Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Enjoy the scene of photographs

PHOTO journalism has become an interesting profession nowadays and this is because of the introduction of digital cameras. Generally, the work involves conveying messages to the public through photographing. A photo taken from the incident portrays 100 percent accuracy rather than how an incident could be described with mere words to the people. The invention of the digital cameras has indeed facilitated photo journalism work in this world to a greater extent that a photo taken on the spot can immediately be sent electronically. This is the most easiest way of sending photos in digital format. I have some but humorous photos which I think would make some of you laugh even if you wouldn’t like to do so. I think even if you would read the caption, you might not believe what the photos depicts is what actually is happening in some areas within our community set ups. Now enjoy looking at these and judge by yourself if they are true or fictitious.

You might guess from which part of the world was this photograph taken. This might have been taken in India. A local woman is seen feeding a large pack of mousses she tames in her house. She feeds them with milk poured in a large bowl while her mousses enjoy drinking. Animals are highly respected in the Republic of India, and a man who is seen causing troubles or molesting animals in any way is actually penalized according to the laws of the land.

Cameras and the images they produce are naively thought by many to never lie. But because humans operate the machine, technical, composition and content manipulations are unavoidable. Computer technology did not start the decline in the credibility of pictures, but it has hastened it. Photographic darkrooms are quickly being replaced by computer workstation light rooms.

Transport problems in most rural areas is mostly exacerbated by lack of reliable transport facilities. But you can imagine these people are not acting to show the world that they are faced with such eminent problems in their day to day’s life in their country. In India this is fueled by large population growth as the photo shows, everybody scrambles to get a chance of getting into a cabin, as the photo depicts how the stranded people have clung to the moving passenger train at a station in India.

But as long as photojournalists do not subtract or add parts of a picture's internal elements, almost any other manipulation once accomplished in a photographic darkroom is considered ethical for news-editorial purposes. Photojournalism -- the profession in which journalists make news-editorial images for print and screen (television and computer) media -- is under attack.

Imagine this is a swimming pool, may be engineers are to blame for its construction that’s not enough accommodate users. Though people have come to spend their week end vacation here in regardless of the congestion of the people seen around, nobody cares for that. The scene might also have been taken in India.

Media critics and viewers question the use of gruesome images, dozens of photographers hounding celebrities, picture manipulations that present misleading views, visual messages that perpetuate negative stereotypes of individuals from various multicultural groups, and images that blur the distinction between advertising and journalism.

You can judge by yourself from which part of the world do you think this photograph was taken? What are the people in the picture doing?

What is happening? Nothing that hasn't been a part of photography since its invention in 1839. What is new, however, is the spread of computer technology that allows practically anyone to produce and disseminate visual messages in massive numbers for a world-wide audience.

A passenger train is passing along a congested area of a slum settlement. Whose mistake do you think is this? Are the people around or a driver of a locomotive engine who is at fault? I think in this case, people who without caring of their safety have decided to spread their merchandise along the railway line oblivious to the danger posed to them are the once to be blamed.

Because images evoke almost immediate emotional responses among viewers, pictures have tremendous impact. With well-chosen words, visual messages combine to educate, entertain and persuade. But the flip side to such visual power is that images can also offend, shock, mislead, stereotype and confuse.

Playing with snakes such as this in India is a usual thing as you can see this little child in a washing basin is surrounded by a snake and without any fear at all tend even to wash its head.

After a gruesome image of dead or grieving victims of a tragic event is presented to the public in either the print or screen media, many viewers are often repulsed and offended by the picture. Nevertheless, violence and tragedy are staples of American journalism. "If it bleeds, it leads" is a popular, unspoken sentiment in many newsrooms.

Can you assume yourself which regions in the world that are prone to regular floods? Bangladesh and Eastern parts of India are the most common places affected by this natural disaster. Two lorries are submerged and people have clung over on the board in an attempt too save on their lives.

The reason for this obvious incongruity is that a majority of viewers are attracted and intrigued by such stories. Photojournalists who win photo prizes and other international competitions are almost always witness to excruciatingly painful human tragedies that nevertheless get published or broadcast. It is as if viewers want to see violent pictures, but through gaps in the fingers in front of their face.

With larger population densities, transport sometimes becomes so difficult in these areas as you can imagine, people in this photo have no help whatsoever except have to practice as it’s being transpired here.

Picture and subject manipulations have been a part of photography since it was first invented. But because of computer technology, digital manipulations are relatively easy to accomplish, hard to detect and perhaps more alarming, alter the original image so that checking the authenticity of the picture is impossible.

This must be in Africa where few vehicles can be found in rural areas owing to poor road infrastructure. Even for the few available, there is no proper use for them as you can see here people have to scramble. I understand the photo was taken in rural Uganda.

Some critics have predicted that in a few years, images -- whether still or moving --will not be allowed in trials as physical evidence because of the threat to their veracity created by digital alterations.

Without telling where the photo might have been taken, the caption beneath it can suggest what it means “Welcome to Eritrea”. A man after having seen he had no carrier in his bicycle, he decided to carry his goat on his back which he had just bought from the market while peddling along the road.

Photography is undergoing an exciting and challenging time in its history. Currently, the photographic medium is in a hybrid or transitional period between traditional film and computer technologies. It is reasonable to predict that by the first decade of the next century, photojournalists will no longer use film in their cameras or developer in their trays.

Tanzanian government is now proud to have an international football pitch built in collaboration with the government of China at a cost of US$ 56 million. The pitch has been selected to be used as an exercise ground by world cup footballers where they would be carrying out their regular exercises during the world cup games scheduled to be held in South Africa in 2010.

Print and screen media will also dramatically change as households are linked with fiber optic technology. Newspapers and televisions will be transformed into a medium that combines the best attributes of the printed page, telephone, television and computer will transform passive readers and viewers into active users with instantaneous links to text and images from sources anywhere in the world.

Here President Jakay Kikwete of Tanzania was live televised by national television during an official opening of the newly built national pitch. When he entered in power in 2005, the President had pledged to develop football games in the country.

This is at a supermarket in Australia, a woman walks along with a Kangaroo which has been trained to carry a basket along with it, the basket contains things she had bought at a supermarket. Imagine how human beings have advanced in technology, it’s like one delegate from Malawi who had remarked in one of the African journalists’ conferences which was held in Grahamstown, South Africa that, he would be happy to see an ICT tool is preparing food for him in his house. This it can be, if human beings are more clever to the extent of instructing an animal that turns to obey the orders like a human being.

This is a puppy seller on the road side market. The photo was taken in Dar es Salaam along Bagamoyo Road. I managed to take a snap while traveling along the road. Each puppy is sold at between US$ 20 and 30 depending on a size required.

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