History of
Photojournalism
In the beginning
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In the mid 1800s the average person was
not used to seeing a photographic portrait
much less images from the battlefront.
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Photojournalism began when people
began to document the Civil War by
lugging, on horseback, cameras that
weighed many pounds.
Halftone process — 1870
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Image turned into dots (a pattern of black and
white dots) that simulate shades of gray
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It allowed for realistic-looking photographs rather
than an artist’s wood etching
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Inaugurated an era of photojournalism and these
visual surrogates of reality became an integral
aspect of campaigns for social reform.
The timeline

1839: Optical and chemical principles
combined to allow the creation of camera
obscura, the first “camera” (actually the
result of inventions that go back as far as
the fifth century B.C.).
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1871: Canadian Illustrated News prints
first halftone in a magazine.
The timeline

1877: First illustrated daily newspaper, The Daily
Graphic.
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1880: The Daily Graphic publishes first halftone
in American daily newspaper.
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1900: Frances Benjamin Johnston and Jessie
Tarbox Beals, who followed shortly after
Johnston, become the first female
photojournalists.
The timeline

1903: Graflax camera introduced in U.S.; a
single-lens reflex camera; it used roll film;
National Geographic magazine,started in
1888, runs its first halftone.

1910: Speed Graphic introduced; a 4x5
camera, it had interchangeable lenses and
two shutters.
The timeline

1923: First photograph transmitted by
wire.
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1924: “Composograph,” first staged and
faked news photo, born by combining
elements from different photos; first Leica
cameras using 35mm motion picture film
and extremely fast (f/1.8 or so) lenses.
The timeline

1925: Flashbulb invented in Germany.

1929: Speed Graphic replaces Graflex as
primary camera of U.S. newspapers.
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1935: Associated Press establishes wire
photo network.
The timeline
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1936: Lifemagazine publishes first issue.

1937: Kodachrome color film becomes
available for 35mm still camera;
revolutionizes color photography.
The timeline

1941: Portable electronic flash becomes
practical.

1942: Kodacolor color negative film
introduced.
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1947: Polaroid camera invented.
The timeline

1954: Tri-X black-and-white film marketed
by Kodak.

1960: 35mm cameras becoming standard
for photojournalists.
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1978: AP introduces electronic darkroom.
The timeline

1982: Digital still camera becomes
available.

1987: Auto and self-focusing cameras
standard.

1988: Kodak introduces ISO 3200 film.
The timeline

1995: Color negative film the standard for
newspapers.

1998: Digital still cameras widespread;
high-resolution cameras (5 megapixels)
retail for about $5,000.
Photojournalists
Mathew Brady
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Civil War
photographer
Managed group of
photographers
He is given credit for
many photos that he
didn’t actually take
Rumored that his
team moved bodies to
improve composition
Shot glass plates not
film, had wagon full of
darkroom materials
Dorothea
Lange
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Migrant Mother
Depicts destitute pea
pickers in California
Mom and her seven
children
March 1936
Depth of emotion
uncommon in most
photos
Member of FSA
Margaret
Burke White
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Documented World
War II
Only female allowed
in war zone in WWII
by Army
One of first to do a
photo story
Had photo on first
cover of Life
magazine
Alfred
Eisenstaedt
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V-J Day
Father of
photojournalism
One of first to use
35mm
One of four original
Life photographers
“Paitence,
patience,
patience.”
Henri CartierBresson
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1932
The decisive moment —
known for waiting hours
for right photo
Founding member of
photo agency the
Magnum Group
Robert Capa
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“If your
pictures
aren’t
good
enough,
you aren’t
close
enough.”
Killed by
land mine
in Vietnam
Founding
member of
Magnum
Group
W. Eugene
Smith
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Born in Wichita, Kan.
Studied people in
detail before
photographing
Known for photo essay
on country doctor and
mercury poisoning of a
fishing village in Japan
Joe Rosenthal
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Raising the flag at Iwo Jima
Feb. 23, 1945
Five Marines and one Navy medic
Second flag raising that day
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Film from first one (different photographer) got ruined
Basically he got lucky
“Flags of our Fathers”
Won the Pulitzer prize in 1945
Within a month after photo shot three of the six
were killed in combat
Ansel Adams
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1942 The
Tetons and
the Snake
River, Grand
Teton
National
Park,
Wyoming
Landscape
photographer
Large format
cameras
Gordon Parks
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American Gothic 1942
Grew up in poverty and
inspired to make
something of his life
because of racism he
grew up with
Black photographer
setting president for
time period
Life magazine
Eddie Adams
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Vietcong Execution, Saigon 1968
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Brigadier General Nguyen Ngoc Loan shoots
suspected Vietcong Bay Lop in the street
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Photo received world attention because of it’s
grusomeness

Won the Pulitizer Prize in 1968
Sal Verder
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AP
photographer
USAF colonel
welcomed
home after 5
years as
POW
Won Pulitzer
in 1974
The End