Today in this digital era everyone has a device and can click a picture with just a click of a button.
This is one of the main reasons why photographers find it quite difficult to come up with new content every day.
One of the things that can help out photography in such a situation is storytelling in photography, it can give your work an edge over the others.
We all have seen storytelling in movies and books and we quite enjoy them. But did you know photographs are another great medium of storytelling?
In your daily life while scrolling Instagram or Facebook you might come across some pictures which can tell a whole story with just one glance.
As the phrase goes ‘A picture can say a thousand words.’ This is true in the case of storytelling photography.
so now let’s understand the real definition of storytelling in photography…
What is storytelling in photography?
So storytelling in photography is when you use your photographs to tell a story to your viewers. It does not have to be a single photograph it can be a group of them.
If you have read magazines you will come across a lot of photographs that can tell you a story.
The one and the most important things that all these photographs have in common are the elements that pick at the viewer’s imagination.
You need character and emotion as well in order for viewers to give thought to your photograph.
It takes a lot of hard work to create photographs that can tell the viewers a story or even a part of it without movement or dialogue.
Storytelling isn’t such a type of photography as we can use portrait photography, black and white, and other types of photography to tell a story.
For storytelling, through photography, your camera is not only the tool in your arsenal you can use photoshop or other post-processing software to help in telling the story more clearly.
Post-processing is the most important in the case of fantasy photographs.
Why is storytelling important?
We live in a digital era, everyone has a device with a camera on it, which makes it easier for anyone to click photographs.
Photo by Evan Dennis on Unsplash
Nowadays you can see billions of photographs on the internet that record just a scene. These kinds of photographs that just capture a scene remain in the gallery of your phone for years and then get deleted.
While on the other hand, the story that tells the viewers a story gains more traction and is viewed more regularly.
When you incorporate various types of stories in your photographs, the viewers can relate to them to a level and hence like them more.
Without a story, your photograph proves to be bland, one-dimensional, and similar to all the ones that are readily available on the internet.
Storytelling can make your photographs more memorable and easy on the eyes. Your viewers will be able to resonate more with you and your photographs.
Storytelling in your photography will even help you test your limits and stand out as a photographer in the industry.
Easy way to do storytelling by photos…
Storytelling by photographs can be done quite easily if you pay certain attention to the details and the skill required in doing so.
The most important elements required in storytelling with the help of photographs are the plot, characters, setting, and themes.
When you decide on the above you can tell a story quite easily using your photographs.
The plot is the most important element as compared to others, all the other elements kind of revolve around this element.
After you choose the plot everything depends on your vision of the story and how you want to tell it.
With the plot and characters in and it’s kind of like going down a road sometimes you can take another road for the same ending too.
Setting and theme play an important role in storytelling using photographs as well. They can definite the whole photograph.
Tips to improve storytelling in photography
Telling a story just by using a photograph or even a series of photographs is quite difficult for anyone no matter how experienced the photographer is.
But we are here to help, with the use of the tips mentioned below it will become somewhat easier for you to tell a story using just your photographs.
- Know the story you want to tell
- Pick the style of photography
- Develop your character
- Use symbols
- Use colors
- Narrative is important
- Composition is the key
now let’s understand every single point to become a better storyteller as a photographer…
Know the story you want to tell
The first and most important thing for telling a story through your photography is the story. It is the base of your photographs.
There can be many types of stories you can tell. For example, In photojournalism, you get to know about the story by capturing the scenes.
Then there is imaginative or fictional storytelling. You can use the character already known to the audience or create some of your own.
If you choose a character or a story already known to your audience, you need to first learn and read about it in order to do full justice to it in your photographs.
You can choose a story with a definite end or one that is open to interpretation. The choice of the story completely depends on you.
Just know that the story is considered a road map for your photographs, this route can help you reach your goal quite easily.
You can take inspiration for your stories from anywhere whether it be real life, books, or myths, it does not depend. You just need a good story to tell.
Pick the style of photography
The next step after deciding on the story is the type of photography you want to work with.
You can choose any type of photography it completely depends on you which one are you the most comfortable in.
You can choose Landscape photography and use some post-processing tools to create a work of your own.
Portrait photography works best for helping with a character arc.
If you want you can even experiment with different types of photography if you are working on a series of photographs.
By using different types of photography you can make your viewers see your story from many different perspectives which will make your story even more interesting.
Hence, the type of photography completely is your choice and no one else’s.
Develop your character
The most difficult task for a photographer is to tell a story without using any dialogue or even movements. Hence photographers tend to use other elements in their photographs to give them meaning.
Props and costumes are two such elements that help a photographer in telling the story to the audience clearly.
The costume of your model can help you define the character in your story, like a crown and a dress can tell the viewers it’s a princess.
Like costumes, props can help in telling the story too. Props can give information related to the plot of the story.
With the help of props, a photographer can sometimes even tell something about a character.
For instance, if you use weapons as a prop, it can show violence, if you use a plow it can show relations with agriculture or farming.
Use symbols
Symbols play an important role in storytelling using photography.
Using cryptic symbols can give a lot of information about the story behind the photograph at the same time make the photograph a lot more interesting.
Symbols can sometimes prove to be a great tool to make the viewers feel strong emotions after just one look at the photograph.
Like if you use an older woman people think of their mothers as a first thought which induces strong emotions.
There are many other symbols that can be used in telling a story like doors, windows, clocks, and many others.
The choice of symbols again comes back to the story you want to tell.
Use colors
The color scheme of your photograph plays an important role in telling a story as well. You can also say a lot about your photograph by just the color scheme.
Using warm colors gives a sense of enjoyment whereas cool tones can make you feel uneasy.
Colors alone can tell a lot too like red gives a sense of passion or even danger. White can make us feel lonely and cold.
Now it depends on the story and what tone you want to set for telling the story effectively.
Narrative is important
You need to decide on what type of narrative you want, open or closed stories.
If you want a closed narrative, a single shot can prove to be the best but if you want an open one a series of images will be the best choice.
This is not a rule you can choose either for any type of narrative as well.
Now the arrangement of photographs for the open narrative depends on you and how you want to tell your story to your audience.
You can even leave the ending incomplete or mysterious for open interpretation by the viewers.
Composition is the key
Composition plays an important part in the setting of the scene of the story.
We can get to know a lot about the plot of the story just by the composition of the photograph.
For instance, if the photograph has a mountain it can be deduced that the story must be set on the mount side.
You can even provide a sense of direction with the composition of your photographs.
While giving information about the story to the viewers you need to maintain a certain balance, you don’t want a messy picture in the end.
FAQs About Storytelling In Photography
Some frequently asked questions about storytelling in photography are answered below…
Can Storytelling Improve Social Engagement?
Yes, absolutely storytelling can improve social engagement.
You can just go on the streets and you will find that everyone has a different story and you can get to know that story just by talking to them.
You can use these stories in your photography later on. These stories will not on affect your viewers but they will have a strong impact on you as well as your work.
You can also make new friends while getting to know their stories.
Can I gain Instagram followers by storytelling as a photographer?
Yes, you can gain Instagram followers by storytelling. But it is not the thing that counts.
The important thing is that you get to experiment with your work, test your skills and expand your comfort level.
But yes, you can gain Instagram followers by posting unique content, storytelling can help you create such content with some imagination and hard work.
Is storytelling a form of photography?
No, storytelling cannot be considered a form of photography.
You can tell a story using other types of photography such as portrait photography, silhouette photography and many others as well.
Storytelling is not a form of photography but photography can be seen as a form of storytelling, especially in this digital age.
Your photographs can easily tell a story quite easily if you use the tips mentioned above.
What is the most integral part of storytelling?
Well, the most integral part of storytelling in photography can be quite easily said to be the plot.
If you don’t have a plot decided it will be like walking in blind. You won’t know what to do with your characters or even what emotions to incorporate in the photographs.
Hence we can quite easily say that the plot forms the base for storytelling in photography.
A plot can define what story you want your audience to experience.
Conclusion
Storytelling in photography can be used as a way to test your creative skills as a photographer. It can help you expand your horizon.
You can experiment with your work while telling a story using your photographs, and you can try new types of photography.
While telling a story you have the freedom to use a new story or a person’s life experience.
If you think it is difficult to tell a story using your photographs then you are certainly underestimation yourself.
Using the tips mentioned in the above article you can quite easily use your photographs to tell a story and even create some of your own.
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