The Importance of Photojournalism

Over the past few years, or even the last decade, journalism has taken a real hit from the general public. Between prognostications that smartphones and social media would kill off the need for photojournalists, to attacks on journalism in general from political bloviators. But the awful events in Ukraine over the past week show that Journalism and PhotoJournalism are as effective and as important as ever.

I grew up in Ireland in the 80s at the height of the troubles in Northern Ireland. I still remember images of paratroopers on the streets of Belfast and photos of horrific events of paramilitaries dominating the papers at the time. To be honest, as a kid, I didn’t pay much attention, but they still stuck in my head. A sort of eco of the times. As I got older and into photography I began to appreciate the power of images that much more.

Throughout our recent history, dramatic images have dominated the public consciousness in times of distress. From the infamous photos of the Vietnam war and war protests, to the horrific events of 9/11, to the recent refugee crisis, much of our perception of terrible events have been shaped by photography. While we often think of those images, forever seared into the public’s collective memory, spare a moment to think that someone took those photos, and in some cases, those people put their lives on the line to share important stories with the world.

Watching the awful events of the invasion of Ukraine unfold on television and in newspapers, it struck me as to how many journalists from around the world stayed with their fellow Ukrainian reporters in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities as the shells and missiles reined down. Photos and news reports from the major newspapers, and news networks have showed the human side of this war, and the people who are affected. And that is incredibly important.

In my lifetime, I can’t remember a single event that united the world like this, and much of the shock and outrage from the ordinary people pouring onto the streets of cities all over the world is down to the images portrayed on our screens by the brave men and women of the international and local press corps who are literally putting their lives on the line to bring the news to the world. Sometimes photojournalists give their lives to report the news, such as Tim Hetherington who was reporting on the uprising in Libya when he was killed. Remember that the next time some pompous talking head behind a comfortable desk on some faux news network or social media post criticises the media.

If you want to support the work of journalists and photojournalists, you don’t have to do a lot. Buy a newspaper now and then. Subscribe to a reliable news organisation. Don’t get your news from Facebook. Don’t repeat or retweet news from non-reliable sources.

I’d also like to make a quick mention of Getty Images. In recent years this has become the boogey man for all things bad about photography, but together with other agencies, they are essential in distributing these important images throughout the world, and to smaller news organisations that may not have reporters on the ground. When you see an iconic image thats splashed all over the front page of newspapers in a time of crisis, it’s agencies like Getty who are behind this. You can see their current archive of photos from the conflict in Ukraine here. Remember when looking at these photos too, there’s a person behind the camera taking the images.

If you want to help the people of Ukraine, there are many organisations, such as the Red Cross providing humanitarian relief, but may I suggest you also consider World Central Kitchen, who are working on the border with Poland and other places to provide hot meals to arriving refugees.

Incidentally, as a side point, I would also like to point out that prominent photo software developer Skylum software, was founded in Ukraine, and their core development team is based in Kyiv. The software developer MacPaw, makers of Clean My Mac X and other utilities, and the folks behind Setapp, are also based in Kyiv. Keep their staff in your thoughts during these dark times.

One other note, I’m closing the comments on this because of the political nature of this post, and the prevalence of trolls and bots on this subject.

Cover Photo by "breakermaximus" from iStock Photo