5 Common Misconception About Documentary Work - By Johanne Lila Larsen
You are stronger as a photographer when you know your basics
Here are 5 misconceptions about documentary work!
1. Photojournalism and documentary photography are not at all the same! I don’t have to know anything about journalism when what I do is documentary!
True – and false! In some countries, photojournalism is defined as news only. In other countries, there is no such distinction.
What is the same all over the globe, though, is the foundation that any storytelling from the real world about real people is based on. The only thing that changes is the how.
Knowing the very basics of what journalism is makes you a stronger photographer. Maybe even a better human, because it invites you to strengthen your ability to think and question authority – and yourself – to tell better stories.
2. I want a beautiful shot for my clients, I will move whatever is in my way to get it.
Great. Good for you wanting to create wonderful work for your customers. You’re just not doing documentary work ;) Which is not a problem at all! People can do whatever they want as long as no one gets hurt. The trouble, though, is that people do get hurt here. Actually, people are losing their lives documenting the world (and not just in war zones), which is one of the things that lends the genre so much credibility. We can honor those incredible people by knowing their work – and by respecting the basics of how they made it. One of those foundational tenets is not to move anything in your scene, however annoying it is; move yourself instead.
3. I want to make mom happy, so she will book me again – I will totally remove any wrinkles.
Removing wrinkles, doing a quick head swap, closing a door to control the light, asking people to repeat a moment – all great things that often bring a photographer a sense of control and expertise. But within the world of documentary photography and photojournalism, we tell the stories as they are – not as we wish they were.
It can definitely be challenging if someone has been used to something else. But it can also be such a gift. Even to a straight-up transcendental level: Realizing the world was actually just fine the way it was all along, even chock-full of wrinkles. All they do is tell us we lived another day – what could be more beautiful than that when you think about it? ;)
4. I never even opened a newspaper, I can’t do journalism or whatever!
Yes, you can! Sure, it is actually a college-level education (I did 4 years to become a newspaper reporter), but I’ll let you in on a secret: The most important thing of anything ever is getting started. All you have to do is take that first step. You do not in any way have to become a New York Times Pulitzer-winning photojournalist tomorrow! But just getting your feet wet knowing the basics will make you so much stronger. It will separate you from those who say they do documentary work, but really still pose people in matching outfits, to someone who actually knows what they’re doing – because now, you have a foundation in journalism, and so you look for the story, not just the pretty surface.
5. I don’t have to know anything about what this stuff is, I shoot babies, not war zones!
I’m so happy for you that you don’t have to shoot babies IN war zones. Ugh, I know that would break me for sure. I also know that we are doing ourselves a huge disservice when we devalue our work to be ‘only’ family. When we do documentary work, we have such an amazing opportunity to lift the way we see and the work we create to the next level, where a sense of purpose is infused into what has for so long been mostly just a lot of pretty pictures in the industry of family photography. Isn’t that such an amazing gift?
The way I approach my work as a documentary family photographer is to look at ‘family’ as my subject matter for a larger body of work about what it means to become a human being in this world. It fascinates me. It is what keeps me going. I shoot for the single-family and obviously want them to be happy (and they are, mostly!), but it is always within this larger framework as my mental backdrop. As such, the work is about so much more than any cute baby. Cute babies are great – but there has to be a story for it to be documentary work. This goes if your work happens in the field of war – or the field of soccer.
Note From DFP: Be sure to check out Johanne’s 4 part course “The Foundations of Journalism” in the DFP Learning Library. A new part is released every month starting April 5, 2021, enabling you to take in each piece and work through an assignment before moving onto the next.
You can check out Johanne’s website and social media, here:
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