Comments on: what is the difference between a photographer and a photo journalist?

By: Reynaldo Broadhead

Reynaldo Broadhead — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 19:37:38 +0000

The ‘spelling’ !!!!!!

By: Jadon Houghton

Jadon Houghton — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 21:21:03 +0000

a photgrapher just takes pictures. a photojournalist makes a story with the pictures he or she takes.

By: Cohen Monaghan

Cohen Monaghan — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 00:20:49 +0000

I’m actually kind of shocked at some of these responses.
A photojournalist IS a photographer. There are many many different types of photographers: documentary, commercial, portrait- to name a few.
Photojournalists are similar to documentary photographers in that they tell a story, they educate the viewer in some way or another.
A portrait tells us something about that person. A Photojournalistic image tells us what is going on at that moment. A commercial photograph typically doesn’t educate us or tell us a story. Commercial photographs for advertising and publicity are simply for selling a product and gaining consumer attention. Photojournalists want to show us reality- often times a reality that the general public does not see. For example- take a look at war photos, images of poverty, and images you find in newspapers.
You can think of a photojournalist as a visual writer. Where a writer puts down on paper what is going on, a photographer takes a photograph to show what is going on.
Photojournalists are faced with many issues that other photographers are not. They constantly have to deal with people- people not wanting their picture taken, and they are put into uncomfortable situations. Photojournalists can not be shy. They have to do their job and also respect who and what they are capturing. Sometimes I’m sure they have one of the toughest jobs in the photography business. This is why I chose commercial photography, though it also has difficult issues.
Hope this helps!

By: Larry Farmer

Larry Farmer — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 15:58:50 +0000

First let me clear something up that was stated above

…anyone can be a photographer, but to be a photo journalist is more skilled and needs to be on the spot where he needs to be to make up his story if it is needed, while photographer could be anywhere and has choice…

Not anyone can be a photographer. If what is stated is correct, then anyone can be a photojournalist.

Quite simply:
A photojournalist uses the enviornment and surroundings to convey an unaltered story.

A photographer manipulates the environemtn and surroundings to convey a feeling or a specific mood.

By: Isabell Woods

Isabell Woods — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 12:41:44 +0000

one thing is,, photo journalist is hired in newspaper or mags company ..
anyone can be a photographer, but to be a photo journalist is more skilled and needs to be on the spot where he needs to be to make up his story if it is needed, while photographer could be anywhere and has choices.
the site below tells about a photo journal where the journalist is on the spot and taking his picture and later sending it to the company with his own picture and and write short description or story about the event..or a person..place..etc.
photographer don’t need to do that..
Noun 1. photojournalist – a journalist who presents a story primarily through the use of photographs
journalist – a writer for newspapers and magazines

By: Wendy Battersby

Wendy Battersby — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 09:48:27 +0000

A photographer is the person who takes a photograph using a camera. This person is generally considered the artist, because he or she constructed the appearance of the product in the same way as any other visual artists.

Photographers are frequently categorized based on the subjects they photograph. There are photographers of the subjects typical of paintings (landscape, still life, portrait, etc.) as well as documentary photographers, fashion photographers, commercial photographers, etc. Some photographers specialize in a certain type of image, while others are generalists. The distinction between artistic photography and photojournalism or other types of photography and the associated techniques does not remove this personal aspect from the work of the great photographers.

Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such as documentary photography, street photography or celebrity photography) by the qualities of:

* Timeliness — the images have meaning in the context of a published chronological record of events.

* Objectivity — the situation implied by the images is a fair and accurate representation of the events they depict.

* Narrative — the images combine with other news elements, to inform and give insight to the viewer or reader.

By: Yoselin Routledge

Yoselin Routledge — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 17:35:17 +0000

A photo journalist usually takes pictures for a magazine. A photographer usually takes pictures of people as in a studio and they do it for customers.

By: Shirley Morgan

Shirley Morgan — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 20:00:10 +0000

A photo journalist tells a story with their pictures. It could be an entire layout or it could just be one picture that tells so much in a singe snap of an event that has happened and needs to be documented on camera. And a photographer just takes pictures of things