So recently, well not entirely recently but fairly recently, the topic of pictures telling stories came up in week 4’s lecture. Speaking for myself and most likely a significant portion of the populace, it can be difficult to imagine life without pictures. They’re everywhere, for the massive billboards that litter the roads, to minute banner ads that litter the internet, they are a literal part of most westerner’s life and we wouldn’t have it any other way. But there was a time when pictures were relegated to the lead story of the daily newspaper, or relegated to a more supporting role in textbooks. Yes it wasn’t that long ago that the idea of even telling a complete tale with pictures was seen as unfeasible, yet here we are today, with TV, film and the humble paper doing just that.
I must admit, delving into the history of pictures was an intriguing one, especially the topic of stain glass windows. In all honesty I had no idea why churches had them, but learning that they were there to support and in some cases tell their own stories was very interesting, I’d always thought of them as things designed to make churches feel more welcoming, but it made a lot of sense that they were there to tell stories. I’m not sure how old Dr. Redman is, but I’m almost certain that when the topic of picture taking in its infancy was brought up, a subtle jab was aimed at the cohort and I that we shouldn’t take our pictures for granted and cherish the little tykes for as long as we have them. It must have been a shock to pick up a copy of the Daily Graphic one day and for the first time ever, seeing an image printed in all its black and white glory. I can only imagine what it must have been like later on in Scotland to go and pick up the daily copy of the Scottish Daily Mail and see, instead of the traditional black and white photo, a full colour shot nearly leaping off the front page, haggis would have been flying that day, to be sure.
What was interesting as well was that the lecture itself was not limited solely to stationary pictures, but broadens itself to include those treasured of all items moving pictures or movies. I found it a bit nostalgic to be reminded that not only were movies a great step forward for us as means of telling stories, but also a viable option for providing news to the populace. While going through the old films on the screen, I couldn’t help but think back to stories my grandparents had told me of weekend showcases, where news and films were show together in unison, providing the viewer with a good dose of international news and entertainment. However as is the tale of our modern technological age, this was not to last, and television soon became both the home of news and the prime medium for the telling of stories.
Yes since its inception, the television has been the prime location for the telling and relaying of news, the first broadcast in Australia being a news broadcast. It was fascinating to see the early images of how weather was initially broadcast as opposed to today’s green screen madness. What I did like though, was seeing that things such as 24hour news channels are actually growing in popularity. I don’t know about you, but this thirst for news is just beautiful words to the ears of the budding journalist such as myself, and honestly I could see myself going into something very similar when I graduate.
All in all, I’ll say that I never really considered the grand effect that pictures have had on the world of news and storytelling. I’ll be sure to pay much more attention to these under or over appreciated gems in the future and never neglect them again, because if we do, they may go the way of myspace and no one deserves that.
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