A picture's worth a thousand words...

The first project was investigative stories, and the second is Photojournalism. This course is proving to be exactly what I needed as an aspiring journalist. This unit was all about the images behind stories, how they can affect public opinion on said story, and ultimately set the plane for discussion about it. To start it off, we took a look at one of the biggest controversial images of 2016, the West Point graduation photo of the African American cadets. The photo got lots of backlashes as it made viewers think that the image was meant to disrespect West Point as an institution but in reality, the photo was taken to commemorate the female, African American graduates. This is what this unit is all about; how photos are taken and how they invite others to project their interpretations about the photo itself and the information the image is attached to.

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words

    Look at the image above. What do you see and what do you think? The most realistic answer would be that the image above shows a black man in a suit. You would probably also assume that he’s a businessman, or a principal even. These are examples of simple reactions to an image. It’s a common theory that things with seemingly no meaning incite basic and very minimal reactions. What if we decided to give that picture some type of meaning? What if I showed you that picture and asked you, “What do you think his meaning of life is?” If I asked this question you would probably fumble to get to your answer but reach it eventually. You would probably first start to ask yourself who this is and whether or not he is a character of importance. Next, you would analyze how he looks and is dressed, to deem him worthy of an “intricate” response to the question. The last thing you might do is use the information from your previous analyses and develop an answer. Personally, when looking at the picture I produced and asking myself the same question, I would have come to the conclusion that his meaning of life simply revolved around supporting his family and the ones he loves. Images hold weight, but images with a known meaning have an even higher gravity.

    The man in the picture is actually none other than Oakwood University’s print journalism professor, Olson Perry. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to interview professor Perry, to find out just what his meaning of life is, and he had some very compelling responses to my questions. I decided to start our conversation by asking him what it would be like if the things he did were done with no intended purpose behind them. “I would find life to be extremely boring. I would wonder, what role am I playing being alive at this time in my life? What else could I be doing? It would be as though life, for me, was completely wasted”, he replied. He goes on to say that for him, writing and teaching about writing are forms of income for him, but he also puts passion into these things. I wasn’t necessarily incorrect in my assumption about his meaning of life, but there was definitely more to it than what I had first imagined. Looking back at the picture, my perception changes. I see a man smiling nice and wide as if he was basking in being successful at marrying his work and income with something he loves doing. I start to see a man who is determined; excited, almost, to share his passion with the subjects of his occupation. My next question to him was, “What does it mean to live?”. To which he replied, “To appreciate life….To appreciate the blessings that I have that God has given me.” To him, God’s blessings are what makes life, life. His worldview that allowed him to answer this question came from a religious standpoint; Something that I never would have known if I looked at the picture I took without asking myself what he thinks life is.

    There are a lot of aspects to a picture that has an effect on the perception of it. For example, from the popular National Geographic cover, “Afghan girl”, the image was taken with many aspects taken into consideration. From the very detailed depiction of her eyes to the very nice focus effect that allows her to be the clear subject of the photograph. The picture is beautiful and clearly depicts the horrors of what was happening in Afghanistan around that time. The same goes for every other image that you’ve ever seen. The image gives you a visual representation of an idea and uses certain details in the image to alter your perception. The picture that I took, although it’s not nearly as good as Afghan Girl, it does a good job of making sure the subject of the image is the only thing being focused on. The picture was taken in a studio which is why the background is set up in that way. I tried to get the best angle so that the light wouldn’t bounce off of his head too much, which would have made the aperture of the picture itself, a lot higher than it needed to be. That would have caused the viewer to be distracted from my subject. On the camera that I used, there was a grid set-up on the display which made it easier to focus on getting my subject nice and centered. I think that, for my first time trying to have an intended message behind a picture that I took, this was pretty good. It does a really good job of capturing my subject’s professional and realistic side. It also humanizes him as it captures his simplicity, so that when looking for his meaning of life, it’s easier to identify a “real” answer. For the next time though, I would take a picture with objects in the background but make sure that my subject is the only one you could focus on.

    Just like words have power, images can do the same. What words can’t say, images will; and what images fail to say, words will. Journalism is amazing because it’s a way to communicate with a mass amount of people like no one else can. One of the greatest traits that any journalist needs to master is tugging at the different emotions that the person experiencing the work has. These emotions are vital for evoking responses from the public, and oftentimes there isn’t anyone set interpretation that a journalist expects their work to initiate. Before taking the picture and interviewing my subject and seeing how intricate this was, I never would have realized how influential just one image could be. If you can’t say it, capture it. Why? Because a picture is worth a thousand words.