Photo Journalism 4(1+3)

Lesson 5 : Assignments/Duties of Photojournalists

Portrait assignments

The portrait assignment is an opportunity for photographers to capture a person's personality. It is not an easy task.

Types of portrait assignments
Photojournalists normally shoot two kinds of portraits: mug shots and environmental portraits.

1. Mug shots, those little head and shoulder, close-up portraits, have staged a comeback on the pages of newspapers. Mug shot is a standard studio-style head and shoulders shot. They aren't the most interesting, but sometimes they're necessary. Mug Shots. The term mug shot comes from the definition, "to make faces.

2. The Environmental Portrait: Environmental portraits are better for photojournalism-­showing subjects doing something in an environment that helps explain that person's profession and personality. Try to go "on location" for these photos, ask the subject to do something relevant, and to avoid looking directly at the camera.