PHOTOJOURNALISM: TEENAGE ADDICTION (or addiction, or obsession)
The theme of this assignment is"teenage addiction." You could interpret this in many ways but I want to say that not all views are bleak. This could be an addiction to likes, love, friends, streaks, makeup, perfection, etc. Steer toward what it is just from your point of view. *Please no drugs or things that are inappropriate for this school or your age group. Has this shown you a side of life that is lonely, hard, & solitary, or soul searching, outdoor seeking, & health focused. You will give us a peek into the world of teen self hate, self awareness, and more.
Think of this as photojournalism. You are capturing a moment, a story in your life that you will share with others one day when you look back. Try to make this as organic, and natural as possible. Don't worry you can still edit it after.
You do not have to make this a true journalistic piece as those should never be staged. You can flex the rules of it slightly to suit the assignment. If you want a bigger challenge go for full-on photojournalism. It is much harder to achieve as it is all about timing, not staging. So I will let you decide.
Some notes on true photojournalism:
Photojournalism has been called into question recently as more and more photographers are staging their photos. This article from the NY Times discusses the implications of these decisions. By the way all of the major wire services and newspapers in the United States forbid staging news photos.
There is rampant use of staging which is causing a rift of trust in the images we see. The only way out of this is to educate the photographer as to the ethics of this art form.
In other words, and to paraphrase Michael, illustrate how life feels not what it looks like. Here are some of his thoughts recorded in his book "End Time City" on how and why he became a photojournalist and what that means to him:
"If you are not brought up where you are born you are forever a little restless. [It clarifies] what it means to be an outsider, to not belong, yet have some strong feelings towards where you are. For one thing, it means you are a guest and what you are after is unattainable. Maybe you are always looking for yourself. It does seem to me that as an outsider you often get deeper inside. You often see what others may be blind to. For example, classic reportage photography, with its beginning - middle - end narrative is completely boring to me. It lacks something so essential. Yet work done by certain photographers who have that restlessness, that feeling of not belonging, like Louis Faurer, Robert Frank, Leon Levinstein, Josef Koudelka, for example, I find fascinating. It's open ended. The more I look at it the more I see. For me it is important to show what life FEELS like, not what it looks like. Maybe that quest is for the truth that lies beyond the fact, beneath the skin. That thing that is true to everyone.