Eyetrack:Photojournalism What makes a
photo worth publishing? S A R A Q U I N N M E D I A @saraquinn ! Research for the National Press Photographers Association

“What can you tell me
about photojournalism from Poynter’s eyetrack research?”

Documentary photos get more
attention than static or posed photos. ! Faces attract a lot of attention—often the first thing looked at, in a photograph. ! Mugshots get only a fleeting glance— purely informational, unless there is strong, supporting information in the presentation. E A R L I E R P O Y N T E R S T U D I E S

What makes a photo
worth publishing?

Eyetrack:Photojournalism What makes a
photo worth publishing?

Eyetrack:Photojournalism Exploratory research to start
conversation about news photography.

Howdiscerningare
peoplewholookat
journalisticphotos?

Whatdotheyvalue?

Whatdotheyvalue?
Whatdotheyremember?

Dotheytrust
whattheysee?

Whatmakesthemwant
toshareanimage?

Doesqualitymatter?

Whatis“quality?”

Weaskedthem.

Wewatchedthem.

Andweanalyzed
thewaytheylooked
at200photographs.

Fifty-twopeopletookpartinourstudy inMay2014,attheUniversityofMinnesota. ! ! !
THE STUDY Female Male50% 50%

“Digital Natives” “Printnets” ! 18-30
years old 45-60 years old51% 49% Wetestedtwo,distinctagegroups. ! ! ! Born into a digital world. One foot in the print world, one foot in digital. THE STUDY

Peopletookpartinfiveelementsoftesting duringanhourlongsessionwithselected photographs. ! !
! THE STUDY

100 photos contributed by the
public (user generated content) 100 photos taken by professional photojournalists + 200 photos shown randomly between pro and UGC

THE STUDY All images had
been published by news organizations. 200 photos shown randomly between pro and UGC

We recorded eye movements to
see what subjects looked at, at any given time.

We recorded eye movements to
see what subjects looked at, at any given time. 1. Eyetracking

An invisible, infrared camera captures
the gaze of the eyes.

Our eye tracking gear created
a video that revealed the gaze of the eye.

THE STUDY We asked subjects
to rate the quality of each image. 2. Quality rating

THE STUDY We asked subjects
to rate the quality of each image. And the likelihood that they might share it. 3. Probability of sharing

“Was this photograph taken by
a professional photojournalist, or not?” 4. Presumption of source

5. Exit Interviews

Captions appeared as originally published,
including the photographer’s name, though we excluded the publication name.

PhotojournalistsamonghardesthitbyU.S.jobcuts 2000 2005 2010 2012
Reporters, writers ! ! ! ! ! Copy editors, layout editors, online producers ! Photographers, videographers, artists 25,593 ! ! ! ! 10,901 ! 6,171 17,422 ! ! 7,980 ! 3,493 Pew Research Center, American Society of News Editors, 2013

PhotojournalistsamonghardesthitbyU.S.jobcuts 2000 2005 2010 2012
Reporters, writers ! ! ! ! ! Copy editors, layout editors, online producers ! Photographers, videographers, artists 25,593 ! ! ! ! 10,901 ! 6,171 -32 ! ! -27 ! -43 Pew Research Center, American Society of News Editors, 2013

Major
findings

100 photos contributed by the
public (user generated content) 100 photos taken by professional photojournalists + 200 photos

People spent 50 percent longer
with the professional photographs in the study FINDINGS User-submitted news photographs Professional photojournalism

People were able to identify
a professionally taken photo 90 percent of the time. ! ! ! FINDINGS

Average time spent looking at
professional photographs in the study: FINDINGS Faces 36% 33% Captions

Average time spent looking at
professional photographs in the study: FINDINGS 14% Bodies Faces 36% 33% Captions 10% Details 7% Other

FINDINGS Each of the highest
rated photographs in the study was taken by a professional photojournalist.

FINDINGS Of the 25 highest
rated photos: ! ! ! ! ! ! Women, particularly older women, were most likely to give a photo the highest rating. Older men were most likely to give a lower rating. Younger men least likely to give either the highest or lowest rating. ! News ! Features ! Sports 11 ! 9 ! 5 professional ! professional ! professional

FINDINGS Professional photos in the
study were twice as likely to be shared.

What were people likely to
share? FINDINGS

Social media, e-mail or,
“Hey, you have to see this!” FINDINGS

… Emotional, relatable photographs.
FINDINGS

This dog, “Otto,” was the
only UGC photograph to make the list of most shareable photos. .

OBSERVATIONS: People were drawn to
faces, first, even in a complex image. People were drawn to faces first, even in a complex image.

OBSERVATIONS: People were drawn to
faces, first, even in a complex image.

OBSERVATIONS: People were drawn first,
to faces.

OBSERVATIONS: People were drawn first,
to faces.

OBSERVATIONS: People were drawn first,
to faces.

FINDINGS
EarlierPoyntereyetrackfindings…inlieu
ofadominantelement,facesdrewattention.

FINDINGS
EarlierPoyntereyetrackfindings…inlieu
ofadominantelement,facesdrewattention.

FINDINGS
EarlierPoyntereyetrackfindings…inlieu
ofadominantelement,facesdrewattention.

FINDINGS
EarlierPoyntereyetrackfindings…inlieu
ofadominantelement,facesdrewattention.

FINDINGS
EarlierPoyntereyetrackfindings…inlieu
ofadominantelement,facesdrewattention.

FINDINGS Test subjects showed great
interest in interactions between people in a photo.

They were also interested in
the interaction between people in the frame. FINDINGS “Emotional” content was often cited as making a photo most interesting.

FINDINGS Captions were well read
in the study.

FINDINGS The longer or better-developed
a caption, the more likely the photo itself received attention.

OBSERVATIONS:

People look back and forth
between caption and image, establishing context.

FINDINGS Captions in our survey
of user-generated photographs tended to be poorly-developed.

Mostmemorable?

FINDINGS Each photo cited as
“most memorable” was a professional image.

MOST MEMORABLE PHOTOGRAPHS: “My gosh,
this told a story. And, it immediately drew me in.”

MOST MEMORABLE PHOTOGRAPHS: “The one
of the two ladies leaving the dance floor. You could tell that they were happy. The picture, itself, told a good story. Not the caption—just the picture itself.”

MOST MEMORABLE PHOTOGRAPHS: “The two
guys hugging. It captured emotion. It was being in the right place and capturing the photo at exactly the right time.”

MOST MEMORABLE PHOTOGRAPHS: “A girl
being happy and young and carefree over this very, very somber place. It was just a great picture.”

MOST MEMORABLE PHOTOGRAPHS: “The little
girl—there’s obviously the contrast between life and death. It was a natural photo that represented some very interesting ideas. And the moment that it captured … it seemed very genuine.”

MOST MEMORABLE PHOTOGRAPHS: “I’m not
a sports person, at all. But … it’s a high quality photo, catching the moment—the guy being called out on whatever base it was. I remember the emotion in the moment.”

MOST MEMORABLE PHOTOGRAPHS: “A dramatic,
human moment. Something that can tell the story on it’s own. Something I don’t see. Like, the firefighters getting the bus driver out … without that picture we would never have that perspective.”

MOST MEMORABLE PHOTOGRAPHS: “There was
like a split second where she let go of the golf club — and it was crystal clear. It was up close. It caught a big moment. That’s the kind of stuff I like to linger over, and just marvel at.”

MOST MEMORABLE PHOTOGRAPHS: “Rich and
beautifully colored. Technical perfection. Clarity of focus.”

MOST MEMORABLE PHOTOGRAPHS: “The guy
with a flamingo wrapped around his head. It was such a fun, unexpected picture.”

MOST MEMORABLE PHOTOGRAPHS: “The photographer
would have had been laying on the ground! And, this is what we’ve all been feeling here in Minnesota. Ready for spring.”

MOST MEMORABLE PHOTOGRAPHS: “It’s not
that it’s rare, it’s that someone has decided to see it!”

What is
quality?

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: People weren’t
shy when describing what they didn’t like: — nothing of interest in that photo to me, personally — just the backs of heads — just another, every day moment — just someone smiling at the camera, posed — just a crowd shot — just another snapshot — just a cell phone picture — a line-up of people, rather than a moment — PR pictures, social media pictures — too far away from the subject — cropped funny — no story to it — not enough information

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: People weren’t
shy when describing what they didn’t like: — nothing of interest in that photo to me, personally — just the backs of heads — just another, every day moment — just someone smiling at the camera, posed — just a crowd shot — just another snapshot — just a cell phone picture — a line-up of people, rather than a moment — PR pictures, social media pictures — too far away from the subject — cropped funny — no story to it — not enough information

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: People weren’t
shy when describing what they didn’t like: — nothing of interest in that photo to me, personally — just the backs of heads — just another, every day moment — just someone smiling at the camera, posed — just a crowd shot — just another snapshot — just a cell phone picture — a line-up of people, rather than a moment — PR pictures, social media pictures — too far away from the subject — cropped funny — no story to it — not enough information

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: People weren’t
shy when describing what they didn’t like: — nothing of interest in that photo to me, personally — just the backs of heads — just another, every day moment — just someone smiling at the camera, posed — just a crowd shot — just another snapshot — just a cell phone picture — a line-up of people, rather than a moment — PR pictures, social media pictures — too far away from the subject — cropped funny — no story to it — not enough information

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: People weren’t
shy when describing what they didn’t like: — nothing of interest in that photo to me, personally — just the backs of heads — just another, every day moment — just someone smiling at the camera, posed — just a crowd shot — just another snapshot — just a cell phone picture — a line-up of people, rather than a moment — PR pictures, social media pictures — too far away from the subject — cropped funny — no story to it — not enough information

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: People weren’t
shy when describing what they didn’t like: — nothing of interest in that photo to me, personally — just the backs of heads — just another, every day moment — just someone smiling at the camera, posed — just a crowd shot — just another snapshot — just a cell phone picture — a line-up of people, rather than a moment — PR pictures, social media pictures — too far away from the subject — cropped funny — no story to it — not enough information

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: People weren’t
shy when describing what they didn’t like: — nothing of interest in that photo to me, personally — just the backs of heads — just another, every day moment — just someone smiling at the camera, posed — just a crowd shot — just another snapshot — just a cell phone picture — a line-up of people, rather than a moment — PR pictures, social media pictures — too far away from the subject — cropped funny — no story to it — not enough information

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: “Poor quality”
“TV stations that say, ‘Hey, send us pictures from your backyard!’ ” ! ! ! !

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: “A few
grip-and-grins, and people holding up fish.” ! ! ! ! ! “Poor quality”

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: Words to
describe “less than quality” photos: “A few grip-and-grins, and people holding up fish.” ! ! ! ! !

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: “I can
see them going in, to get the glasses for the eclipse … but, it would have been great to see the glasses.” Lowest quality ratings:

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: “Just a
bunch of people, standing in a line.” Lowest quality ratings:

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: “I just
don’t care! I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what’s going on in the game. It doesn’t seem newsworthy. Maybe with social media … but news, no.” Lowest quality ratings:

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: “I looked
and looked, but a photo of a dock where a boat floated away isn’t much of a photo.” Lowest quality ratings:

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: “The subject
of this is barely in the picture.” Lowest quality ratings:

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: “Quality” photos:
— tells me a story vs. just capturing a scene ! — the right place at the right time ! — kismet, in terms of the moment ! — subject matter that has some currency or relevance ! — capturing the exact moment that’s crucial to the action — dramatic, human moments ! — makes you say “wow” ! — a perspective I might never see ! ! !

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: “Quality” photos:
— tells me a story vs. just capturing a scene ! — the right place at the right time ! — kismet, in terms of the moment ! — subject matter that has some currency or relevance ! — capturing the exact moment that’s crucial to the action — dramatic, human moments ! — makes you say “wow” ! — a perspective I might never see ! ! !

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: “Quality” photos:
— tells me a story vs. just capturing a scene ! — the right place at the right time ! — kismet, in terms of the moment ! — subject matter that has some currency or relevance ! — capturing the exact moment that’s crucial to the action — dramatic, human moments ! — makes you say “wow” ! — a perspective I might never see ! ! !

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: “Quality” photos:
— tells me a story vs. just capturing a scene ! — the right place at the right time ! — kismet, in terms of the moment ! — subject matter that has some currency or relevance ! — capturing the exact moment that’s crucial to the action — dramatic, human moments ! — makes you say “wow” ! — a perspective I might never see ! ! !

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: “Quality” photos:
— tells me a story vs. just capturing a scene ! — the right place at the right time ! — kismet, in terms of the moment ! — subject matter that has some currency or relevance ! — capturing the exact moment that’s crucial to the action — dramatic, human moments ! — makes you say “wow” ! — a perspective I might never see ! ! !

FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS: “Quality” photos:
— tells me a story vs. just capturing a scene ! — the right place at the right time ! — kismet, in terms of the moment ! — subject matter that has some currency or relevance ! — capturing the exact moment that’s crucial to the action — dramatic, human moments ! — makes you say “wow” ! — a perspective I might never see ! ! !

What makes a photo
worth publishing?

SELECTED COMMENTS FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS:
“(A photo where) someone’s recognizing the detail in something. If I feel like I’m actually seeing what they’re seeing.” ! ! ! !

Here’s why this was worth
your time.

Peopleclearlyrecognizethequality ofprofessionallygeneratedphotos. HERE’S WHY THIS
IS WORTH YOUR TIME

Themostmemorablephotosin thisstudyweretakenbyprofessionals. HERE’S WHY THIS
IS WORTH YOUR TIME

Peopleequatequalityphotography withcontext,emotionandstorytelling. HERE’S WHY THIS
IS WORTH YOUR TIME

Peopleshowinterestininteractions betweenpeopleinaphoto. HERE’S WHY THIS
IS WORTH YOUR TIME

Moreattentionisdrawntophotos ofrealpeople,doingthingsinrealtime —ratherthanstaticorposedphotos. HERE’S WHY
THIS IS WORTH YOUR TIME

Goodcaptionsmatterforcontext. HERE’S WHY THIS IS
WORTH YOUR TIME

Captionswithprofessionalimages aregenerallymoredevelopedthan UGCimages. HERE’S WHY
THIS IS WORTH YOUR TIME

Moretimeisspentwithphotographs thathavestrongcontext: ! a genuine
moment ! interaction/relationships ! emotion ! well-developed caption ! rare perspective ! storytelling ! HERE’S WHY THIS IS WORTH YOUR TIME

Some photos
are purely
informational.

Others show us time, place,
moment and story.

Questions?
@saraquinn
!
#eyetrackphoto
nppa.org

Questions?
@saraquinn @kmcbride