Striving for Objectivity in Documentary Photography

Pictured above is my hometown of Rochester, New York. To capture this photo, I went to East Ave on a sunny fall day, chose a spot in front of the Strasenburgh Planetarium, and crouched down to get an aesthetically pleasing angle. Although the photo has not been retouched, and I did not stage or manipulate any of the details or context, the image still represents Rochester with some level of subjectivity. I think that a photojournalist can perhaps use a camera to record certain aspects of reality objectively, but there is always some level of personal bias and decision-making involved in the…