CSUN On Point

Los Angeles has long been known as the entertainment capital of the nation, but in recent years, it’s also becoming known as the homeless capital. Places like downtown Los Angeles’ Skid Row, Venice Beach, the Los Angeles River bed, and even the sidewalks around City Hall, have become home for many people. According to the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, more than 60,000 people in Los Angeles are homeless. All over the county, homeless people are struggling to live, struggling to stay clean, and struggling to get back on their feet — and all of them have stories to tell. But for journalists, covering these stories can present particular challenges.

CSUN Photojournalism Professor David Blumenkrantz has been documenting the lives of homeless people for years, and he said he tries not to show the ugliness of homelessness, but rather tries to show the beauty in the struggle. “We [need to] know them as people, not as a species,” he said. Blumenkrantz said he uses his photography to portray homeless individuals’ struggles.

But journalists and reporters have ethical standards, and Blumenkrantz said he must try to walk the line between what’s right and what’s wrong in his photography.

“[There can be a problem with] how [homeless people are] used, and how they’re presented,” he said. “It depends on their situation, but you try to put a human face to the crisis.”

“[I try to] remove the stigma,” Blumenkrantz said. “We have enough pictures of people in pain and suffering.”

Laura Rathbone is an activist for the homeless, and co-founder of Sisters on the Streets and the Hygiene Campaign, serving homeless people in the San Fernando Valley.

“I remember the first time [I helped a homeless person],” Rathbone said. “I got them connected. [I thought] ‘they’re gonna be off the streets’. But it wasn’t that easy. [It] took them eight months before they finally got off the streets.”

Those months on the street can be especially difficult for women. “Sometimes [homeless women] have to choose between a meal or female hygiene,” Rathbone said. “It’s not right. [Help for women] is needed.” The Hygiene Campaign has opened shower stations and provided soaps, hand sanitizers, and other hygiene products to homeless people, especially women. “And if you see a homeless girl,” Rathbone said, “give her a tampon!”

Blumenkrantz’s work has been exhibited at the Los Angeles Museum of Social Justice. He received the CSUN Exceptional Creative Accomplishments Award last spring for his work covering the homeless community.

Moderator: Londy Sagastume

Executive Producer: Ethan Hanson

Associate Producers: Veronica Barriga, Jasper Harris & Esteban Reynoso

Anchor: I’maiya Milan Wright

Social Media Editor: Bridgette Creamer

Reporters: Veronica Barriga, Ethan Hanson, Jasper Harris, Esteban Reynoso, Londy Sagastume, I’maiya Milan Wright

The image of a toddler’s body washed up on a Turkish beach was published and shared across the world.  The powerful image caused an international outcry over the refugee crisis in Syria, but it also raised some questions about ethics in photojournalism.

“Photos with children are always difficult,”CSUN Journalism Professor Stephanie Bluestein said.  “Any dead body is a touchy subject, but certainly when it’s a child. Having said that though, this photo really made a difference and it put this crisis on everyone’s radar, and people are starting to pay attention.”

In the early days of photojournalism, photographs of 19th century battlefields in Crimea and in the United States had great impact on people.  Mathew Brady and his crew of photographers took pictures of dead Confederate soldiers which portrayed the horror of war in ways people hadn’t seen before.

Images of dead American soldiers are not acceptable to most readers today, and many images of death remain controversial.

“I think the people need to see what’s going on,” Los Angeles Daily News photographer David Crane said. “It’s important.  Whether it’s horrible or beautiful, it’s important.”

“My only concern is that running too many dead body photos could desensitize, and perhaps has desensitized, the public,” Bluestein said. “But then on the other side, if you don’t run it, then you’re not really telling the truth, [or] letting the public know what’s going on.”

The 1930 image of a lynching in Indiana shocked people with its graphic and disturbing nature, and with the fact that it was also sold as a postcard.

“The impact of this photo is not just what’s happening there,” Crane said.  “It’s very surreal if you look at the faces of the crowd; it’s as if they’re there on a picnic.”

Dorothea Lange’s photographs of families affected by the Great Depression left a lasting impression in the minds of viewers.  The image of a migrant mother shows a family in despair, and opens the eyes of today’s viewers to how bad it was during that time.

“Any time you can take a concept like the Depression and humanize it, then it’s going to touch people’s hearts,” Bluestein said.

The humanization of the refugee crisis in Syria, achieved by the photograph showing young Aylan Kurdi lying face down on the shores of Turkey, touched hearts across the world, ultimately showing that there is power in a picture.

Moderator: Ericka Sims

Anchor: Mirna Duron

Producer: Nick Popham

Reporters: Anna Akopyan and Ashton Smith