JAIPUR: The 5th Edition of the Jaipur Photojournalism Seminar, a seminar based on the theme of photo journalism, was inaugurated by A.P Gour, Rohit Parihar, Ritu Parihar, Vipul Mudgal, Ajay Chopra, Leela Diwakar, Gajendra Diwakar, Hemjit Malu and Sanjay Awasthi at Jaipur.
150 Aspiring photo journalists got counseled by experts in the field of photo journalism and eminent photo journalists who participated in the seminar to share their experience in their professional journey and the obstacles at workplaces.
Ayodhya Prasad Gaur, Cairn Oil and Gas, said, “New media tools and social networks are providing all the information on smart phones instantly without any wait for the news or image to appear on TV channels or newspapers. At the same time, organisations are shifting their focus from print publications to social media, to target their audience. This is why photo journalism is gaining more momentum so that proper context and attribution does not get lost in long conversations on social media.”
Mr. Rohit Parihar, associate editor, India Today, said, “Our institutions have stopped offering field experience to the students and providing just classroom teaching is not adequate. New generations with new technology have more trust on news on social media, which is mostly affected by fake facts where verification isn’t integral before spreading information.”
Dr. Vipul Mudgal , Associated with Common Cause and I AM 4 CHANGE, said, “The importance of journalism lies in the hands of our democracy. It is very easy to run misleading news through paid mediums. We are in the age of accountability, transparency, participation and technology revolution where every citizen is a journalist. This is why our focus should be on human migration, trafficking and encouraging equality.”
Ajay Chopra, Founder, CRAYONS, said, “Our photographers always offer accurate and comprehensive representation of their subject. This plays a key role in advertising, image building, visual journalism to strengthen the confidence of the target audience.”
India’s first kind of photojournalism seminar was organized by Imagine Photo Journalist Society, in association with Vedanta on 19th November, 2019 in Jaipur. 5 Senior Journalists shared their insights on the present scenario in today’s journalism and about the timing, challenges and delivery relevance in the field of Photo Journalism for aspiring journalist.
Miss Paroma Mukherjee, Senior Photo Journalist, Hindustan Times, said, “Photo Journalists should treat all subjects without any bias and always show dignity towards private moments. It is required to have a high level fact checking process before presenting anything to the public.”
She also pressed upon the key issues for women photo journalists and their required empowerment.”
Senior Veteran Umesh Gogna, said, “Our field is difficult to approach or even to explain, but ethics guidelines require to be followed by aspiring photo journalists. Photographic truth needs to present subject for the end goal. Also, photo techniques like weather conditions, lighting, context, emotion, digital post processing and workflow are extremely essential to follow as a photo journalist.”
