Photo Jounalist in Myanmar Media

Some people define a photojournalist as a reporter whose job it is to show – rather than tell – people what has happened. Others say a photojournalist is a journalist who uses the camera as their primary tool in interpreting world events. Whatever your definition, people recognise the importance of the work photojournalists perform.


In Myanmar, too, people are gradually accepting that the role of the photojournalist is important as the media and photography industries continue their steady development. But in Myanmar there i s still plenty of room for more photojournalists to be plying their trade in the media.

Even in this media age, there aren’t many photojournalists working for local magazines, journals and newspapers – especially when compared to foreign news agencies, says U Aung Tun Win, secretary of the Myanmar Photographic Society.

“This is not a highly-paid job like commercial photography. One of the reasons is that there is no particular course for photojournalism. The photographs in the local papers that are taken by reporters, not photographers, are visible evidence that we lack sufficient numbers of photojournalists. Taking a news photo isn’t a question of just pushing a button,” says U Aung Tun Win, 53, who is also one of four photographers at The Myanmar Times.

What makes a news photo great, and what makes it merely adequate? Why can’t everyone take them? “There is a saying: ‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’ So, a photo can give many messages to the readers and it includes many signs. It is also helpful for those who can’t read the news because they can understand the situation through photos,” U Aung Tun Win says.

“Some people who don’t have much time to read the whole paper; they look first at the photos and read the news later. If the photo’s not interesting, they may skip the story completely. This is why news photography is important in media. I don’t mean photos are essential, but they are supportive. Photos also reflect the publication's focus and audience.”

So what makes news photos different from other pictures? U Aung Tun Win says top of the list of news photos’ must-have characteristics is they must look natural. This means they can’t have had any special effects, he says.

“In some journals, you can see a combination of two or more photos with graphic designs. You can’t call these news photos. It’s just a creation,” he says. The global standard is to now call these combination or doctored images “photo illustrations” so the reader knows they have been altered.

But photojournalism is sometimes more than just news photography – there’s more of a focus on the photo telling the story rather than corroborating it and presenting it so the audience can understand the meaning.

“Presenting an idea is the key to photojournalism. Without ideas there are no stories so photojournalists always have to research ideas. You can research ideas from your personal life experience or base them on events.”

To develop their ideas, U Aung Tun Win says photojournalists must have a wide knowledge of human nature and a keen sense of the visual world. “A great photojournalist must be eagle-eyed,” he says.

Before taking pictures, he says, the photographer must conceive what his subject is, how he expresses it and where he will take the photos.

“Sometimes you’re confronted with an immediate situation, such as a fire or a car crash, and you have to shoot at once and take snapshots. When this happens, there is no time for you to think and you must make a quick decision to capture the scene with good angles at the right time.”

He also says photo-journalists have less scope than reporters to present a story. “Reporters can cover many angles to make the story more interesting, but we can present the news only through a photograph. So that photo has to include all the ingredients to tell the story.”

Ko Khin Maung Latt, a photographer with Image Magazine, still finds the challenge fascinating despite his eight years of experience in media photography.

“You face fresh challenges all the time, and it’s the challenges that make the work more interesting. Story ideas are everywhere. I can explore new and exciting things, from different places to different subjects,” says Ko Khin Maung Latt, who is in his late 30s.

For these challenges, his method is simple: preparation. “You must know what kind of event it is. Then you must prepare the lighting, the positioning and the angles for taking the pictures.”

Lighting is important in photography. But in some situations, the photographer has to go with natural light.

“In news photography, the subject matter is all-important. While you are taking photos, every moment is important and you must catch every bit of the action. If you leave out important scenes, you are not a photographer,” he says.

While these scenes are often of the mundane, of everyday events – a sporting event, a car accident, a model – sometimes, just sometimes, they are historic moments.

These iconic photographs – US civil war dead on the battlefield, a naked girl covered in napalm, The Beatles crossing Abbey Road – are often used to tell the story of human history and culture, more succinctly and eloquently than eyewitnesses can express in words.