Use Photographs To Tell A Story Or To Highlight An Issue

Use Photographs To Tell A Story Or To Highlight An Issue You Are Inter

Use photographs to tell a story or to highlight an issue you are interested in exploring. Choose two stories or issues. For the first story, create a constructed narrative using props, objects, and subjects, allowing for staged, fictional storytelling. For the second story, pursue a documentary narrative by capturing candid, real-life scenes in the environment. You will need to produce 10 photographs for each narrative, totaling 20 images. Pre-plan your stories by writing a script or outline, specifying what you intend to photograph, and gather props and subjects in advance.

In constructing your narrative, think creatively about storytelling techniques, inspired by works such as Duane Michals' “Things Are Queer”. Use props, objects, and carefully controlled lighting, backgrounds, and settings to craft a visual story that transports viewers to another place or scenario. For the documentary narrative, choose a simple subject—such as birds, litter, or people—and photograph spontaneously in the environment, capturing candid moments without altering the scene.

Pay close attention to lighting: use technique and style to enhance your story. For the documentary part, consider utilizing auto mode for quick shots, but maintain attention to composition, lighting, and shadows. For the constructed narrative, manually control your camera settings; a shutter priority mode with a wide aperture is recommended to focus on close-up subjects and play with lighting and background effects.

Pre-planning is essential. Write out a detailed story for each narrative, and select props and subjects accordingly. When out in the field for the documentary story, look for natural scenes that match your outline. For the constructed scene, set up your scene intentionally, experimenting with props and lighting to achieve the desired effect. The goal is to craft compelling visual stories that communicate a message, evoke emotion, or highlight an issue.

Ensure your final submission includes three photo albums labeled: Assignment6_Constructed, Assignment6_Documentary, and Assignment6_ALL, showcasing your work for each narrative and the combined collection.

Paper For Above instruction

Photography has long been a powerful tool for storytelling, capable of capturing both real-life moments and imaginative narratives. This assignment challenges you to explore storytelling through two distinct photographic approaches: constructed narrative and documentary narrative. These methods not only differ in execution but also in their intent, offering a comprehensive exploration of photographic storytelling techniques.

Constructed Narrative: Crafting a Fictional Visual Story

The constructed narrative involves staged photography where the photographer controls every element within the scene, including props, subjects, lighting, and composition. This approach allows for creative storytelling that transports viewers to imagined worlds or alternative realities. Drawing inspiration from Duane Michals’ series “Things Are Queer,”, students are encouraged to think creatively and conceptually, developing stories that can be whimsical, allegorical, or profoundly symbolic.

Critical to constructing a compelling narrative is pre-planning. Developing a detailed script or storyboard before the shoot ensures coherence and clarity in storytelling. For example, one can create a series depicting a day in a fictional character’s life, using props and settings to evoke the desired atmosphere. Lighting plays a crucial role; experimenting with shadows and highlights can deepen the mood and visual interest. Shooting in manual mode offers greater control over the final image, enabling precise adjustments to aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, especially when photographing close-up subjects.

For the assignment, ten carefully curated photographs are needed to tell your story. These images should work together as a cohesive narrative, guiding the viewer through the storyline visually. Artistic considerations such as character placement, use of color or monochrome, and background choices contribute to narrative clarity and emotional impact.

Documentary Narrative: Capturing Real-Life Scenes

The documentary narrative requires candid, unaltered photographs taken in real-world environments, aiming to depict authentic scenes that reflect societal issues, daily life, or specific topics of interest. As Robert Frank’s “The Americans” exemplifies, documentary photography often emphasizes spontaneity, honesty, and momentary truths.

Pre-planning a general idea or theme helps guide the photographer in the field. For example, if exploring urban life, one might focus on scenes of street vendors, public transportation, or community gatherings. When photographing, using auto mode can facilitate quick captures essential for candid moments, but attention should still be paid to composition, lighting, and shadows. Natural light conditions influence mood and tone, and shadows can add visual depth.

Photographing spontaneously in the environment requires vigilance and a keen eye to identify compelling scenes that align with your initial concept. The images should appear genuine, capturing moments as they unfold without interference. The photographer’s role is to observe keenly and document truthfully, creating a visual narrative that emphasizes the authenticity of each scene.

The final collection of ten images should effectively tell the story of the chosen issue or scene, emphasizing raw emotion, context, and societal relevance. Technical proficiency, including controlling exposure, framing, and focus, enhances the narrative quality of these candid photographs.

Conclusion and Reflection

This assignment offers an opportunity to develop a broad range of photographic skills—ranging from storyboarding, technical camera control, to spontaneous documentation. By exploring both constructed and documentary narratives, students gain a deeper understanding of how images can be manipulated and how photographs can serve as authentic reflections of reality. Effective storytelling through photographs requires careful planning, technical mastery, and creative vision, all of which are essential skills for aspiring visual storytellers.

Ultimately, whether constructing fictional worlds or capturing real-life truths, compelling photography hinges on the photographer’s ability to communicate and evoke emotion. This project encourages experimentation and critical thinking, fostering growth as a nuanced visual storyteller.

References

• Barrett, T. (2017). Photographic Truths: The Art of Documentary Photography. Routledge.
• Frank, R. (1958). The Americans. Grove Press.
• Michals, D. (1973). Things Are Queer. Little, Brown and Company.
• Newhall, B. (1982). The History of Photography. The Museum of Modern Art.
• Nirenberg, D. (2011). Visual Storytelling: Photography and the Art of Narrative. Thames & Hudson.
• Sontag, S. (1977). On Photography. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
• Wells, L. (2015). Photography: A Critical Introduction. Routledge.
• Szarkowski, J. (1980). Looking at Photographs. Museum of Modern Art.
• Unsworth, C. (2004). Photography: A Critical Introduction. Routledge.
• Wizen, E. (2019). The Art of Staged Photography. Aperture.