The photo is one of the key ingredients of journalism and, despite the technologization and the emergence of new media tools, it continues to be used in press. Often, the image captures the attention first, then the text comes. How to “spice up” a topic with good quality photos that will incite reading? How to have patience and curiosity to capture the most memorable moments? There are questions to which the SAJS students tried to find answers during the Photojournalism course.

They did it together with the reputed photographer Nicolae Pojoga, who, for five days, invited them to a real trip to the world of photography. Young people have been initiated into how a digital camera works: from basic technical features to techniques of capturing images, from using the light to editing pictures and preparing them for publication.

A special attention was paid to Photoshop the world's leading photo editing software, used by designers around the world. And because we are talking about the press photo, the trainer insisted on the legends and the way they are written, to be as accurate and informative as possible. As the instructor says, “it is not enough to know how to make a successful photo from a technical and aesthetic point of view, you also need to understand the event that it represents: who are the participants, why these people are involved in the action and why the event is important to the public.”

Another topic debated during the lessons was the photojournalistic ethics. The students have learned about the effect of image manipulation and how the reader can be misinformed through photography; they have identified the categories of people who should never appear in the images and have discussed, through concrete examples, principles such as respect for privacy, the dissemination of shocking, violent or morbid images.

The course included a day of activity in the village Ciorescu, where, as photojournalists, they made a photo project. The outcome of this day was presented and evaluated at the end of the course.

The students were impressed by the course, especially because for some of them the Photojournalism was one of the reasons that brought them to the SAJS. In their opinion, Photojournalism is a course for curious and lucky people, because it changes your vision both about the profession of photoreporter and about the world. “It was a course over my expectations. I did not think that in such a short time it’s possible to learn so much information”, mentioned Lucia Dascalescu. And Maria Tanasiev was satisfied with the practical activities in Ciorescu. “It was a pleasure to see how a professional works and how easily he manages to get in touch with unknown people and get the necessary information”, said the student.

The next two interesting courses will be News & Reporting and Interview.