Photojournalism

This is a picture taken by Kevin Carter, a South African photojournalist. Its a tragic photo of a young child in

sub-Saharan Africa who is so weak and starved that a vulture is right next to her just waiting for her to die. Vultures typically only eat dead animals and it senses that the young child will soon die so it just awaits its next meal and it should also be noted that it looks a lot better fed than the child. Carter put great emphasis on the child by taking the picture from an angle where her ribs are clearly visible and people could see just how emaciated the child is and also it is in font of the vulture. The picture has a very strong impact because it shows the urgency and severity of the situation in Africa. This photo, though tragic, brings awareness to the extreme poverty in Africa in a very powerful way. Carter won the Pulitzer for this picture but died a year later.

This picture depicts the lynching of black men in Marion on August 7, 1930. It was estimated that 2,000 people gathered to see these men lynched after being in jail for charges of killing a white man and raping his girlfriend. Before being tried they were beaten and two where hanged and one was released when a man stepped up and said he had nothing to do with it. Corbis Brettman photographed this and the emphasis put on the men hanging along with the capturing of the background of whites in the fame really brings to life the injustice of that time because the whites seem pleased about the situation. The black and white add to the effect and work to add a sadness mood to the picture.

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima was taken by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. It shows the United States raising the flag on Mount Suribachi during the battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. It is also a black and white photograph and that makes the value element more prominent and the mood more heroic. The emphasis is definitely on the U.S. flag which is towards the center.

This is a picture of an unknown man who became a hero from this photo that shows him standing in front of four army tanks in Tienanmen Square on June 5, 1989. It was photographed by Jeff Widener from the sixth floor of the Beijing Hotel which makes it possible to see all the tanks and the man from above. It shows the bravery of this man and how the Chinese people were so tired of not being listened to. The frame just lets the tanks ans the man in the image but its just as powerful because the emphasis is still on the man though he is far smaller and to the side. This picture also consists of very few colors and none too bright which is good because they don't distract or take away form the photograph.

This is a photography by Mike Wells in 1980 which shows a young, starving child's hand in Uganda with that of a missionary. The contract is horrifying and tragic but definitely an eye opener. This is a very powerful image even thought the only thing in the frame are the two hands. The fact that there are only two hands present shows the outstanding proportion differences. Color, in this case, works to emphasis the difference between both hands and the detail in the fagile hand.