Photographs can bring not only the country together, but also the past and present. In a picture from The Orange County Register Staff at the L.A. Olympics in 1985, viewers can see an Olympian pulling people from the crowd together by the U.S. flag. This photo represents unity. Stan Grossfeld said, “It’s an honor to be a journalist. If I care about something, I can make half a million people care.” The photojournalist who took this photo found this experience worthy to share with future generations. Photojournalists bring together the past and the future because they find the photos worthy enough to share with everyone in the world.
Emotions emerge through stories and film. Photographs help portray the raw emotions in a human being’s eyes. Carol Guzy took a picture in Haiti, 1995, of a young girl. This little girl has an innocent look to her. Although she and the people around her are going through a tragic experience, she is able to show others the joy in life through these pictures. Carol Guzy said, “There’s something about that moment, that moment in time that does touch people.” This picture is important for other generations to see because it shows how the innocent go through tragic experiences, but still come out joyful.
Without photojournalists, people wouldn’t be able to comprehend the extent of some situations. Nathaniel Fein took Babe Ruth’s Farewell in 1949. To some this picture shows a baseball player. To others it shows the greatest player of all time. Pulitzer winner and photojournalist William Snyder said, “It’s not a photography contest. It’s about telling some of the biggest stories of the year.” This picture would be one of the biggest stories of the century. Babe Ruth’s legacies have endured for generations because of photos like these. Pictures help legacies carry on to the future.
Photojournalism is not only telling stories, but also telling people’s thoughts. Photos give people the opportunity to interpret how they think about the situation. As the film “A Glimpse of Life: The Pulitzer Photographs” said at the beginning, many of the Pulitzer Prize photojournalists got their pictures by being constantly ready. Throughout this film, it shows many important events in history. But it also shows many legacies that will live on because the moment in time was captured.
