Press Photography 3102 — Spring 2003
Kevin Moloney

Welcome to Press Photography, J3102, an orientation course on how still photography is used to document our world — Photojournalism. To gain the most from this course I encourage you to “HAVE FUN, BE CREATIVE and FOLLOW THE ASSIGNMENT.”

Most class materials will be posted on the course web site, and can be downloaded or printed from there if you lose a copy of anything. There will also be postings of class schedule changes and announcements, work by students, and links to other relevant information.

http://www.colorado.edu/Journalism/photojournalism/

We have two textbooks:

Photography, 7th Edition
Barbara London, Betsy Brill, John Upton and Kenneth Kobré.

Photojournalism: The Professional’s Approach, 4th Edition
Ken Kobré. Focal Press.

I expect you to read these books from cover-to-cover, ask questions about them and prepare to be tested on the specific chapters I assign. The lectures will not be restatements of the text, but you will be tested on material from both reading assignments and lectures.

You will be graded on your photographic assignments, scheduled midterm and final exams and projects, and class participation and attendance.

Your photographs will be evaluated for:

1. Communication/News Value (How your image tells the story and if it is newsworthy)
2. Craftsmanship (Technical matters)
3. Reader Interest (Creativity, innovation and attraction)
4. Caption (IDs, name spellings, grammar and writing skills. Explain the image well.)
5. Effort (Show me you worked long and thought hard. Meet your deadlines.)

Attendance
Journalists who are late for their assignments send a message of disrespect to their subjects and risk losing intimacy, cooperation and goodwill. Photojournalists must BE THERE. They cannot cover the story by phone. I encourage you to be punctual and in attendance for this class and its assignments. If without prior approval you miss three class sessions this semester or are significantly tardy three times, your final grade will be affected. If you anticipate attendance problems, please see me in advance.

Deadlines
In the working world of journalism deadlines are firm. Failure to meet a deadline without prior approval will result in a failing grade for that assignment. If you anticipate a problem in filing an assignment, please talk to me beforehand and we will work out an answer.

Ethics

This class will be run like a newspaper, therefore you must be ETHICAL and RESPONSIBLE journalists. I hope when photographing for this class you will conduct yourself as a professional. Please dress and conduct yourself in a manner that is respectful toward your subject.
Any respect and trust enjoyed by journalists is earned. TRUTH is your ally and your responsibility. Your readers will trust that any picture you make as a journalist is an honest representation of a person or event. You will be required to honor that trust by not manufacturing, altering, or unduly influencing a photograph.

If you alter an image in the darkroom or computer beyond industry standards, or manufacture or reenact a seemingly spontaneous moment, YOU WILL FAIL THE CLASS.

Harsh? Yes. But as a working journalist you will be bound by the ethical standards of your publication, and failure to work within them would result in you being terminated and ostracized from the profession. Note the case of Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post reporter Janet Cooke who created a false story in 1981. She was fired, forced to return the award, and has not worked in the field since. There will be class discussion of when it is appropriate to pose a photograph, and what degree of alteration in the darkroom or computer is acceptable.

Rights

Understand your legal rights as a journalist, but please be considerate and compassionate in their exercise.
You have the right to photograph anyone or anything seen in a PUBLIC place. The common defense cited by photojournalists when confronted by a startled or unwilling subject is “if they are in a public place, anyone can see them. Therefore anyone can photograph them.” This is wholly true. But please be compassionate and considerate enough to look through their eyes.
If you were lying on a beach in a small bathing suit, you have probably reconciled with the fact that a few dozen people will pass by and perhaps even stare at you. But you have not gone out there with the understanding that a photojournalist may steal up and freeze you to be stared at by thousands of readers of the next day’s paper. If a subject seems unwilling, and photographing that person in particular is not the specific goal of the assignment, please defer to their unease and go on your way.
In a situation where you have been invited into their private world, please balance your need to make a telling photograph with sensitivity to the subjects feelings, privacy and personal space, and you will earn trust and intimacy.
Businesses, even if they invite the public in to shop, do not necessarily invite you in to photograph. You are legally required to have verbal permission to photograph in malls, stores and business offices as well as someone’s home. Do not be surprised if the answer from a national business is “no.” They are watching their liability as you are.

NO LICENSE is required to be a journalist. You do not need a credential or official approval to photograph a spot news story occurring in public, despite what an uninformed police officer or official may think. But you do not have the right to INTERFERE with the work of emergency personnel. STAY OUT OF THE WAY while you photograph.

Police do not have the right to CONFISCATE your film. A subpoena is required. This does not mean an uninformed officer may not try to take your film. Be diplomatic and polite when dealing with someone who can arrest you, and carefully judge the value of resistance. It may be in your interest as a student photojournalist to give up the film and call the officer’s superior to get it back. If you have nothing to do for the next few hours or days and want to stand your legal ground, I applaud you. But always avoid reacting impulsively.

If you make a photograph with the subject’s understanding that it is for journalistic purposes, you cannot use it any other way without WRITTEN PERMISSION of the identifiable subjects, or the owners of recognizable property.

You can only shoot through WINDOWS if you are standing on public property and the scene inside the window is easily visible from the street. Respect the privacy of those on the other side of the glass.

Formats

The standard photo size will be 8x10 cropped for maximum IMPACT. Use the area of the 8x10-inch paper well, meaning fill at least one of the two dimensions of the paper.

All photos must be accompanied by a CAPTION that will answer the questions, “who, what, when, where, and how.” Please also include from where your subject is, and their age if they are under 18. Please follow Associated Press style in writing your captions to keep them concise and informative. There will be an AP Stylebook available in the lab for consultation, but if you don’t have a copy I highly recommend investing in one. It will be valuable to you for years to come.
Captions must be TYPED and attached to the back of your prints.
I agree with author Wilson Hicks who said, “Photojournalism is the fusion of words and pictures.” A photo alone cannot tell the complete story.

Reporting with the camera is the first goal of a photojournalist. Please get all the FACTS of the situation for your caption. All recognizable people MUST BE IDENTIFIED, and I want people in all your pictures. The CORRECT SPELLING of the subject’s name is required. If you fail to correctly spell the name of a subject in your photographs you can invite serious legal problems as well as offending the subject and the readers who know them. A libel suit can be based on a name spelling.
If you incorrectly spell the name of a subject, or make a factual error that would require a correction in a newspaper, you will fail the assignment. You will also be required to write a letter of explanation to the journalism school dean. On a newspaper staff, journalists who make such errors are required to explain in writing to the executive editor why the error was made. These letters usually wind up in their personnel file.
For decades photojournalists have fought the image of being “illiterate button-pushers,” not journalists or colleagues of reporters and editors. Write your captions well. Poor grammar or spelling in your captions will adversely affect an editor’s opinion of you like it will affect your grade in this class. Know the difference between to, too and two; there, their and they’re; its and it’s; and affect and effect. I have my problems with spelling and grammar, but I overcome them by careful proofreading. Please use a dictionary and stylebook. A well-written caption will earn you the respect of your colleagues.

The second goal of the photojournalist is craftsmanship. Know your technical processes well. Watch the way light changes through the day and in various situations so you can use the QUALITY OF LIGHT to your advantage.
Study the wealth of information in the London and Upton book to make well-crafted photographs. Like a poet cannot be successful without a great command of his or her language, a photojournalist cannot be successful without developed skills in exposing film and printing images. Know and use appropriately all the tools available to you.
NO FLASH use will be allowed in this course. You must first learn to use exposure and light to your advantage even in what may seem like impossible circumstances. Any use of flash for assignment work will receive a low grade for failure to follow the assignment. Flash photography will be a major part of the advanced photojournalism course, J4102.

Supplies

I addition to the textbooks, you will need the following materials and equipment:

A 35mm camera. A single lens reflex type camera with interchangeable lenses and manual exposure control is preferred. If you don’t own one, try to borrow one. You can also rent cameras from Mike’s Camera at 2500 Pearl Street (303-443-1715, see Bill in rental/repair department). If you are unsure of the suitability of your camera, please consult with Kevin. Please consult Kevin about digital cameras.

To help you learn the basic craft as quickly as possible, you will be required to choose among these three films:

Kodak Tri-X (ISO 400)
Ilford Delta 400
Kodak T-Max P3200 (ISO 3200 for low-light-only photography)
Ilford Delta 3200 (also for low-light-only photography)

I recommend you avoid T-Max 100 and 400 films because they are difficult to use. The films above will produce superior quality for you in our circumstances.
By mid-semester you may photograph with color film. Try Fujicolor SuperG Plus or Superia in speeds from ISO 100 to ISO 800
I want you to shoot at least one roll of 36 exposures for each assignment. The more frames you shoot the better chance you have to improve your work and examine your subject. I realize it is expensive so I will only require one roll with approximately 36 exposures.

You have a choice of one of these three printing papers:

Kodak Polymax RC, glossy (F) surface
Ilford Multigrade IV Deluxe, glossy surface

Buy the papers in envelopes of 25 sheets, replacing your stock as needed to avoid wasting materials and money. I recommend you buy a dust removal aid like Dust-Off™ or Beseler Dust Gun™ compressed gas, or Ilford Antistaticum™ cloth to clean your negatives.
Ask Harold at Mike’s Camera, 2500 Pearl St. (at Folsom), or staff at Jones Drug on The Hill, for these materials. The basic film and paper chemicals described below will be provided in the lab.

Projects and Extra Credit work

The final assignment for the class will be a PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY or picture story in which a complex story is told through multiple pictures. Subjects can include such things as the day-to-day life of an interesting individual, an event that is multifaceted and demands more than one image to be adequately documented, or a process made up of a series of distinct events.
This assignment will be due on the last regular class period but please start watching for subject matter now. You MUST HAVE APPROVAL of the idea from Kevin before you start shooting to ensure that your essay project fits the guidelines. You’re not in any of this alone. I will be available for you to bounce ideas, discuss approach and subject. Take advantage of that.

EXTRA CREDIT can be earned by writing a brief 3 page report (typed, double spaced) on a BOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHS listed below or found on your own. These books must be meant to display photographs in the documentary tradition, and not be “How-to” books of photography. They are often monographs of the work of a particular photojournalist or documentary photographer. I recommend those listed below — all found at Norlin — though you may write a report on one you have found that interests you if you get my approval. I want you to give me your impressions of the way these photographers approach their art and craft, and the way they tell the story. I have little interest in their biographies.
You may do a maximum of two extra-credit assignments. The are do before the final regular class session, April 29.

Shooting assignments will count as 60% of your final grade. Midterm and final exams will count as 40%. Well-done extra credit work has the potential to raise a final grade by 2/3 a letter, ie. from a B+ to an A.

Extra Credit Books:

In Art and Architecture (2nd floor of Norlin next to the copy center):

Karsh: The Art of the Portrait
TR575 K34

Henri Cartier-Bresson: Photographer
TR647 C3613

André Kertész
TR647 K4713

World Photography
TR650 W67

Stay This Moment, the photography of Sam Abell
TR654 A222

The Concerned Photographer
TR653 C65

W. Eugene Smith
TR654 S57

Witness to Our Time, the photographs of Alfred Eisenstadt
TR680 E34

Other Americas, Latin American photographs of Sebastião Salgado
TR820.5 S3313

Workers, a documentary on the demise of manual labor by Sebastião Salgado
TR681 .W65 S35

Hot Light/Half-Made Worlds, Third World photographs of Alex Webb
TR820.5 W43

Leonard Freed: Photographs 1954-90
TR654 .F74

Marc Riboud: Photographs at home and abroad
TR820 R5313


In the general stacks:

The Americans, Robert Frank’s 1950’s depiction of American life
E169.02 .F713

Telex Iran, the Iranian Revolution by French photojournalist Gilles Peress
DS318.81 .P47

Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement, by Danny Lyon
E185.615 L96

Powerful Days: The Civil Rights Photographs of Charles Moore
E185.61 D94

In Sciences Library:

Minimata, a monumental photo essay by W. Eugene Smith on chemical pollution in a Japanese city.
RA1231 M5 S65

Basic Recipes

Kodak Tri-X 400 or T-Max 400 film

Use Kodak X-tol developer diluted 1:1 (one part stock X-tol solution to one part water). After use the developer is to be discarded according to TA Daniel Schaefer’s instructions.

Temperature Time
68°F 8.75 minutes
70°F 8.25 minutes
75°F 7 minutes

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ilford Delta 400 film

Use Kodak X-tol developer diluted 1:1 (one part stock X-tol solution to one part water). After use the developer is to be discarded according to TA Daniel Schaefer’s instructions.

Temperature Time
68°F 10.5 minutes
72°F 9.5 minutes
75°F 7 minutes

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Kodak T-Max P3200 or Ilford Delta 3200 films

Use Kodak X-tol developer undiluted according to instructions. Discard after use.

Temperature Time
68°F 11 minutes
70°F 10 minutes
75°F 8 minutes

Film developing will be stopped with Kodak Indicator Stop for approx. 10 seconds, and fixed with Kodak Rapid Fix for 3 to 5 minutes.

Agitation is extremely important in film developing. During any portion of the developing process, you must agitate — invert and twist — the developing tank three turns each minute. Failure to do so will have bad results. Optimum developer temperature is 75°F.

TA Daniel Schaefer will be on hand during scheduled lab hours to assist you, and Kevin will try to offer some lab hours as well. Lab sessions will be announced Tuesday, 1/21. See Daniel or Kevin if you have a problem scheduling lab sessions. One and a half hours are required, but you should try for two to three hours per week to afford yourself time to do good work.