Against the background of increasing criticism of the functions and effects of professional journalistic reporting and a relationship to images that is changing with the ubiquity of phone cameras and global connectedness via social media, this contribution examines the question of the degree to which current photojournalism must examine the new social conventions of the photographic medium in order to remain relevant and effective into the future. The hypothesis is proposed that the principle of shared experience, the focus on subjectivity and the philosophy of dialogue and networks that characterise social media offer promising stimuli for a broadening of the spectrum of photojournalistic storytelling.
Starting from an analysis of the specific promise of authenticity in private mobile-phone photos in Geert van Kesteren’s book Baghdad Calling, Dona Abboud’s project Out of Syria, Inside Facebook will lead to a discussion of the advantages and problems of the personalisation inherent in social networks. The evermore apparent need for verification and interpretation of amateur material arises in contemporary practices in which mobile-phone photos appear in the context of news reporting. This serves to illustrate the relevance of experienced (picture) authors who shed light on complex realities from various perspectives and set the focus on the transmission of individual messages.
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