An Analysis of Biased Photojournalism Techniques
By Tony Abu X. | Monday, May 03, 2004 | Link |

In text and video journalism, systemic bias and slanting has been documented extensively, exposing media anti-Americanism, anti-Westernism and sympathy for leftist, authoritarian and primitivistic ideologies and regimes (for examples, see coverage at sites such as Honest Reporting, That Liberal Media, Backspin, CAMERA.org, Dhimmi Watch, Little Green Footballs )

Here, I extend this scrutiny to news photographs, highlighting some of the esthetic techniques -- the same techniques used in fine-art, advertising and other forms of photography -- that biased photojournalists use to slant news photographs.

Note that this analysis does not cover misleading captions. For coverage of biased captioning, see this article and this article at CAMERA. (A classic example of false captioning involves this photo of a Jewish boy, bloodied by Arabs and being protected by an Israeli soldier -- mis-identified as a Palestinian boy being beaten by the soldier.)

The images shown here are from the AFP, AP and Reuters news service photos available at Yahoo news photos, and in particular the Middle East Conflict slideshow. Due to bandwidth limitations, I have selected only a few representative examples of biased photojournalism; there are many, many more at the above links .


THE TILTED CAMERA

One of the first tricks photography students learn (and often overuse) is the tilted camera. Tilting the camera is a simple way to add dynamism and drama by introducing diagonal lines into an otherwise placid image.

In this photo, the camera is tilted to create a sense of chaos and terror, suggesting heavy-handed police tactics are being used against "peace" demonstrators. (Readers of LGF will recognise this photo as having been captioned giving the officer's name, which is Jewish.) But if we look closely at the photo, we can see that the scene is actually quite calm.

Here we see Arabs milling about after an Israeli strike. But why is the camera tilted? The photographer isn't running or under duress; there's no imminent danger, nothing that would prevent the photographer from composing the shot properly -- yet the photographer has chosen to tilt the camera.

Waving the glorious flag of the revolucion! Here, the tilted camera aims to generate excitement for the Arab cause.

THE SILHOUETTE

A photographer can impart a sense of mystery and romance to his subjects by silhouetting them against a lighter background. Here, the Palestinian terrorist (the media usually use "militant" or some other innocuous term) is portrayed as the noble savage, the untamed, swarthy romantic revolutionary. (Yes, a New York Times editorial last week referred to Arafat -- a mass murderer -- as a romantic revolutionary )

   

Here, they have their hero on a horse, Lawrence of Arabia style:

THE VIGNETTE

A photographer can create a sense of intimacy by framing the subject with an object in the foreground. In the following two photos, this is done to impart a sense of poignancy to elicit sympathy for the subjects.

       

In this photo, we are given an intimate glimpse of the inner sanctum where the Zionist cabal hatches its nefarious plots:




SELECTIVE FOCUS

Using selective focus and blurring, the photographer can draw attention to his subject. In the next two photographs, a large lens opening is used to blur the background while keeping the subject in focus. This is a useful technique for portrait photography: with a blurred background, attention is focused on the subject. Here, this technique is used to create a sense of poignancy.

   

In the next photo, moving objects are blurred by leaving the lens open for an extended period; the stationary elements remain in focus, while anything moving is blurred, drawing attention to the stationary elements:




THE VISUAL CLICHE

The photographic cliche bypasses rational argument and assumes its conclusion by sheer repetition and ignoring context. The Yahoo Middle East slideshows feature endless examples of the same few cliche'd themes portraying Israel as a violent aggressor, and Arabs as the it's victims. The following are a few examples. (other notable cliches not shown here include: the rushing of the wounded Arabs to the hospital, the wailing of the hajjahs, and of course the car swarm )

In this picture, we are shown the innocent child versus the robotic killers.

The elderly Arab man maintaining his simple dignity as he grieves over his house, demolished by the evil Israelis. Omitted context: as head of his household, he knew full well his house was being used to plan and launch murderous terrorist attacks; if he had any dignity, he would have put a stop to such activities.

The scheming Sharon. (it is remarkable just how many of Sharon pictures there are in the Yahoo slideshow)

CONCLUSIONS

The point of this post is not that the techniques shown here are invalid in general -- but that they invalid in news photos.

These techniques (except perhaps the cliche) are certainly valid in artistic or editorial photographs because they allow the artist to express his viewpoint in the image. But for the same reason, they must not be used in photojournalism. To pass off such photos as news photos -- as is done in the AP, AFP, and Reuters slideshows at Yahoo -- is dishonest and unethical and constitutes deliberate pro-terrorist propaganda. Such photos need to be clearly presented and labled as editorial or artistic images. Like fiction and print journalism, art and photojournalism should not be mixed.

If photographers want to excercise their artistic and editorial talents, there is no shortage of print and electronic outlets for their work.

But for news photographs, photographers should abide by strict standards to ensure objectivity: there should be no intentional blurring or unusual composition or framing. Lighting should be as clear as possible. The greatest range possible should be in focus. No excessive lens disortion should be present. And a balanced range of subjects should be photographed to give the viewer a full context to the story.

Finally, even as editorial or art photos, the photos above are manipulative, dishonest, anti-Israeli and pro-terrorist. The AP, AFP, Reuters and Yahoo News are a disgrace.

---