There are times when people feel compelled to document an event. Of all the creative ways we have come up with to do this, the vast majority choose to use only two methods: Taking photos or filming. Both have their advantages, but they also have their drawbacks. The people participating in the event that we are documenting might not feel comfortable being filmed or photographed, which is entirely their right. When you choose to document an event with a quick illustration or sketch, it completely changes your role and others’ reactions to you.
As artist Mario Minichiello puts it when he talks of Reportage Illustration, “it’s difficult to be offended by a large gentleman with a crayon”