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How many of you read the tabloids -- you know, those gossip magazines -- in the supermarket that feature celebrity photos? Hmm, I can see by the show of hands that many of you follow this media. Well, this type of news has gained a bad reputation over the past few years -- and rightly so, in my opinion. But did you know that true photojournalism in the United States has actually had a long and respectable history? That’s the focus of our lecture today.
    First, let’s begin by clarifying our terms. What exactly are we referring to when we say "photojournalism"? Well, it’s the technique of using photographs and printed stories to document current events--they balance each other. In other words, a photojournalist tells a story with words and pictures--usually candid, still pictures. The idea is to take a series of unstaged, unplanned photos--to capture people living in the moment. In any case, the whole journalistic process was made possible in the 1880s by the invention of 35mm cameras and film by Eastman Kodak Company. You see up until then, photography was a slow and tiresome process that required complicated chemical mixtures on metal plates. Not only that, the first images took 8 hours of exposure to direct sunlight in order to make a photograph! Not a very convenient technique when you’re trying to photograph a war or a riot, right? So the invention of film opened up a whole new world of possibilities for the photojournalist Kodak’s slogan was: "You press the button, we do the rest." And the public ate it up. They were tired of the glamorous art posters and artist engravings that had been used in newspapers up until the 1920s. They wanted to see realistic images of current events. So the introduction of black and white photos in news stories boosted the sales of newspapers dramatically. In fact ... in 1925, it gave birth to a whole era of news reporting called the "golden age of photojournalism."
    Some of you might remember seeing a news magazine called LIFE. It was one of America’s most popular magazines and was famous for its high-quality photos. What made it unique? Well, it not only covered the typical Hollywood gossip, but it also focused on hard-edged news stories affecting the average American. It brought the world into their living room ... as I like to say [chuckles]. The word photography comes from the Greek root "phos", meaning light, and "graphis" meaning paintbrush. So you see, photojournalists were like artists because they painted with light. And the powerful images presented in LIFE magazine clearly demonstrated that.
    Take for example, Lewis Hine’s photos of working class America. In 1908 ... Was it 1908? [false start] Yes, sorry. In 1908, he took over 800 photographs documenting child labor in sweat shops and raised people’s awareness of the abuse. In fact, his work was instrumental in changing the child labor laws. But he is probably more famous for his photos of the Empire State Building construction workers who balanced on narrow steel poles 1,000 feet in the air. His candid images captured their dignity as they labored in dangerous settings. So you see, photos were no longer just pretty pictures of the rich and famous. For the first time, the lives of ordinary people were being documented for future generations.
    Dorothea Lange is another photojournalist whose work had a powerful influence on the American public. She was hired by the government to document life in rural America during the Great Depression. So from 1935 to 1943, she traveled across the country taking more than 270,000 photos of families who were struggling to survive.
    Now, you’re probably wondering how anyone could invade people’s most private moments. How could you take a picture when they’re suffering unspeakable hardships? Well, that’s a challenge of being a good photojournalist. Your job is to present a fair and accurate representation of events and people. You’ve all heard the expression: "A picture’s worth a thousand words." [pause] Well, that’s the heart of photojournalism. The pictures are meant to speak for people when they cannot speak for themselves.
    But the problem is that a picture could be diverted from its original purpose, that is, photojournalists have little control over how their photos are used. And this raises certain ethical issues. Think about it. With the introduction of digital photo technology, it’s becoming more and more difficult to know what’s real and what isn’t. We used to believe that the camera doesn’t lie, but now it’s too easy to manipulate photos. So we can’t always believe what we see. So where should photojournalists draw the line? That’s the million-dollar question.
    P Now, you’re probably wondering how anyone could invade people’s most private moments. How could you take a picture when they’re suffering unspeakable hardships? Well, that’s a challenge of being a good photojournalist, Your job is to present a fair and accurate representation of events and people.
    What does the professor mean when she says this:
    P Well, that’s a challenge of being a good photojournalist. Your job is to present a fair and accurate representation of events and people.