Capturing the Soul of A Scene

By Suriani Razali KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 (Bernama) -- Journalism is not only about news writing. The accompanying photographs matter just as much. A good photograph does not only complement a news article. Often, it adds depth to the story and delivers a powerful message that simply cannot be conveyed by words alone. Capturing such photographs requires a lot from the photographer. Aside from good technical skills, a good photojournalist needs to be patient and ready, and must have the creativity to approach a scene from an angle that makes it engaging. He needs to be bold and confident and most importantly, he needs to be able to capture the soul of the scene. Many top photojournalists agree that good photographs speak to the emotions. Mazlan Samion, 40, understands these concepts and executes them well. This is attested by the numerous national and international awards won by the National News Agency (Bernama) photographer. On July 14, he was also announced the first prize winner at an international photography competition organised by the Islamic Arts Museum of Malaysia themed “A Spiritual Journey: Islamic Culture and Heritage in Southeast Asia. His winning entry entitled “Jalan ke Jannah” (The Journey to Paradise) featured a photograph he took in 2015 in conjunction with the Nuzul Al-Quran celebration that year. IT CAN’T BE STAGED Mazlan, who has been with Bernama for 13 years, is a firm believer of ethical journalism. “Every scene captured must be a realistic one. As photojournalists, we are taught to tell things as it is. Nothing should be staged or manipulated. “That also means that we are not allowed to alter a photograph after it has been taken, such as by superimposing it,” he said. He also believed in giving a task his all. “We tend to give our best when we have the passion for it. When we think about how what we do will benefit a lot of people, we would go all out to accomplish it,” he said recently during an interview on NINE11, a live programme by the Bernama News Channel (BNC) Mazlan said that in getting good photographs, experience is key. “Knowledge is what you get when you learn, but it is experience that makes us wiser. Experiences teaches me how deal with each subject matter and that we need to do our research in advance,” he said. MINI AMBASSADORS Photojournalists should also be bold in order to be able to obtain great photographs suitable for public consumption, he said. He regards Bernama photojournalists as ‘mini ambassadors’ for the country, as the photographs they take would be picked up by local and international media. Mazlan said good preparation and research was crucial prior to an assignment, what more with overseas assignments. He cited the example of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii which he was assigned to cover 2011. The meeting was held in conjunction with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit and among those who attended were the then US President, Barack Obama and the Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak. “The president’s bodyguards had ordered me to remove myself from the area but at the time Obama was shaking hands with the heads of state and I was not able to get a good shot because Obama had his back towards me. So I asked permission to get a better angle and they allowed me, but only for a few seconds. “I used those few seconds the best I could. I called out to President Obama three times before he finally turned towards me, enabling me to get a shot of him shaking hands with Najib,” he said. Getting that golden shot with just a click at an opportune moment gave him an immense sense of accomplishment. The icing on the cake was when the photograph was used on the front page of the major newspapers in Malaysia. SHARING THE KNOWLEDGE Mazlan is also the Welfare Exco of the Malaysian Press Photographers Association, an association which objective is to uplift the status of Malaysian press photographers and safeguard their welfare. He is keen on sharing his skill and knowledge in photography, often revealing his techniques with students of journalism at Universiti Teknologi MARA, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Universiti Selangor while serving as a part-time instructor at the institutions. “We will never run out of knowledge and when share what we have gained, the benefits and reward from it will multiply until long after we are gone,” he said. (photoBERNAMA) -- BERNAMA