My group researched reportage and editorial illustration. I focussed on the reportage side, looking into contextual references and the origins of this field of illustration, from the war drawings of WW1 to the more contemporary trend of urban sketches.
I found that reportage is quite a hard thing to pin point, with its boundaries blurring. There appears to be no definitive definition of the practice, no line where it starts and ends. At first I deemed urban sketches to not be considered reportage, as they were not so much telling a story, covering an issue or communicating an explicit experience as they were just drawing what is around them. However this can and is still considered reportage, its’ definition can be as simple as capturing life through observational drawing. It seems like that is the thread that ties all the different areas together as reportage, the emphasis on observational drawing and of capturing life. This really appeals to me in a way that I had previously overlooked; the fact that it can be as simple as that, there does not need to be a big story being told or an underlying issue being explored, but instead it can be documenting life and the story comes out of that very simple act. In this way, many illustrators and artists do in fact make reportage work, even if by themselves, as for many observational drawing of life around them is an intrinsic part of their practices.
When researching reportage I struggled with finding much information about the application of the practice. Newspapers and magazines are the usual context, however to find these resources can be hard to do. There does seem to be a resurgence in reportage illustration in the media though, reflected by the UWE Reportager Award, in conjunction with Moleskin.
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