8/14/2014

14 August 2014 – Division of Rizal

JIMMY A. DOMINGO
Freelance Photojournalist
(Union of Catholic ASIAN News; Philippine Daily Inquirer; GMAnewsonline; ABS-CBNNewsOnline;
interaksyon TV5; European Press Photo Agency)

Chair (2004-2006) and current Board Member: Philippine Center for Photojournalism
Member: Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP)
Photojournalism Commission Head: National Union of Journalist of the Philippines (NUJP)

Academe:
Associate Professional Lecturer: De La Salle University – Manila
Visiting Professor: Ateneo de Manila University
Program Coordinator (2007-2010) and Lecturer: Asian Center for Journalism at ADMU (Post-graduate –
Diploma in Photojournalism)

FB: Jimmy A Domingo / jdomingo@[Link]

Photography + Texts – Captions /

Cutlines
Photography + TextsCutlines
– Captions /

Take striking pictures

WITH
+ Gather data &
information
artistic techniques

+
Photography Texts and Captions

artistic techniques +
striking images data & info
gathering

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… to INFORM, TO REPORT,
TO CARRY THE SCENE to
the readers, whether
they are thousands of miles
away or just down the street.
To show them something they
might not have had a chance
to see themselves.
Associated Press Guide to Photojournalism – page 14

How is your visual literacy?

The “primary goal” of
the photojournalist is
the“...faithful and
comprehensive
depiction of the
subject at hand.”

The International Visual Literacy

Association (IVLA) considers a person
to be visually literate when
s/he can “examine, extract
meaning and interpret the
visual actions, objects and
symbols that s/he encounters
in the environment” (IVLA: 1998).
John L. Debes, who first coined the phrase “visual literacy” in 1969,
said, “The development of these competencies is fundamental to
normal human learning.”

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When developed, they enable a visually

IVLA further defines visual literacy as
literate person to discriminate and interpret
the visible actions, objects, symbols, natural visual thinking, visual aesthetics,
creative exploration, visual linguistics,
or man-made... Through the creative
self-concept development,
use of these competencies, he phototherapy, visual communication,
is able to communicate with visual symbology, visual expression,
others. visual anthropology, visual learning,
visual education, artistic expression,
Through the appreciative use of
visual awareness, visual
these competencies, he is able understanding, visual creativity, visual
to comprehend and enjoy the analysis, visual evaluation, visual
masterworks of visual message encoding and visual message
decoding.
communication.

A photograph as a commodity…

CONTENT
What is the
photograph all about?
What is the NEWS
VALUE?
Who are represented?
5 Ws + 1 H

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Philippine Daily Inquirer Remate Tonight

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It is our duty to write the

caption and info– it is a
must in photojournalism.

Assume that any viewer

don’t know anything
about the event or place
or people in a picture.

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Writing captions:

 5Ws + 1 H
 Describe scene in PRESENT
TENSE
 Do not describe what is
clear; describe what is not
clear;
 Give background info

WITH UTMOST
CARE. Military
honor guard
carefully moves
the coffin of
President Arroyo
out of the
Manila
Cathedral.

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AMBUKLAO BOATS. Lining the shores Standards of good caption:

of the reservoir of the Ambuklao dam
are boats that take tourists around • Accuracy
Brgy. Ambuklao… • Clarity
• Completeness
BUT DO YOU SEE
• Good writing
BOATS IN THE
PICTURE?

PHOTOGRAPHIC STYLE

How was a scene photographed?

• GOOD QUALITY of Light

• SHARP
• With SPECIFIC POINT OF FOCUS
• With SPECIFIC POINT OF INTEREST

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PHOTOGRAPHIC STYLE

What can you see?

How was it achieved?
Light
(fotos)
+ To draw
(graphos)
• ACTIVE / showing ACTIVITY
• Captured MOTION and MOVEMENT
• Good COMPOSITION
• Good PERSPECTIVE

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QUALITY OF LIGHT…

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Adjustment of the WHITE

BALANCE of your CAMERA…

Can you do it?

GRAPHIC – clear lines, no mergers

LINES – the power of diagonal lines… Diagonal lines and horizontal lines;symmetry

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POINT OF FOCUS - DOMINANT FOREGROUND DOMINANT FOREGROUND

SHARP within the SPECIFIC POINT OF

FOREGROUND - BACKGROUND FOCUS / INTEREST

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SPECIFIC POINT OF FOCUS / INTEREST SPECIFIC POINT OF FOCUS / INTEREST

2005 SEA Games opening CAPTURED EMOTION – HIGH VALUE IN PHOTOJOURNALISM

Sense of place…

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Sense of place…

SYMMETRY… Frames within a frame…

PERSPECTIVES – LOW ANGLE HORIZONTAL FRAME WITHIN A FRAME

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POINT OF ENTRY / high angle

PERSPECTIVES – HIGH ANGLE

Funeral of Cory Aquino

Remate Tonight
Perspective…

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Perspectives…
Shoot from a variety of angles, be a worm,
be a bird…

Avoid the 5’2” syndrome

“Take photographs only when

The right time to press the
your heart is beating faster than
shutter to record the
normal.” [Jimmy A Domingo 2010]
‘ decisive moment’

SONA, July 2012 Timing…

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Massacre in Negros Occidental

Philippine Daily Inquirer

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PEAK OF THE ACTION Philippine Daily Inquirer

Remate Tonight

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Timing…

The key to a “decisive

moment” capture is
SWIFTNESS &
PATIENCE.

Patience is the art of

waiting…

MESSAGE
The purpose of a press
photograph is to inform the
viewer about what can be
seen and what the facts are.

BUT, what is the message?

Denotative? Connotative?

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Bird almost in flight… positive?

Bird in chains… negative ?

Scavengers, Tondo

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Merger
problems in
photographic
composition

Photo by Ruy Martinez

Merger
problems in
photographic Photographs can distort reality,
composition mislead or offend the audience,
and damage someone’s
reputation.

Photos show reality rather than

describing it, so they produce
stronger reactions.

Royal Wedding

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DILG Secretary Robredo’s wake, Malacanang…

Obama-Sarkozy

What is the “photographic

truth”?
Does a particular image
accurately represents the
subject?
Or does it mislead the
viewer?

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" The real voyage of

discovery consists not
in seeking new
landscapes but in
seeing with new
eyes."

- Marcel
Meoww..raming salamat po…
- Proust
thank you!

KEY REFERENCES

Bersak, Daniel. (2006). Ethics in Photojournalism: Past, Present and Future

Black Star Rising. (2008). Photojournalism, Technology and Ethics: What’s Right and Wrong
Today
Brower, Kennet (1998). Photography in the Age of Falsification
Kobre, Kenneth. (2006). Photojournalism: The Professionals’ Approach. Focal Press.
Reuel Golden. (2005). Photojournalism: The World’s Greatest News Photographs.
Carlton Books
Kenny, Isabel. (2010). Understanding Visual Literacy. Anvil Publishing
Rosenblum, Naomi. (1997). A World History of Photography. Abbeville Press Publishers.
Fang, Irving. (1993). Tools of Communication: Pictures. Rada Press
Time-Life. (1971). Photojournalism. Time Life Books.
Becker, Howard S. Visual Sociology, Documentary Photography, and Photojournalism:
It's (Almost) All a Matter of Context -
[Link]

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