Working in the Digital Age

The way photojournalists take pictures have been evolving for decades now. Starting as far as the 1800’s with the photogravure, to the film in the 1900’s, to the wireless transmitters in the 2000’s. From very hands on and time consuming work, to new inventions as simple as a wireless transmitter; the innovation of photograph is incredible. In the video, Working in the Digital Age - Part 1, professor Nordell says, “it's in the 90’s, when the explosion of the Internet and the ability to have digital photos and transmit them digitally was huge.” When the Internet came out, a lot of new possibilities came with it, for example with time and lots of different inventions of photography, the wireless transmitters made it huge in photojournalism.

Wireless transmitters made a big impact on photojournalism. It is a small device that is brought with the photojournalist and once the picture is taken, the photograph goes directly to a source. Whether that be the photojournalists own phone, the company or person they are working for, the photograph is received quickly. In the video, Wireless Video Transmitter for Filmmakers - Accsoon CineEYE, the man in the video talks about his wireless transmitter and how it benefited him as a filmmaker, photographer, and photojournalist. In the video, he says, “this one transmitter can send up to four phones… Which means that my client, my producer, and my lighting team can all have the video signal.” With the wireless transmitter, photos once they are taken, could right away be edited and published as soon as possible. This could be very beneficial for photojournalist that need pictures sent right away. In the video, Working in the Digital Age - Part 2, professor Nordell says, “ it was very useful for really time sensitive things.” The wireless transmitter gets the photographs sent to the place they need to go right away and that was a big change for photojournalists. 

Photo by : John Huet

Image source : https://aphotoeditor.com/2017/09/26/the-daily-edit-john-huet-the-olympics/

The wireless transmitter was invented in 2007 and still gets innovated to this day. It's used in many different things, especially now in photojournalism. This is a big difference compared to a camera like the Leica camera, which was invented in 1925. In the video, Before There were Pixels - Part 2, professor Nordell talks about the Leica camera and states, “One roll of film would take 24 or perhaps 36 pictures.” This is a huge difference to now a days when multiple pictures can be captured in just one second. Not just that, but now pictures can be sent to an editor or produced the minute they are taken, when with cameras before, like the Leica camera for example, this would be a much longer process. The photojournalist would need some time to get the photographs to the place they needed to go, and that definitely took days when now it just takes minutes. While both of course got the job done, the new technologies benefit photojournalists in a lot of new and different aspects. The wireless transmitter is a new and valuable tool for photojournalism today, especially in a time sensitive setting.

Photo by : Alex C. Cowper

Image source : https://photoarchivenews.com/news/go-see-the-golden-age-of-photojournalism-the-story-of-three-photographic-businesses-1930s-50s/

Photojournalism is made easier and more efficient now that we have new inventions like the wireless transmitters. They benefit not just the photojournalist, but also the world around us to help everyone know what's going on around the globe. With the pictures being sent in right away, news gets traveled much faster with the photographs that are taken. These new technologies benefit both photojournalists, and the whole world, bringing us news within minutes of them happening.