History of Photojournalism
Written by Abin Alex and Anu Joseph.
Abstract
Photojournalism began when a Paris uprising photograph was engraved for a newspaper in 1848, and it has changed with every new tool since. This guide follows that story through the first war photographers, social documentary, halftone, flash and the Leica, picture magazines and the photo essay, the golden age, Magnum and the Pulitzer Prizes, landmark photographs and Indian photojournalism. It ends with digital cameras, phones and citizen journalism, and uses thirteen diagrams and timelines throughout.
Keywords: History of photojournalism; war photographers; Magnum; Pulitzer Prize; Indian photojournalism
- How did newspapers print pictures before photographs?
- Who were the first war photographers?
- How did photographs begin to change society?
- Which technologies changed news photography?
- How did picture magazines and the photo essay begin?
- What was the golden age of photojournalism?
- What are Magnum and the Pulitzer Prizes?
- Which landmark photographs changed public debate?
- How did Indian photojournalism develop?
- How did digital cameras and phones change photojournalism?
- What is the whole story in one view?
How did newspapers print pictures before photographs?
Short answer. By engraving, until halftone printing took over in the early 1900s.
- The first photograph used to illustrate a newspaper story showed barricades in Paris during the June Days uprising, taken on 25 June 1848. It was published as an engraving in L'Illustration on 1 to 8 July 1848.
- An engraving is a copy made by hand. An engraver cut lines into a block to imitate the photograph, so the printed picture was never the photograph itself (Figure 1).
- Halftone printing replaced engraving. It reproduced the full range of shadows and sped up printing. Most daily papers had adopted it by the early 1900s (Stewart, 2017).
- A halftone breaks a picture into dots of varying size. This is still the logic of print today.
Look at a newspaper photograph with a magnifying glass. Describe the dots you see.
Film grain and print dots are the same idea: a picture built from small marks.
Cham tipZoom in on any printed photograph. You will see how it was made.
Cham taskMake a one-line note on the difference between an engraving and a halftone.
Check yourself: What replaced engraving in newspapers?
Halftone printing.
Who were the first war photographers?
Short answer. Roger Fenton in the Crimean War, 1855, and Mathew Brady in the American Civil War, 1861.
- Roger Fenton photographed the Crimean War in 1855 and is described as the first official war photographer. His work reached a mass audience through the Illustrated London News (Stewart, 2017).
- Mathew Brady began photographing the American Civil War in 1861 and worked for Harper's Weekly. He employed more than 20 assistants, each with a mobile darkroom (Stewart, 2017).
- Brady was criticised for not taking all the images himself. The technology of the time also prevented him from photographing moving subjects (Stewart, 2017) (Figure 2).
- For these reasons early war pictures show camps, landscapes, posed officers and the dead, not battle in motion.
Describe three subjects a camera with a long exposure can show well, and three it cannot.
Early motion pictures were built to answer this limit: capturing movement.
Cham tipJudge an old photograph by what the camera could do in its time.
Cham taskWrite 100 words on how camera limits shaped what early war photographs show.
Check yourself: Why did early war photographs avoid moving action?
Long exposures could not freeze movement.
Which technologies changed news photography?
Short answer. Halftone, flash and the small Leica camera of 1925.
- Four technology steps shaped the field (Figure 4).
- Halftone printing put photographs directly on the page. Flash powder, and later flash bulbs, let photographers work in low light (Stewart, 2017).
- The Leica of 1925 was not the first 35 mm camera, but it made 35 mm photography truly practical. Small, light and quick to use, it freed the photographer from the tripod (Figure 5) (Stewart, 2017).
- Later, digital cameras and phones removed the wait for processing and made sending images instant.
Shoot the same indoor scene with a tripod and then hand-held. Note what changes in your pictures.
The same shift happened in film when cameras became light enough for hand-held shooting.
Cham tipTechnology changes what you can photograph. Learn what your gear allows.
Cham taskList three kinds of pictures a small, quick camera made possible.
Check yourself: Which camera made 35 mm photography truly practical?
The Leica, from 1925.
How did picture magazines and the photo essay begin?
Short answer. Magazines such as the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung and LIFE made photographs the main story.
- The Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung put photographs on its front page to sell the paper. The photo essay was born: a form that gave the photographer more freedom to tell the story, instead of only supporting a written text.
- LIFE, with the New York Daily News, also used the photo essay (Stewart, 2017). Margaret Bourke-White made the first LIFE cover and is described as the first American female war reporter (Stewart, 2017).
- A spread opens with a strong lead photograph, then supporting pictures, then a closing frame (Figure 6).
- Read the Photojournalism guide for how to plan a picture story today.
Lay out a two-page spread of your own pictures using the plan in Figure 6.
The lead frame, supporting frames and closing frame become the opening, middle and end of a short film.
Cham tipChoose the lead and the closing frame first. Build the rest around them.
Cham taskDesign a four-picture spread on one subject and write the lead caption.
Check yourself: What did the photo essay give photographers?
More freedom to tell the story, not only support the text.
What was the golden age of photojournalism?
Short answer. About 1930 to 1970, with Capa, Cartier-Bresson, Eisenstaedt, Bourke-White, Smith and Lange.
- The years from the 1930s to the 1970s are called the golden age of photojournalism. Flash bulbs and the compact Leica made photographers mobile, and picture magazines paid for long stories (Stewart, 2017).
- Six names are taught: Alfred Eisenstaedt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, W. Eugene Smith, Margaret Bourke-White and Dorothea Lange (Figure 7) (Table 1).
- In the 1930s the Great Depression led photographers to document the living conditions of rural America. Lange worked for the U.S. government's Farm Security Administration programme.
- Her Migrant Mother (Nipomo, California, about 1936) shows a 32-year-old mother of seven and became the iconic image of the Depression (Stewart, 2017).
- Eisenstaedt's V-J Day in Times Square dates from 1945 (Stewart, 2017).
| Photographer | Years | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| Alfred Eisenstaedt | 1898 to 1995 | V-J Day in Times Square, 1945 |
| Henri Cartier-Bresson | 1908 to 2004 | Co-founder of Magnum, 1947 |
| Robert Capa | 1913 to 1954 | War photography; Magnum co-founder |
| W. Eugene Smith | 1918 to 1978 | Photo essays |
| Margaret Bourke-White | 1904 to 1971 | First LIFE cover; war reporting |
| Dorothea Lange | 1895 to 1965 | Migrant Mother, about 1936 |
Table 1. Golden-age photographers (years as taught; achievements checked against Stewart, 2017).
Find one photograph by each of two golden-age photographers. Compare how they frame a person.
Cartier-Bresson's idea of a decisive moment is taught in cinematography, too.
Cham tipStudy a photographer's whole story, not only their one famous frame.
Cham taskWrite 100 words on one golden-age photographer and what they changed.
Check yourself: Which programme did Dorothea Lange work for?
The Farm Security Administration.
What are Magnum and the Pulitzer Prizes?
Short answer. A photographer-owned agency from 1947 and the main American prize for news pictures.
- Magnum Photos was founded in Paris in 1947 as a photographer-owned cooperative. The founders taught in our lecture are Robert Capa, David Seymour, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and William Vandivert (Stewart, 2017) (Figure 8).
- Many photojournalists lacked money for their projects. Magnum gave them a home and a way to market their work.
- The Pulitzer Prizes were set up by the bequest of Joseph Pulitzer and began in 1917. In 1968 two photography prizes replaced the single prize: Feature Photography and Spot News Photography. Spot News was renamed Breaking News Photography in 2000 (Figure 9).
Open the current Pulitzer photography winners. Pick one and write why it won.
Agencies and festivals do for photographers what production houses and festivals do for filmmakers.
Cham tipFollow one agency and one prize each year. They show where the field is going.
Cham taskList the two current Pulitzer photography categories and one past winner for each.
Check yourself: When was Magnum founded?
1947, in Paris.
Which landmark photographs changed public debate?
Short answer. Migrant Mother, Napalm Girl, Afghan Girl, the vulture photograph and Alan Kurdi.
- Table 2 lists photographs that changed public debate. Figure 10 puts them on a line.
- The vulture photograph by Kevin Carter ran in The New York Times on 26 March 1993. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 1994 (Pulitzer Prizes, n.d.). The lecture slide gives a stray 1990, which is wrong.
- The Terror of War, taken on 8 June 1972, was credited to Nick Ut and won a Pulitzer Prize. In 2025 World Press Photo suspended the attribution to Ut after a documentary raised doubts. The Associated Press kept its credit to Ut. The authorship is unresolved (World Press Photo, n.d.; PetaPixel, 2025).
- Steve McCurry's portrait of Sharbat Gula appeared on the June 1985 National Geographic cover.
- Alan Kurdi, a two-year-old Syrian refugee, was found washed ashore near Bodrum, Turkey, in September 2015. Nilüfer Demir photographed his body. Editors worldwide debated whether to publish it. The ethics of that choice are in the Photojournalism Ethics guide.
| Photograph | Year | Photographer | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Migrant Mother | 1936 | Dorothea Lange | Iconic picture of the Great Depression |
| The Terror of War (Napalm Girl) | 1972 | Credited to Nick Ut | Vietnam War image; Pulitzer; authorship disputed |
| Bhopal gas tragedy | 1984 | Raghu Rai | Among the first images of the aftermath |
| Afghan Girl | 1984 | Steve McCurry | Portrait on the June 1985 National Geographic cover |
| The Vulture and the Little Girl | 1993 | Kevin Carter | NYT, 26 March 1993; Pulitzer 1994 |
| Death of Alan Kurdi | 2015 | Nilüfer Demir | Debate on publishing images of child victims |
Table 2. Landmark photographs, with details checked against the Pulitzer Prizes (n.d.) and World Press Photo (n.d.).
Choose one photograph from Table 2. Write what changed after it was published.
Documentary scenes can become landmark images in the same way. Plan for that responsibility.
Cham tipWhen you cite a famous photograph, give the year, the photographer and the source.
Cham taskMake a one-page card for each of three photographs in Table 2.
Check yourself: Which photograph won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography?
Kevin Carter's Vulture and the Little Girl.
How did Indian photojournalism develop?
Short answer. From Homai Vyarawalla and independence to Raghu Rai and Bhopal.
- Homai Vyarawalla (1913 to 2012) is called India's first woman photojournalist. She worked from the late 1930s to 1970 and documented the country's move from a British colony to an independent nation (Barrett, 2021).
- She first published under her husband's name and later used the pseudonym Dalda 13. She received the Padma Vibhushan in 2011 (Barrett, 2021).
- Raghu Rai, born in 1942, photographed Mother Teresa for nearly five decades and was among the first to photograph the aftermath of the Bhopal gas leak at the Union Carbide pesticide plant on 2 December 1984 (Figure 11).
- For the press laws and newspapers of the same period, read the Journalism guide.
Find one photograph by each photographer. Write a caption and a cutline for it.
Newsreels and documentary films of the independence era are in the same archive as these stills.
Cham tipRead Indian photographers' own books and interviews, not only summaries.
Cham taskWrite 150 words on one Indian photojournalist and what their work recorded.
Check yourself: Who is India's first woman photojournalist?
Homai Vyarawalla.
How did digital cameras and phones change photojournalism?
Short answer. Faster sending, more voices and a greater need to verify.
- Digital cameras removed the wait for film processing. Phones put a camera in almost every hand (Figure 12).
- Citizen journalism means ordinary people record and share events on social media. It is fast and widely distributed. It can also lack the checking that professional journalism applies.
- Magazines such as LIFE closed, and photojournalists now work with new technology and outlets (Stewart, 2017).
- The skills in this series matter more in this setting: caption, verify, credit and respect the people in the frame.
Take a phone photograph of a local event. Write a verified caption before you share it.
Phone footage is now part of news and documentary. Check its source before you use it.
Cham tipVerify first, then post. A wrong caption travels as fast as a right one.
Cham taskWrite a five-step checklist for verifying a photograph from social media.
Check yourself: What is citizen journalism?
Ordinary people recording and sharing events.
What is the whole story in one view?
Short answer. Four overlapping eras from engraving to the phone.
- Photojournalism moved through overlapping eras (Figure 13). Dates are approximate.
- Each era was set by a technology and a business: engraving and illustrated papers, halftone and flash, the small camera and picture magazines, and then digital and mobile.
- The ethics stayed the same: tell the truth, credit correctly and respect the subject. Read the Photojournalism Ethics guide next (Table 3).
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1848 | First newspaper illustration from a photograph, printed as an engraving |
| 1855 | Fenton photographs the Crimean War |
| 1861 | Brady begins photographing the American Civil War |
| 1876 to 1877 | Street Life in London |
| 1890 | How the Other Half Lives |
| Early 1900s | Halftone adopted by most daily papers |
| 1925 | Leica 35 mm camera |
| About 1936 | Migrant Mother |
| 1947 | Magnum Photos founded |
| 1968 | Two Pulitzer photography prizes |
| 1972 | The Terror of War |
| 1984 | Bhopal; Afghan Girl |
| 1993 | The vulture photograph |
| 2015 | Alan Kurdi |
Table 3. Key dates in the history of photojournalism.
Make a poster timeline of ten dates from this guide and add one photograph for each.
Plan a short documentary on one era using the timeline as a structure.
Cham tipLearn the dates in pairs: a technology and a photographer.
Cham taskPick three dates and write one sentence on how each changed the picture.
Check yourself: Name the four eras in Figure 13.
Engraving, halftone and flash, Leica to golden age, digital and mobile.
Questions beginners ask
When did photojournalism begin?
The first photograph used to illustrate a newspaper story was the Paris barricades of 25 June 1848, printed as an engraving in L'Illustration. Photographs were printed directly after halftone printing spread in the early 1900s.
Who was the first war photographer?
Roger Fenton, who photographed the Crimean War in 1855, is described as the first official war photographer.
What was the golden age of photojournalism?
The years from about the 1930s to the 1970s, when the Leica and flash made photographers mobile and picture magazines such as LIFE published long photo essays.
What is Magnum Photos?
A photographer-owned cooperative founded in Paris in 1947 by Robert Capa, David Seymour, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and William Vandivert.
Who is India's first woman photojournalist?
Homai Vyarawalla (1913 to 2012), who documented the independence movement and received the Padma Vibhushan in 2011.
What changed photojournalism in the digital age?
Digital cameras and phones made sending pictures instant and let ordinary people report events, which raised the need to verify and caption carefully.
References
- Barrett, D. (2021) 'Homai Vyarawalla (1913 to 2012)', Hundred Heroines. Published 10 January 2021, updated 7 March 2022. Available at: https://hundredheroines.org/?p=19102 (Accessed: 31 October 2026).
- PetaPixel (2025) 'World Press Photo suspends Nick Ut's credit on Napalm Girl', 16 May. Available at: https://petapixel.com/2025/05/16/world-press-photo-suspends-nick-uts-credit-on-napalm-girl-documentary-the-stringer/ (Accessed: 31 October 2026).
- Pulitzer Prizes (n.d.) Kevin Carter, freelance photographer: 1994 Feature Photography. Available at: https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/kevin-carter-free-lance-photographer (Accessed: 31 October 2026).
- Stewart, J. (2017) 'The history of photojournalism', My Modern Met, 20 June (modified 23 April 2019). Available at: https://mymodernmet.com/photojournalism-history (Accessed: 1 November 2026).
- World Press Photo (n.d.) Authorship disputed: The Terror of War. Available at: https://www.worldpressphoto.org/authorship-disputed (Accessed: 31 October 2026). Date not stated on the page.
How to cite this guide. Alex, A., & Joseph, A. (2026). the history of photojournalism: A guide for photographers and cinematographers. Creative Hut Academy. https://creativehut.org/library/history-of-photojournalism/
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How did photographs begin to change society?
Short answer. Street Life in London (1876 to 1877) and Jacob Riis's work in New York (1890).
Choose a local street. Plan five pictures and a 100-word text that together show how people live there.
Documentary film follows the same model: a visual record joined to a written argument.
Cham tipPair every set of pictures with text. Together they carry more weight.
Cham taskWrite a one-paragraph brief for a social documentary on a place you know.
Check yourself: Which two people made Street Life in London?
John Thomson and Adolphe Smith.