Teaching Basic Photojournalism
Photojournalism is the heart of convergence journalism. The classic definition was put forth by Cliff Edom; pictures supported by words. This applies to convergence journalism where images tell many of the stories more quickly and with more detail than long, New York Times' columns of type.
To teach students self confidence when reporting, I take students on "Photo Excursions." The rules are simple:
- One must photograph a stranger, getting close enough to ask the four basic questions
- Name
- Spelling of name
- Age
- Occupation
- One must photograph the stranger methodically, creating at a minimum eight basic images:
- Wide Shot, vertical & horizontal
- Medium Shot, vertical & horizontal
- Close-up Shot, vertical & horizontal
- Extreme Close-up Shot, vertical & horizontal
The students must create a "working headline" prior to going out. The working headline is a short phrase that explains the assignment—why is one making these photographs?
The students are then trained to use PhotoShop to modify their images for a group slideshow.
Here are some examples of what we have accomplished in Lutsk.
page revision: 24, last edited: 11 Nov 2007 12:58