[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The sheer power a photo holds has long been an inseparable part of media. Visual content is easily accessible, understandable and attracts a larger group of people than mere text. In fact, posts or stories online with a visual receive 94 percent more page visits than those without one. At the end of the day, however, pictures are always seen as an add-on rather than a powerful entity that can relay a message or tell a story by itself or with the aid of a caption. There should be a higher integration of photography and multimedia in major news outlets and the merits of photojournalism should be recognized.

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If you are active on any sort of social media, you’ve most likely heard of the photo blog “Humans of New York,” in which photographer Brandon Stanton takes photos of real-life people and asks them one or two personal questions to accompany the visual. Stanton is not only able to capture the beauty of a seemingly normal individual within a few lines of text, but the genuine expressions and vivid emotion that exude from the photos are why his 11 million followers on various social media platforms are so affected by his work.

Recently, Stanton captured an image of 13-year-old Vidal Chastanet, who described his principal Nadia Lopez as his hero, and featured him in the project. According to the photo caption, Chastanet said Lopez told him and his fellow students “that each time somebody fails out of school, a new jail cell gets built,” adding that “one time she made every student stand up, one at a time, and she told each one of us that we matter.” Within hours of posting the photo, people were asking how they could help. Stanton started a fundraiser to raise money for the underprivileged school, Mott Hall Bridges Academy. After only a few days, followers of HONY had donated over a million dollars to fund after-school programs, yearly trips to Harvard and a yearly scholarship.

Humans of New York is a perfect example of how people are able to connect and actively respond to personal anecdotes and photos, a factor that is missing in many major news outlets. The caption mentioned above was especially compelling, but I highly doubt Vidal’s words would hold as much weight without his innocent, smiling face pictured beside them. In the case of HONY, the expressions, laugh lines, tired eyes, body language and colorful clothing captured in every unique photo express an idea of universal connectedness that words simply cannot. The audience reacts to these pictures so strongly because they relate to the individuals depicted.

While news reporting and text journalism undoubtedly have their benefits, photojournalism is a sphere of media that is not utilized nearly enough and given the credit it deserves. Many look at photography as simply learning how to point and shoot, but it takes just as much effort and learning as becoming a columnist or editor. A photo accompaniment is seen as an unimportant addition or support to a story. We don’t realize that many times, the text itself lends support to the photo — the all-encompassing, attention grabbing, real focus of the entire piece.

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