Following the closure of one of the world’s most prestigious photo-press agencies ‘Sygma’ in June of this year, the future of photojournalism has come under great scrutiny. As a full service agency, we know only too well the power of photography in both marketing and journalistic material. Here, we delve into some of the ways in which the photographic world has changed over the years and why.

1) Technology

The advance in technology has played a significant part in reshaping photojournalism.  We now live in a world where members of the public can easily take photographs at any time and any place across the globe. These pictures can then be distributed to millions within seconds via different mediums of technology – most notably the internet. For example, the increase in online social media often means that newsworthy photographs and video footage find their way onto websites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter before news outlets have the chance to get a hold of them.

So what effect does this have on the photographic industry?  Some argue that this rise in what is often referred to as citizen journalism has increasingly put focus on how quickly imagery is available as opposed to how well-crafted and thought out an image is. A quick snap taken on a mobile phone during the midst of an event can often be considered more newsworthy than a professional composed image of the aftermath.

2) The need to cut budgets

As newspaper and magazine circulations fall, revenues plunge and budgets are continuously being cut. This often means that news organisations are less willing to pay for professional photographs when they can obtain cheaper images elsewhere. Many organisations continue to encourage amateurs to send photographic information to them for free, which is potentially very threatening to the photojournalism profession. This highlights the need to provide images to the public not only as simply and quickly as possible, but also as cheaply as possible!

3) Celebrity Culture

On a slightly more positive note, the rise in celebrity culture within our society has led to a huge increase in the demand for celebrity imagery. Largely, the public are obsessed with the personal lives of celebrities – what they’re wearing, where they’re going on holiday, who they’re dating…. Ultimately, these are the stories that will sell, which means news organisations will pay big bucks for any imagery they may need to support this.

It is easy to argue that sadly these celebrity focused stories are taking the emphasis off wider more important events that are happening in the world. However, at the same time we would be lying if we said there weren’t a few of us here at Core who don’t enjoy dipping into the latest news from Heat and Glamour from time to time!

Despite the cuts in budget, we believe that photography is still a very relevant art form that should continue to be embraced and supported by marketing and advertising agencies out there. After all, a picture paints a thousand words….

We want to hear your thoughts on the future of photojournalism. Why not leave us a comment?