Sometimes, photojournalism can be impolite. It entails accurately capturing reality while capturing what has transpired from the photographer's perspective. It's like losing a piece of history when you miss a moment. Henri Cartier-Bresson had referred to this as the "decisive moment."
Photojournalism has been closely associated with news coverage since the creation of the camera, particularly with regard to catastrophes, disasters, and the responses of leaders of the state. Images capture the events' seriousness and historical significance in addition to just depicting the scene.
The week's greatest news story is now the crash of the air india flight headed for london after it took off from Ahmedabad. Cameras naturally raced to the area to document the catastrophe. This time, it is clear that coverage was not obstructed by the local administration or police.
The prime minister, the Union home minister, and other officials attended the scene as the catastrophe was developing. We should be aware that their presence is intended to guarantee an impartial and free examination. The media covered these visits extensively. The coverage invariably gets more prominent when the prime minister is involved. Former gujarat chief minister and now prime minister Narendra Modi arrived for what seemed to be a post-disaster evaluation. He was, of course, photographed as he strolled around the site.
However, not many people signed up for this particular walk.
Maintaining the facts is the primary rule for photojournalists. The prime minister looks to be exploring the location by himself in these pictures, as though no professional help is required. Although he has every right to visit and show support for the victims' families, the pictures appear to primarily feature the prime minister and the scene of the disaster.
Prime minister Narendra Modi visits the scene of the air india airline disaster in ahmedabad on Friday, june 13, 2025, as shown in this photo from the PMO. Shortly after taking off from the ahmedabad airport on Thursday, an air india aircraft carrying 242 passengers headed for london crashed. (Photo by PTI via PMO)
In the past, dignitaries have visited following incidents like the 2004 tsunami, the gujarat riots, the Bhuj earthquake, or the 26/11 mumbai attacks, but only after the immediate crisis had passed. Ministers were spotted evaluating the issue together with experts. prime minister Modi is the subject of the visual narrative, which frequently centers on a single person these days. In actuality, however, hundreds of other people were probably present, including administrative personnel, police, fire departments, civil aviation, members of his close bodyguard group, and specialists in crisis management. In the imagery, they are mostly missing. Such images that heavily emphasize public relations raise concerns about how the government handles crisis communication.
This is not the first time that such issues have come up. The press Information Bureau (PIB) published a photo of Modi flying above the floods in chennai in 2015. According to technical terms, when such photos are taken, either the view outside is washed away by interior exposure settings or the person looking out the window is underexposed due to the intense light outside. But in this instance, the flood picture was Photoshopped into the window next to Modi, producing an impractical and morally dubious image. The picture ended up in the government's official archives in spite of its alteration.
Another edited image that comes to mind is the now-famous photograph of a red Army soldier wearing two wristwatches and hoisting the Soviet flag during the Soviet occupation of Berlin in 1945. This image implied that looting had occurred. One of the watches was later taken off by the Soviet propaganda agency before the picture was made public.
Milan Kundera described the appearance of Czech Communist leader Klement Gottwald atop a balcony in Prague's Old Town Square in his book The Joke. After Clementis, another commander, had covered Gottwald's head with a fur cap to keep him safe from the snow, a picture was taken. When that leader lost favor and was put to death years later, he was taken out of official copies of the picture. The original scene, however, had already been documented by honest photojournalists, protecting the truth and foiling governmental propaganda.
Photojournalism has been closely associated with news coverage since the creation of the camera, particularly with regard to catastrophes, disasters, and the responses of leaders of the state. Images capture the events' seriousness and historical significance in addition to just depicting the scene.
The week's greatest news story is now the crash of the air india flight headed for london after it took off from Ahmedabad. Cameras naturally raced to the area to document the catastrophe. This time, it is clear that coverage was not obstructed by the local administration or police.
The prime minister, the Union home minister, and other officials attended the scene as the catastrophe was developing. We should be aware that their presence is intended to guarantee an impartial and free examination. The media covered these visits extensively. The coverage invariably gets more prominent when the prime minister is involved. Former gujarat chief minister and now prime minister Narendra Modi arrived for what seemed to be a post-disaster evaluation. He was, of course, photographed as he strolled around the site.
However, not many people signed up for this particular walk.
Maintaining the facts is the primary rule for photojournalists. The prime minister looks to be exploring the location by himself in these pictures, as though no professional help is required. Although he has every right to visit and show support for the victims' families, the pictures appear to primarily feature the prime minister and the scene of the disaster.
Prime minister Narendra Modi visits the scene of the air india airline disaster in ahmedabad on Friday, june 13, 2025, as shown in this photo from the PMO. Shortly after taking off from the ahmedabad airport on Thursday, an air india aircraft carrying 242 passengers headed for london crashed. (Photo by PTI via PMO)
In the past, dignitaries have visited following incidents like the 2004 tsunami, the gujarat riots, the Bhuj earthquake, or the 26/11 mumbai attacks, but only after the immediate crisis had passed. Ministers were spotted evaluating the issue together with experts. prime minister Modi is the subject of the visual narrative, which frequently centers on a single person these days. In actuality, however, hundreds of other people were probably present, including administrative personnel, police, fire departments, civil aviation, members of his close bodyguard group, and specialists in crisis management. In the imagery, they are mostly missing. Such images that heavily emphasize public relations raise concerns about how the government handles crisis communication.
This is not the first time that such issues have come up. The press Information Bureau (PIB) published a photo of Modi flying above the floods in chennai in 2015. According to technical terms, when such photos are taken, either the view outside is washed away by interior exposure settings or the person looking out the window is underexposed due to the intense light outside. But in this instance, the flood picture was Photoshopped into the window next to Modi, producing an impractical and morally dubious image. The picture ended up in the government's official archives in spite of its alteration.
Another edited image that comes to mind is the now-famous photograph of a red Army soldier wearing two wristwatches and hoisting the Soviet flag during the Soviet occupation of Berlin in 1945. This image implied that looting had occurred. One of the watches was later taken off by the Soviet propaganda agency before the picture was made public.
Milan Kundera described the appearance of Czech Communist leader Klement Gottwald atop a balcony in Prague's Old Town Square in his book The Joke. After Clementis, another commander, had covered Gottwald's head with a fur cap to keep him safe from the snow, a picture was taken. When that leader lost favor and was put to death years later, he was taken out of official copies of the picture. The original scene, however, had already been documented by honest photojournalists, protecting the truth and foiling governmental propaganda.
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