Kenji Nagai
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Kenji Nagai was given a contract to work for Tokyo’s AFP
News. His worked involved travelling to dangerous places in the Middle East. So
throughout his career Nagai travelled to places like Afghanistan, Cambodia, the
Palestinian territories, and Iraq, taking photographs that captured the essence
of war. Hi images where shown on television for the world to see. Kenji Nagai
was a famous photojournalist because he showed no fear when it came to filming
in dangerous places. According to The
Times, an associate of Nagai's said he was "relentless" when
it came to covering a story, believing that he had to travel to "the
places nobody wants to go."
Kenji Nagai was started working from 1997 until his
death. So during this time he was able to cover captured the essence of war. So
photojournalism was very popular during that time especially with the war going
on. People back at home wanted to see how their country was doing, so it was up
to Kenji to get those important images and produce film of it.
The thing that motivated Nagai was he wanted to show
everyone worldwide what it was like in the most dangerous of places. He felt
that most people around the world don’t have the faintness of ideas of what it
is like in some of these third world countries. His work showed a lot of truth
behind secrets which important people didn’t like. After he graduated from
university he stated that he wanted to go nowhere no one wanted to photograph.
So he thought the best place of that would be in the action.
Kenji Nagai carried out his work with a small camera that
could record videos to. The pros of this is that its light to carry so he can
easily move around and get the perfect picture. Cameras that photojournalist during
Kenji time was very reliable because it would produce quality pictures from
such a small device. Cameras made in the 21st century includes a lot
of features even though it is a small device. That’s what consumers want in today’s
society which is to see how many features they can have in small products.
Photojournalist like Kenji Nagai took full advantage of this.
Being a photojournalist you are going to have a lot of enemies
in your field. Kenji Nagai had a lot of people that disliked his work because
he found out the real truth behind some of these dangerous places. Kenji Nagai
work was so powerful is caused him to be on a hit list from a couple of groups.
So Kenji Nagai was killed by Burmese troops cracking down on antigovernment
demonstrations in Rangoon, according to official Japanese state-run television.
After his death it was discovered that Nagai was deliberately targeted by
solders of Burmese. What makes Nagai stand out is when he was shot in the
chest, he still continued to film while on the floor injured
Kenji Nagai was very one sided with his work, his work
consisted of going into places that others wouldn’t dare to go and that was to
war. Kenji Nagai loved the feeling that his life was on the line when he
started working. In essence you could say that he felt like he was a solider. One
of the things that I have learnt from this class is that you should have a variety
of work because you will stand out more to the public.
Image One
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Quality of Light, this makes the picture stand out more
because you can see the helicopter flying over the solider. The location of the
sun makes it easier to see both of the objects. I love that the photojournalist
chose to shoot this picture at that time of day because there is so many
factors that are used in this picture which make it unique.
Background compliments or
detracts from composition:
So as I have mention that the helicopter in the background goes well with the
whole image. I also like the idea that you have a clear visibility of the
clouds and they are shot in a beautiful color. The sun light fades in well with the clouds
which allows you to see it from a distance.
KEEP IT SIMPLE: I feel like this picture is pretty
simple to understand. There are only two objects in the picture so it’s not too
confusing to grasp the concept of the picture. With this image being simple to understand
people would enjoy looking at this picture. This is because most people dot
like looking at war pictures because the majority of them involve violence
which people don’t like.
I
think this is an intriguing picture because it uses a variety of colors which
help the image stand out. This image doesn’t show violence so I think people
will like to view this.
Image 2:
I thought this
picture was interesting because of his facial expression. I feel like he was
forced to be a solider because you can see fear in his face. He is a young
person who could have had a bright future but was enrolled in the army. So this
picture shows that others don’t have a choice what to do but enroll.
Image 3:
I chose this
image because I thought it was very powerful because against all of the odds
they still stood up for what they believed in. Especially if they were being
shot at my officers. That didn’t stop them and I commend them on that.
Image 4:
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Background
compliments or detracts from composition: You can see the innocent people
running away once they heard the sound of a gun go off. By the way they are
running you know that they are scared for their life. Especially when you see
the person on the floor next to them. It’s an instinct to their body system to
run away from danger.
What
feelings does the image create? This picture is emotional because no one wants
to see people run in fear after a gunshot goes off. As well in this picture you
can see a dead body just lying in the middle of the road. People in the road don’t
like to see things like that. This goes on in today’s society; I know that in
some news companies in other countries don’t show images like this because it
upsets their viewers which they don’t want to do.
Does the
image remind you of any work of art or photograph you have seen? Well this
image has reminded me on a piece of work we have done in this class and that is
for a photojournalist you sometimes have to take pictures from a dangerous position.
That’s what Kenji Nagai did and he suffered the consequences as he was shot in
this picture by a solider.
I chose
this picture because it shows that Kenji Nagai enjoyed what he was doing for a
living even though it meant that it could be his last day. Kenji lived live on
the edge and for that he will always be remembered for what he has done. After
his death they made a Kenji Nagai Award which
highlights individuals who have reported the truth about Myanmar.
I major in English and communications. I hope to be a
sports writer in the future. The things I can take from this class is how to
take the perfect picture weather it’s a team picture or an individual.
Kenji Nagai was viewed as a guy who took risks so he
could reap the rewards in a small amount of time. As soon as he came out of
college he knew how to get his name out there and he did it. Kenji Nagai always
said that he wanted to take pictures that no one would ever dream to. His work
as inspired other young journalist to never give up even if you have people
that are trying to stop you.
Kenji Nagai Collage
| By Matthew Jones |
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