The History of Photography
Ever since people began to use the printing press in the 18th and 19th-century to get information to the general public, the beginning of photojournalism took the shape of one of the artists drawing caricatures and cartoons to embellish the news items. This was done so that the people, who could not read the written word could look at the cartoons, recognize the faces and be amused when they recognized the antics of some particular politician or aristocrat.
Caricaturists and cartoonists were quite popular during the Napoleon wars, and even before. The Prince Regent in Britain, Napoleon in France, the Duke of Wellington, and any other prominent luminary in politics would be caricatured and their actions depicted through cartoons, so that everybody from Bloomsbury to John O’Groats could understand what was going on in the Court of St James, the Horseguards or in any other prominent place in London or Paris.
That could be considered the beginning of photojournalism, when cartoons spoke a thousand words. Since then, photojournalism has come a long way baby, and thanks to the ubiquitous camera, one does not need to write something haunting, persuasive, impressive, or just plain poignant, if he can just click a clear and good photograph, which can do all his describing for him.
The craze for photojournalism can sometimes reach obsessive heights as seen in the case of Princess Diana's fatal crash when the photographers were more obsessed with taking pictures of that grim tragedy than calling a doctor to save the injured couple. History knows that if someone had had the sense to call an ambulance instead of clicking a photograph, Princess Diana could possibly have been saved. This is the grim face of photojournalism, even though some dedicated photojournalists risk life and limb to get the news to you when they are covering areas of political turmoil.
