Monday 5 May 2014

Photojournalism

The Aftermath of an Acid Attack in Iran


Depicted is a photograph of the emotional and physical injuries that a mother and her three year-old child sustained from being badly injured by a bucket of acid. According to Lightbox, the women’s brutally cruel husband had crept in on them in the middle of the night as both mother and child were sound asleep and poured the acid over their innocent bodies, intending to severely harm them both. The reason behind this hideous crime is unknown, although speculations can be made by neighbours that she wanted a divorce in which he had previously declined. 
The photograph was taken by Abolfazl Nesaei, who received the Sheed Award for this particular depiction in 2012, where it appeared first in TIME Magazine’s online publication Lightbox on January 24, 2013 as an eye opener to the horrors that women in Iran (and in general the Middle East) have to put up with. According to Lightbox, the Sheed award is considered a documentary prize for Iranian photographers. Nesaei is a freelance photographer and resides in Tehran. There is little to no information about his life, although most of his pictures truly tell tales of remorse and devastation.

The news values in this photograph would have to be Impact, Conflict and Emotions. This story matters to readers, it shows them the horrors of what this women and her innocent baby went through and the price that they had to pay physically for survival which is the impact of the photograph. The source of conflict would have to be the husband and father, someone who is expected to protect his own family was the cause of this tragedy, and it does not seem just for someone to go unpunished for his crime. The Emotions of this picture would have to be pity, remorse, sadness, and anger. Readers are most likely not going to be able to help feeling sorry for this mother and her child as well as anger towards the husband for emotionally and physically damaging innocent lives that were depending on him for safety. 

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Ex-Addicts find solace as caregivers



This photograph demonstrates the effects of drug withdrawal from an addict in a drug rehabilitation centre, and is clear evidence of how it can affect behaviour as well as alter the spontaneity of the mind once dependant on a substance. The photographer, Nick Oza, spent the past six months going in and out of this particular centre in Mexico where he documented countless bizarre acts and strange circumstances as well as captured the rare sights of chronic drug withdrawal. 
Oza is a photojournalist who mainly works for the Arizona Republic in Pheonix, according to his website, although these drug-rehabilitation pictures were bought by CNN for a story on their “CNN Photos” page. The photographs that Oza takes are mostly in black and white, and commonly are of controversial subjects that display a great deal of emotions. From the photographs depicted in CNN Photos, his subjects are mainly of people who are either in poverty or experiencing emotional turmoil. 
The apparent news values of this particular photograph would have to be novelty and emotions. The novelty of the situation is in Oza capturing bizarre actions of these drug addicts for the readers and viewers to clearly see what drug withdrawal does to the system and the mind, something not just anyone is able to get access to within a drug rehabilitation facility. The clear emotions of this photograph would have to be curiosity and wonder (in what goes on behind closed doors) as well as fascination in what the subject of the photograph is doing. 

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Marilyn Monroe



Marilyn Monroe is arguably the most famous female actress and overall recognisable face in the history of cinematography as well as the entertainment business. She is an icon of the 50s and 60s and continues to be a prominent role model for countless women in the world. This picture, along with a few others that are different only in poses, was taken at her home in Hollywood for LIFE Magazine in 1953 and straight away became some of the most well-known, well-liked and well-recognised images of her in the decade.
The photograph was taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt, a German photographer who shot mostly for LIFE Magazine but also did numerous freelancing throughout his career. He was known best for his candid shots of important and prominent people, and captured them in a way that told a story to the readers.
According to Life Magazine, the complete date of this photograph is uncertain, but it is known that they published the pictures along with a excerpt of Marilyn in 1953. The news values apparent in this photograph would have to be prominence because like previously mentioned, Marilyn Monroe at the time was an icon to most of the female population, therefore anything published on her would have immediately drawn them in. Immediacy would have also been an important news value back when it was originally published although it stems more towards novelty now (novelty of seeing professional pictures of a famous face in history).

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New York’s Red Light District



This photograph is of a homeless heroin addict in The Bronx, New York named Vanessa who turned to prostitution for money. According to Julie Turkewitz’s article in The Atlantic, Vanessa’s three children were taken away from her after she got too deeply addicted to heroin which was around the same time as when she also lost her home. Previously married to an abusive man who is the father of her children, she sadly lost her way in life and eventually ended up within the infamous red light district of New York City. When asked what sort of person Vanessa was, peers around her of the same profession instantly claimed that “she’s the sweetest woman I know. She will give you the shirt off her back, if she has one on.”
This photograph was taken by Chris Arnade, who according to Turkewitz, is a freelancer for various publications. His work has also been featured on numerous occasions in the New York Times. Arnade mainly takes photographs of people as his subjects and the majority of is subjects are homeless, struggling souls like Vanessa. This photograph was taken for a feature which was originally published in The Atlantic on December 20, 2012. Arnade wanted to show readers and viewers that these women living their daily lives within the red light district weren’t choosing prostitution as a way of life, but in fact used it as a mechanism for the drug-use that held them down to prostitution itself. 
The news values of this photograph would have to be Conflict and Emotion. The conflict in question is due to the fact that these women are helplessly going through their lives with no means of help or support, in which readers should be aware that their help is necessary in stopping this unjust form of poverty and slavery. Viewers should open their eyes to see that lives like Vanessa’s are in dire need of guidance and nurture. The emotions of this particular photograph would have to definitely be sadness and pity, because it depicts a life of someone lost and confused, with no means of a way out.  

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Blood for Oil: Kurdistan


The aftermath of war and destruction comes with a price for the civilians living amongst the rubble, but this little girl was captured playing on broken rocks of what looked like a war zone without a care in the world. According to Lightbox, the photograph was taken in the Kurdish region of Iraq, after disputes of natural resources led to a full-blown war. The contrast of subject to background in this photograph is what truly captures the ignorance of the young population who are forced to grow up amongst war zones. The happiness of the child playing against broken surroundings makes readers wonder what effects residing within these countries does to their young. 
According to his contact website, although Ivor Prickett freelanced for this particular photograph along with others on the same occasion, he mostly captures for various editorials and private international clients. Depicted on his projects page, subjects in Pricketts photography are associated to war zones, especially the aftermath of war, and focuses solely on the situations and emotions of people as his focus points. 
The photograph first appeared on February 11, 2013 in TIME Magazine’s online publication Lightbox, and among others illustrates the affects of conflict. 
The news values of this photograph would have to be Conflict, Emotions and Impact. The conflict goes together with the photograph being associated with a war story, therefore any form of disruption would be considered so. The impact that this photograph has on people is that small children are growing up without the proper knowledge of what life without war really feels like, therefore readers and viewers would be inclined to help or support in anyway they can with the new-found awareness of such an issue. They emotion in this photograph would have to be pity because like previously mentioned, the child deserves a chance at a normal life but instead is forced to live and grow up amongst war zones.  

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