George II Loc: Fayetteville, Georgia

Leonard Nimoy stated from a UCLA professor of photography that isf you take a photo of a event that is considered news worthy your a photojournalist, if you take a photo that expresses a emotion, a feeling then your a photographer. It is just interpreted as the individual sees fit. In other words just a big pissing contest with no definitive answer. Just sayin, the"G"
"Regulae Stultis Sunt"

Shiatsu Loc: Fort Collins

I agree with you. My thought is that a photojournalist has to make his picture newsworthy...no matter who writes the story to go with the picture.

Jer Loc: Mesa, Arizona

I am a photojournalist.

A photojournalist must be able to take newsworthy photos at a moments notice under any conditions, day or night, regardless of weather, etc.

We are allowed to make minor adjustments for exposure and contrast.

Sometimes you do take posed pictures, like someone receiving a plaque at the local garden club or a head-shot to go with a story. However, normally, you are trying to convey the essence of the moment.

We don't get to pick our lighting or the other conditions we work under since the activity is constantly changing. Often crowds block our lens. Other times people put their hands in front of our lens and tell us what they think of the media.

We are frequently facing crushing deadlines.

Then there are times of pure and prolonged boredom. I waited three days in the the Arizona heat for a trail verdict two years ago along with dozens of other photojournalists (both video and still).

Then there are times when covering a protest that you wonder if you are going to be a victim of the groups anger.

We do try to take the most interesting photos we can encompassing every skill available to us within the constraints we are faced with at each event.

Some of the greatest photographs of all time were taken by photojournalists. The photos convey the emotions of wars, poverty, success, pride, tragedy, and joy. A reader see events, local, national, and worldwide that the would never have an opportunity to be at.

Obviously, photojournalists are photographers.

And a photographer who captures a news worthy even can be a photojournalist.

Mud2

If only photo contest judges could tell the difference! I photograph for the beauty of what I see.

WAKD Loc: Cincinnati

"Photographer' or 'photojournalist', neither term defines a level of experience, skill or creative ability. Neither do cook and carpenter.

Moles Loc: South Carolina

Clearly different. While both start with "Photo," one is followed by "grapher," and the other "Journalist."
"

Brooklyn-Camera Loc: Brooklyn, New York City

Tomato Vs. Tomato? All depends how you say it.

Pkfish Loc: Wilson Wy

On a little separate note. I just looked at your web site and I would say that those are some great shots. Many could go either way as journalistic or artistic. Barrow is one of fathers favorite places. Never been there myself,but it is on my list.wish I would have gone with my dad when he was able. The old Cats in the cradle story. Thanx pk

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

as stated above, every Photojournalist is a photographer..
The categories should be .... Photojournalist, Portrait Photographer, Wedding Photographer, Nature Photographer, Landscape Photographer, Product Photographer, etc. See the attached site... Having said that, many photographers perform an many of the categories. I do Portrait, Real Estate, Nature, Wild Life, (some) Sports, Landscape, and anything that I get the chance to do. I have done a lot of Photojournalism and it is extremely challenging, especially in the old film days when you had to be sure of your shots since you couldn't look at the screen to make sure they were correct. Also, in Photojournalism, you had the added chores of extreme temperature (anything from snow storms to fires, extreme lighting (fires, power outages, stormes), Danger (fires, shootouts between polices and criminals or battles during Vietnam etc., and semi-portrait or candid shots of public figures and celebrities. I don't think you can really say that any one type of photographer is better than another.. Each has it's own challenges.

http://photodoto.com/types-of-photographers/

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

When I was in eighth grade, at a combined Jr.-Sr. high school, the newspaper/yearbook advisor caught me by my collar one day, as I was walking past her office/classroom. I had a Canon FX around my neck. One of her staffers had shown her some of my prints.

"You're going to take pictures for the newspaper and the yearbook, aren't you?" she smiled, with a weird, slightly evil, slightly friendly grin. "If you pay for my materials!" I smiled back. A five year friendship was born.

I took three years of her journalism classes, and I put thousands of pictures in the paper and the yearbook. That experience would lead me to a post-college career as an AV producer at a school portrait and yearbook company, which led to various management jobs there, over a 33 year career.

Photojournalism is a very powerful way of communicating. It is visual storytelling, and most importantly, the support of prose stories, with photographs.

Words alone cannot convey everything about a story. Photographs ground words in more concrete ways... They provide context and believability for a much deeper understanding.

Add sound and motion and you have even more power. When I became an AV producer, my primary medium was 35mm slides, displayed with multi-image techniques (computer-controlled dissolve units connected to a dozen slide projectors). That led to analog video, and eventually PowerPoint and digital video.

Despite sound, motion, the Internet, and other recent developments, photojournalism is still a powerful medium. It is morphing these days, as the power of the smart phone and social media and the Internet enable nearly instant capture and dissemination of news around the globe.

While there is still room for professional photojournalists in some contexts, ANYONE and EVERYONE can be a photojournalist at some point. Photography itself is now a nearly universal human medium, if not a language.

Randy_Rainey

I have photographed professionally for over 25 years, I studied under Monte Zucker one of the greatest Master Photographic Craftsmen in USA or the world. Having said that, The styles of photography definitions went something like this... In Wedding or event photography the Photo Journalist could easily use a motor drive if film or today large size Memory SSD chips to hold a million shots. The portrait / wedding work using the Portrait style + Candids to tell the story in fewer number but higher quality images. Dennis Reggie who did the Kennedy weddings prescribed to the Photo Journalist style while Monte did not.
Having said all that it would appear that the Journalist would get the shot by numbers while the Portait/Wedding Photographer would create images to tell the story.

rtcary

In my taking pictures alongside photojournalist (employed by a local newspaper) and knowing several, these are the "rules" they follow. Me, I chat with the people and ask them to move if it will be a better picture, but mine will be used in a brochure...not a newspaper.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

I did a career in photo journalism and as far as basic photography is concerned there's very little difference. But, the main difference, as I see it, is the purpose of the pictures / video you shoot.

If you're shooting for yourself, a private collection type thing, then that would be photography. If you're shooting to tell a story say on a commercial television station, where I did all my work, that's photo journalism.

We're all photographers. Some get the word "professional" confused with the quality of the photos / video taken. I was a professional photo journalist for over 25-years shooting all video for news / sports outlets.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Good answer.

fbluhm Loc: San Antonio, TX

The majority of the photographers who take on assignments for National Geographic are photojournalists. I would never refer to these people as "cooks." Anyone who does, simply doesn't understand what we do; I've been a photo/journalist (two words) since my days in Vietnam.

A photojournalist is not only a photographer, but also a writer; we shoot and tell stories. As a photojournalist, I shoot and write about the human condition. My job is to give readers both a visual and written interpretation of what's going on in the world. Like Cartier-Bresson, we are more interested in the 'decisive moment," so to speak; the one click of the shutter release that truly tells the story.

Photojournalists - those working for news agencies (Getty, AP, UPI, etc.) magazines, television... - all have an excellent working knowledge of photography and the equipment they use. Unlike photographers who shoot art, work in studios, etc., we are constantly on the go, and often work in very harried situations.

So, no, we are not "cooks." Instead, we "chefs" who specialize within the world of working photographers.