Assignment 6: Visual Narratives

DEADLINE: by the end of class (8:15 p.m.) on Monday, April 22

The Assignment:

Select a topic, issue, or subject and create a visual narrative or photo essay. This is not a “survey” assignment where you simply present a variety of photographs of something. Tell me a story with your photographs and make each picture count! Use everything you’ve learned this semester about timing, light and composition. Utilize the concepts of visual variety. Practice the strategies we learned in order to go beyond the immediate and superficial. Put it all together!

Requirements: 

Your story should consist of 4-6 pictures. The goal is to find the “right” number of pictures to tell your story. No more, no less. Can you do it in four? Yes, but 5-6 is probably about the right number to adequately tell your story, given the amount of time you have to work on this. However, if you think you really need more than six pictures to tell your story, contact me and we’ll go through your images.

Introduction. Write a short introduction for your story to set the stage before you let your photographs take over the narrative. One paragraph should do it. No more than three short ones. You can embed this in your first image, or you can add a Word or text file to the folder containing your assignment.

Captions. Strict, complete AP Style captions are not required for every image included in this assignment. You should include sufficient information and enough context to compliment your photos and move your narrative forward. Use AP Style first-reference rules, but – as in a written story – you don’t have to repeat full information that’s been previously introduced.

Sequencing. Number your image files (along with an image title) in the order that you want them to be viewed.

Post to your Google Drive folder no later than the end of class on April 22. Class that day will be a work session, where your classmates and I can help you make your final selections and proofread the captions and introduction for your story. Bring all of your images on a jump drive or external hard drive, but please do some preliminary editing. Also, bring your notes so you can complete your captions. Don’t wait until the 22nd to begin making selections, writing your intro, and writing your captions! Do as much work as you can before class that day.

 

TIPS and SUGGESTIONS

Make the time to build trust with the people who will be your subjects. You don’t have a ton of time before the end of the semester, so perhaps find a person or subject that you have a certain comfort level with and are interested in. Still, shadowing people with a camera can be awkward at first, for both the photographer and the people being photographed. That’s normal. Keep shooting. If you are photographing people being themselves in their environment, you’ll find that the initial awkwardness fades away relatively quickly and you can really get to work.

Visual Variety! Don’t shoot every picture from the same distance and focal length. Mix it up. And don’t forget your photographer’s mantra. It will help your pictures communicate more quickly and cleanly. Technique will only take you so far, however.

Concentrate on good, story-telling moments.  Avoid “doing” pictures in your final story. You might have to shoot a lot of “doing” pictures until you capture a moment, though. Don’t give up on situations until you get one. Pay attention to your own emotions while shooting, and see if you can translate those feelings through your photographs.

Remember 3 + 1. This basic structure will help your pictures become a story instead of a mere collection of images. Remember that your story needs an opening image and a closing image. Keep this in mind while you’re shooting and editing. The body is made up of the pictures in between your opener and closer that develop your narrative. Contained within the body should be your “key” or “signature” shot. Your preceding pictures should build up to your showcase image.

Try out the Life magazine formula. The old Life magazine formula for a photo essay is a good template for building your story and giving it structure. The formula also helps ensure that there is visual variety within the story. You don’t want a series of redundant images.

It is not necessary to include every category in your finished story, but if you try to shoot at least one of each category, you are increasing your chances of having a more dynamic, complete final product.

1. Introductory or Opener
2. Medium
3. Close-up
4. Portrait
5. Interaction
6. Signature
7. Sequence
8. Closer or Clincher

Take notes and get quotes while shooting. Incorporate them into your captions to help give your story context and a present a better understanding of your story. Quotes are great, but you can paraphrase your subjects, too, if it helps us better understand the context of their quotes.

Evaluate as you shoot and edit. Your pictures should emphasize the human elements over processes. If your pictures are looking like a “How To” manual, go back and reshoot, if you can.  Ask yourself some of these questions:

• Are my pictures visually compelling, or do they look like snapshots?

• Do my pictures present visual variety, or do they all look like they are shot from the same distance and perspective?
• Do my pictures have graphic appeal? (Light, creative composition)

• Am I capturing story-telling moments?

• Are my pictures emotionally appealing?

• Have I shot any intimate pictures, revealing something private and unique about my subject?

Some moments, if you miss them, they are gone forever, and you can’t re-shoot them. But, more often than not, there are plenty of recurring elements in any story that can be shot over and over until you capture that element in a compelling way. Insist on that kind of excellence.

Selection and sequencing. The pictures in your story don’t have to be in the chronological order you shot them. Keep this in mind while you’re shooting, as well. For example, your “clincher” doesn’t have to be from the last group of photos you shot. But it needs to help give your story some type of closure or leave a lasting impression.

Your story will only be as strong as your weakest photo. You need to learn the difference between your favorite pictures and the pictures that best express the story you are trying to tell.  They are not always the same. Don’t wait until the last minute to begin the selection process. It’s okay to seek opinions about your images during the whole process – either mine or someone else’s. It’s good to have a seasoned eye look at your work, but sometimes it’s a good idea to have someone who is not a journalist look at your work to make sure your images are communicating what you want to communicate. The whole point is to make sure the audience “gets it.”

Enjoy what you’re doing! Part of this assignment is to understand the process of visual story telling and the professional standards by which it is judged. But the act and process of visual story telling should be rewarding. Documenting the human condition, even just a little part of it, helps us to understand ourselves. Hopefully, you’ll take some satisfaction from tackling this project.

As always, feel free to contact me as you work through this.

Review of class on 4/8: Visual Narratives

Reviewing the materials might help you get started on your final shooting assignment for the semester. Make sure you thoroughly read through the assignment itself, though.

Here is the handout that accompanies the lesson on visual narratives. It contains lists for the formulas that we discussed in class. Referring to this will help you through the shooting and editing process:

Visual Narratives: The art of picture stories and photo essays

Here is the PDF version of the presentation on visual narratives. It might help to review the examples of picture stories we looked so you can see how the pictures work with one another, along with the captions, to create a narrative:

Presentation: Visual Narratives

Here is the key video we watched in class. Again, listen carefully as Dave explains how he discovers what he needs to shoot in order to tell someone’s story. Essentially, by talking to your subjects and getting to know them, they will lead you to where the pictures are. And understand the importance of projection. The best journalists, regardless of the medium they work in, learn how to put themselves in another’s shoes in order to tell their stories. And learn the importance of trust. You will never scratch below the surface and be able to move your audience without the trust of your subjects.

 

We didn’t watch this in class, but here is a follow-up, companion video to the one above. This is a master lesson in how to approach and think your way through shooting a picture story, in great detail. In the first video, Dave tells us about working with a student during a workshop on a story about a woman caring for her 97-year-old father. In this video, we get to hear an actual, unedited conversation between Dave and the student, specifically talking about how to approach the story, the student’s concerns, and Dave’s advice. It’s like being in the huddle with a master coach, and it offers some keen insight into the thought process and problem solving while shooting picture stories. It’s a little longer, but I highly recommend you find a little time to view it. Great advice on shooting and what to look for. Great advice on editing. Just great advice …

Dave LaBelle: On Storytelling

We watched this video in class, but I wanted to post it in case you wanted to watch it again.

Again, listen carefully as Dave explains how he discovers what he needs to shoot in order to tell someone’s story. Essentially, by talking to your subjects and getting to know them, they will lead you to where the pictures are. And understand the importance of projection. The best journalists, regardless of the medium they work in, learn how to put themselves in another’s shoes in order to tell their stories. And learn the importance of trust. You will never scratch below the surface and be able to move your audience without the trust of your subjects.

 

I’m including a BONUS video! In the first video, Dave tells us about working with a student during a workshop on a story about a woman caring for her 97-year-old father. In this video, we get to hear an actual conversation between Dave and the student, specifically talking about how to approach the story, the student’s concerns, and Dave’s advice. It’s like being in the huddle with a master coach, and it offers some keen insight into the thought process and problem solving while shooting picture stories. It’s a little longer, but I highly recommend you find a little time to view it. Great advice on shooting and what to look for. Great advice on editing. Just great advice …

 

Make an investment in your subject. Every picture (in a story) is like a word in a sentence. And never forget this: The secret to great storytelling is to get out of the way!