Tableau photography is a form of narrative documentation which involves the photographer creating a story through a series of carefully staged images that are decided beforehand. Tableau photographers usually create a series of images that link together, progress and expand a particular theme or story.

Tableau has a diverse meaning and is not limited entirely to photography. Any form of conceptual art which is deliberately planned beforehand can be considered as tableau, and many photographers involved with tableau will venture into other forms of art to express the story they are trying to tell. Although tableau is a documentation of a particular theme or idea, it cannot truly be considered documentary because the work produced is based on interpretation, whereas documentary photography is all about the photographer observing the world.

Re-creating old photos is a fun and popular way that has been and still is  used as a form of tableau photography.

Tableau is often used by photographers and conceptual artist as a crossover with documentary  photography. It is very hard to create a story based solely on tableau because staging every image can take away the raw meaning of what the photographer is trying to show. A lot of photo-books which include tableau therefore will either use tableau to strengthen the meaning of their documentation, or documentary photography to help convey the narrative expressed through a tableau piece.

Tablaeu  very often allows for the exploration of surrealist viewpoints

The advantage of tableau photography is that the photographer has complete control over the how the photograph is created. This is very helpful if the photographer wants to produce surrealist styled images because it allows for the manipulation of events which would not otherwise be realistically possible. Tableau photography is often used by photographers who want to explore personal themes, such as family, because it is easier to stage photographers from an insider perspective, and there is a more subjective viewpoint, which makes the staging of images more appropriate.

Photographer Phillip Toledano explored elements of tableau in his photo-book series ‘Days With my Father’, documenting his elderly father’s battle with dementia.

This brief interview explores to work of tableau photographer Jeff Wall. He talks of his preparation for his upcoming exhibition, and expresses some of his views regarding his own work and ideas.