Abstract

Photojournalism is rapidly reconfiguring in the digital post-media age as print media outlets shrink or cease to exist. This article will critically examine contemporary photojournalism, reframing its practice globally within the contemporary techno-creative practice of the art world. The article will focus on key photographic projects from Oculi, a collective of photographers portraying the beauty, wonder, and struggle of daily life in Australia, as the case study to reframe the definition of photojournalism. Oculi is emblematic of the normative art world and evolution within the practice of photojournalism. The photo-essay, according to theorists David Campany and Allan Sekula, does not extend beyond the print media. Although the history of photography situates the photo-essay as flourishing in the shadow of journalistic media practices, the rapid decline of traditional media print outlets indicates an urgent necessity to redefine photojournalism. Reframing photojournalism will extend the practice into a contemporary techno-creative world of art practice through ideas such as Alexandre Astruc’s metaphor “Camera Stylo” (camera pen) and David Campany’s concept of “late photography.” The article proposes that photojournalism outside the parameters of the media and the “event” as “late photography” can also include the human element, not just the empty melancholy of disaster or aftermath.