What Motivates Photojournalists

Photo By: Nick Turse
Images Source:http://archive.voxmagazine.com/m
edia/img/photos/2012/02/TimRIGHT_toneb.jpg

So many photojournalists have done amazing things that have made an impact on the profession of photojournalism. These photojournalists all have different reasons for why they are in their profession. A lot of them risk their lives everyday to show people what is going on around the world. One of the photojournalists that I feel made a big impact was Tim Hetherington. One thing that really inspired me was the fact that he died during his career. That just shows the dedication he had for really telling a story to the world. Tim must have been really passionate about his career to risk his life everyday to tell a story from a certain perspective. He had a mission and that was "to create a better understanding of the world." There is proof of this because he was a well-rounded individual who really had a motivation to open up people's eyes. He was a human rights activist who was a photojournalist and filmmaker. He was a photojournalist originally for the UK than started going internationally. He really focused on the issues that he was passionate about which were the soldiers.  This reminded me of the motivation that photojournalist Lynn Johnson had when photographing women's issues. They both really He really photographed so many important issues and it showed in his photos. In the photo below, he photographed the Chad Genocide Crisis in 2006. There are some very graphic photos, but this was the way he got the truth across.

Photo By: Tim Hetherington
Image Source: http://www.timhetheringtontrust.org/sites/def
ault/files/styles/gallery_large_1x/public/images/photo-albu
m/chad-crisis/chad002.jpg?itok=eMLfqb1E

Another photojournalist that I think has inspired so many and is such a motivated individual is Stacy Pearsall. Like Tim Hetherington she was involved in photographing issues around the world, and focused on the war. She put her life on the line many times, and one time she was ambushed and was injured on the job. She had to come home but she kept going. She started photographing portraits of veterans and got to hear there amazing stories. She loved the soldiers and really loved the stories behind the soldiers and it seems like that was a big part of what motivated her. She mentions "I was there to document them but inherently became part of the story too." She loved her job so much that having an injury never stopped her. At the hospital she had the idea of making the Veterans Portrait Project. She got to meet many veterans that shared extraordinary stories and that really kept her going.

Photo By: Stacy Pearsall
Image Source: http://michaelnovophotography.com
/stacy-pearsall-u-s-air-force-staff-sgt/

Photo By: Unknown
Image Source: http://michaelnovophotography.com
/stacy-pearsall-u-s-air-force-staff-sgt/

Photo By: Unknown
Image Source: http://www.nndb.com/people/319/000118962/

Mathew Brady is a great influence in the world of photojournalism. He was an older photojournalist that photographed during the civil war. It seems that Brady was motivated to tell the truth. He really wanted to show the truth to the people and he was the first to display his photos of the battlefield in New York. These photos were very hard for some people to see but I think Brady did it for a good reason. He stayed motivated just as the other photojournalists did. They were all involved in war photography which takes a lot of passion. He was determined because he had an eye condition that affected his vision. He really wanted to prove to himself and the public that his photos were great even with the condition that he suffered from. A lot of his work was done just for the great memories and experiences that he had the chance to pursue throughout his life. This was similar to what Professor Nordell said about how he feels about the motivation factor. He likes seeing his photos and Brady did too. He did great things that helped motivate other photojournalists and give them the chance to make a difference like Brady did. 

Photo By: Mathew Brady
Image Source: http://www.frameplay.com/archives/why-mathew-brady-matters/

My photojournalism map is very similar to what motivates the photojournalists I mentioned above. The world, love, success,  happiness, and other people are things that motivate me. I am also self-motivated and my goals motivate me. Most of these things I listed are also things that these 3 photojournalists are motivated by. Stacy Pearsall is self-motivated and motivated by other people through her Veterans Portrait Project. I think that Tim Hetherington really showed his passion through others and love for his work. Many of these things that motivate both the photojournalists and I probably motivate other people as well.