Woolf as a photojournalist

My friend took this photo when we were at a coffee shop one day. This couple was just sitting down together talking and laughing over the books they were reading. (Photo: Abbie Mills)

As soon as we began talking about how Virginia Woolf gives us small snapshots of her characters in her novel Mrs. Dalloway, there was only one thing that I could think of--photojournalism.

Perhaps it was only because of my slight obsession with photography that the buzzword "snapshot" caught my attention during class that day, but whatever the case I think that Virginia Woolf's writing style and photojournalism share several similarities.

As we learned in Woolf's essays, she thinks that a novel isn't a novel unless it is intensely focused on the characters in the novel. She expresses her annoyance at Edwardian writers by saying 

"They have looked very powerfully, searchingly, and sympathetically out of the window; at factories, at Utopias, even at the decoration and upholstery of the carriage; but never at her, never at life, never at human nature" 

This is a beautiful picture of street lamps
in Romania, but it doesn't tell much of
a story. (Photo: Nat'l Geographic)

A great deal of photography is having good-looking photos of objects or landscapes. Of course these photos are beautiful and amazing to look at, but these photos do not seek to ask or answer questions of human existence. They merely look nice, much like how Woolf is saying that Edwardians' writing looks nice but doesn't capture the depth of humanity. 

"Life is not a series of gig lamps symmetrically arranged; but a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end," says Woolf in another essay on writing fiction. 

Photojournalism recognizes this too. Life isn't an artistically arranged bouquet of flowers, and it isn't edited to perfection either. Life is about the people on this planet, the decisions they make, the things they create, and the interactions they share.

I love this photo of a family dinner where
the relatives are laughing and joking
with each other around the table. Photos
like this capture the emotions involved
in everyday life and then you, as the viewer,
also share in those emotions.
(Photo: Julian Smith)

Photojournalism captures human activity in a way that can both tell a story and challenge the viewer. Photojournalism is all about capturing the action--emotions, expressions, and movements. The instructor for a  photojournalism class that I took during Agora Days once said, “Look out for and capture the moments--that’s what makes photojournalism interesting.”

And indeed, it is what makes photojournalism interesting. For those captured moments are moments that reveal our character and our humanity. Photos like these can create bonds of recognition between people who have never even seen each other because many times we share more similarities than we first assume. There's something about being able to understand where another person is coming from that allows us to respect each other so much more.

When I see this photo I get a feeling
of happy contentment. Perhaps it's
because seeing this embrace reminds
me of hugs that I have shared with
people that I care about. Remembering
those hugs establishes a connection
between my life and the actions of
those in this picture
(Photo: Nat'l Geographic). 

The camera can only pick up so much, it's up to the viewer to decide what they see in a picture. Often times, when looking at photos, you get bombarded with emotions that then turn into thoughts and memories. Memories and thoughts that can either challenge your values and change your character, or impart a happy nostalgia and sense of wonder. These emotions reveal your own character to you when you look at dramatic photos.

Photojournalism also gives us glimpses into the darker sides of human nature with pictures of war and suffering. These pictures make the struggles of people all around the world all the more real to us. 

This picture of a mother and
her son in the aftermath of
the atomic bomb on Hiroshima
is a solemn reminder of the
unrelenting pain of war.
(Photo: Life Magazine)

Through Woolf's characters in Mrs. Dalloway, we see not only the outwardly respectable appearances, but also the complicated and conflicting emotions that go on behind the scenes in the minds of the characters. We see several sides to Clarissa and Peter, and we are privy to most of the thoughts and resulting actions of the characters in the book. Nobody is perfect, and Woolf's characters are certainly no exception.

Woolf's obsession with uncovering human nature to make more realistic art (in her case the art of the novel) could have made her a great photojournalist, but I'm glad she stuck with writing.

Although two different mediums, one writing and the other photography, both Woolf and photojournalists have the responsibility to accurately portray human emotion and character through their art for their respective audiences. Through both photojournalism and Woolf's novels, we learn what it means to be a part of this vast world full of unique human beings.