Or, to cite the cultural anthropologist Clifford Geertz, efforts at “thick description”, collections of images that capture a society engaging in various activities, some more transparent than others.
They may not focus on a specific event. However, such photo essays provide a deeper, more nuanced view of life in a particular community compared to traditional events-based journalism.
This remains traditional reporting. It’s just that the individual elements are presented differently.
As a periodicals editor who has worked in five different countries since 2004, I have consistently made a point of curating photos like this as a way of becoming more familiar with my new home.
The fewer preconceived ideas I have about where I’ve moved, the better. I’m very susceptible to this as someone with an Israeli background, where every story is about war.
Sometimes, details unrelated to the headlines aid in explaining them more effectively.
The approach might be more artistic than a traditional newswire permits, but a photo essay with an explanatory headline, proper image sequencing, and clever captions can be just as clear.
I also enjoy creating photo essays in this manner, as a way of making myself more aware of topics I might otherwise overlook or avoid.
Although I read several newspapers a day and know what the major stories are in the countries that The Battleground covers, there’s nothing like visual examples to make them more tangible.
Graffiti and street art can serve as strong examples.
In a country led by a female prime minister, where gender-based crime against women shows no signs of declining, feminist messaging becomes even more important.
The opening and closing images in this edition of Aperture Priorities serve as evidence of that, as do the Ukraine war-adjacent military photographs, the multicultural mannequins, and more.
In a country where class remains a perpetual visual cue, what better reminder do journalists need about the economy than witnessing people sleeping rough on the streets, and dressed up as bears?
Though I know Italy well, this is how I remind myself how much there is to cover here, and why documentary journalism, like street photography, is such an effective way of reaching people.
Photographs courtesy of Joel Schalit. All rights reserved.
