WEEK 5

This week we looked at the use of visuals in storytelling.  Dr Bruce Redman started by looking at the different ways in which images are used on the internet such as youtube, twitter, facebook, flickr.  He then gave us a selected history of the importance of illustrations in human history, starting with the early cave paintings of the Aborigines, illustrations used in the kama sutra, and church windows depicting bible scenes.  The earliest illustrations used in journalism hark back to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860s, and the first colour photo was published in 1936 in the Scottish Daily Mail.

It was interesting to hear Redman’s take on the rise of Instagram and just how widely it is used these days, and also his statistics on the amount of photos currently on facebook and flickr (well in the billions!). Other topics Redman’s discussed in the lecture were the convenience of being able to instantly upload a photo (from a journalist perspective), and the growing reliance of airbrush in photography and whether it’s existence was a blessing or a curse. He gave us numerous examples of stars and models whose images had been modified.  One that was particularly funny was Taylor Swift whose face had been over-brushed into an android  looking being for a Russian magazine cover.

The next part of the lecture was more subjective.  Bruce showed us a few photos from an event and asked us which one was the most powerful.  It was interesting to hear different people’s opinions on which picture they thought was the most emotionally engaging. Redman went on to show us numerous examples of great photography in journalism. The final phase of the lecture was the evolution of moving picture; this was perhaps the most fascinating part of lecture, seeing how news had developed from the early newsreels to the over-saturated 24 hr news cycle seen in today’s culture.  Redman also commented that the sophistication of technology has resulted in much more instantaneous news. An example of this was the London Bombings of 2005 where spectators uploaded their photos as the events were still happening.  A great lecture, one of my favourites so far!