Week 12 ~ Photojournalism

‘It is one of the central contributions of photojournalism that it goes beyond the limits of imagination. It makes the unbelievable believable” ~Harold.Evans.

 Give five rules of ethical photojournalism.  Why is it important?  Should the photojournalism be the compatible with ethics?

Photographic tampering and ethical violations have been around almost as long as the camera itself. The history of photojournalism includes many examples of ethical breaches.

Photojournalism is a type of journalism that relies on images to narrate a story. It is not classical photography as the pictures taken are entirely related to a news story. They are not usually for entertainment but more for conveyance of a news event.

According to the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Code of Ethics, the basic premises of the NPPA's nine standards are but I will mention only 5,

1.    Accurately represent subjects

2.    Do not be manipulated by staged photos

3.    Avoid bias and stereotyping in work; provide complete information and context

4.    Show consideration for subjects

5.    Editing should not give the wrong impression of the subjects in the photograph

Why is it important?  Technology has almost changed the face of photojournalism. News can travel the entire globe in just a few minutes nowadays. With the advent of smartphones, videophones, internet and terrific printing technology, photojournalism has become exceedingly famous.  This is the reason that photojournalists have the responsibility of bringing in photographs that are objective but not subjective. Because of the technological advancement, now people can manipulate images. That is the reason ethics plays an important role here. Codes of ethics have been set up for addressing such issues. 

On August 8th, Time magazine ran a controversial cover photo of a disfigured Afghan woman accompanied by the headline ”What Happens If We Leave Afghanistan.” 

(Cover and abridged article can be found here.) 

The editor of Time,  Stengel, explains 'the image, headline and story are intended to lend emotional truth and insight into the lives of women in Afghanistan. He further claims 'the piece is a neutral attempt to further the debate and is not intended to express a position on the US involvement in Afghanistan. For the critical reader interested in furthering the rights of women, these portrayals are misleading and need to be questioned'

Reference:

Zelizer, B. (2005). Journalism through the camera’s eyes. In Allan, S. (ed.),Journalism: Critical issues (pp. 167-­‐176).Berkshire: Open University Press 

http://EzineArticles.com/1662083

http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics.html

http://sparksf.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/photojournalism-or-war-porn/

Week 11 ~ Information Graphics

'A reporter writes using precise language, a graphics reporter uses the ‘right’ images to convey the most
precise meaning to tell a story' ~ George-Palilonis,

The consideration which I made in designing the information graphic is firstly to follow the rules and guides of making graph. The rules that govern all graphs like standardize the methodology for replication and giving clear information.  In order to let the users, in this case the shareholders, to attract their attention to view the report using information graphics, showing this graphs to them is not just for imaginative direction and fun, I consider it as a creative and fantastic mode to take complex or reports and deliver them in simpler ways that remain appealing and interesting to the shareholders.  

Using these charts, I believe the shareholders will not lost interest in the information that I am showing since information graphics is tended to assist with that a great deal.  In this situation this will help the shareholders connect with the information in a way they would not have necessarily been able to previously.

Ideas that might otherwise seem abstract like the complex IATA report, to the shareholders can be brought into more familiar and identifiable places through the use of common, everyday imagery. Using this information graphics can help the idea evolve in a way. The shareholders can be assisted in the connection of the related information to them in ways they had not been able to see before it is visually spelled it out for them. Hence, will further allow relating the information to other areas that the shareholders might not understand is impacted by this idea.

Reference:

Petterson, R. (1993). Visual Information (2nd ed.) (pp. 169-175). New Jersey: Educational technology Publications.
Lester, P. M. (1995). Informational graphics. Visual communication: Images with messages (pp. 187-­‐211).

California: Wadsworth Publishing.

Week 10 ~ Games and Avatars in the Information Age

'[Kurzweil admits the potential perils of a cyborgian future. He cites the 2000 essay,] Why the Future Doesn't Need Us, ... We are being propelled into this new century with no plan, no control, no brakes.' ~ Bill Joy

Nowadays, we live in a world of cyborgs, cyborg society. Cyborgian technologies and systems pervade nearly every aspect of our modern lives. In fact, that you and I most praobably don't even aware, or even regard them cyborgian. There is a very high probability that we are a cyborg and are not even notice of it. In this modern world it is no longer a question of "if you are a cyborg," but rather, "what kind of cyborg you are."

We often watch film related to science fiction story about the progress of human technology in the future. But we do not deny that the human imagination as outlined in the film became an inspiration for future technological advances. 

For instance, the Star Wars films making inspiration about robots created in the present and this becomes a reality where there is now a real robot. Artificial Intelligence or AI is defined as intelligence exhibited by an artificial entity. Such systems are generally considered to be a computer. Intelligence was created and put into a machine (computer) in order to do the job as a human can do. Several kinds of fields that use artificial intelligence expert systems, among others, computer games (games), fuzzy logic, neural networks and robotics.

Although AI has a strong science fiction connotation, AI forms a very empirical branch of computer science, dealing with behavior, learning and intelligent adaptation in a machine. Research in AI involves the manufacture of machines to automate tasks requiring intelligent behavior. Including like, is controlling, planning and scheduling, diagnostics and the ability to answer customer questions, as well as handwriting recognition, voice and face. Things like that have become separate disciplines, which focus on providing solutions to real life problems. AI systems now commonly used in economics, medicine, engineering and military, as it has built in some home computer software applications and video games.

Cyborg, is the designation for the figure of a human-shaped robot and have tissue and blood like a human being, it's just that Cyborg uses the expertise of the system processor as the brain works. So the Cyborg can be identified with the human machine. Scientific predictions about the Cyborg set out like in the movie Terminator, AI, I-Robot, Star Trek, Alien, and several other films.

Differences with Humans and Cyborg?

The question now, 'Do you agree that you are cyborgian in nature?' Well, I myself unsure about this.  When Cyborg was highly ​​sophisticated technology can even be like a human then what's the difference robots with humans? This is true if you know. Is it possible that humans could create something similar on their own?   One thing we have to distinguish here is that robots do not have a soul like our living God's creation. Spirit robot is just a logic circuit which centered on the pattern of the system expertise.  

So that the robot does not have a heart and feelings, he did not know the pain except when prescribed for pain, do not know the sad, in love, not crying, hungry, thirsty, have children, want to pee.

But with technological advances in the next few decades, Cyborg will be made like that, have feelings and even could dream of during his sleep. But is this possible? Not to mention the sci-fi film AVATAR which was a Box Office in 2009, the film was even shown that people can make a replica of a human by using transplantation of human DNA with alien itself (in this case the planet Pandora Navi or human), thus the birth new human form. Hence, it is not possible in humans ultimately replicate itself with a network of robots so comes the real Cyborg (half-human half-robot or robot).
But whether this will happen? Still do not know because man himself is still developing the concept of Artificial Intelligence which is the forerunner in creating it a robot with expertise in advanced systems. We are looking for the truth later in the future…

Reference:

Robins, K. (2000). Cyberspace and the world we live in. In Bell, D. and kennedy, B.M (eds.), The cyber-cultures reader 

(pp. 77-95). London: Routledge.

http://thinkexist.com/quotes/bill_joy

Week 9 ~ Cinema and television: Cultural literacy and the question of “What’s it for?”

—  'Film operates as a model “for” as well as a model “of” reality in a process that naturalizes film sound and images.' ~ CLIFFORD GEERTZ

Richard Hoggart, one of the founding fathers of Cultural Studies, once asked a question: “What is it for?” For him, the “what” in his question stands for cultural literacy. 

If I were him, I will say the definition of Culturally literacy.  It is the ability to comprehend and value the similarities and variations in the customs, values, and beliefs of one’s own culture the cultures of others.

Unfortunately, this is not at all the case.  His concern was not the definition or the theoretical basis of the two words. He was aware that we understood culture through our daily communication with people and institutions, especially through the potential mode of mediums which are in this case the cinema as well as television.  The actual issue here is with all the knowledge from television and movies that we derive from, what is it for? and the question what happen t0 cultural literacy, what are we going to do about it?

Since I have mentioned the definition of cultural literacy,  I will focus on what is cinema and television studies for.  Cinema or films are cultural artifacts developed by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is construed to be an emperial art form, a source of well-known entertainment and a powerful mode in education.  The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication. Films, not all, have become popular global attractions by utilising dubbing or subtitles that interpret the dialogue into the language of the viewer.

Now is all about television.  This medium can be a powerful entertainment and education tool for us especially to children given the right programming. Nevertheless studies have proved that television can have a very negative influence. From few sources, some studies show television can shorten attention span, distort body image, work in conjunction with other factors to escalate obesity, create anxiety, and increase aggressive and anti-social behaviors if exposure is unmonitored and unlimited. Television violence, swear words, harsh language, and sexually explicit content as well as aggressive marketing are in this case prevalent. 

On representing culture, cinema and television should possess a great knowledge on cultural literacy. This two mediums give viewers knowledge of a specific culture by using the law that compromises this cultural literacy in order for us to see the culture in the mirror of its representation.

According to (Stigler, Gallimore and Hiebert, 2000). 'Understanding other cultures has two notable benefits: 1) it multiplies our access to practices, ideas, and people that can make positive contributions to our own society; and 2) it helps us understand ourselves more deeply. By understanding a range of alternatives, we become aware of our own implicit beliefs – beliefs so deeply imbedded that we routinely take them for granted' 

Reference:

Hartley, J. (1999). Knowledge, television and the “textual tradition”. Uses of Television (pp.55-­‐70). London and New York: Routledge.


Stigler, Gallimore and Hiebert, 2000.

Week 8 ~ Photography

All photos are accurate. None of them is the truth. ~Richard Avedon

Why do we consider photography as a form of cultural critique? Is every photograph able to do so?

Photographs are a powerful instrument to critique culture. 

Anthropologists have used photography to provide visual information about their subjects since the 1860s.   Historically, photography was considered to be a recording device for surface data, as opposed to in-depth data, which required to be unearthed by other methods.

In the past thirty years, an increasing number of social researchers in the United Kingdom have recognised that the visual is a growth point in the social sciences and cultural studies.   

Photographs were used as a form of cultural critique in the 1920s.    

For example, photographers El Lissitzky and Alexander Rodchenko sought to inform understanding of social revolution in the early days of the Soviet Union using a photomontage approach. Alfred Eisenstaedt and Erich Salomon, both are photojournalists, applied photo-reportage or photo-essays to communicate social situations (Gidal 1973). The Picture Post in England and Time, Life, and Fortune in the United States published the work of photojournalists such as: Margaret Bourke-White (the first female war correspondent), Walker Evans, W. Eugene Smith, and Robert Capa. 

Yet Becker was concerned that photography had come to be viewed like an art form, and sociology was treated like a science. He called for them to be reunited and to join hand to uncover different aspects of social life. Some sociologists took up the challenge, and visual research methods were increasingly used in various sociological studies (Ruby 1976, Becker 1978, Wagner 1979). 

Material culture is an aspect of visual studies. Paying attention to the images that are important in the daily lives of people open up conversations about values and aspirations. 

David Morgan (1999) in his argument mentioned that the meaning of an image is not merely the act of putting it on the wall, but also exists in its display and ongoing presence in the owner's life.

References:

Wright, T. (1999). Photography as a cultural critique. Photography handbook (pp. 135-­‐151). London
and New York: Routledge.

Wells,L. (1997). Thinking about photography. Photography: a critical introduction (pp. 24-­‐54) London: Routledge.

http://www.quotegarden.com/photography.html

Week 7 ~ Visual Narrative and the Media:

"a selection of events from the characters life stories that is composed into a strategic sequence to arouse specific emotions and to express a specific view of life." (McKee, Story, 1997, pg. 33).

Why is narrative important when shaping a visual image to the audience?

Production and story elements combine to convey a narrative to an audience. Here I will mention some aspects of narrative that must be considered when analysing a visual image.

I take a film narration to support my arguement. We as the viewer, allow ourselves as the audience to enter a film narrative through a device known as the 'suspension of disbelief'.

In storyline of film narration, the plot may be linear or non linear, it may include subplots which may run parallel to, comment on or intersect with the main narrative.

Opening introduces the narrative in film. The opening usually contains a lot of information which sets up the narrative and establishes time, place, location, mood and often the important characters in the narrative.

Whereas in closure, the said sequence finishes off the story, resolving the narrative possibilities established throughout the text, tying up loose ends and letting the audience to leave the narrative. There will often be an image which is similar to the opening images in order to close the cycle of the narrative.

In film narration there will be conflict. A narrative requires conflict and in film there is usually one main conflict and several minor conflicts. Conflicts are presented in the form of problems or issues. One way to view the development of conflict in a narrative text is to see it as:

equilibrium ---- problem ---- disequilibrium ---- resolution ---- new equilibrium

Then the cause and effect. A story element which makes the narrative to proceed. Whereas the climax is usually, but not always, the most suspenseful part of the story. Often smaller climaxes build to the major one.

Some aspects of film narrative such as setting, charaters and time are also important.

Hence narrative is important when shaping a visual image to the audience. 

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station

Narrative is important because it allows audience to look at not only the ways in which 'reality' is constructed within a story of visual image or text, but also the implications and effects of them being presented in that particular way.

References:

Huisman, R. (2005).Narrative concepts. In Fulton, H., Huisman, R., Murphet, J. and Dunn, A. (eds.), Narrative and Media (pp. 11-­‐27). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Infanger, S. (2001). What is Narrative? Retrieved October 21, 2011. From http://www.class.udaho.edu/narrative/theory/what narrative.htm

Week 6 ~ The Ancient Art of Rhetoric and Persuasion

“Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt quotes (American 26th US President (1901-09), 1858-1919)

Question:

Explain and exemplify how an insurance sales person would sell insurance rhetorically and how he/she would hard sell the product.

Rhetorics is a form of persuasion. A persuasion must have a proposition and argument. In order an insurance sales person want to sell his product, it is good for him/her to sell it rhetorically. He/she has to have persuasion techniques in order to pursuade the clients and to make his/her insurance saleble.

Selling an insurance is just like selling advertisement. In this case, McQuarrie and Philips (2008), Go Figure! New Directions in Advertising Rhetoric.

a) Rhetoric in advertising more concerned with style than content.
b) Advertising rhetoric more interested in how to say something as much as what to say.
c) Advertising style is not new. Since antiquity, there are different rhetorical styles: rhyme, anaphora, antithesis or synthesis (p.5).
d) Advertising style consists of the medium, genre, strategies of production and creative imageries to show an argument.

Therefore from my personal view, these four aspects can be applied in selling insurance.

Selling insurance can be a very lucrative business. It will give a person the ability to work for himself, work from home or work from an office with a group. 

The insurance business allows easy access for those wanting to enter the field as well as many selections to advance through continuing training and licensing. In addition, being an insurances sales person can be a very lucrative and financially rewarding career once a person learns how to sell insurance.

Insurance allows many people to work for themselves and those sales person who are good at it make good money. Selling insurance affords them the ability to have their own business.

Professional insurance agents are viewed more as financial advisers than salesmen. They assist people hedge against risk exposure, just like a hedge fund financial adviser helps businesses hedge against risk buy selling commodity futures.

Speaking of which, many insurance agents also sell financial products like stock, bonds, commodities, annuities, retirement plans in addition to selling insurance policies.

Another benefit to selling insurance policies is that one can start part time. Even if one have a full time job, it can be started in the evenings scheduling appointments and meeting with people. Insurance is a better low risk way to get into the selling or get into the insurance business.

Selling insurance can be and has been the entry point for many successful business people. And again, learning how to sell insurance is something that is easy to do.

Therefore, there is no question of hard selling the product if the sales person understands the strategies and the objective of selling insurance.

Reference:

McQuarrie, E. F. and Philips, B. J. (eds.) (2007). Advertising rhetoric: An  introduction. Go figure! New

dimensions in advertising rhetoric (pp. 3-­‐18).New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc. Retrieved from Universiti

Brunei Darussalam Ebrary Website.

http://thinkexist.com/quotations/rhetoric/