Cultural Envoy, Public Affairs Counselor Share Experience with Photojournalists

On April 1, the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa hosted a workshop for Ethiopian photojournalists.  American Cultural Envoy and fine art photographer Frank Day opened the workshop.  Mr. Day shared his own photography from Ethiopia and other countries.  He showed examples of famous American photojournalists' work to illustrate the power of visual storytelling.  In his talk, Mr. Day emphasized the different kind of shots photographers use to present an event or situation.  He also touched on the difficulties of night photography and portraiture.

U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Counselor Michael McClellan gave a presentation on the "Composition Basics" of photography.  Mr. McClellan talked about and showed examples of basic photographic concepts including line, balance, contrast, movement and framing.  He illustrated the power of a single frame to tell a story and affect public opinion with examples of photos from American historical events like the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement.

The need to learn composition, he said, is universal, whether writing a news story, composing a song, putting together an outfit for going out on the town, or making a photograph.  Essentially “bringing order to chaos,” composition is about arranging disparate elements into a unified whole and communicating a message that is clearly perceived without interference.  In other words, it’s all about communication.  And a good photojournalist must have a point of view, but be factual and honest in the photographs produced.

The seminar also touched on ethics in photography and the need for writers and editors to be “visually literate” so as to use photographs in the best possible way in a publication. 

The U.S. Embassy expects to organize a full workshop for photojournalists and editors in the months ahead as part of its on-going media training effort to improve professional media skills for both print and broadcast journalists.