Motivations can be different for anyone, but mainly they are the things that “keep you going” and make your job interesting after many years of doing the same thing. For photojournalism it is cool because you never really photograph the same thing, its almost always different, which is a way that keeps them motivated.
One photojournalist I found was Phillip Jones Griffith. He
started taking picture towards the end of the Vietnam War and the beginning of
the Yon Kipper War. He states in an interview that he was motivated by his
family to continue taking pictures, and by publicity he was receiving from his
photos. Another thing is that during the time of the war that’s all people
really talked about so they were interested in seeing up to date photos of what
is going on. One obvious thing that kept him motivated was for the love of
taking pictures, he loved what he did and wanted to succeed in it as well.
Griffith states that “I
absorb all the information I’ve seen previous photographers do, and wanted to
be just as good as them, if not better.” Everyone always has a story behind
why they choose photography and Kenyan photojournalist Felix Masi was being
able to show people the suffrage he has gone
through as a child and trying to relate it to the public, is almost like
what Griffith did because he wanted to connect with the world on what goes on
during the time people are at war.
Photo By: Graham Harrison
Photo by: Phillip Jones Griffith
Another photojournalist I found to be interesting is Lynsey
Addario. As a photojournalist she mainly focused on human rights issues and
women rights. She mainly covers photography in other countries involving the
role of women in different societies. Her main motivation was the show that
women deserve equal rights as men. In Lynn Johnson’s video she states “women have to fight harder to earn the respect
of the public because there are more men in the photojournalism business.”
Addario wants women to be known as photographers and that was she was known for
taking risks and getting really creative photos. Lynsey said the “One
of my goals as a photographer is to motivate people to act behind the lens.”
She is motivated by helping others, and I can relate to that because I choose
to help people all the time when in need. One thing that is different about
Addario is she started photography with no background knowledge; she did it
purely to help people out and get out some issues that are in and around the
world.
Photo by: Patricia Sheridian
Photo by: Lynsey Addario
Lastly we have Stacy Pearsall. She grew up loving
photography, but she also grew up in a family of military people. At age 17,
she joined the United States Air Force and photographed the front line of
combat. Stacy
admits that as a female, the pressures to succeed were real and challenged her
to deliver without fail. With this pressure it only motivated her more to
succeed and prove people wrong. This I can agree to because when I see a
struggle, I’m not afraid to ask for help and I also want to show people I have
the fight in me to get things done. For my motivation I chose the word fight
because I don’t like to give up, and I continue to have perseverance to strive
to get better everyday. Through the ages
of 21-27 Pearsall captured over 500,000 images across 41 different countries.
She is the first woman ever to win the Military Photographer of the Year twice,
“giving the boys a run for their money.
Pearsall was
injured at battle and recovered in a hospital, and seeing all the wounded veterans
injured she figured she would do what she loves and take their photos. This
became a hit and she started taking photos of
veterans at the hospital. She wanted to keep busy and show she is still apart
of the military. She did this because it made her happy to do what
she loves and it made other veterans feel good about themselves. She also does it so she can hear and
share their stories with others who understand. Being able to
make other people happy while doing something you love is key motivation to success.
For this assignment when I was choosing my photojournalist, I
did not realize how many things in common I was going to have with them. Many
of the photojournalist do their job because they love it. Its never really the
same thing, but yet they still have this same drive and desire to do it. In
common all three of my photojournalist used photography to help others, if it
meant by getting a message out there, standing up for their rights, or just to
get other peoples stories out in the open for people to hear. Helping others is
great motivation because it not only benefits you; it’s benefiting someone else.
The fight and desire to do what you love is a great thing to have because it
keeps you going.
Photo By:Chris Sims
Photo By: Stacy Pearsall
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