Jay Sanders: Does what motivates me, help motivate photojournalists?

Photo by, Jay Sanders (2013)

There are so many things around all of us that motivate us all in so many different ways. Some things are the same as our neighbor and some completely different. Either way though motivation is what gets us going and makes us go.

After being motivated by my History of photojournalism Professor John Nordell to get an A on this blog I started to research what motivated other people and what motivates photojournalist to do what they do on a daily basis.

Hansel Mieth

Photo by, Peter Stackpole (1936)

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Through my research I came across Hansel Mieth who was born in Germany in 1909 and immigrated to the united states in the midst of the Great Depression. She was the daughter of working class parents who went through much poverty and hardships as a child. When she came to the states in her early 30's you took any work she could find. She spent most of her time alongside the migrant workers and experienced their same hunger and fatigue. She lived in terrible conditions and after a few months she was determined to capture and show the world the life of the laborers and the life that unemployment creates. In an interview Hansel said, "If you want to be a photographer you have to discipline yourself and have to learn to be a decent human being". (source) I think this statement alone not only shows you what type of photographer she was but also the type of person she was. She was motivated to help people and felt by showing the world what they went through on a daily basis could help them.

Marcus Bleasdale

Photo by, Unknown

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Another photojournalist I came across was Marcus Bleasdale. He is a British photojournalist and has spent over twelve years covering the conflict within the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Marcus is one of the world’s leading documentary photographers and has used a lot of his work to help influence and open the eyes to decision makers and policy makers around the world on human rights and conflict issues. Bleasdale works cover a lot of underreported issues by mainstream media. His motivation is to bring attention to the world that we all need to be treated equally.

Lauren Greenfield

Photo by, Unknown

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Another documentary photographer I stumbled upon was Lauren Greenfield. Her work mainly deals with issues relating to the influence of popular culture on how we live (youth culture, gender identity, body image, eating disorders, media, wealth, fashion). A lot of her work has been focused on looking at society as a whole and the connection between the American dream and ultimate expression of self and success. Lauren's work centers around trying to figure out why we let others influence our behaviors on a daily basis. Her warm and open heart has help shed light on many issues we/society deal with n every step of our days.

After researching and learning about some photojournalists. I have come to learn that a lot of our motives in life are the same. My motives of family and friends, freedom and health are evident in the works of the 3 journalist's I have wrote about on here. The hard work by the laborers that Hansel wrote about shows her concern as like mine of family and health. Marcus Bleasdale's motives of human/equal rights could be compared to my motive of "freedom". I feel that the motivation to be a good person and obey laws allows me to have my freedom to enjoy, family, health and travel. The issues that motivate Lauren Greenfield center around society as a whole, as to who we are and why and to figure out why we get influenced by everything around us. Her photographic works motivated by eating disorders and body image connects with my motivation to stay healthy.