How Photography is a Tool of PR?

How Photography is a Tool of PR?

Photography is all about communication. 

Photograph is an undeniably powerful medium. Free from the constraints of language, and harnessing the unique qualities of a single moment frozen in time. The reason you click a photo is because you want to share the best parts of your environment with others. Communicating a scene or an object is similar to communicating in writing and It makes more sense if there is an order i.e. in a visual way a photographer has to arrange the subjects / objects in a scene so that they make sense, and provoke emotions.

In photography, one of the most important communications is that of emotion. You want the viewer to share your feeling of when you were there. This basically comes down to being able to compose, expose and focus while being in the right place at the right time. For this you have to practice, composition, focus and exposure and be at many different places at different times until you get the right combination.

Photography gets closer to art when the photographer communicates well and that’s why photography is a powerful tool to communicate so much without uttering a single word.

How a Photograph Communicates?

There are few technique and strategies by which a photo conveys meaning:

Angle: The vantage point or direction from which the artist photographs the subject.

Framing: By deciding where the edges of the image will be, the photograph determines what you will (and will not) see—whether the subject will fill the frame and appear “close up” or will be seen at a distance as part of a larger context.

Light: Light is one of the most powerful tools of the photographer. The manipulation of light and dark and the sharpness of contrast between light and dark contribute to the mood a photograph conveys.

Focus: The clarity or blurriness of the image. The range between the nearest and farthest things that appear in clear focus defines the photograph’s depth of field.

Composition: What is in the foreground? Are the elements arranged in any particular pattern? Do you see any geometric shapes? Are the lines of the photograph straight or curving, thick or thin? Do any visual elements repeat? Is the visual weight of the photograph balanced: on each side? top to bottom? Diagonally?

By using the above mentioned techniques, a photograph can be interpreted and understood by anyone.

What is Photo Journalism?

Journalism is based on the medium of words whereas Photography is based on the medium of pictures. Photo journalism (the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast) is the combination of verbal and visual mediums of communication. In photo journalism, we use words and pictures to describe the whole event which is covered by the journalists and in photo journalism, the photographer has to click a picture which is strong and can summarize the whole event in one picture.

A news photographer is very different from a regular photographer. Photo journalists are well informed and knowledgeable about events happening right outside their homes. They deliver news in a creative format that is not only informative, but also entertaining. Some experts compare photographic journalism to the oriental concept on unity in which the ‘YIN and the YANG’ the two indivisible elements which make the whole.

In Taoism, a Chinese philosophy, there are two fundamental principles: one negative, passive, earthy, dark, cold, wet and feminine –YIN and the other positive, bright, heavenly, active, dry, hot and masculine – YANG. Yin and Yang complement each other perfectly and are the balance of intellect and emotions, so is the Photo Journalism.

What are the different types of Photo Journalism?

There are different aspects in photo journalism. A photo journalist cover latest news, accidents, politics, terrorism news events, social injustice issues and many more.  Feature photo journalism involves in human interest activities like art exhibitions, fairs, fashion events, movies, business events, science and technology events etc. It is a creative job for photographers they can use diffident photographic technique to connect audience. 

Sports photo journalism is very interesting field which is all about losses and wins. The sport photo journalist attend different games, leagues, event where sports personalities are presented. 

Environmental portraits capture the essence of subject. It portraits a newsworthy figure like construction workers soldiers etc. in their natural setting. Through a portrait it is easy to understand about the subject matter of the photo.

War photo journalism is the earliest form of photojournalism, where photojournalists have covered wars and sent photos from the centre of action. We see a lot of photographs in newspapers and magazines, of conflicts within the country such a terrorist activity or a riot where the photographer is in a dangerous situation and yet he manages to send us pictures, risking his life.

Celebrity photo journalism covers film stars and other famous personalities, who  have become a major part of news coverage as most people want to peep into the lives of the rich and famous. There are photojournalists who specialize in this kind of photography only are also called paparazzi, an Italian tag for such photographers.

Travel photo journalism involves the documentation of an area’s landscape, people, cultures, customs and history. Travel photographs are taken by professionals or even amateurs. Photographs taken by amateurs are shared online with friends, relatives etc. through photo sharing websites.

Wildlife photo journalism is regarded as one of the more challenging forms of photojournalism. Advanced photographic equipment as well as a good knowledge of the animal’s behavior as well as the terrain is needed to take wildlife photographs. 

Spot news photojournalism means covering events that make day to day news, like political events, crime, accidents etc. This is in fact the most common type of photojournalism and is most demanding for a photojournalist.

Photo journalism works within the same ethical approaches to objectivity that are applied by other journalists. What to shoot, how to frame and how to edit are constant considerations. Photographing news for an assignment is one of the most ethical problems photographers face. Photo journalists have a moral responsibility to decide what pictures to take, what picture to stage, and what pictures to show the public.

Photo journalism is a unique and powerful form of visual storytelling originally created for print magazines and newspapers but has now morphed into multimedia and even documentary filmmaking. Through the internet, apps and the mobile device explosion, photo journalism can now reach audiences never before imagined with immediate impact, while continuing to write our visual history and form our collective memories. 

What is P R Photography  and how we can use Photographs in PR Practice?

PR Photography is at the heart of shaping and maintaining a positive public image of an organization and is an essential part of its success. The public, or anyone that will form an opinion about an organization, needs to be constantly communicated to through traditional media or the social media platforms i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.

PR photographs are candid pictures taken before, during, and after an event. PR Photographers have more flexibility and artistic discretion when taking images to be used as a tool for PR. They explore the creative side of the photography to help capture the true spirit and emotion of the event. I read somewhere that a picture is worth a thousand words. Often, photographs in editorial coverage carry more weight than the words written in the release itself.

PR professionals promote their clients through editorial coverage. Their stories can appear on websites, in magazines or on TV. Their goal is to make their clients seem trustworthy and honest, as well as presenting their successes and achievements. But what makes these stories look even greater is the addition of an image that represents their clients in its righteous way.

Remember that without a great image, there is no story. Often, a story does not even reach publication due to the lack of right illustration or one that is of poor resolution. The illustration of a story is the first thing the audience sees. This can often determine whether they decide to continue reading the publication or flip past it.

Organizations that aim at promoting their products and services successfully understand the significance of photography during this process. They invest in hiring those photographers, who understands the PR angle of the photograph, to receive more coverage and visibility on the market.

Being a PR professional, remember that the press release should include an outstanding photograph and a well thought out, articulate caption to capture the attention of the reader. Photographs tell stories and they also provide the eyes with a rest in between copy. Readers first notice the photograph, then the headline, and if these elements interest them, they’ll continue to read the article. If the photo is below standard, the chances are the article won’t be read.

Reading a long article can sometimes take a lot of time and, for some people it can be boring, especially compared to looking at a photograph and reading a caption. Research has proved that people generally have a powerful reaction to photographs; and the more impressive the photograph, the more emotive the response – even though the reaction is mostly subconscious. According to a research, just by adding a photograph to a press release will get you 14% more hits and that’s a lot of eyes.

What is News Photo and Photo Feature?

Photographs can greatly support news headlines in print and electronic media as well as feature stories. The photograph serves as a definition for words. No two people imagine identical photographs through words alone. Groups   of   words   rarely   cause   similar   mental images in everyone.    Different   people   see   different photographs in  their   mental  interpretations   of verbal descriptions   of   a   given   scene based on their own experiences and narratives. But from   a   photograph, everyone gets the same mental picture.

News Photo

News photographs also have news elements and those elements are - immediacy, proximity, consequence,   prominence, suspense, oddity, conflict, sex, emotion and progress. These elements are essential for successful photo journalism. One can easily judge the newsworthiness of a photograph by the degree to which these elements are present. The newsworthiness of a photograph,  like  that  of  an  event,  depends  on  the strength of intensity of the news element it contains.

Nearly all news photography is classified into two categories: Spot and Feature News.  This applies to sports as well as any other type of newsworthy activity. Since the  spot  news photograph  achieves  a  dramatic  quality, the  unrehearsed  action  is  obvious  to  the  reader. Feature   photograph,   on   the   other   hand,   consists of elements that allow it to tell its story with a brief cutline, or on many occasions, without a cutline.

In spot news  unrehearsed  action,  control  over  the kind of photograph a photographer  will get is somewhat limited by the situation. A  photograph  without  action, regardless  of the  prominence  of the  personality,  is  not  in  itself  a storytelling photograph. The successful and usable news photograph has action and impact.

Photo Feature

Photo feature or feature photograph is one of three major categories of work captured by working news photographers. The other two major categories are of course news and sports. There are almost as many definitions of a feature photograph as there are photographers involved in the genre. However, a feature photograph might be described as a news image that supplements the headline stories - one that has no compelling reason to run but which provides further in-depth cover for news or recent-news story.

When an important person or significant event has recently been in the headline news, an editor may decide to run a feature article based upon the background to the original story. A feature photographer might therefore seek to show a particular person at home in their family environment, perhaps talking about their lives and how events led to their appearance in the news headlines. The stories told in this way may not be of particular importance individually, but cumulatively they portray our culture. They may also add a positive side to stories that balances predominantly negative news.

Thanks for reading.