Journalism is a wide field wherein news material is collected, edited and then presented for broadcast or publication. Photojournalism is a specific constitute of journalism, which produce images to regularize a news story. In the present scenario, photojournalism is inferred only to static images and in some instance to video applied in broadcast journalism.

Photojournailm stands apart from the other divisions of photography like street photography,documentary photography, celebrity photography etc.The images produced in photojournalism have a specific meaning in relation to the recently printed record of circumstances. It is narrative when the images are combined with the additional news elements to produce linked facts to the reader.

Photojournalism: Early years

The action of exemplifying news stories along with photographs came into existence with the help of printing and the innovations in photography tat took place between 1880 and 1897. Until 1880’s, printing press could publish newsworthy events only from the engravings.a photograph first needed to be re-interpreted with the help of an engraver before it was capable of being published. Photographs of Mathew Brady of American Civil War and Crimean War from1853 to 1856 were engraved before getting published.

The golden age of photojournalism was between 1930s to 1950s. newspapers like The New York Daily News , The Daily Mirror and few magazines like Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung, Life , Paris Match, Picture Post etc. gained high redership and good reputation for their photography. Some of the well known photographers included the names of W. Smith, Alfred Eisenstaedt,Robert Capa etc. the documentary photography or photojournalism has got a special place in art galleries since 1970’s.

Recent advancements

The development in the field of cameras and technological advancement like electronic flash, improved lenses, motor drivers, auto-focus have further enhanced the role of photo journalist. with the help of digital cameras,a large no. of images can be stored on a single memory card avoiding the restriction of camera film length.
Around 15 years ago, a single color photography used to take approximately 30 minutes for scanning and transmitting it from a distant location to news office for publication.but today with the help of mobile phones, digital cameras and laptops , a high quality image can be sent in very few minutes.Photojournalism has thus become an important aspect in every field of communication.