Breaking the fourth wall
Working alongside our colleagues and competitors & including the fourth wall
Photojournalist. noun /ˌfəʊ.təʊˈdʒɜː.nəl.ɪst/ a photographer who creates news articles using mainly photographs - That’s what the Cambridge dictionary defines us as at least.
In 2024 reality, a photojournalist is almost anybody on the planet, as anybody with a smart phone (or even a dumb phone), has the ability to take photographs, documenting an event, and share them far and wide.
This all means that when the shit hits the fan, they’ll be plenty of people holding their glowing glass screens and camera lenses up to record it. For photojournalists covering spot news and large scale events, such as demonstrations, civil unrest, a natural disaster, or a twerking dancer at the bus stop, you’ll probably not be the only person covering the scene.
This leads to today’s post - breaking the ‘fourth wall’ and compassionately working alongside our colleagues, who are also our competitors, at a time when everyone wants to get the shot.
Side note - this Substack of mine still isn’t really sure where it sits, but it’ll continue to be a cocktail of commentator/issue raiser/reflective thought/conversation stoker/advice giver/question answerer, meandering between all with each post.
What is the fourth wall? Originally a theatrical term, it refers to the three walls of the stage, and the non existent fourth wall being the one open to the audience. This is applicable in photography, as you’re only seeing one/some side/s of the 360 degree reality. Usually at a scene of interest, photographers will automatically decide where the fourth wall sits, and the unspoken marker is set.
This is all part of the skill and magic of photography of course - the framing decisions, the composition, the aperture, and the many other choices any photographer makes, such as the lens being used, the position they’re standing in, etc. It’s also an integral part of photojournalism, as we’re instructed and try to be invisible, and not to allow our presence to impact on a scene, to be the unidentified camera wielding fly on the wall.
The reality is that we’re always trying to hide each other from our own shots, to somehow pretend to you the viewer, that we were the only photographer there. There are plenty of images showing the throngs of photojournalists in places like Ukraine, Syria, Libya, or just about anywhere for you to search up online. Despite the valid financial, logistical, and safety aspects to this group-think working, the behind the scenes dynamic is always of interest, at least to me. It throws in a touch of much needed irony into the mix.
It all makes sense if you think about it, at least most of the time. As a viewer you’re not drawn to an image to look at photographers, we aren’t the subject or the story, but we are of course inevitably there, otherwise there wouldn’t be a photograph. For me, it all feeds into the mystique-of-the-photojournalist vibe, but also is our job - to shoot the subject/s and not the colleagues.
What I’ve always found funny whilst covering these bigger events is how packs of photojournalists behave, or the sheer chaos of it all. I sometimes decide to photograph just that, to show another side. In the case of some of my images above and below, it can show the role the media play in a situation, or the popularity of a person, or how scripted and posed a photograph may be. Showing the media can make it seem demonstrations seem performative, or it can diffuse tension.
I’ll be honest, it’s often infuriating working around so many other photographers, especially the spatially unaware ones, or the dreaded TV camera operators with tripods and brimming with self importance. Some are trying to fuck you over, and won’t make way after getting their shot, others are more respectful. After all we’re all doing the same job, and usually for different outlets or audiences, and it’s not like you’re going to get an exclusive from such an overly covered event.
A good old media scrum can be fun and exhilarating, but also rage inducing. I’m not really sure if the general audience likes to see us in their photos, but I enjoy it, to add a bit of tension, comedy, or surrealism to an image.
If one photojournalist can get there, others can too. It just boils down to access, connections, and sometimes a bit of old fashioned charm or luck.
There are also ethical considerations here though - Are the people in the image performing somewhat for the camera? Would this be happening exactly as it is if a photographer wasn’t there pointing a camera at them? Is the photographer’s presence ‘stocking the fire’ at demos etc.? Are photographers putting somebody in danger by drawing attention to them?
My 2 kuruş/pence/cents - if you’re a photographer in this situation, look behind the scenes, shoot the other elements that make up these events, include the media as part of the circus, show it for what it is. Go for those quieter (a previous Substack post of mine) and more unexpected moments to give your photo essay some layers and visually a bit more engaging with the viewer, rather than more of the same. Happy shooting, and get your elbows out for the scrums.
Further reading - An article in The Atlantic magazine about the topic, and the associated film Photojournalism Behind the Scenes (linked below) by the same photographer, Ruben Salvadori - from back in 2011, but the questions it raises are still as valid as they were.