Why Photojournalist Should Be Extolled, Respected

 

Why a photojournalist should be well respected on any occasion we find him or her! A reporter that attended a newsworthy event may rewrite his story from all the reports he gathered from different sources at the event but a photojournalist could not readjust his shots after the event.

So, this means the photojournalist whose works are compared nowadays with photographers are beyond this comparison because photographers could be accepted by his customer if some shots are bad but a photojournalist whose shot is not complementary with the news story will be rejected for that.

So, we can see that photojournalists are more than what we take them for.

Well, let us look at who a photographer is and a photojournalist and later look at some differences in their works.

A photographer is an artist with the camera, using a blend of technical skills and an artistic eye to take pictures of people, places, landscapes, food, you name it. Photographers can work as fine artists, wedding and event photographers, or sell his or her photos to commercial clients.

A photojournalist is someone who photographs, edits, and displays images in order to tell a visual story. He is a professional that is skilled at interpreting and communicating an event through a photograph(s).
The photojournalist is just like a conventional reporter. He gathers and disseminates news using photographs. So his shots are often guided by the news values and elements. He also respects the ethics of the journalism profession. But the photographer primarily takes record of images, whether newsworthy or simply guided by aesthetics. It could even be for record-keeping purposes.

The objective of the person behind the camera matters a lot determining the line between photojournalism and photography. The photographer is primarily interested in great images that will please the eyes. But to the photojournalist that is not enough. The images should tell a story, whether they please the eyes or not. Just that the photograph should be ethical, not in bad taste.

The photographer could even play with Photoshop or other photo-editing software to alter images and make them look better but the professional photojournalist sticks to the original.

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A photojournalist can’t work in more than one organization, he or she that does otherwise moonlighting practicing moonlighting. However, if he or she is a freelancer, he can work in more than two organizations. But a photographer can work for many companies that need his or her services simultaneously.

A photojournalist must have completed a course with an awarded certificate, at least diploma but a photographer may not attend a formal school before he can become a photographer because he just needs little training before he becomes one.

It would be a bad idea for me to look down on someone whose job is highly technical and creatively oriented.