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PhotojournalismText Overview

We will examine and analyze a series of documentary photographs from prominent American photojournalists, in conjunction with viewing short documentary films and reading informational texts related to the photographs. The location of these texts is indicated in the Unit Text List. Unit Readers are available through Open Up Resources.

Note that this unit has undergone significant updates due to changes in the availability of a text used in the original Section 2 of the unit: Eyes of the World: Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and the Invention of Modern Photojournalism by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos. Revisions include a new Section 1 on the legacy of the American photographer Edward Curtis, as well as expanded research opportunities throughout the unit. The sections on Dorothea Lange and the Great Depression, Charles Moore and the Civil Rights Movement, and Richard Drew and 9/11 remain and have also undergone updates.

Odell Education

March 2022

Core

  • Digital Access
    • “An Intimate View of MLK Through the Lens of a Friend,” Madison Horne, History.com, 2021
    • Artist Charles Moore, Charles Moore, International Center of Photography
    • Destitute Pea Pickers in California. Mother of Seven Children. Age Thirty-Two. Nipomo, California (Migrant Mother), Dorothea Lange, Library of Congress, 1936
    • “Edward Curtis: Coming to Light — Shadow Catcher,” George Horse Capture, PBS, 2001
    • “Edward Curtis: Photographing the North American Indian,” Smithsonian Magazine, YouTube
    • “Edward Curtis’ Epic Project to Photograph Native Americans,” Gilbert King, Smithsonian Magazine, 2012
    • Excerpt from Sacred Legacy, N. Scott Momaday, Edwardcurtis.com, Contemporary Native Perspectives
    • Excerpt from The Women, Louise Erdrich, Edwardcurtis.com, Contemporary Native Perspectives
    • Falling Man, Richard Drew, Tom Junod, Esquire, 2016
    • Forward to Sacred Legacy, Joseph D. Horse Capture, Edwardcurtis.com, Contemporary Native Perspectives
    • Get the Picture, Cathy Pearson, Archive.org, 2013
    • “No More: The Children of Birmingham 1963 and the Turning Point of the Civil Rights Movement,” McKay and Miranda Jessop, YouTube, 2013
    • “Origins of Photojournalism,” American Battlefield Trust, 2020
    • Photographers of the Dust Bowl, Ken Burns, PBS, 2012
    • “Photography and the Civil War,” Garry Adelman, American Battlefield Trust, 2015
    • “Photogravures: Prints, Not Photographs,” Smithsonian Libraries
    • Police Using Dogs to Attack Civil Rights Demonstrators, Birmingham, Alabama, Charles Moore, International Center of Photography
    • “Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics,” Society of Professional Journalists
    • “The 9/11 Photos We Will Never Forget,” Kyle Almond, CNN, 2021
    • “The Falling Man: Behind the Photo,” TIME, YouTube, 2016
    • “What I Learned about Photography Projects from Edward S. Curtis,” Sean Tucker, YouTube, 2021
  • Unit Reader
    • “How Photography Defined the Great Depression,” Annette McDermott, A&E Television Networks, LLC., 2018
    • “Introduction,” excerpt from Imprisoned in a Luminous Glare: Photography and the African American Freedom Struggle, Leigh Raiford, The University of North Carolina Press, 2011
    • “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King, Jr., Writers House, 1963
    • Migrant Mother: How a Photograph Defined the Great Depression: “Chapter 1: Snapping an Iconic Photo,” “Chapter 2: A Nation Fallen on Hard Times,” Don Nardo, Capstone, 2011
    • “The Falling Man: An Unforgettable Story,” Tom Junod, Esquire, 2016
    • “What the Still Photo Still Does Best,” Hank Klibanoff, The New York Times Company, 2010

Optional

  • Digital Access
    • “7 Gordon Parks Images That Changed American Attitudes,” Rebecca Fulleylove, Google Arts and Culture
    • “Alexander Gardner Saw Himself as an Artist, Crafting the Image of War in All Its Brutality,” Ernest B. Furgurson, Smithsonian Magazine, 2015
    • “Contemporary Native Photographers and the Edward Curtis Legacy,” Zig Jackson, Wendy Red Star, and Will Wilson, Portland Art Museum, 2016
    • Civil War photographs*, Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, J. Paul Getty Museum
    • Edward Curtis photographs*, Edward S. Curtis, Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, Northwestern University Libraries
    • “Getting Started with Primary Sources,” Library of Congress
    • Human Erosion in California (Migrant Mother), Dorothea Lange, Google Arts and Culture, 1936
    • “Meet 10 Depression-Era Photographers Who Captured the Struggle of Rural America,” Kat Eschner, Smithsonian Magazine, 2017
    • “Same Date, 8 Years Apart: From Emmett Till’s Murder to ‘I Have a Dream,’ in Photos,” Madison Horne, History.com, 2021
    • “Segregation in the South, 1956,” Gordon Parks, Gordon Parks Foundation
    • “The North American Indian,” Curtis Legacy Foundation
    • The North American Indian, Volume 1, Edward S. Curtis, Project Gutenberg, 1907/2006
    • “Wet Plate Photography,” PBS American Experience
    • “Will Wilson — Contemporary Native Photographers and the Edward Curtis Legacy,” Portland Art Museum, YouTube, 2016
    • “Zig Jackson — Contemporary Native Photographers and the Edward Curtis Legacy,” Portland Art Museum, YouTube, 2016
  • Multimedia
    • Coming to Light: The Edward S. Curtis Story, Anne Makepeace, Makepeace Productions, 2001
  • Unit Reader
    • Excerpt from “Journalism’s Falling Man: On Documentation and Truth Telling,” Aimee Pozorski, OpenEdition
    • “‘Falling Man’ Maps Emotional Aftermath of Sept. 11,” NPR Books Staff, National Public Radio, Inc., 2007
    • “The History of Photojournalism. How Photography Changed the Way We Receive News,” Jessica Stewart, My Modern Met, 2017
    • “Unraveling the Mysteries of Dorothea Lange’s ‘Migrant Mother’,” James Estrin, The New York Times Company, 2018

Text Icons

The following text icons are used in the Text pages:

Unit Reader Unit Reader Texts

Digital Access Digital Access Texts

Tradebook Tradebook Texts

Multimedia Multimedia Texts

To find digital access texts on the Internet, complete the following steps:

  1. Locate the reference information for the text (text title, author, date of publication, and publisher) found on the Text page for a unit, section, or lesson.

  2. Highlight and copy the reference information.

  3. Paste the information into a search engine.

  4. The text will appear as one of the first search results.

  5. Verify the result by comparing the reference information on the website to the information on the Text page.