The future of digital news photography

In print, only a photographer's best images, if that, are used. Unless a photographer gets a dedicated features page, he or she won't be able to see more than one picture chosen from an array of images shot in the field.

The simplification of technology now allows photographers to become multi-skilled, to record audio and shoot video, and to produce their own material. The future of photographers hence looks very bright, highly technology driven, creative, and with very little limitations in the way.

What is important now is to break away from that false purist idea that online is not “image friendly” but rather a gateway to creativity, global exposure, and dynamic consumption.

My presentation showed exactly that. The photographers became excited and motivated when they saw the potential of online media. I saw some eyes light up while presenting the idea that photographers can now let loose and shoot to create digital narratives…

Andy Dickinson, who lectures in digital and online journalism at the Department of Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and who was in South Africa to do training at Johncom, was present during the presentation and added some valuable insight. He highlighted the point that it is important for photographers to become self-sufficient (in order to create a smooth workflow) and that the only way of pursuing these changes is to go ahead and just try it out.

I added this quote by Joe Weiss into the presentation, which in my opinion encompasses the idea of taking photography further into the online sphere:

Seeing 10 photographs over a minute of audio is a very different experience, for me, than seeing a minute of video. Even if it's the same material.

Here is a list of some websites which are great examples of what we here at The Times/Sunday Times are trying to achieve:

• MediaStorm: http://mediastorm.org/
  
• Magnum in Motion: http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/
  
• Interactive Narratives:http://www.interactivenarratives.org/

• Adapted from original blog post at http://groogle.co.za/2007/09/04/the-future-of-digital-news-photography/