In her obituary for Robert Doisneau (2 April) Val Williams notes The Late Show' 's 'modish' interest in him, but succumbs to the equally modish view that 'Photojournalism, with all its claims for veracity, is as much a construct as a well-crafted peice of fiction.' This is just not true and dangerously undermines photojournalism's valuable social role.
The fact that a minimal amount of construction is involved in all photography,
e.g. selecting what to include in the frame, does not entail that all photographs
are highly constructed... Many photojournalists go to great lengths, sometimes
losing their lives, to bring us images of what has actually happened, and value
their reputations for honesty and objectivity, particularly now that computers make image-manipulation so easy. Their work should not be compared to fiction, despite some modish Post-Modernists. Photographs can be used as evidence in court, novels can't.
