The latest violence in Thailand had recently came to a temporary conclusion with the Red Shirts protesters being dispersed out of their encampment by the government who is trying to regain stability in the kingdom.

But this is not my main talking point. The reason why we are kept aware and knowing of the happenings of Thailand is because of the international media’s ability to broadcast news to other nations. The media plays a very big part in being the informant of world.

Photojournalism is one of them.

Here is a look at a documentation of the situation in Thailand by one of the greatest documentary photographers to date, James Nachtwey.

View the photos here and here.

Look at how close James Natchtwey engages his subjects, giving the viewer a sense of a first-person experience in his photos. In my own opinion, it is was almost as though I was in the midst of the fight. This is what photojournalism can do, being able to document and use images to invoke reactions and opinions to the masses. It has so much potential that governments try to regulate them, using it to their benefit.

Photojournalism unlike other forms of photography is raw and direct. You’ll see that the images are seldom or even not at all manipulated digitally. It is taken as it is, printed and published straight into the newspapers. Even in terms of composition, the photographer is very careful in choosing his subjects to take, how he angles and frames his images. I have even heard that photographers try to refrain from using wide lens so that they do not distort reality in their images. That is why 35mm or 50mm lens and above are preferred.

And the best part about photojournalism is that you do not need any pre-requisites to start out. Just step out of your house and start taking pictures to document almost anything you want, be it the happenings in the morning of your neighborhood or even document night life in the busy streets of town areas. If you are a person who loves to capture moments of birthday parties, weddings or even simple outings with friends. Try to do something different by observing your surroundings around and try to come up with more interesting subjects to capture a better essence of what’s happening. It is that simple.

Here is the hard part, anyone can take a picture, but not everyone can take an effective picture. So do not be dismayed if your photos do not end up the way you want them to be, just take it as a form of practice. Who knows one day you’ll end up documenting in the front lines of a conflict zone?

Happy Shooting!