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Combining photojournalism and commercial photography

The line between photojournalism, commercial photography and art has become less and less obvious. I am not surprised. Photography is a medium we use to express things and communicate, like a pencil and paper, and it should not be confused with the reason the image is created.

Commercial photography is all about selling something and photojournalism is about bearing witness. One photographer with an eye for creating powerful images can bridge these different worlds. Steve McCurry is a great example as you will see in the two videos below.

Before any photographer picks up a camera they do need to know why they are taking the picture. That mental focus is just as important as physically focusing the lens.

Here Steve shares the stories behind some of his most famous photo journalistic images.



2013 Pirelli Calendar. A totally different mission. I notice he prefers continuous light to flash.


Given how poorly photojournalism and humanitarian photography pays, I'm also wondering if more and more photographers are resorting to shooting commercial work to support their other work. Not saying this is the case for Steve McCurry but just a general observation. Another route photographers are taking is to use crowd sourcing, like kickstarter, funding for personal and non-commercial projects.

Hope you enjoyed this post. Comments welcome.

Till soon,
Paul
Find all my links and activities on www.indigo2photography.co.uk

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