(NB&CL) For every journalist working in the field of photojournalism, to capture the most authentic moments, they must combine many factors, in which experience is always an important "teacher" throughout the journey. The Journalist and Public Opinion Newspaper had a conversation with journalist Tran Thanh Hai (Tran Hai) - Nhan Dan Newspaper, who has spent nearly 40 years of his career creating the most beautiful press moments and is also one of the "photographers" associated with the "Press Moments" photo contest of the Journalist and Public Opinion Newspaper for many years.
Focus your mind and energy
+ Photojournalism is considered a special career field, requiring workers to always be dynamic, creative, and constantly strive in their work... In your career journey, how do you evaluate this statement?
- Yes, photojournalism is associated with having to travel and move constantly and working hours are almost not fixed. There are business trips that have to start at midnight or dawn to get to the event on time, photojournalists often have to arrive earlier than usual to prepare equipment, choose a location, wait for the event, and plan the script in advance.
Journalist Tran Thanh Hai (Tran Hai) - Nhan Dan Newspaper.
Therefore, for photojournalists, the first thing is health, dynamism, continuous thinking, perseverance and dedication to the profession, along with experience... Only then can the work be maintained continuously. In addition, for photojournalists, equipment must always be available, like soldiers going to battle, guns and ammunition must always be fully prepared. Get familiar with the machines regularly, know how to use the functions of each device in each situation. Current events happen, moments are fleeting, all will never come back, so photojournalists must always be ready. Do your best, so as not to regret when the event has passed.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh with youth delegates. - A work by journalist Tran Hai participating in the "Press Moment" Photo Contest 2024.
+ Having spent many years taking photos and reporting on Party and State leaders, most of your photos are always on the newspaper's homepage... In your opinion, what special "skills" are needed for a photojournalist who specializes in taking photos of politicians?
- Like any reporter, first of all we need to grasp the event program, and for reporters when taking photos of the activities of Party and State leaders, this is an even more mandatory requirement. Reporters must understand the content of each specific program, and must build their own shooting ideas in their heads in association with the program content. For example, the trip with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to Lang Nu village (Lao Cai) where the tragic flash flood occurred last September was an event that I spent a lot of time carefully studying the schedule and carefully planning the work. Then on that trip, we saw the attention and close direction of the Prime Minister, when he took the time to talk to the people, waded down to visit the search force... In that situation, to record memorable moments, we reporters also waded down into the mud to be able to record the most authentic things. To do this, reporters must carefully prepare equipment, clothes, shoes, etc. In flood situations, the simpler the equipment, the more effective it is.
The work Flying High - The work won the top prize of this year's Press Moments award by journalist Tran Hai.
+ You are one of the authors whose works have participated in the photo contest of the Journalist & Public Opinion Newspaper and have won many awards. Could you share a little about the secret that has brought success to your works?
- Sports photography is capturing moments, reporters must be able to predict situations that may happen before they happen, always aiming for them, this requires constant concentration of mind and intellect.
People often think that reporters go to the football field mainly to watch football, but in reality, that is not the case. Among the fields that reporters work in, taking photos of sports in general and football matches in particular is the most difficult. In a large space, noisy, everything happens very quickly… so the difficulty is also greater.
I have been familiar with this sport for nearly 30 years, capturing sports moments the important thing is to judge the situation, the situation can happen like this or that, the important thing is to wait patiently, the eyes must always follow the movement of the event, highly focused to produce the best product for yourself.
However, everything has its surprises, not just choosing a good location to go to the stadium will get a good photo, many situations do not happen in that location. Therefore, the element of luck is also important when working in the field of sports.
When shooting sports, photojournalists always have to have their camera in hand, hold it tight, run, move, and only then will they not miss out on one-time situations. There are thousands of sports shots but luckily there are a few that are satisfactory.
Journalistic thinking but also need artistic thinking
+ What do you think about the statement that photojournalists must be multi-talented, not only knowing how to take pictures but also knowing how to edit photos to support the editorial office, sir?
- If a photojournalist simply knows how to take photos and does not have a journalistic mindset, he should not participate in this field. After taking a photo, a photojournalist needs to know how to adjust and classify each photo content.
Right from the start of the shoot, you need to know how to select, who to shoot, what to shoot, how to shoot to make it simple and effective, avoid taking random shots and then not using them, which is both a waste of time and effort and affects the equipment.
For events that take place with many different activities and situations, photojournalists must know which content is the main and more important to choose. Photojournalists must accept to discard less important photos even though they take quite a lot. All must achieve the speed, accuracy and efficiency of conveying information to readers in the clearest and most coherent way.
For online newspapers, more photos can be used, but for print newspapers, only one photo is used. The question is which photo is the most important, the photojournalist is the person directly involved in the event and is also the first editor, which means he has to do both pre-production and post-production, and must be the one to create the finished product.
The work "Water War" by journalist Tran Thanh Hai.
+ In the context of many innovations in press photography, how do today's photojournalists need to "keep up" to have quality "photo moments", sir?
- Nowadays, technological conditions are much better than before. When I first started my career, I mainly took pictures on film. The quantity of film was limited and film was expensive. That difficult and frugal working process trained me to be more careful and thrifty with each shot.
For every reporter when taking photos, try to capture every moment, because the above current events only happen once. The important thing is that the reporter must try to spend a lot of time taking photos, be passionate, learn from friends, colleagues, and be taught by previous generations of journalists, that is the best thing. Taking a lot of photos without passion, without careful consideration, and learning from experience after each event is also difficult to develop. In addition, it is necessary to improve knowledge.
To make press photos, you need to have a journalistic mindset but also an artistic mindset. The two must go hand in hand to create quality works that attract and impress viewers. Press photos need to be artistic and artistic photos also need to be journalistic and current.
+ Thank you!
Le Tam (Implementation)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nha-bao-tran-thanh-hai-nghe-bao-anh--can-lam-niem-dam-me-chat-chiu-bat-tung-khoanh-khac-post324230.html
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