Photographic Coverage Research Articles

Attacks on the United States: Index, Icons and Intericonicity in Photojournalism

Despite the fact that deadly attacks on the United States involving large numbers of innocent people are quite rare in its history, photographic coverage suggests a general similarity even though each event is unique in its particularity. Through the example of news photographs taken with the primary goal of informing the American readers about the most deadly attacks on the United States since World War II, this paper will first demonstrate through the coverage of the events of the Oklahoma City Bombing (1995), the attack on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center (2001), and the bombing during the Boston Marathon (2013), that the news media tends to visually condense events into a few photo-categories (Chéroux 19-24). We will then identify the most frequently circulated images of the attacks that the news media tended to transform into icons and explain how it made use of intericonicity to render ideologically charged photographic messages easily and rapidly accessible to the news audience.

Alphonso Lisk-Carew: Imaging Sierra Leone through His Lens

In Freetown in Clarkson’s day—1792—the author gives two of the best contemporary views ... in the Freetown of 1894 one discovers the palpable dissimilitude between some of the pictures and the scenes they are said to represent. The author of the work before us declares that hardly anything has been done since Clarkson’s day and his word must stand, even if the sun has to be pressed into the service to give misleading photographs. Photographs never make mistakes ... but photographers may misrepresent! (Sierra Leone Weekly News 1894).

Sex equity in French newspaper photographs: A content analysis of 2012 Olympic Games by L'Equipe

The aim of this article was to examine sex equity in the photographic coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games by a French sports daily newspaper. A sample of 1073 photographs was collected and analysed. A content analysis was carried out focusing on the number of photographs, the space they cover, their location and position, the type and colour of shot and the sport they depict. A significant under-representation of female athletes’ photographs was found. However, contrary to most of previous research in this field, the other quantitative and qualitative variables do not show any differences. Furthermore, a significant positive correlation between the number of photographs for each sport and the number of French medals was found (for women, for men and for the whole sample), suggesting that the photographic coverage of this event is mainly based on the success of French athletes independently of their sex.

Visual Proof: Identifying a Pattern in Photographic Coverage of a Social Movement

This study compared the photographic news coverage of the Occupy Wall Street protests from two competing New York City tabloid newspapers on opposite sides of the political spectrum, the New York Post (conservative) and the Daily News (liberal). The purpose of the study was to determine if there were any differences in the photographic coverage of the Occupy Wall Street protests between the two media outlets. A content analysis was conducted to detect and confirm any statistically significant differences in photographic coverage. Results showed that the differences in photographic coverage were significantly different suggesting that each media outlet may have presented the photographs to express a specific opinion of the protests. The study also determined that social proof is a useful theory for detecting a pattern of selection in photographic coverage of a social movement.

Changes through the lens? US photographic newspaper coverage of female high school athletes

The social constructs of race and gender are often diluted in their importance to the processes of human reality. However, understanding how each is shaped by social institutions, such as sports media, is necessary in order to explain individual perceptions of each. Using framing theory, and informed by feminist thought and critical race theory, this study critically examines the visual US newspaper coverage of interscholastic female athletes, thereby addressing the need for further research regarding the intersections of race and gender in sports media. Specifically, it thematically analyses the photographs and accompanying text of interscholastic female basketball players. Affirming prior research, this study found that newspapers upheld hegemonic masculinity through their under-representation of photographic images of high school female athletes. However, contrary to female collegiate and professional coverage, the instances of occurrences of female high school athletes and their accompanying texts did not serve to reduce, trivialize, or underestimate their athletic accomplishments. Rather, they seemed to affirm female athletics.

Photojournalism and Disaster: Case Study of Visual Coverage of Flood 2010 in National Newspapers

The phenomenon of flood after rainy season is not new for Pakistan but flood in 2010 is the biggest ever and effected & displaced millions of people from their homes. Role of photojournalist is very critical at the time of crisis as they can touch hearts by only one picture rather than using many words. Using Content Analysis technique the aim of study is to analyze photographic coverage of flood 2010 in national newspapers. The study is focused on prominent frames used in visual coverage of flood 2010. Moreover, the study also analyzed ethical issues like showing dead & mutilated bodies, grief and gender stereotyping; in photos of flood 2010. Both English (Dawn, The News, Express) and Urdu (Jang, Express, nawa-i-waqt); are analyzed which helped in establishing the difference in visual framing of both language media. Using census sampling method all photographs (2156 photos) including hard news photos, stand alone photos, and photographs with feature stories; in above mentioned newspapers are analyzed; from July 2010 when the crisis initially started to November 2010 are included in study. Major frames found in visual coverage of flood 2010 are human interest frames, economical frame and political frame. It was observed that Human Interest Frame is dominant in all newspapers. Political frame is more prominent in Urdu newspapers. There are very less photographs portraying dead and mutilated bodies. Visuals are gender stereotypes in a way that females are dominantly framed in passive roles. This study has tried to contribute to scarcity existing in visual framing research. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n9p168

Spherical Photogrammetry as Rescue Documentation for the Reconstruction of Some UNESCO Sites in Syria

In summer 2010, during a study journey, Fangi has got to realize photographic coverage of some UNESCO sites of Syria, according to the technique of panoramic photography. Those shoots have become important as a result of the outbreak of civil war, as documents useful for documentation, survey, and for any possible restoration of the monuments damaged or destroyed by war. It 's the case of the millenary minaret of Aleppo. With the technique of spherical panoramic photogrammetry, developed by Fangi, it was possible to carry out a survey of quantities and the virtual reconstruction of the minaret. So it was also done for the other UNESCO documented monuments as the Roman theater of Bosra, the great mosque of the Umayyad in Damascus, and the walls of the citadel of Aleppo and finally the minaret of the great mosque in Aleppo. The detailed description of the project will be made in the work that will be presented in the next international conference UID (XXXV International Congress of Teachers of Representation) to be held in October in Matera, Italy, on Cultural Heritage Sites. The serious damage that the civil war has caused to the Syrian heritage make the documentation of these monuments by UNESCO a key element for their conservation, possible restoration and memory.

“Truthful as the Record of Heaven”: The Battle of Antietam and the Birth of Photojournalism

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Civil War was a little more than a year old first days of September 1862, and Confederate general Robert E. Lee knew South could not win a prolonged struggle against manpower and industrial might of Union. He hoped for a decisive victory that would lift South's spirits, weaken North's will to fight, and bring European recognition of Confederacy--and, with that recognition, a halt to war. Lee planned to invade Maryland, strike Pennsylvania, and ultimately move on Washington, D.C. Union commander George McClellan marched his army across Potomac from Washington to meet Lee's challenge. The two armies arrived on either side of Antietam Creek northern Maryland on afternoon of September 15. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia numbered about 40,000 men. McClellan's Army of Potomac totaled more than twice that number, about 87,000. A skirmish occurred on afternoon of September 16, but it was a prelude to climactic battle, which commenced at dawn on September 17,1862. (1) More than 6,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died that day farm fields outside Sharpsburg, making it single bloodiest day American military history. More soldiers died that day than died combat all other wars fought by America nineteenth century combined: War of 1812, Mexican-American War, Spanish-American War, and Indian wars. Beyond statistics was indescribable carnage. Words are inadequate to portray scene, wrote one soldier. Another, charge of a burial party, described dead in every state of mutilation, sans arms, sans legs, heads, and intestines, and greater number than on any field we have seen before. It was said that a person could walk a mile or more atop bodies without touching ground. (2) An estimated 5,000 people watched fighting from a hill a safe distance away. Edwin Forbes of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper reported that battle took place on open ground and was fully visible from hillside, which was black with spectators. No battle of war, I think, was witnessed by so many people, he reported. It is possible photographers Alexander Gardner and James F. Gibson were among them. The two men, employees of Mathew Brady, had been following Union army for about two weeks, primarily photographing soldiers their camps. When exactly they arrived at Antietam is uncertain, but they were on field with their equipment day after battle; no other American battlefield had been photographed so soon after fighting. The pair exposed seventy glass negatives within five days of battle. Their images include landmarks of field, hastily dug graves, and corpses of horses and men. A union surgeon described bodies stretched along, one straight line, ready for interment, at least a thousand blackened bloated corpses with blood and gas protruding from every orifice, and maggots holding high carnival over their heads. (3) Gardner and Gibson's photographs were first of dead soldiers on American soil. They would be displayed Brady's New York studio a few weeks later, presenting public with a previously unseen, shocking aspect of war. That two men had managed to take photographs at all under conditions was a technological and psychological feat. But it is not technical expertise that is ultimately Gardner's accomplishment, wrote his biographer Mark Katz. [R]ather it is extending power of photographic image affecting public awareness. The photographic coverage of Civil War by Gardner and others sent authentic images of horrors of battlefield directly to public for first time. This, Katz contended, was the birth of photojournalism as we now know it. (4) The American public already thirsted for visual news of war, and illustrated newspapers did their best to supply it, but Gardner's photographs, because they could not be reproduced print, remained accessible only to a limited number of people. …

A COMPARISON OF LASER SCANNING AND STRUCTURE FROM MOTION AS APPLIED TO THE GREAT BARN AT HARMONDSWORTH, UK

Abstract. The great barn at Harmondsworth near London Heathrow airport, United Kingdom (UK), was built in 1426–7 for the Bishop of Winchester. At 58 metres long and 11.4 metres wide, it is one of the largest ever known to have been built in the UK, and the largest intact medieval timber-framed barn in England. The barn is built almost entirely of oak, although the walls rest on a low masonry sill-wall. Internally the space is divided into a central "nave" with a lower aisle to each side, and is divided along its length into 12 bays. There are three doorways on the east side. For an entirely timber-framed barn, the fabric is exceptionally well preserved. Even the external weatherboarding may be partly original. Following years of neglect, however, there are a number of on-going structural and conservation problems, so in 2011 the barn was bought by English Heritage in order to allow these needs to be addressed. English Heritage is the government agency responsible for the historic sites and buildings in the care of the state of England and is also the UK government's lead advisor on the built heritage. As one of the first steps in the conservation process the English Heritage Geospatial Imaging and Imaging & Visualisation teams undertook a four-day campaign of survey data collection. This took the form of laser scanning of the interior and exterior of the barn plus the acquisition of photography of the exterior elevations to be used with structure from motion (SFM) software. A comparison of the results of these complimentary yet potentially competing technologies will be given, as well as an evaluation of when they can be successfully used together. This paper will describe the procedures and problems involved with collecting the survey data and its subsequent analysis. The laser scanning was undertaken using a FARO Focus 3D phase based instrument. Approximately 60 scans were acquired in order to provide as comprehensive as possible coverage given the site circumstances. A repeat visit following the clearance of artefacts and with the benefit of access equipment was required to obtain complete coverage, especially for the top surfaces of the timber frame elements. Initial results from the laser scanning were extremely promising, with some historical events (e.g. a major fire at one end of the structure) dramatically shown in the intensity data. Comprehensive photographic coverage of the exterior of the barn including the roof was obtained using a Nikon D3X mounted on both a 6m telescopic pole and a conventional tripod. A repeat visit was required to address some exposure problems in shadow areas. A unified control network for both sets of data was obtained through the use of a total station theodolite (TST) with reflectorless electromagnetic distance measurement (REDM), incorporating a closed traverse as well as the acquisition of scanner and photogrammetric targets. The control network therefore permits the direct comparison of the results from both survey methods (allowing for systematic errors). A point cloud generated from the photography, using Agisoft Photoscan structure from motion software, was compared with the registered laser scan points with a view to determining any systematic differences, although these were to a large extent ameliorated by the use of the dense control network. The resultant data also has potential downstream use within English Heritage for improving our understanding of Building Information Modelling (BIM) as applied to heritage structures rather than new build, and thereby contributing to the formulation of elements of a BIM strategy for English Heritage. There are also a number of hand-measured survey drawings of the barn in existence. A quantitative as well as a qualitative comparison was made with drawings generated from the laser scan data. In general the later drawings were more metrically accurate but exhibited less understanding of the construction techniques employed. A discussion of the reasons for this is also presented.

Appendix B

Appendix B

Despite Assumption of Bias NYTimes, WSJ Photos Neutral

A study of photographic coverage of political candidates in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal in the 2010 mid-term election reveals fairly equal coverage of both Democrats and Republicans. Both newspapers were found to be balanced in their treatment of the candidates.

“The Photographic Attack on His Royal Highness”: The Prince of Wales, Wallis Simpson and the Prehistory of the Paparazzi

This essay analyzes the photographic news coverage of the relationship of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. The emergence of the photographic newspapers in the years after 1900 presented unique challenges for the royal family. The press photographer established a new and enduring idiom of representing the British royals, one based on visual immediacy and documentary access. The photographic coverage of the affair between King Edward and Simpson constructed the royal family as objects of visual surveillance as never before, placing the couple at a key juncture in the history of photographing celebrities before the growth of the paparazzi in the late twentieth century. The photographs of the couple's affair offered the public an unprecedented amount of access to the private life of the monarch, exposing and verifying the secret activities that had once only been the material of gossip and lampoon. Representing a “stolen” moment of utter candor, the tabloid snapshot proclaimed itself as representing the truth of royal life. Because the only real political authority of the British monarchy derived from its symbolism, transmitted through staged spectacles and grand portraits, the press photographs of the couple's affair represented a serious challenge to monarchical power.

Gender and Sexually Suggestive Images in Sports Blogs

Prior research into the portrayal of females in sport media has demonstrated that females are given less written coverage than males (e.g., Fink & Kensicki, 2002), and that the coverage given is more sexual in nature (Hardin, Lynn, & Walsdorf, 2005). Internet-based sports blogs have become both an alternative and a competitor to traditional sport media (Fleming, 2008; Hardin & Zhong, 2009; King, 2009). As such, it becomes necessary to examine the portrayal of females in sports blogs, to compare the medium’s content to traditional forms of sport media, and to establish a baseline for future research. Utilizing content analysis of the 10 most popular sports blogs, the study discovered that males received significantly more photographic coverage in sports blogs than did females, and that female portrayals were far more likely to be sexually suggestive in nature. These and other findings are discussed, and recommendations for future studies are included.

From Sydney to Beijing: the evolution of the photographic coverage of Paralympic Games in five European countries

The growth of the Paralympic Movement during the last few decades has been reinforced significantly by the Olympic reform process, particularly as the efforts of the IOC 2000 Commission fortified the relationship between Olympic and Paralympic Committees. However, this development is scarcely illustrated in the world media arena; several scholars draw attention to the dearth of coverage of elite athletes with disabilities in popular media. This article examines preliminary data regarding the evolution of the photographic coverage of five European countries over an eight-year period, from Sydney (2000) to Beijing (2008). The journalistic attention, as highlighted by the number of published images, has been raised during this period, and the coverage of female and male athletes matched the demographics of these five European countries. However, the data also reveals that the competitiveness and the abilities of Paralympic athletes are not highlighted, the majority of the images did not depict the athletes in action, but rather as motionless.

Enchentes no Nordeste: a humanização da notícia na cobertura fotográfica da Folha de S. Paulo

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> This article analyses the photographic coverage of northeast Brazilian coast flood done by the photographic reporter Fernando Donasci and published by the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, from May 18 th to 25 th . It aims to evaluate the photographer intentionality when capturing each image using an analytical deconstruction proposed by Boni (2000). The analytical deconstruction – identification and conceptualization of technical resources and elements of photographic language – enables the approach of communication intentionality on the photographic act. Along with the analysis, it was strongly connoted that Fernando Donasci used strong colors and appreciated the human element on the search for humanizing news.

Lessons from Virginia Tech: Exploring Disparities & Commonalities Between Visual Coverage in U.S. Newspapers & Victims' Families' Perceptions

Using a multi-method approach, the researchers examined the visual content of the Virginia Tech shootings in U.S. newspapers during the 3 days following the event and conducted interviews with a few members of the victims' families examining their perceptions of the photographic coverage. This exploratory study analyzed 2079 photographs in terms of the crime and suspect frame and the tension management frame. It also examined the use of the graphic device in the visual coverage. Then, inspired by the photo elicitation technique, perceptions of media coverage held by three families of the victims were examined and suggestions for improving the visual coverage of similar events in the future were recorded. Thus, the outcome of the difficult ethical decisions newspaper editors must make while covering traumatic events and the perceptions of those directly affected by the events were explored. Results of this study represent a step toward offering resources for thinking about the visual coverage of tragic events in more responsible ways.

Counting on the Unexpected: Aimé Civiale's Mountain Photography

ArgumentAimé Civiale's attempt at a complete photographic coverage of the High Alps seems to be a peculiar project at first sight. Carried out between 1859 and 1868, this was the earliest systematic attempt to introduce photography as a medium for studying the earth sciences. But as precise and determined as Civiale's approach appears, it was still quite unclear at the time how exactly photography could be useful in geology. This paper asks where the great confidence in the new medium in regard to mountain representations came from. The answer is not an easy one, as sources on Civiale's project are scarce. To make things even more difficult, the confidence in photography in the earth sciences during that time seems to have been based more on hope than on actual results. It is difficult to extract hope from written sources, let alone from images. I argue that this confidence was not so much based on photography's classic attributes of exactness or objectivity, but on its promise to produce unexpected results. Therefore this argument will inevitably have speculative elements. Thus, this paper can also be understood as an attempt to deal with a specific historiographical problem that regularly occurs when writing about images.

BCS Conference Coverage: An Investigation of the Gender Coverage Provided on Intercollegiate Athletic Websites within a Major NCAA Power Conference

The current study was an investigation of the gender coverage provided on intercollegiate athletic websites within a major BCS conference during the 2005-06 academic year. Due to Title IX and ethical concerns, the expectation was that the BCS sites would provide equitable gender coverage because the athletic departments were part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Overall, the results revealed that females received highly favorable article (41.2%) and photographic (46.0%) coverage allocations when compared to past content analyses on not-for-profit media outlets. Despite this fact, the results demonstrated that there was a statistically significant difference in the coverage provided to females and males within each of the units of measurement analyzed. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that females received their least favorable coverage allocations within the following units of measurement: advertisements (15.5%) and multimedia (2.5%).

Who's Minding the Gate?

Camera pools and video feed systems allow news institutions to receive video imagery with greater efficiency and lower costs. Such arrangements are frequently managed and negotiated through politically engaged institutions. The resulting video is transmitted and traded with the underlying assumption that images are discrete, objective representations of real events, an assumption that is called into question when the practice is carefully examined. Unlike facts or ideas, which are intangible and constructed entirely in language, video images are constructed both discursively and materially. Consequently the power to grant physical access to events for photographic coverage grants political actors an advantage as they negotiate their image, literally and metaphorically. This qualitative study describes several such feeds and politically regulated video subsidies, their use by news organizations, and the means by which political agents influence their own image through such feeds. Data in the form of extended interviews and field observations were collected between 2005 and 2007 in the United States and Britain. Site visits include Congress, a U.S. statehouse, a state cable operation, and British Parliament. The findings indicate that journalism's relay of video images as objective, factual material, rather than constructions negotiated with political actors, fosters an illusion of transparency.

Non‐lethal entanglement of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in fishing gear in northern Southeast Alaska

AbstractAim Entanglement in fishing gear is recognized as a potentially significant source of serious injury and mortality for humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in some parts of their range. In recent years, the number of humpback whales reported to have been entangled in Alaska has increased. In 2003–04 we quantified the prevalence of non‐lethal entanglements of humpback whales in northern Southeast Alaska (SEAK) with the ultimate goal of informing management discussions of the entanglement issue for the Central North Pacific stock of humpback whales.Location The near‐shore waters of northern Southeast Alaska.Methods We photographed individual humpback whales’ caudal peduncles as they dived and then examined the photographs for scars indicative of a previous entanglement.Results The percentage of whales assessed to have been non‐lethally entangled at some time in their lives ranged from 52% (minimal estimate) to 71% (conditional estimate) to 78% (maximal estimate). Of these, the conditional estimate is recommended because it is based solely on unambiguous scars. Eight per cent of the whales in one portion of the study area (Glacier Bay/Icy Strait) acquired new entanglement scars between 2003 and 2004, although the sample size was small. Calves were less likely than older whales to have entanglement scars, and males may be at higher risk than females. Whales with more photographs and/or photographic coverage may be more likely to be assessed as having been entangled than whales with fewer photographs and/or coverage.Main conclusions Caudal peduncle scars reveal that the majority of humpback whales in northern SEAK have been entangled. Comparison with statistics on reported entanglements suggests that most whales apparently shed the gear on their own, unless humans are disentangling whales much more often than is reported. While cumulative estimates of the percentage of whales with entanglement scars (e.g. the conditional estimate) provide useful baseline information, future efforts should focus on monitoring the annual rate of entanglement scar acquisition as a more powerful measure of contemporary entanglement rates. Our findings indicate that entanglement of humpback whales in fishing gear in SEAK is a management issue warranting increased attention. A proactive approach is needed to address the problem and to identify and implement preventive measures.