Photojournalism Analysis of Hong Kong Protest

Photojournalism Analysis of Hong Kong Protest Mohammad Aqdas Qasem Photojournalism and Organizational Analysis of Hong Kong Protest Photojournalism is an ideology that many journalists now use to manipulate pictures to tell a story in a specific way (Schwartz 223). Photojournalism is used as â€Å"a medium that ‘captures’ news† and they â€Å"must insist on the objectivity of their pictures at the same time they attempt to demonstrate the mastery of the craft† (223). Photojournalism portrays a given news story, giving an illusory look of reality, whereas truly, they are manipulating various aspects of the image (such as angles, focus, and etc.) to make the story be perceived a certain way (223). An important feature of photojournalism is the simplicity of the picture; the power of the photograph is positively correlated with its simplicity (Schwartz 224). By creating an illusion of naturalism, the photojournalist is able to maintain their objectivity, which is an important aspect of the photo because they are aware that the audience relies on their â€Å"objective record of realityâ₠¬  (231). Figure 1 is a prime example of the way photojournalism is used to give details about the current news in a simplistic manner. Figure 1. A male alongside his group of protestors sitting outside a government headquarter in Hong Kong Figure 1 displays a group of people sitting outside a government headquarter in front of a fence in an evening protesting rally in Hong Kong (Wong and Buckley 2014). The protestors are dressed in protective gear as a cautionary procedure to protect themselves from the guards’ pepper spray (2014). They are protesting for their rights to change the way that China determines who their leader is starting in 2017 (2014). By applying an organizational perspective, the various methods used by the photojournalist can be understood. Organizational analysis explains the exploitations of certain items in the image and the distortions of others and how these alongside the rules and conventions of photojournalism influence the final product/image, ultimately disturbing the objective portrayal of reality in their depiction of a story through an image. It is evident that the photojournalist relied on a common practice to retrieve this picture: journalistic beats. Journalistic beats are regions in which news is expected to occur regularly, so journalists attend to these respective areas waiting to capture the news when it does occur (Blackwell 67). Figure 1 was taken in front of government headquarters (Wong and Buckley 2014), and any place of government is a regular news producer (Blackwell 67). Figure 1 exemplifies the use of informational biases to structure the story. The photojournalist used the informational bias of personalization to â€Å"emphasize human-interest angles and emotional impact† (70). Using personalization, the photojournalist allows the audience to view the story in an individualistic manner rather than one that generalizes everybody at a societal level (70). This bias is very effective because, according to Schwartz, the audience wants to see â€Å"the human side of the tragedy† (226). The use of dramatization alongside personalization further exacerbates the photojournalist’s manipulative technique in trying to emphasize the emotional aspect of the story (Blackwell 71). Although the story is about a group of protesters fighting for democracy, Figure 1 focuses primarily on one protestor (the male in protective gear) to dramatize and â€Å"heighten the audience interest† (Blackwell 71). Figure 1 shows the ‘dirty’ part of the story and this helps grab the readers’ attention because readers want to see pictures of the tragedy (Schwartz 225). The photojournalist also plays with the informational bias of authority-disorder. This bias represents a tension between one of authority (the government) and one of disorder (protesting) (Blackwell 71). By personalizing the story then exacerbating it with dramatization, it allows the photojournalist to emphasize the greater bias: the tension between authority and disorder. Figure 1 also illustrates different manipulations of the form of the image to portray the story in a certain way. According to Schwartz, â€Å"the aesthetics of photojournalism require the active manipulation of form in order to maintain the illusion of naturalism† (228). This is evident through the use of framing, selective focusing, and the use of leading lines. The ‘rule of thirds’ is the method in which framing is used as a manipulation of form. The rule of thirds is a division of the picture into three equally divided sections, both horizontally and vertically (Schwartz 229). In this division, there are four points of intersection between the lines (229). To make an image seem more dynamic and of more interest to the reader, the main purpose or subject of the image is placed within proximity of one of these four points (229). Figure 2 shows the four points of intersection surround the man wearing protective gear and he takes up a third of the whole image, making him the primary focus of the image. Alongside the informational bias of dramatization, the rule of thirds allows viewers to focus on the scandalous nature of the event (how the man is wearing protective gear) by putting the man as the primary focus. Figure 2. The image of Figure 1 divided using the framing method of the rule of thirds Using selective focusing further manipulates the way the reader perceives the story in the image. Figure 1 shows the background is not in as much focus and not as sharpened as the main subject of the image, the man in protective gear. Although, the other group of protestors are not completely taken out of focus of the image, probably to further emphasize the personalization of the protesting and to exacerbate the event, they are not the primary focus. Also, the photojournalist blurs the fence or gate that the protestors are sitting in front of and this has a strong effect towards the overall story and picture. The blurring of the gates that the protestors are sitting in front makes it look like the protestors are in a prison. This selective focusing emphasizes the authority (government) and disorder (‘criminals’) tension and seems to favour the authority side of the pull. By portraying the protestors as prisoners, through selective focusing, the photojournalist resolves the authority-disorder tension by edging towards the direction of authority. Figure 3 shows the photojournalist’s use of leading lines as a manipulation of the image to shift the focus. The photojournalist uses the method of leading lines to further emphasize the main area of interest of their image/news (Schwartz 230). The lines in this image, as shown in Figure 3, are portrayed through the bars of the gate in the picture. These lines of direction or leading lines put further attention the center protestor, strengthening his focus in the image. Figure 3. The use of the gate bars as leading lines to direct the audiences’ attention In conclusion, through an organizational analysis perspective, photojournalism attempts to convey a story through an image while trying to maintain a sense of objectivity. However, because photojournalism is an organizational culture itself, the profession follows a set of conventions and rules (Blackwell 59), thus it is not possible to maintain a sense of objectivity. Although photojournalists are taking real life pictures, they do manipulate the ways in which the photographs are taken, as explained above, and this further distorts reality for the viewer, guiding their belief in the story the image is telling in a specific direction. This is an example of a consequence of news conventions within photojournalism (76) and is shown using the above example. Ultimately, drawing on the codes of objectivity in photojournalism, as discussed by Schwartz, the photograph presents reality subjectively, guiding the audiences’ view towards a specific direction, in this case authority-drive n, that portrays the protestors as criminals that are trying to go against the government. Works Cited Ott, Brian L. and Robert L. Mack. Critical Media Studies: An Introduction. 2nd edition. Wiley-Blackwell, 2014. Schwartz, Donna. â€Å"To Tell the Truth: Codes of Objectivity in Photojournalism† in Visual Communication and Culture: Images in Action, Jonathan Finn, ed. Oxford, 2012: 222-233. Wong, Alian, and Buckley, Chris. â€Å"Police Arrest Dozens of Pro-democracy Protesters in Hong Kong.† The Globe and Mail 27 Sep. 2014. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/police-arrest-dozens-of-pro-democracy-protesters-in-hong-kong/article20819174/ >

The Growing Problem of Teenage Violence in Schools Today Essay

The Growing Problem of Teenage Violence in Schools Today There is a growing problem with teenage violence today in school. The problem is teenagers are getting more and more violent. Many of them resort to violence as a way to deal with anger and stress. Most of teenage violence starts with the so called thugs who think they rule the school. Not just the thugs but anybody in general who thinks they can beat up on people and act all tough and push everyone around. Another source of this violence is the outcasts or nerds that the bullies pick on because they’re different, but the worst type of violence is racism, like Nazis who hate people because of there race, religion, or there sexual preference. This violence may be coming from how they were raised because of there parents, due to there racism, or abuse. Simply put, something needs to be done to eliminate and reduce this violence and return a safe environment in schools. A result of this is increased violence is that many students are frightened while in school. Why should somebody be afraid to walk the halls of school because they are Jewish, or even gay, or both? If there is a student who is extremely violent, it affects the whole school. I’m talking about the people who will pull out a gun on you if you say something about his mother, you know, those so called thugs. Seriously, if someone dies, it affects the whole school. Like Chris Rock Says, â€Å"If you are at a movie theater and someone steps on your foot, let is slide, why spend the next 15 years in prison because somebody smudged your puma† (Chris Rock No Sex in the Champaign Room). In other words, don’t fight over reasons that can be settled in a game of twister. There are many causes of teenage violence, but I think it comes from their friends or family. For instance, if someone’s father, is a Nazi, and his dad was in the Ku Klux Klan, the student is of course going to inherit a hatred for Jews, and queers, like in the movie Porkys, where that one guy lost a fight with a Jew and then got beat up by his Dad, because he lost the fight. Therefore, parents are a big source of teenage violence. The biggest problem I believe is friends. Friends have a greater impact on the lives of teenagers than anybody. People aren’t born violent. Nazi’s for instance, if you grow up with a friend who turns Nazi because of there parents or something, ... ...east 30% of every class should be consisted of non-white people. So the basis of stopping violence of hate is to stop the racism. I was watching MTV, and they were saying a story about how this guy died because of the fact that he was gay. That was kind of sad that someone died for doing nothing to anybody. It’s one thing not to like gay people, its another thing to start a fight with one of them for no reason at all. Those people are called bigots, and there usually drunk, so alcohol is not the answer to this problem, weed is. Overall, parents, siblings, role models, television, bullies, Nazism, and the stress of growing up in today’s society may cause violence. So violence is a big part of school today. Is it really ever going to stop or get better? I believe that no matter what we make better, something else is going to get worse. All this violence may effect the high suicidal teens there are today. I know at least 10 girls who tried to kill themselves or are bulimic. All the guys I know are ok though. In conclusion violence is to big of a problem to stop, so be considered a loser, and a nark and call the cops if someone harasses you, it’s the only way to stop this.

Christianity and Time Period Essay

Christianity had a big impact on Europe culturally, economically, and politically through the 600 to 1750 C. E. time period. Christianity during these time periods had great many changes but also had a variety of continuities that were alike as well. The Christian faith through this time period in Europe went through multiple reforms. Reforms such as the Protestant Reformation, led by Martin Luther, had a severe impact on the Catholic Church and Christians everywhere in Europe. Also the change of the political power of the papacy and the effect it also had on Europe’s economy. Culturally Christianity had a big impact on Europe, seeing as almost everyone in that region considered themselves Christians. Christianity during the 600’s was on the rise and this caused various different forms of ideas of what people thought Christianity was. Most Christians in the 600’s to the 1500’s were Catholics and the Catholic Church had clear power in Europe politically and economically. Of course, this all started to change around 1517 when Martin Luther published â€Å"The Ninety-Five Thesis† that got people thinking about the downfalls of the church and the reasons to join the Protestant Church during this time period which effected European culture in such a short period of time because of one man’s attempt to overthrow the Catholic Church in Europe in the 1500’s. This split between the Christians led to European Wars of Religion in the 1600’s that eventually ended and came to peace with the â€Å"Peace of Westphalia†. Despite the ending of the wars Europe’s Church was still split in two and caused many changes in Europe culturally. Although there were a great many changes in Europe’s culture there was also a continuity that kept these three time periods alike. This continuity was the fact that despite all of these obstacles that the Catholic Church and the Christians face over the 600 to 1750 time period they still kept going and stayed intact because of the love of culture and religion in Europe during this time period. Economically Christianity affected Europe in a variety a different ways.

Oedipus Rex Essay - 1335 Words

â€Å"Crossroads, and hidden glade, oak and the narrow way at the crossroads, that drank my father’s blood offered you by my hands, do you remember still what I did as you looked on, and what I did when I came here?† (Oedipus Rex, 1575-1580). Precisely placed at the crossroads of fate and autonomy, Oedipus struggles to define what, exactly, is fate and what, exactly, is left to his own discretion; Oedipus Rex challenges the common thought of Greek Society. Transcending more than one thousand years, questions often posed within the context of this play come to light in high school classrooms across America. What is seemingly an ineffective, antiquated piece of literature from Ancient Greece, actually should serve as a piece of required reading†¦show more content†¦Sophocles, through his writing, begins to engage in a contemporary debate of the time period: fate versus free will. Philosophers of ancient Greece would often debate whether or not the gods had contro l over one’s life, and Sophocles entertains all aspects of this debate. Through the use of a meticulously crafted plot, humanity appears to have solved the issue prophesied at the birth of Oedipus. Ultimately, however, Sophocles demonstrates the revolving way in which preordination of action ultimately comes to fruition. This is epitomized when Oedipus is met by King Laius, his father, at the crossroads. When Oedipus is faced with the decision of whether or not to kill the man in front of him, he fulfills the prophesy which had been placed upon him before his birth. While this concept might seem like an ancient event that leads to an archaic discussion, it still invades relevant, personal philosophy of the world. The high school years require each student to arrive at a crossroads in their own life. Decisions permeate their existence. 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