Stuart Freedman

Photo Journalism

£45
Level: Peer






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The difference between Peer & Expert levels

Both Peer and Expert levels provide:

  • Video lessons led by an expert tutor
  • Downloadable lesson notes
  • Practice assignments
  • Group learning in a 20-student online classroom
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes, and classroom

The Expert level additionally includes:

  • Personalized feedback and coaching from your tutor
  • Private messaging with your tutor
  • Certificate of completion
Level: Peer

Course overview

Award-winning photographer and writer Stuart Freedman teaches you how to capture photo journalism stories and create your own portfolio of reportage photography.

What is reportage photography or photo journalism?

Reportage photography, including photojournalist and documentary traditions, is one of the most challenging and demanding of the visual professions. It includes capturing the story and the atmosphere and emotions of an event in your photo.

It requires technical ability, social skills, persistence and an instinct for a story.

You'll be creating your own photo journalistic portfolio of photos as you learn with Stuart.

Choose Expert option for personalised feedback on your photos from Stuart.

You'll learn:

  • what makes compelling images
  • composition and framing devices
  • equipment
  • techniques
  • best practice for photo journalists
  • real-life scenarios and challenges for photographers
  • story construction

Stuart will explain how to place reportage photography within an historical context whilst also examining contemporary practice and trends.

The course is clear about a documentary tradition that is allied to good journalism in print and film and is based around the construction of the classical photo essay rooted in the Humanist Documentary tradition.

The course covers equipment and technique but more importantly, the ballet of shooting reportage that concentrates on the ebb and flow of narrative, anticipation and the mechanics of actual story construction.

The course is heavy on best practice, ethics and using difficult real-life scenarios that examine the challenges facing working photographers. It tries to challenge the visual cliché of some photojournalistic work as well as some of the clichés about photographers themselves.

Stuart will show his work alongside great classics of the documentary tradition and at the end of each lesson he'll set an assignment that will push your practice forward.

You'll need:

  • a camera
  • 50mm lens

This photography course is aimed at keen amateur photographers and aspiring professionals.

The course includes:

  • 4 on-demand video lessons - presented by Stuart Freedman
  • lifetime access to the video, notes and interactive class
  • flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
  • downloadable lesson notes
  • practical (optional) photography assignments
  • access on your mobile, PC, Mac or laptop
  • small interactive online classroom chat online to students from around the world

Time to complete this photography course:

Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 11 hours 30 minutes to complete including:

  • Video lesson: 1 hour 30 minutes in total
  • Assignment: at least 2 hours per lesson
  • Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
  • Tutor feedback review (Expert level): 15 minutes per assignment

Ready to get started?

Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Stuart on your photos.

Any questions? Contact us by clicking on the orange speech symbol - we'd love to hear from you.

Lesson summary

Lesson 1: The history of Photo Journalism
In the opening lecture we investigate the potential for photographs to tell a story examining the history of the medium from its roots in early portraiture to the battlefields of the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries. We define the strands of photography and journalism – the traditions of both photojournalism and documentary work within the genre of reportage. We look at the tradition of both the concerned European and American traditions of social reportage combined with camera technology that became the Humanist Documentary tradition in the Golden Age of magazines. We look at the confusing contemporary reportage world and try to relate a reinterpretation of documentary forms within the written and filmic tradition. - We define a checklist for creating a readable and actionable photo-story.
Lesson 2: What makes an engaging image?
In the second lecture we ask ‘what makes an engaging image’? We look at the world of classical art and how that has influenced our vision of the world and building a mental scrapbook of devices of composition. We examine the tools of the reportage photographer from the camera to tricks of the trade, concentrating on exposure, colour and format. We examine compositional and graphical devices concentrating on framing and visual clarity looking at colour, texture and movement. We look at the ballet of photographing – literally where you stand to achieve engaging and impactful work.
Lesson 3: The Photo essay
In the third lecture, we discuss the core of reportage – the mechanics of photographing a story – the photo essay. We examine the ebb and flow of action in narrative: the role of anticipation and the Decisive Moment. We examine street photography, the law and ethics as they relate to working as a professional in the public sphere. We deconstruct classic photo-essays in order to define a structure that enables us to be able to construct our own essays that are readable and achievable. We relate that to scripting and editing but also to the role of serendipity and reactivity to events.
Lesson 4: Professional practice in the field
In the final lecture we talk about how we relate to the world and those that we record. -We talk about the role of the guide and professional practice in the field. We talk about the ethics of representation and professional standards - what is required when entering other people’s lives and how we sit, listen and blend to achieve intimacy. We discuss the morality of photojournalism using difficult real-life scenarios and the challenges of visual cliché including the problem of the image of the photojournalist. We examine contemporary documentary traditions and the confusing ‘bleed’ from the art world and the challenges of evolving media platforms. We examine the constant tension in reportage between what is fashionable and what is lasting - the responsibilities of what Cornell Capa described as the “creation of the visual history of our time”

Choose how you want to learn

Expert-level

Develop your learning further with marked assignments and personal tuition:

  • Start the course whenever you like
  • Tutor access for personalised assignment feedback & coaching
  • Certificate of completion and CPD learning hours
  • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
  • Lessons with expert videos & notes
  • Group chat & direct message with tutor & classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom

Peer-level

Get the most from shared knowledge and community study:

  • Start course whenever you like
  • Practise what you learn with your peers
  • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
  • Lessons with videos & notes
  • Course assignments
  • Group chat & direct message classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom
Portrait of Stuart Freedman

meet the expert

Stuart Freedman

Renowned photographer & writer acclaimed for global coverage & exhibitions, recognized by numerous awards.

Read more

Why choose Learning with Experts?

Start whenever it suits you, and immerse yourself in motivational lesson tutorials with expert guidance.
Enhance your learning and personal growth with lesson assignments. Each course includes an optional assignment at the end of every lesson.
Drop a friendly message or respond to your assignment feedback. Our world-class experts are just a click away, ready to help you!
Stay informed about your own progress and those of your peers, and take joy in celebrating achievements along the way.
Chat and share ideas with passionate communities of learners from around the world.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between PEER and EXPERT levels?

At Peer and Expert level, you get access to the same core content and features:

  • Video lesson tutorials led by your expert tutor
  • Downloadable lesson notes
  • Option to practise what you learn with lesson assignments
  • Group learning within an online interactive classroom of up to 20 classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes and classroom

If you choose Expert level, you get all of the above plus the following:

  • Personalised assignment feedback and coaching from your expert tutor
  • Opportunity to interact with your expert tutor through a private messaging system
  • Certificate of completion.
What is an online classroom?

Our online classroom has been developed to allow you to learn from our experts in a sociable environment alongside up to 20 other students. After each video tutorial led by your expert, you will be encouraged to practice what you have learned with optional assignments - these can be seen by the other students in your class, who are free to share their own thoughts and questions with you.

You will be encouraged to take part in an ongoing class discussion where you can discuss ideas, post images or work, and comment on each other’s assignments. It’s a great way to learn from other like-minded people who share your passion from all over the world.

This means not only do you benefit from people who are outstanding in their field, but also from a close-knit group of like-minded people whom you can learn alongside. Group learning has shown to greatly improve not just the experience of studying, but also how well you retain the knowledge, and we have built our classroom experience around this fact.
When can I start my course and how long will it take?

You can start your course any time within 12 months after receipt of your purchase confirmation email. Once you start, you’ll have lifetime access — meaning you can revisit the lesson videos and notes whenever you want.

Our courses are designed so that you can study at your own pace, some prefer to binge learn while others like to spread their studying over a longer period of time - it’s completely up to you. To give you a rough time frame, each lesson video is approximately 30-40 minutes long, and we recommend that you spend around an hour on each assignment.
How often can I speak with the Expert?

If you opt for the Expert version of your course, the time you have to interact with your tutor is limited to course length. You will have one week per lesson to chat to your tutor and to have your assignments marked, and during this period you can ask them as many questions as you would like.

To find out the length of each course, head to the product page and look at the Course outline to see how many lessons it contains. e.g. a four lesson course assumes that you will have completed the assignments within four weeks.

Your tutor interaction period will start as soon as you enter the classroom. If you find that you are struggling to complete the assignments in the allocated time or you wish to put this function on hold, just get in contact with one of the team via the support button and we will help you out.
Support and full FAQs

If you need any help with a course, be it one you’ve started already, or one you are looking to purchase, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support email address, or view the full FAQ’s here.

You can also use the orange speech bubble on your page to start a conversation with us.

For privacy or data questions, please contact us here.

Awards and accreditations

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