If you are passionate about street photography, you must have heard about photojournalism. Street photography and photojournalism share some common elements, which often make people confused between the two. However, they are not the same thing. Nor do they share the same branch of aestheticism. That is probably because photojournalist hunts for pictures of public interest and street photographers do not do that.
You are not entirely wrong if you think street photography is just a subset of photojournalism. However, there is one significant difference. Street Photography is strictly photography within public areas. Photojournalism comes with no such limitations.
How did street photography gain its hype?
People passionate about street photography might look like strangers strolling around like predators. They might take a shot of whatever they think is fancy. However, the biggest misconception is that street photography must be about pictures of people in it.
But that is not true. Street photography takes us back to the late 19th century. At that time, portable cameras were gradually becoming a buzzing trend. And people were stepping out, taking the candids of other people. That is where the concept of ‘Street Photography’ grew.
Is photojournalism similar to journalism?
Photojournalism is a branch of journalism about clicking, collecting, editing, and presenting news-worthy photos for broadcast. Unlike street photography, photojournalists require skills. Also, photojournalists do not click anything random that looks interesting to them. Unless the picture has a news backstory, it is useless to them.
What are the top skills that photojournalists need to have?
- Photojournalists have a creative mindset.
- A Photojournalist needs to have quick analysis power to understand an event and click newsworthy pictures quickly.
- He must be accurate with his vision and passion.
- He also needs to be a man of fast reflexes and common sense to work under harsh circumstances.
- Photojournalists are paid professionals and, therefore, are representatives of their companies. So, they must have strong work ethics.
- A positive approach is something that every Photojournalist should have.
Street photography vs photojournalism – how vast is the difference?
The difference is not huge. Street Photographers are primarily individuals who do not work under any entity. Moreover, they hunt down anything they think can be an excellent photogenic element. However, that freedom does not linger once you take it as a profession and become a photojournalist. As a Photojournalist, you hunt only for images that can be used solo or alongside a news item.
But then, if you look at some of the significant street photography personalities, some of them might do freelance photojournalism too.
Conclusion
The recent turbulence of the pandemic has made professionals from every stream find something new to stay afloat. Photojournalists are no longer inclined strictly to the walls of news and stories. They have found that their skills and expertise can have other uses too. Passionate photographers are also trying out different genres. The same goes for street photographers.
So, street photography and photojournalism, even if they are two different realms, have collided and changed paths. Talking of street photographers, they can quickly get into photojournalism these days. So, the margin of difference is relatively small today.
