Photojournalism has been a major element of newspaper and magazine reporting since the early twentieth century, although its historic origins have been traced to mid 19th century European battlefield photography by British press reporters in the Crimean War. Its use was greatly spurred by the development of the commercial 35 mm Leica camera.
The invention of the term “photojournalism” is commonly attributed to Cliff Edom (1907-1991), who taught at the University of Missouri School of Journalism for 29 years. Edom established the first photojournalism workshop there in 1946. Some attribute the word, instead, to the then- Dean of the School of Journalism, Frank L. Mott.
A Frenchman named Daguerre was one of the first entrepreneurs who perfected the method to produce clear stable images on metal plates, in 1837. From this produced the popular portraiture of daguerreotypes. It was only the step further for the people of the age of the industrial revolution to consider using photographs to present history in action. By the mid-1850s the old ways were abandoned for something called the wet plate process, which still involved the use of plates. Photographers had to carry around with them a heavy and bulky box for taking pictures plus their own darkroom, since the photographs had to be developed right away.
Before photography was invented, newspapers and bulletins used illustrations to display to the reader visually what was happening. Once photography hit the scene, illustrations went obsolete, but not at once. In the beginning mass production of photographs took a lot of time and money. Many magazines would only use a photograph on the cover. But, like the horse and buggy, illustrations went out of style. Slowly, photographers started taking pictures of more than just landscape and portraits. They would take pictures of newsworthy and historical events that transpired. Although, at first these pictures were not widely distributed, they soon became exceedingly popular. Tycoons like Hearst and Pulitzer were the first to employ photographers for their newspapers. Eventually, the making of photographs became cheap and relatively convenient to make. Action, instead of landscape, was slowly being able to be reproduced on photographs. By 1880, the wet-plate technique had been abandoned for something called the dry-plate technique. It allowed photographers to take more pictures a day and at the same time did not have to be developed right away, so the instant darkroom did not have to be carried around as well. In 1885, a man named Eastman figured out how to process pictures on a roll of film. Magazines soon caught on to this craze and began publishing mass pictures for their audience. Even today, magazines are the ones that distribute mass pictures the best.
Around 1970-1980, color photojournalism came into play and became widespread. With the invention of color television, photographs had to follow or lose their following. Colors became more vibrant and rich as technology kept getting better and better. Soon, the Digital Age had come. By the 1990’s computers and the invention of the Internet revolutionized how information was transferred. Websites have become popular among photographers to show potential customers or just even a mass audience what they can do with a camera. What the 21st century will bring to photojournalism, the story has yet to be written or as they say “the picture has yet to be taken”.
The invention of the term “photojournalism” is commonly attributed to Cliff Edom (1907-1991), who taught at the University of Missouri School of Journalism for 29 years. Edom established the first photojournalism workshop there in 1946. Some attribute the word, instead, to the then- Dean of the School of Journalism, Frank L. Mott.
A Frenchman named Daguerre was one of the first entrepreneurs who perfected the method to produce clear stable images on metal plates, in 1837. From this produced the popular portraiture of daguerreotypes. It was only the step further for the people of the age of the industrial revolution to consider using photographs to present history in action. By the mid-1850s the old ways were abandoned for something called the wet plate process, which still involved the use of plates. Photographers had to carry around with them a heavy and bulky box for taking pictures plus their own darkroom, since the photographs had to be developed right away.
Before photography was invented, newspapers and bulletins used illustrations to display to the reader visually what was happening. Once photography hit the scene, illustrations went obsolete, but not at once. In the beginning mass production of photographs took a lot of time and money. Many magazines would only use a photograph on the cover. But, like the horse and buggy, illustrations went out of style. Slowly, photographers started taking pictures of more than just landscape and portraits. They would take pictures of newsworthy and historical events that transpired. Although, at first these pictures were not widely distributed, they soon became exceedingly popular. Tycoons like Hearst and Pulitzer were the first to employ photographers for their newspapers. Eventually, the making of photographs became cheap and relatively convenient to make. Action, instead of landscape, was slowly being able to be reproduced on photographs. By 1880, the wet-plate technique had been abandoned for something called the dry-plate technique. It allowed photographers to take more pictures a day and at the same time did not have to be developed right away, so the instant darkroom did not have to be carried around as well. In 1885, a man named Eastman figured out how to process pictures on a roll of film. Magazines soon caught on to this craze and began publishing mass pictures for their audience. Even today, magazines are the ones that distribute mass pictures the best.
Around 1970-1980, color photojournalism came into play and became widespread. With the invention of color television, photographs had to follow or lose their following. Colors became more vibrant and rich as technology kept getting better and better. Soon, the Digital Age had come. By the 1990’s computers and the invention of the Internet revolutionized how information was transferred. Websites have become popular among photographers to show potential customers or just even a mass audience what they can do with a camera. What the 21st century will bring to photojournalism, the story has yet to be written or as they say “the picture has yet to be taken”.
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