ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how attitudes have changed regarding photography's ability to document. The central issue of the documentary photograph hinges upon the relationship between the cameras ability to record and the selection of appropriate information by the photographer. The chapter considers the power of the photograph to instigate social and cultural change. The work of photographers Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine are particularly good examples in this context. Riis and Hine are considered to be the pioneers of social documentary photography. More recently, with the greater proliferation of photography, the approach developed by marginalised cultural groups or social groups. In 1930, in Berlin, the Workers International Relief established Workers Camera Leagues which spread through Europe and across to the United States. In the United States, the Workers Film and Photo League started to produce propaganda movies. The photojournalist working for today's newspaper color supplements would be fortunate if three or four pictures were printed as a piece of photojournalism.
