Università Roma Tre

Photojournalism has made it possible to ‘see history’ and to define contemporary imagery. The course
aims to examine the evolution and present of journalistic photography journalism, its role as a ‘window on the world’ in modern visual culture and in the formation of ‘global consciousness’.

The activity of the major photojournalists, the relationship between myth and reality of the profession, between aspiration to objectivity and the compromises of the publishing market, between denunciation and censorship. From the golden age of magazines to war photoreports, to the crisis of the profession and the new challenges of information by images, against the backdrop of the aestheticisation and decontextualisation of journalistic photography in the digital age.

Issues of digital manipulation will be addressed, as well as resources for debunking information ‘hoaxes’. It will take stock of how politics is photographed today, as an alternative to ‘spin doctor’ storytelling, as well as social phenomena, foreign affairs, the economy, the environment, showbiz and sport, with an emphasis on the ethics of photography, the main codes of ethics, legal regulations for the use of images and copyright.

The workshop will allow students to measure themselves directly with the work of the major photojournalists, reading events and mentalities emerging from the snapshots in a comparative way, so as to help consolidate knowledge and dynamics of the modern and contemporary age.

THE HISTORY OF PHOTOJOURNALISM TEXTBOOKS:
Fadigati, Neri. Il mestiere di vedere. Introduction to photojournalism. Pisa University Press, 2019

Lucas, Uliano and Agliani, Tatiana. La realtà e lo sguardo. Storia del fotogiornalismo in Italia. Turin: Einaudi, 2016


THEMATIC ESSAYS :
Dondero, Mario with Giordana, Emanuele. Lo scatto umano. Viaggio nel fotogiornalismo da Budapest a New York. Bari: Laterza, 2017

Sontag, Susan. Regarding the Pain of Others. New York: Picador, 2004

Pastoureau, Michel. Dizionario dei colori del nostro tempo. Milan: Ponte alle Grazie, 2018 (the essay can be replaced by pdf of the lectures)

Capa, Robert. Slightly Out of Focus. New York: Modern Library, 2001

Morris, John G. Get the Picture. A personal History of Photojournalism, University of Chicago Press, 2002

Calabresi, Mario. Ad occhi aperti, Mondadori, Milan 2023

Pdf (or notes) of classroom lectures