Raymer addresses Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club
First, he was a soldier, serving as an officer in Vietnam. Then he was a photojournalist for National Geographic. Finally, he was a professor at Indiana University.
But Steve Raymer’s heart, he said, has always been in Asia.
Journalism professor emeritus Steve Raymer shared thoughts on modern visual media ethics, stories from his career and images from his new memoir during a presentation to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong on Jan. 22.
The images he captured during his many trips to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Russia focused on several themes, ranging from religion to conflict to everyday life. Many are featured in his new memoir, Somewhere West of Lonely: My Life in Pictures, published by IU Press.
Raymer focused on three traditions in visual journalism to frame the key messages of his presentation. First, he argued that it is a journalist’s duty to take an unblinking look at life and act as society’s professional eyewitness.
He also elaborated on the tradition of exposing social evils, citing photographers who published images of child labor in the early 20th century.
The tradition of capturing the common connections that exist across humanity was juxtaposed with images that Raymer said captured not just big moments, but the small details that led up to them that truly encapsulate shared humanity.
The importance of moral behaviors and empathy that photojournalism requires in today’s political and ethical environment were also a topic of Raymer’s presentation. He called for commitment to the truth, the public and to functioning democracies.
“A professional journalist,” Raymer said, “holds himself or herself to ideals that are morally permissible in ways that go beyond — the key word — what the law, or the market, or morality, and public opinion would otherwise require.”
Raymer’s photographs are on display at the FCC in Hong Kong until Feb. 17.
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