CREATING PICTURE STORIES

When creating a picture story there are 6 or 7 different types of images that are usually present in a traditional picture story. Some of these are a person at work shot, relationship shot, establishing shot, detail shot, environmental portrait, formal portrait and an observed portrait. These images make up a traditional picture story which is usually created from these different types of images, including a title about what the images are about and text which would be placed by the images giving context about them. A person at work shot is an image of someone at their job or doing something which involves an action, a relationship shot can be of two or more people which shows the relationship between two or more people and shows a connection between them. An establishing shot is usually the biggest image that is on the picture story, this image is the photo that by just looking at it, it should tell you what is happening, this image is usually from further away so it gives some context of the scene, in addition the establishing shot can also be another type of image, for example a relationship shot as well. An environmental image is a photo of the setting which tells the viewer the location of where the image have been taken, another type of images is a formal portrait, this is where the person you are taking the image of is under your control and you have told them what to do when you are taking the image. Usually you can take a better image when you have a good relationship with the subject. An observed portrait is when the subject is not aware that you are taking the image of them, this usually can make for a more interesting image as it has no rules for taking this image so it is completely unique. 

Person at Work • Relationship Shot • Establishing Shot • Detail shot • Environmental Portrait • Formal Portrait • Observed Portrait

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Person at work
Image result for relationship in photography
Relationship shot
Image result for establishing shot in photography
Establishing shot
Image result for detail shot in photography
Detail shot
Image result for environmental portrait in photography
Environmental portrait
Image result for formal portrait in photography
Formal portrait
Image result for observed portrait in photography
Observed portrait

When taking these photographs


 

When taking a person at work shot it is important not to rush into taking these images and move around the subject taking to them and asking them questions to engage in whatever the activity they are doing. When taking a relationship shot it is somewhat essential to start off with some small talk with the parent or child who you are photographing to engage the relationship. Taking these images will need a lot of photos taken as it takes time and concentrated effort to show the relationship between people and get the desired image. When taking an establishing shot it is important that this image catches a viewers attention as it is essentially the first image that people will look at and it will set the scene for all of the other images that are on the picture story. Considering light, composition elements of animation and other elements of visual interest is important to catch the attention of the viewers. When taking a detailed shot these image are often overlooked but it can sometimes be vital to a picture story. When taking a formal portrait you decide how you want the lighting to look in the image, the persons posture and distance, however this should still show the subjects personality through the image. However this sometimes ends up having an opposite effect and showing the personality of the photographer, or the view the photographer has on the person and not actually their personality. When taking an environmental portrait it is essential to get the background in as well as the person, which you should be able to see their face, this is show it shows what they are doing and reveals a lot more about the person through the photograph. In an observed portrait there are no rules when taking one, this is because these images are usually spontaneous and therefor it is not easy to set up the images and get them how you as a photographer wants them. 

Picture-Story Planning

Photography Notes:

How are images being used in the media and social websites? How are they being used? Why are they in the sizes they are? Minor and major images, detail shots, landscape and portrait shots. How does the title relate to the images? You need to write a text with correlates to the photography. Life magazine- America- 1948- 11 pages. Newspapers are getting smaller and smaller because of the competition with the internet. Restrict it to a two page spread. Digital media and film cinema is bombarded, illustrated magazines aren’t as popular. Online websites- magnumphotos- agencies of photographers. Magnum photos is the oldest and most photography agency. How do you analyse and deconstruct a picture story?

The picture story- visual storytelling through the construction of a traditional picture story. No picture story is ever the same, even if the subjects are identical. There is no one way for a picture story to look, one must be creative. Image and text cohesion offers a perfect way to learn why some pictures work and why some stories are clearer than others.

Picture story examples are from the JEP because it is something we can relate to, we live on the island and we know what’s going on therefore it is easier to discuss. You need the contexts of an image, lens like a wide angle have been used to include the background in order to give extra information. When you make the portraits you have to be creative with the environment you are working in. How can I use the environment I am in? Think about depth of field, think about lens like telephoto lens, and think about the technicalities. Photography is a language and you must know the linguistics to understand photography. Wide angle lens create a very wide depth of field, it gives you definition, it gives you space in a photograph. Can you see who the person is? Can you see what the person is doing? Does the photograph include contexts in order to translate the necessary information? Observe your subject, talk to your subject, and shoot a number of different frames. Shutter speed will help tell the story, gives a sense of texture, and makes the image more interesting.

People at work shot. Relationship shot. Establishing shot- most important element in the picture story because it serves to define the context in which the other pictures have been located. What is the photographer trying to show? What technicalities are being implemented in order to demonstrate the narrative? Your eyes are always drawn to the brightest thing. Adjust depth of field, height, involve yourself in with the environment and subjects. You can have more than one establishing shot. Detail shot- little extra layer or texture to the story.

Portraits are an essential part of the story. They convey a sense of personality and humanity to a story which helps the viewer to identity with the subject. Formal portraits- totally under your control. You take control of lighting, posture, distance, etc. Environmental portrait. Portraits can link with history- for example portrait of Remembrance Day. Observed Portrait. A Local Story- A Place.

I chose this example of a picture-story because it gives an example of a portrait shot as well as an establishing shot. Clearly it is the only image in the magazine but it is a clear representation of a particular style of photograph which can be used in a picture-story. 

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This picture-story has an establishing shot on the left page which takes over the entire page therefore is the main image. On the right page there is a detail and environmental shot. The detail shot is typically a close up shot which allows for the photographer to give intricate and precise details about the narrative. The environmental shot helps the audience understand the context of the story for example the background information. 

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This picture story has a variety of different styled shots in order to formulate an interesting and inviting magazine article. The establishing shot is on the left page and is the biggest image. Whereas the smaller images are either detail shots, portraits or environmental shots. 

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Government House

My project is going to be based around the life at Government House. My dad is the Butler and House manager for the governor, so he will be my main character in the story. I also live on the grounds and have been privileged to meet many important people such as members from the Royal family such as the Queen. My dad has a very important because he ensures that government house runs smoothly. Manages all functions within the house and gardens, such as dinner parties and other functions. He meets and greets all visiting house guests ensuring that all requirements are made during their stay, these guests range from members from the royal family, visiting ambassadors and VIPS and also local dignitaries. As I know the Governor well, he has allowed me to get an insight into his life at government house and the staff have also allowed me access to their daily activities. I want to tell a story with my images by following my dad around taking pictures of what he does on a day-to-day basis.

Invitation to Buckingham palace:

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Mum and Dad outside the gates of Buckingham Palace

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Earl and Countess of Wessex (Edward and Sophie)

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Creating Picture Stories

There are common elements to picture stories including; title, headline as well a writing captions and headings within your piece. One of the most well-known picture stories is one created by Eugene Smith titled Country Doctor. Nowadays, newspapers are becoming less and less and are faced with competition through the internet, film and cinema. Photographers now have to compete with the media world. The oldest and most well known photographic company is Magnum Photos, often if a photographer is on Magnum they’ve made it in the photographic world.

Deconstructing a Picture Story

  • every photographer sees things differently so there is no right or wrong was of making your own picture story
  • there is no set way that a picture story is made

Recurring images
These are the most generic/common images that you would expect to see in a picture story

who is the person? What are they doing? How are they doing it? In what context are they doing it [different shot types/lens’ that the photographer uses telephoto lens – creates a narrow depth of field, wide angle lens. The environment that they are in]

  • person at work
    – this is simply making an image of a person in the work place and in their own working environment
  • relationship shot
    – what is the nature of someones relationship with someone/something? These type of image tends to have more than one person in it showing the relationship between the two subjects in the photograph
  • detail shot
    – gives more layers to the picture story and is often a close up of the little details within the environment that the photographer is in
  • establishing shot
    – this is the largest and most important image. It gives context and tells the spectator what is going on so they have a clear understanding with looking at the very first image. It sets the scene and the mood for the rest of the images within the picture story. These images usually have a strong focal point to draw the spectators attention to exactly what the photographer wants them to see
  • portraits
    – this image is the basic image of a person to show who is being photographed as well as the other shots setting up the environment and the atmosphere of where they are.
  • environmental shot
    – this is the shot that gives the spectator an insight to where the subject is and their surroundings

Eugene Smith – Country Doctor

Eugene Smith was born in 1918 and was an American photojournalist. Smith made photo journalistic images during World War II, the French Equatorial Africa as well as his most famous work following the dedication of an American country doctor and a nurse midwife.

Smith on Magnum Photos: http://10.93.17.43/access/web?id=0420ece7-8935-11e5-8515-002590c12864

“an instant classic,” – Life Magazine on Country Doctor

Eugene Smith – Country Doctor

Picture Stories Analysis

Analysis 1:
1st and 2nd page of article only
‘Nurse Midwife’ – by W Eugene Smith

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page 1 analysis
picture analysis 2
page 2 analysis

Analysis 2:
First two pages of article only
French paper on The Heroes of Budapest

picture analysis 3
page 1 analysis
picture analysis 4
page 2 analysis

 

Extra websites: 

http://www.panos.co.uk/

http://www.worldpressphoto.org/

MAKING A PICTURE STORY

When creating a picture story there are major and minor images that will be in the picture story. The major images will be the ones that are larger on the page and the minor the ones that are smaller and are maybe not as important as the major images. In these images there will be an  establishing shot which will establish the scene and tell the context of the story images, there will also be detailed shots which will show what is happening at the time and they sometimes will be closer up to show precise details of the event/moment. In picture stories there will be a title to the picture story with captions and text written about it, this is so that when people read the text they understand what is happening in the images, as through some images it may not be so clear about what is happening. Picture stories are never the same, different photographers will place their images differently and will lay them out as to what images they think are more important. For instance photographers will choose different establishing shots as to what they think will tell the story best. 

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When taking pictures for a picture story you can use different lenses, for example by using a wide-angle lens to take an image means that you get the context in the background of the image, and this tells a viewer what is happening in the image. By not using a wide-angle lens and using a telephoto lens this will mean that the photographer can stand far away from the subject and can use depth of field to make the background blurred and the main object/subject in focus which makes them the main focal point of the image. By using a wide-angle lens it creates a wide depth of space. Photographers can also use a wide-angle lens to manipulate an image, photographers do this by when they take an image they can place something close to the lens which makes them the largest object in this image. 

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In this image the rock in the photograph looks as large as the girls head, which this is what happens when a photographer is using a wide-angle lens, it makes whatever is closest to the lens look larger than it actually is. 

A local story: 

church

In this image this can be seen as a person at work picture, however it could be an establishing shot as from one image it shows what is happening in this one image. As we can see that the people are at church at a service, and this is shown just by this one image. Further images that are in the picture story it has images of the carers, and pictures at work. Detailed images show details of what is happening and photographs that are relationships portrait, which imply a relationship between the people that are in the images. 

 

 

Community- Record

This collection of photographs range from the actual day of the battle to the revealing of the floats. All eight of my grandfather’s children participated in the event, because not only was it a community event but also a family one. Lots of families use to get involved with the battle creating their very own little creative floats.

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These are a selection of photographs I have from my family’s albums of the Battle of Flowers. As previously said in another post, my mother’s family regularly took  part in the annual event, making smaller floats in their gardens. I thought it would be interesting to include photographs like these in my picture-story because it can represent a time in the battle’s history but also my family’s too. I think it’s really special having my family members in the photographs because they symbolise hundreds of memories and share a part of the art with reality.

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Photo editing

Continuing on from my second idea family beyhond blood, I took photographs at a birthday party, some which were formal and others were observed. I have choosen my best ones and edited them on lightroom using exposure, contrast and expermenting with blacks and whites. Some of the photographs were also blurry so I had to ajust the clarity of them. Last time I did a photoshoot I used my phone but the quality of the photographs wasn’t great so this time I used a camera I think this improved the quality.

Jess Freire (2)

Jess Freire

Jess Freire (3)

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Family Photography: Alain Laboile

Alain Laboile is a French family photographer born in Bordeaux, France 1968. He is a father of six and uses his family as his subjects when photographing. In 2004 Laboile put together a portfolio of his work as a sculptor, this is where he picked up a camera and developed a taste for photography. A while after this Laboile pointed his camera onto his large family becoming his major subject. This is now what Laboile is known for, creating strong images of his family as well as being able to be at the heart of the family and documenting his children growing up. I like the concept of this because as a father he would be expected to go out and work but instead he is able to make stronger bonds with his children and be there for them whenever they need him as well as Laboile being able to do his photographic work which he is now known for.

“I am totally self-taught. When I began, I had a very limited photographic culture, no technique.” – Alain Laboile

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Laboile’s website: http://www.laboile.com/index.html

Lensculture ‘La Famille’ Archive: 
https://www.lensculture.com/alain-laboile?modal=true&modal_type=project&modal_project_id=8491

Lensculture Interview: https://www.lensculture.com/articles/alain-laboile-video-interview-alain-laboile

“Through my photographic work I celebrate and document my family life:A life on the edge of the world” – Alain Laboile

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Interview with Alain Laboile: http://www.all-about-photo.com/photographer.php?name=alain-laboile&id=528

I do like the work of Laboile as he simply makes images of his family when and wherever some good photo opportunities arrive. I think that his images look very professional and really capture some great family moments that can be quite similar to our own experiences and bring a sense of nostalgia to the spectators mind making them think more about the ups and downs of their own childhood as well as looking at Laboile’s photographs. I find these images very visually pleasing as each image is very crisp and clear allowing the spectator to see everything from a professional standard. These photos are really amazing with the composition and the entire mise-en-scene of the images especially from knowing that Laboile is a self-taught photographer and has only been photographing since 2004. He makes very strong and personal images showing not only the good side of being in a large family with lots of children but also the down side of having such a huge family where kids can fight etc. I do really like his work as it is so raw and real and is better than a usual family portrait kind of photo that spectators are used to seeing as he is an insider to the family and is part of the family so is able to use that to his advantage making images at times of the day and places that an outsider photographer wouldn’t be able to make.

1c12c0857411f2142f75ab5988ac8109-largeI find this image really funny as the girls are all dressing up and messing around with what could be their mothers clothes. I think that this is a strong portrait as everything from the girl jumping in the air to the others standing and posing is so crisp and clear. I think the entire mise-en-scene of this image is perfect as the spectator is able to see their surrounding area and what kind of house they live in [seems like an old-fashioned house] as well as the facial expressions of the girls being really strong with the girl on the far left looking directly into the camera with a very serious facial expression while the girl in the back far right is posing similarly to her sister and looking off into the distance. I like the way that none of them are actually smiling or laughing as if they are very serious about dressing up in random outfits. It does look as though the girls were having a lot of fun dressing up and running round in their mums clothing. I do think that this image looks great and it being in black and white, for me, makes it a much stronger image as the spectator isn’t distracted by the colours of the light coming through or the colours of the clothes that those girls are wearing. Overall I think that this is a really strong image and is interesting to look at.

3a61400834ebf9bd122654aef12e30ed-largeThis is one of my favourite images because it is so simple. I like that Laboile caught one of his daughters walking along the patio of their house. I like that this photograph is taken from a more of a low angle as Laboile would most likely have been on his knees or leaning down low to make this image. This makes the patio balcony look a lot larger making the girl look smaller. The composition of this photograph is great as the spectator is directly drawn to the slight right of the image looking at the young girl. I also like what the little girl is wearing as her wellie boots suggest that she has been out in the muddy garden [shown in some of Laboile’s other images] as well as the back of her shirt looking wet as if she had been in a water/mud fight. I like that Laboile makes all of his images in black and white bringing across a theme as well as consistency of editing in the same style. This image is interesting and brings happy memories as it reminds the spectator of their youth and being younger with no cares or worries at all, we never even worried about getting our clothes muddy or dirty.

adeb70a9381d2ba40af65d014f2f11f6-largeI love that in a lot of Laboile’s images his children look like they are having the time of their lives and seem like such free spirits. I chose this image as I think that it really does show how free and comfortable these children are. It brings some nostalgia to the spectator bringing back memories of when they were younger and never had any cares and would just run around naked. I like the moment that Laboile has captured in this image, he has caught them laughing and having fun while throwing water from their wellies at one another. It seems extremely muddy where they are as the spectator is able to see the bottom left corner where the child’s foot is slipping. I find it hilarious that we only see one of the children laughing and having a good time while the other is too busy  trying to defend herself with the water right in her face as he wellie is lowered and the water is just tipping onto the muddy ground. It also looks as though there are more than just two of them having a water fight as in the right hand middle corner there is water about to catch the young girl on the back suggesting that there are more people involved. I think that this is a very strong image as it is very clear and easy to look at. It is more of a fun environmental image showing what ordinary children tend to get up to in their free time.

Moises – Evaluation

Background

‘Moises’ is a book produced by Argentinian photographer Mariela Sancari. In 1980, when Sancari was 14 years old, her father Moises Sancari committed suicide. Sancari and her twin sister went through traumatic periods of grief, and have suffered from episodes of anxiety and depression.

After her father passed away, Sancari tried to fill the loss of her father through her imagination. She would stare at any stranger who bore resemblance to Moises, a habit which soon became an obsession. Sancari went through a stage of grief known as denial and effectively created a fantasy that her father was still alive somewhere, and seeing men  that would of been her father’s agitated this obsession.

Sancari, who trained as a photographer worked for eights for a large Mexican newspaper. See soon however became disillusioned with this and starting to work to her own, personal photographic projects. In 2011 she gained a photographer in residence place at the Centro de la Imagen, and during this time she worked on a project entitled ‘Moises’.

Evaluation

‘Moises’ is a very personal and unique project. Sancari put out a newspaper ad asking for men in their 70s that bore resemblance to her father, (the age Moises would have been if he was still alive) to pose for portraits.She dressed the men up in old clothes of her father, getting them to complete similar activities she remembered her father doing, such as shaving and brushing Sancari’s hair. Sancari described the process as a “very strong, intense situation”. The outcomes of this photo-book, displayed in an unusual pop-style display are very raw, original and authentic. The images are effectively a retrospect of what her father may have been like, had he have lived.

I find that the concept of this series to be very effective and powerful. Sancari uses memories of her father, as she describes, “my memories of him are very childlike. I’ve built a shrine.”. The images included in the photo-book are very simplistic, classically composed portrait styled photographs with a plain blue background. The subjects in the book stare camera into the camera, conveying a plain, neutral expression. I find that this simplicity is very effective makes the story very raw and grounded solely in the theme of Sanceri father. The impression I gain about Moises through her retrospective representation of him is that he was a very normal, loving family man. A theme that Sanceri subtly explores through the photographs is intimacy, convey most clearly through close ups of one of the men saving.

Overall I enjoyed this book. The handmade, pop-up style makes the book very personal and the story Sancrini tells is very subtle, poetic whilst at the same time being heartfelt and consistent to the difficult but fascinating theme of Sanceri attachment to her deceased father. It tells a personal story

I like how Sanceri has used men her father’s age to fill the gap as obviously she can’t photograph Moises. This might be an interesting theme to explore within my own project, the use of other subject to retrospectively image what my granddad may have looked like had he still been alive today. The image composition is very basic and simplistic, whilst at the same time being strong and striking. This simplicity is something I want to emulate more when I take my images. Is emphasis of mood over how an image looks is interesting and my exploration into vernacular photography is a good starting point to reflect within this.