What do you think?
Rate this book
Get the Picture: A Personal History of Photojournalism
How do photojournalists get the pictures that bring us the action from the world's most dangerous places? How do picture editors decide which photos to scrap and which to feature on the front page?
Find out in Get the Picture, a personal history of fifty years of photojournalism by one of the top journalists of the twentieth century. John G. Morris brought us many of the images that defined our era, from photos of the London air raids and the D-Day landing during World War II to the assassination of Robert Kennedy. He tells us the inside stories behind dozens of famous pictures like these, which are reproduced in this book, and provides intimate and revealing portraits of the men and women who shot them, including Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and W. Eugene Smith. A firm believer in the power of images to educate and persuade, Morris nevertheless warns of the tremendous threats posed to photojournalists today by increasingly chaotic wars and the growing commercialism in publishing, the siren song of money that leads editors to seek pictures that sell copies rather than those that can change the way we see the world.
Find out in Get the Picture, a personal history of fifty years of photojournalism by one of the top journalists of the twentieth century. John G. Morris brought us many of the images that defined our era, from photos of the London air raids and the D-Day landing during World War II to the assassination of Robert Kennedy. He tells us the inside stories behind dozens of famous pictures like these, which are reproduced in this book, and provides intimate and revealing portraits of the men and women who shot them, including Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and W. Eugene Smith. A firm believer in the power of images to educate and persuade, Morris nevertheless warns of the tremendous threats posed to photojournalists today by increasingly chaotic wars and the growing commercialism in publishing, the siren song of money that leads editors to seek pictures that sell copies rather than those that can change the way we see the world.
332 pages, Paperback
First published June 15, 2002
3 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
John G. Morris
3 booksLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
John Godfrey Morris is a picture editor and an important figure in the history of photojournalism. (Source: Wikipedia)
John Godfrey Morris is a picture editor and an important figure in the history of photojournalism. (Source: Wikipedia)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 10, 2018
Básico para todo aquel que quiera conocer la historia del periodismo del siglo XX, en especial, del fotoperiodismo y el impacto de la agencia Magnum. Es increíble lo crucial que es John Morris. No es caro y ofrece, como es lógico, todas las imágenes que se mencionan en el texto. Señalo este punto en particular porque las ediciones recopilatorias suelen estar al doble de lo que vale este libro.
December 18, 2025
Get the Picture is not a book about glamour or heroics, but a clear-eyed account of how history is witnessed, shaped, and presented to the public. John G. Morris writes from a rare vantage point—not as the photographer in the field, but as the editor who helped determine which images the world would see.
The book blends memoir with the evolution of modern photojournalism, moving through pivotal moments of the twentieth century while introducing legendary photographers and journalists. Morris’s tone is measured and reflective, grounded in professional responsibility rather than self-importance.
What makes the book especially compelling is its focus on judgment. Morris explores the ethical weight carried by every photograph and the pressures editors face when balancing truth, timing, censorship, and consequence. The dangers are real but never sensationalized—physical risks for photographers, moral risks for those shaping the narrative.
Written with clarity and humility, Get the Picture deepens appreciation for both the power of images and the responsibility behind them. It is essential reading for anyone interested in journalism, history, or how visual truth reaches the world.
The book blends memoir with the evolution of modern photojournalism, moving through pivotal moments of the twentieth century while introducing legendary photographers and journalists. Morris’s tone is measured and reflective, grounded in professional responsibility rather than self-importance.
What makes the book especially compelling is its focus on judgment. Morris explores the ethical weight carried by every photograph and the pressures editors face when balancing truth, timing, censorship, and consequence. The dangers are real but never sensationalized—physical risks for photographers, moral risks for those shaping the narrative.
Written with clarity and humility, Get the Picture deepens appreciation for both the power of images and the responsibility behind them. It is essential reading for anyone interested in journalism, history, or how visual truth reaches the world.
April 8, 2012
E la fotografia dov'è??? Non c'è quasi niente in questo libro che si soffermi con pazienza e profondità sulle questioni cuore della fotografia: cosa significa "andare troppo vicino" (R. Capa), quale foto scegliere per un servizio editoriale, cosa scartare e cosa mostrare. La più discussa foto del 900 - il miliziano spagnolo ucciso - viene citata in meno righe di quante vengono dedicate alla nascita dei figli dell'autore. E un bel chissenefrega?
Morris scrive con uno stile rapido e monocorde, piatto e freddo; ma quello che resta è un banale libro di memorie, non una riflessione sulla fotografia di reportage.
Un libro che decisamente non mantiene quanto promette.
Morris scrive con uno stile rapido e monocorde, piatto e freddo; ma quello che resta è un banale libro di memorie, non una riflessione sulla fotografia di reportage.
Un libro che decisamente non mantiene quanto promette.
December 31, 2016
Wciagajaca, pelna szczegolowych informacji ksiazka, ktorej chaotycznosc przypisuje osobiscie jedynie tlumaczowi i wydawnictwu. Masa literowek (np. przeez, piety) i bledow merytorycznych (ciezko jest mi uwierzyc ze autor sam w dwuch kolejnych linijkach zdolal pomylic nazwisko przyjaciela) odbiera przyjemnosc czytania i niezmiernie irytuje. Odnioslam wrazenie, ze ksiazka zostala przetlumaczona i wydana z mysla, ze i tak nikt jej nie przeczyta.
October 15, 2017
E la fotografia dov'è??? Non c'è quasi niente in questo libro che si soffermi con pazienza e profondità sulle questioni cuore della fotografia: cosa significa "andare troppo vicino" (R. Capa), quale foto scegliere per un servizio editoriale, cosa scartare e cosa mostrare. La più discussa foto del 900 - il miliziano spagnolo ucciso - viene citata in meno righe di quante vengono dedicate alla nascita dei figli dell'autore. E un bel chissenefrega? Morris scrive con uno stile rapido e monocorde, piatto e freddo; ma quello che resta è un banale libro di memorie, non una riflessione sulla fotografia di reportage. Un libro che decisamente non mantiene quanto promette.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews