submit to the College Photographer of the Year contest—but in thinking critically about the process…
Donna DeCesare
March 30, 2010
Features

Newspaper Employee to Nonprofit Director: A Photojournalist’s Journey

The idea behind Wéyo ‘was to capitalize on our collective years of journalism experience and turn our narrative storytelling abilities toward work with nonprofits.’
Christopher Tyree
March 30, 2010
Agent Orange: Pressing the Government to Take Responsibility
Technology

Agent Orange: Pressing the Government to Take Responsibility

Words and photographs by Wendy Watriss.
Wendy Watriss
March 30, 2010
Technology

Photojournalism in the New Media Economy

Success will depend on ‘seeing oneself as a publisher of content and a participant in a distributed story, the form of which helps reshape the content of the story.’
David Campbell
March 30, 2010
Technology

A Story Rooted in a Community Gives Voice to Its People

Ali Ahmed Ali was among a community of Yemeni sailors who lived in a boarding house in South Shields, Great Britain, between trips at sea. Photo by Peter Fryer.RELATED ARTICLE“Photojournalism…
David Campbell
March 30, 2010
Technology

Looking Beneath the Surface of Stories in Iraq, Iowa and Rwanda

Providing storytelling and context for photographs is a major motivation for MediaStorm’s multimedia projects, such as the three that founder Brian Storm discusses in the conversation.“The Marlboro Marine” by Luis…
March 30, 2010
Technology

Journey to a New Beginning

As the doors of established media slam shut, a photojournalist knocks on new ones to find the promise of more authenticity in his storytelling and greater control over his work.
Ed Kashi
March 30, 2010
Technology

Multimedia Adds New Dimensions to the Art of Storytelling

RELATED ARTICLE“Journey to a New Beginning”– Ed KashiFrom a book to a Web site, from a series of photographs to a digital flipbook, my work—and that of many of my…
Ed Kashi
March 30, 2010
Technology

Failing to Harness the Web’s Visual Promise

Today, too many news organizations still don’t take advantage of digital media’s capacity to give readers contextual information and to engage them in finding out more about the story the…
Fred Ritchin
March 30, 2010
The Still Photograph: Embedding Images in Our Mind
Visual Journalism

The Still Photograph: Embedding Images in Our Mind

With his large-scale images, Edward Burtynsky seeks to ‘bring viewers to that point where they begin to grapple with their own consciousness about being in that space.’
Edward Burtynsky
March 15, 2010
Technology

A Different Approach to Storytelling

‘… photographs require context to tell a more complete narrative. The best thing for photojournalists to do is to slow down, become a little more engaged, and spend a little…
Brian Storm
March 15, 2010
The Untold Story of Mexican Migration
Features

The Untold Story of Mexican Migration

RELATED ARTICLE “Carving New Pathways with Photojournalism Students” – Josh MeltzerTo see more of Meltzer’s work, visit his Web site.My Fulbright project in Mexico centered on migration within the country.…
Josh Meltzer
March 15, 2010
Taking Stock of the ‘Area Boys’ in Lagos, Nigeria
Features

Taking Stock of the ‘Area Boys’ in Lagos, Nigeria

RELATED ARTICLE“Preparing the Next Generation of Photojournalists“– Sherman TeichmanSamuel James, the winner of Exposure’s first Alexandra Boulat Award, will continue his photographic work on the lives of the “Area Boys,”…
Samuel James
March 15, 2010
Pakistan: A Freelancer as Photographer
Features

Pakistan: A Freelancer as Photographer

RELATED ARTICLE“Photojournalists reach viewers in different ways” – Iason AthanasiadisWhen I went to Pakistan in 2007, the country was embroiled in a huge constitutional crisis. In one day of violence…
Iason Athanasiadis
March 15, 2010
Gift of Training + Shift in Newsroom Thinking = Multimedia Storytelling
Journalist’s Trade

Gift of Training + Shift in Newsroom Thinking = Multimedia Storytelling

Words and photographs by Evan Vucci.
Evan Vucci
March 15, 2010
Finding Common Themes in Louisiana and Iraq
Features

Finding Common Themes in Louisiana and Iraq

Words and photographs by Kael Alford.
Kael Alford
March 15, 2010
Finding an Extraordinary Moment During an Ordinary Ride
Journalist’s Trade

Finding an Extraordinary Moment During an Ordinary Ride

RELATED ARTICLES“Partnership of Photojournalist and Writer”– Melissa Lyttle“Our Emotional Journey—Traveled Together”– Lane DeGregorySee more of Lyttle’s work in the multimedia presentation for “The Girl in the Window.”On the half-hour drive…
Melissa Lyttle
March 15, 2010
Crossing the Line: From Still to Video—to Both at the Same Time
Journalist’s Trade

Crossing the Line: From Still to Video—to Both at the Same Time

Words and photographs by Julie Jacobson.
Julie Jacobson
March 15, 2010
44 Days and the Portrayal of History in Tehran
Technology

44 Days and the Portrayal of History in Tehran

Words and photographs by David Burnett.
David Burnett
March 15, 2010
A Personal Project: Third-Generation Victims of Agent Orange
Features

A Personal Project: Third-Generation Victims of Agent Orange

Words and photographs by Justin Mott.
Justin Mott
March 15, 2010
‘Lost Boys’ Return to Sudan as Doctors
Features

‘Lost Boys’ Return to Sudan as Doctors

Words by Christopher Tyree. Photographs by Stephen Katz and Christopher Tyree.
Christopher Tyree
March 15, 2010
Visual Journalism

Spring 2010: Introduction

Photojournalism is changing, propelled by newsroom budget cuts, multimedia possibilities, and the ubiquity of digital images. In Visual Journalism, photojournalists write about emerging digital business strategies and their efforts to…
Melissa Ludtke
March 15, 2010
Technology

Steps Learned Along the Way: Redefining Photojournalism’s Power

‘Even in the best of times, even when highly recognized within the field itself, our images are only tools, not an end in themselves.’
Wendy Watriss
March 15, 2010
Opinion

It’s Not the Assignment: It’s the Lessons That Come From It

RELATED ARTICLE“Digital Stories Are Being Chosen and Consumed à la Dim Sum”– Michele WeldonMy students’ assignment seemed straightforward: take a front page of a newspaper and translate it into a…
Michele Weldon
March 15, 2010
Technology

From Film to Digital: What’s Lost? What’s Gained?

‘Today, it seems that speed trumps all else, becoming the way success is measured. It might be better if other factors—such as content, reliability and value—were to trump speed when…
David Burnett
March 15, 2010
Features

In Pursuing a Personal Project, Global Dimensions Emerge

‘As photojournalists casting about for creative and meaningful direction in the face of … an industry shifting beneath our feet, we may be best served by following the threads of…
Kael Alford
March 15, 2010
From the Curator

Global Health Reporting: Expertise Matters

For three years global health fellows have been a part of each Nieman class, and the great value rendered by their study and subsequent reporting is measurable.
Bob Giles
March 9, 2010