What is the difference between a picture story and a photo essay?
There’s much more to creating a photographic essay than grouping together your photos. An essay is the deliberate telling of a narrative through a series of photos that work together, putting across your point of view. Typically, it is something powerful, evoking both potent thoughts and strong emotions.
Photographic essays aren't necessarily photojournalism. Nevertheless, it was newspapers were places where they first appeared, replacing pages of solid text that was rarely interrupted by the occasional woodblock engraving print. Possibly the original example was the . You can view more of those . Together, that collection of photographs told a narrative that shook the country. Almost every significant event since has been recorded in collections of photographs that tell their stories.
Whatever the genre, photos comprising an essay should make sense when viewed together. Furthermore, the entire collection will be more than just the sum of its parts. Take, for example, the , or Dorothea Lange’s Great Depression essay, those coherent collections have more meaning than any single one of their images, great though each individual photograph is.
Whatever your passion, you can bring it to life with a photo essay.
Another fun essay idea is taking photos “behind the scenes” at an event. Maybe you can chronicle all the work that goes into a holiday festival from the early morning set-up to the late-night teardown. Think of the lead event planner as the main character of your story and build the story about him or her.
Of course, there have been hundreds of thousands of tremendous collections of photographic stories over the years, and not all of them are by well-known photographers. For example, here in the UK, qualifications rely on the photographers creating displays of their work set out in a way that shows images in a rational order, and other organizations around the world have similar requirements for their awards. Studying them is a great way to discover and learn from other lesser-known but, nonetheless, excellent photographers.
You can also use your photographic essay to help your audience understand the history of your chosen location. For example, if you want to provide perspective on the Civil War, a visit to a battleground can be meaningful. You can also visit a site when reenactors are present to share insight on how life used to be in days gone by.
Another good contemporary source of essays is the glossy magazine. Most of those feature series of single-themed photos within each article. Although they are not as abundant as they were twenty years ago, there are still publications that concentrate on specialist subjects, and it's worth browsing those that interest you.
How To Create A Photo Essay In 9 Steps (with Examples)
The first excerpt, a summary of Trayvon Martinâs death in 2012, draws you in with piercing prose capped off with photographs that bleed into one another. Every account in the photo essay follows this layout.
How to create a photo essay - Shorthand
Photo essays push you to think critically about each shot – from coming up with fresh compositions for familiar subjects, to devising surprising compositions to fit within a collection, to creating compositions that expand on what’s already in a photo essay.
How to make a stunning digital photo essay · 1
Sometimes these type of photo essays can be all about the fun and joy of living in a close-knit family. But sometimes they can be powerful portraits of challenging social topics. Images of a family from another country can be a meaningful photo essay on immigration. You could also create a photo essay on depression by capturing families who are coping with one member’s illness.
Ten examples of immersive photo essays - Shorthand
Composition is also about thinking ahead in what you’re trying to accomplish with a photograph – from what you’re saying through it to its emotional impact on a viewer – and where it fits within a larger body of work.
Learn the definition and understand the purpose of the photo essay
For these projects on difficult topics, you may want to compose a photo essay with captions. These captions can feature quotes from family members or document your own observations. Although approaching hard topics isn’t easy, these types of photos can have lasting impact and value.
A photo essay is a series of photographs selected to tell a story
Opportunities for education photo essays are everywhere—from small preschools to community colleges and universities. You can seek permission to take photos at public or private schools or even focus on alternative educational paths, like homeschooling.