What Journalism can learn from Photography

By: Martha Jack

View the Webcast of Mary Ellen Mark 's Lecture

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. But when you’re covering an entire community, how much can an individual photo tell?

As it turns out – a lot.

When Mary Ellen Mark spoke at Ryerson University's Kodak Lecture Series last Thursday, it was clear that her photos show the communities she covers with intimacy and truth.

Whether it is a circus in India, street kids in Seattle or poverty in Kentucky, Mark’s photos document and preserve the daily lives of her subjects in a rare way that no lengthy article could.

As someone who strongly believes in the power of language to tell a story, it is both off-putting and inspiring to see how well a single image, taken by someone as skilled as Mark, can tell a story.


As journalists, we need to strive to tell the stories told by photographs through words. The slight smiles, the exchanged glances, the body language – print journalists need to learn how to convey all of these things, and more, through carefully selected words.


Mark also showed that the role of the photographer and their relationship with the subject play an important function in journalistic photos. Mark really cares about the lives of her subjects, and it shows in her work.


By the end of her lecture, I was struck by Mark’s rapport with her subjects. She does not simply snap away and leave, but will return over the years to revisit her subjects and keeps informed about their lives.

In my work with the Regent Park community, I hope I can adopt Mark’s attitude towards my subjects, and that that attitude will show in my final work. While Mark’s work is not biased, it shows a great respect and caring for her subjects. The end result is photos that resonate with the truth about her subject’s lives and circumstances.


Mark’s photography concentrates on humans and their stories and emotions, but it still reminded me a lot of Phil Bergerson’s “Shards of America” collection, which concentrates on the commercial landscape of the United States. Both photographers manage to convey so much emotion about their subjects in single still images, and each of their images has its own story.

For more photojournalism about Toronto, both recent and archival, check out:
http://www.artfocus.com/JohnstonArt.html
http://www.toronto.ca/archives/virtual_exhibits.htm

(images from maryellenmark.com)