We’ll be doing a little blog series here of photojournalism topics from A to Z. Classic and controversial photojournalism topics. I had a lot of fun creating the list and I’ll be posting a new letter every once in a while. Hope to spur some thoughts, awareness, debate…

Is Photojournalism = Art?

Photojournalism clearly contains an aesthetic element characteristic to art. But some observers object to the idea of photojournalism as art. Journalism in general is about reporting facts. Does Art connote something artificial? Or is it simply putting style over content? If photojournalism is art, does it necessarily become more of a commodity, more “entertainment” and less “truth”? – In other words, is it appropriate to look at photos of human suffering while sipping champagne in an art gallery or lattés over a photo book? There is no short and definite answers to these questions, so let the debate rage on!

Photo art on Gaia

Gaia member Laura El-Tantawy says about her work that it “tends to rest between the fine line of documentary and fine art photography”. Have a look at her photo series here on Woman wearing veils to see what she means by that! Or how about a story on prostitution among migrant workers in Italy? Can it be art? Interestingly, it received a comment from Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert saying he’d like to see these photos as huge prints!

There’s many more photo stories on Gaia. Try having a look around. Which story is the most artsy?

What’s your take - is photojournalism = art?