Photojournalism - The rise and fall

Graeme Williams - Photographic Conversations

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THIS VIDEO: I will start this video discussing the rise and fall of photojournalism....and then I’ll take you through a recent week-long assignment that I undertook for the UK Sunday Times in Zimbabwe. During the past two decades this type of work has declined sharply and is now extremely rare. The heyday of picture-driven magazines was between the 40s and the 60s when magazines like Life and Picture Post dominated the media. There were plenty of opportunities for photographers.
ABOUT ME: The conversations focus on topics related to different aspects of photography including: art, documentary and photojournalism. The discussions explore the personal experiences of photographers and artists and how their work reflects both their internal and external landscape. During the past 30 years I have photographed in over 50 countries for magazines including National Geographic, Time, New York Times and Newsweek. I have held solo exhibitions in New York, London and Paris and my work is showcased in private and institutional art collections around the world.
WEBSITE: www.graemewilliams.co.za
FACEBOOK: / graemewilliamsphotogra...
INSTAGRAM: williamsgraeme
1 on 1 MENTORING: graemewilliams.co.za/mentor-p...
MUSIC: Intro and Outro music clip from In the Shadows by Ethan Meixsell.
Mixkit: Cancion Norte by Eugenio Mininni
Mixkit: B minor by Arulo
Mixkit: Surfs up dude by Ahjay Stelino

Опубликовано:

10 фев 2023

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Комментарии : 47

@jimphilpott902 Год назад

The intrigue and danger lurking in the background kept my attention throughout the video. Your willingness and skill to infiltrate these tense situations helps us see the real conditions and injustices of social change. You are a veteran. I particularly appreciate the view into the profession of photojournalism and the changes it has undergone. Thanks again for another insightful video.

@PhotoConversations Год назад

Brilliant Jim Glad you liked it.

@teacherdude 10 месяцев назад

You are so right about having to have situational awareness in dangerous situations and working in two seemingly different levels; on the one hand making sure you have all your technical aspect worked out whilst constantly calculating the risk level around you, which is liable to change minute to minute.

@billkirby3975 Месяц назад

What was that transition from the examples of past photos to your Zimbabwe assignment?! The visual and sound was so shocking and abrasive! did not want to watch anymore of the video.

@PhotoConversations Месяц назад

Hi yes I have taken note of the flaws in this video. It was done about a year ago, while in the early learning phase.

@robertbrooks5888 Год назад

I'm not a professional photographer. I shoot solely for myself so I guess I would be considered an amateur. My format of choice is 5x4 and 10x8. I view your videos and other Magnum photographers and draw a lot of inspiration from them. Thanks for a glimpse into your working world.

@PhotoConversations Год назад

Hi Robert Vivian Maier could also be described as an amateur, but... Glad you liked it.

@keithspangler4814 9 месяцев назад

Very interesting piece Graeme. I am a retired U.S. Coast Guard Photojournalist of 20 years. Now at age 65, I find myself wanting to return to my "photojournalism" roots. That feeling, to return, came about five years ago, when I finally felt like I understood digital photography. I was a film guy back when and thought I'd never do digital. Anyway, I found "The Rise and Fall" very relatable, even though I wasn't a "professional". I studied the profession though and learned to love shooting and telling the story. I've related to Street Photography in the last couple of years and find peace there ~ accomplishments. Anyway, don't want to bore you, but I'd love to chat someday. Respectively, Keith

@PhotoConversations 9 месяцев назад

Hi Keith The word professional is a very arbitrary word - it certainly doesn't imply 'better' or 'more valuable'. So I would ignore that label and delve into pursuing your own vision. That for me is where the value lies.

@romiemiller7876 10 месяцев назад

I think one of the reasons that photojournalism is declining, and publications like Life are gone, is that society in general is becoming more and more superficial.

@PhotoConversations 10 месяцев назад

Spot on! Dopamine hits are more valuable than insight.

@DessieTots 6 месяцев назад

It’s because of television news and television programming. The same fate fell on newspaper sales from the late 1960’s when more people could afford a television set. This decline was slow but accelerated once the internet and affordable computers started appearing in homes and offices. The Sunday Times colour supplement after being taken over by Rupert Murdoch and edited by Andrew Neil almost immediately declined to the level of a lifestyle magazine featuring fashion, celebrity, etc. But by then the days of an editor saying to a photojournalist to “go away for a while and see what you can get. Don’t worry you’ll be paid”, were already long gone.

@romiemiller7876 6 месяцев назад

True. But then many papers, including the Chicago Tribune, are firing all their photo department. Papers that do so inevitably sow a decline in sales.@@DessieTots

@photogroup16 Год назад

My first foreign assignment as a newspaper photographer was to Zimbabwe back in 1999 when I was a rookie photographer at The Independent in London. Learning how to develop film in a hotel room and wire images via a neg scanner and Z-term were just some of the technical challenges on what became a hugely educational experience in my early career. I really appreciated your take on the similar experience but from a very different point in your career and also the state we find photojournalism and assignment photography in today. It's essential to discuss the importance of photojournalism when it is under increasing pressure from all angles including lack of editorial budgets, ethical questions of parachuting journalists in rather than employing more local and knowledgeable reporters, but the practical advice you give on the nuts and bolts of the experience are pure gold and remind me of one of my favourite books that I picked up while still a student by William Albert Allard called The Photographic Essay, where he takes the reader through the various considerations of a National Geographic assignment. Thanks for another great video Graeme.

@PhotoConversations Год назад

Hi Mark We might have bumped into each other in 1999. I remember a South African photographer ? Sanderson was picture editor at the Independent at some stage. It was really nuts carrying all that gear and then converting the bathroom into a darkroom. Taking the photographs was a small part of the job. I see from your website that you are still out shooting good stuff.

@rolf_siggaard Год назад

Thanks so much for your presentation. Very educational and inspirational. Well done.

@PhotoConversations Год назад

Thanks so much Rolf.

@BearBreath70 8 месяцев назад

What an interesting video! It was a privilege to see your work from the inside. Photojournalism is, of course, not the only area negatively by the internet. I’m a geographer and I’ve seen the physical map relegated to the dust bin of yesterday too. One consequence of that has been a general decline in geographical literacy and spatial awareness.

@PhotoConversations 8 месяцев назад

Thanks BB That's interesting - I have never considered the impact of the internet on geography.

@craigclark6194 Год назад

Thank you so much. I learned about the nature of photojournalism and the difficulties of Zimbabwe.

@PhotoConversations Год назад

Hi Craig I pleased that I hit the mark for you.

@pjbassman2253 Год назад

My favorite magazine and the reason I started my photography.

@PhotoConversations Год назад

Hi PJ I think it drove a lot of us to pick up a camera.

@ianwickens4376 Год назад

Graeme, I know little about cameras or photography but find your podcasts fascinating. Would the advent of and subsequent advances in mobile phone camera technology, often being able to be used covertly and the owner then passing or selling the photos to the press would have had an impact on photojournalism? The photos on the final days of the futile Vietnam war were salient. And those of Zimbabwe told a very sad story. How do these ultra wealthy people living in gated communities with multiple cars make money (and probably pay no taxes) and why do those in poverty tolerate this social stratification right before their eyes?

@PhotoConversations Год назад

Hi Ian Thanks for the thumbs up. Mobile phones have definitely added to the demise of photojournalism, but the writing was already on the wall. The politically connected in Zim get all the government tenders and give kickbacks to the politicians, so they are doing well. The Shona people are very easy going, and they have been worn down by decades of oppression and neglect.

@jekesainjikizana9734 6 месяцев назад

Wow!! I enjoyed this, loved learning from your insights

@PhotoConversations 6 месяцев назад

Many thanks!

@thomaseriksson6256 Год назад

Thank you. I'm an landscape photographer but I like to learn how to tell a story.

@p_aulwhite Год назад

Great and practical video Graeme. I am surprised that you don't have more subscribers as your output is very informative. Would you consider making a video on how to find and use fixers? I would also like to ask what camera and lens you used in Zimbabwe if you wanted to appear as a tourist? Finally, what editing software do you use for your youtube videos? Thanks, Paul

@PhotoConversations Год назад

Hi Paul Thanks for the vote of confidence.In Zimbabwe I used my Nikon 610, but wouldn't show it unless I had made sure there were few people around and then I would quickly take it out of my bag, take a few shots and go back to being a tourist. I use iMovie which is nice and simple -all the actions follow a logic that makes sense. I think what you mean about fixers is people to sort out things like locations, travel and accommodation etc?? The trouble with this topic would be that the approach would change in different countries - mostly what I do is find a contact in the area in which I am travelling and ask them to suggest a couple of options. Some countries are far more geared up for this kind of thing.

@p_aulwhite Год назад

@@PhotoConversations Yes, that's what I meant about fixers and I also understand that hiring someone would differ depending on where in the world you were operating in. Thanks for the other information too ref camera and software. You are doing great work on this channel and I hope more people will become aware of it.

@hilarywillson2992 10 месяцев назад

Thank you So enlightening

@kandyjournalist 10 месяцев назад

Good one

@MakersTeleMark Год назад

Thank you. This is meaningful.

@PhotoConversations Год назад

Hi Makers Glad you enjoyed it

@shawnhollbach395 Год назад

Fascinating video. I love your channel

@PhotoConversations Год назад

Thanks so much Shawn.

@hilarywillson2992 10 месяцев назад

Thanks

@rajeshjantilal9023 Год назад

agreed graeme.photojournalism died 20 yrs or so back.cheers.

@bigdfrom313 Год назад

I don't think the decline of photojournalism is analogous to town criers. What photojournalists such as yourself produce is still very much desired and not at all obsolete. Something that is widely desired isn't getting the resources allocated towards it that are required for it to be produced. This is a consequence of the internet only so much as it is a consequence of the reform/decline of journalism due to the internet. Lacking an economy that duly allocates resources toward their valuable talents, photojournalists ought to find some other way to monetize their skills, assuming they are generous (or entrepreneurial) people.

@PhotoConversations Год назад

Hi DT Just on your point of monetizing skills - unfortunately most photojournalists that I know (including me) are not natural born entrepreneurs.

@dianekalotas2093 Год назад

Sad decline for a beautiful country. While the fat cats gorge on their success, the poverty stricken majority continue to wallow in their misery. Desperately tragic

@PhotoConversations Год назад

Yip, not a pretty sight.