just a blog

Thursday, August 03, 2006

While I was reading this book on photojournalism, a phrase in the introduction stood out. The writer wrote that the role of the photojournalist was "to inform, to report, to carry the scene to the readers, whether they are thousand of miles away or just down the street. To show them something that they might not have had a chance to see themselves. To grab a moment of history and preserve it for the future."

I think that phrase just encompasses what photojournalism is all about. As some of the photojournalists said, essentially, photojournalism is about journalism. Hence, journalism comes before photography. How true.

Also, I totally respect AP's stance on photojournalism and how much they uphold the integrity of it.

"The following statement of our policy on electronic handling of photos was issued in 1990, the infancy of high speed photo transmission and the electronic darkroom. It is as valid today as it was then.

Electronic imaging raised new questions abut what is ethical in the process of editing photographs. The question may have been new, but the answers all come from old values.

Simply put, The Associated Press does not alter photographs. Our pictures must always tell the truth.

The electronic darkroom is a highly sophisticated photo editing tool. It takes us out of a chemical darkroom where subtle printing techniques, such as burning and dodging, have long been accepted as journalistically sound. Today these terms are replaced by "image manipulation" and "enhancement". In a time when such broad terms could be misconstrued, we need to set limits and restate some basic tenets.

The content of a photograph will NEVER be changed or manipulated in any way.

Only the established norms of standard photo printing methods such as burning, dodging, black-and-white toning and cropping are acceptable. Retouching is limited to removal of normal scratches and dust spots.

Serious consideration must always be given in correcting color to ensure honest reproduction of the original. Cases of abnormal color or tonality will be clearly stated in the caption. Color adjustment should always be minimal.

In any instance where a question arises about such issues, consult a senior editor immediately.

The integrity of the AP's photo report is our highest priority. Nothing takes precedence over its credibility."

he spoke at 7:39 pm

Still on sunglasses. Been scouting around and seems like $300 is probably the most realistic price around. At least in terms of affordability.

With that price, it means that the frame will be some generic brand (no Oakleys or Ray-Bans at the kind of budget that I am working on). The cheapest Oakleys or Ray-Bans here cost around $200. The good thing is that they have quite nice looking generic frames that cost slightly over $100.

Two other options I have are to get those cover ons or clip ons. Not really keen on them because the former will look overly big on my face and the latter does not really suit my current glasses. My current ones are too small and wearing clip ons will just make me look like a pervert and that is not exactly the look I want.

he spoke at 3:25 pm