thematic vs narrative photo essay

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How to Create an Engaging Photo Essay (with Examples)

Photo essays tell a story in pictures. They're a great way to improve at photography and story-telling skills at once. Learn how to do create a great one.

Learn | Photography Guides | By Ana Mireles

Photography is a medium used to tell stories – sometimes they are told in one picture, sometimes you need a whole series. Those series can be photo essays.

If you’ve never done a photo essay before, or you’re simply struggling to find your next project, this article will be of help. I’ll be showing you what a photo essay is and how to go about doing one.

You’ll also find plenty of photo essay ideas and some famous photo essay examples from recent times that will serve you as inspiration.

If you’re ready to get started, let’s jump right in!

Table of Contents

What is a Photo Essay?

A photo essay is a series of images that share an overarching theme as well as a visual and technical coherence to tell a story. Some people refer to a photo essay as a photo series or a photo story – this often happens in photography competitions.

Photographic history is full of famous photo essays. Think about The Great Depression by Dorothea Lange, Like Brother Like Sister by Wolfgang Tillmans, Gandhi’s funeral by Henri Cartier Bresson, amongst others.

What are the types of photo essay?

Despite popular belief, the type of photo essay doesn’t depend on the type of photography that you do – in other words, journalism, documentary, fine art, or any other photographic genre is not a type of photo essay.

Instead, there are two main types of photo essays: narrative and thematic .

As you have probably already guessed, the thematic one presents images pulled together by a topic – for example, global warming. The images can be about animals and nature as well as natural disasters devastating cities. They can happen all over the world or in the same location, and they can be captured in different moments in time – there’s a lot of flexibility.

A narrative photo essa y, on the other hand, tells the story of a character (human or not), portraying a place or an event. For example, a narrative photo essay on coffee would document the process from the planting and harvesting – to the roasting and grinding until it reaches your morning cup.

What are some of the key elements of a photo essay?

• Tell a unique story – A unique story doesn’t mean that you have to photograph something that nobody has done before – that would be almost impossible! It means that you should consider what you’re bringing to the table on a particular topic.
• Put yourself into the work – One of the best ways to make a compelling photo essay is by adding your point of view, which can only be done with your life experiences and the way you see the world.
• Add depth to the concept – The best photo essays are the ones that go past the obvious and dig deeper in the story, going behind the scenes, or examining a day in the life of the subject matter – that’s what pulls in the spectator.
• Nail the technique – Even if the concept and the story are the most important part of a photo essay, it won’t have the same success if it’s poorly executed.
• Build a structure – A photo essay is about telling a thought-provoking story – so, think about it in a narrative way. Which images are going to introduce the topic? Which ones represent a climax? How is it going to end – how do you want the viewer to feel after seeing your photo series?
• Make strong choices – If you really want to convey an emotion and a unique point of view, you’re going to need to make some hard decisions. Which light are you using? Which lens? How many images will there be in the series? etc., and most importantly for a great photo essay is the why behind those choices.

9 Tips for Creating a Photo Essay

Credit: Laura James

1. Choose something you know

To make a good photo essay, you don’t need to travel to an exotic location or document a civil war – I mean, it’s great if you can, but you can start close to home.

Depending on the type of photography you do and the topic you’re looking for in your photographic essay, you can photograph a local event or visit an abandoned building outside your town.

It will be much easier for you to find a unique perspective and tell a better story if you’re already familiar with the subject. Also, consider that you might have to return a few times to the same location to get all the photos you need.

2. Follow your passion

Most photo essays take dedication and passion. If you choose a subject that might be easy, but you’re not really into it – the results won’t be as exciting. Taking photos will always be easier and more fun if you’re covering something you’re passionate about.

3. Take your time

A great photo essay is not done in a few hours. You need to put in the time to research it, conceptualizing it, editing, etc. That’s why I previously recommended following your passion because it takes a lot of dedication, and if you’re not passionate about it – it’s difficult to push through.

4. Write a summary or statement

Photo essays are always accompanied by some text. You can do this in the form of an introduction, write captions for each photo or write it as a conclusion. That’s up to you and how you want to present the work.

5. Learn from the masters

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Making a photographic essay takes a lot of practice and knowledge. A great way to become a better photographer and improve your storytelling skills is by studying the work of others. You can go to art shows, review books and magazines and look at the winners in photo contests – most of the time, there’s a category for photo series.

6. Get a wide variety of photos

Think about a story – a literary one. It usually tells you where the story is happening, who is the main character, and it gives you a few details to make you engage with it, right?

The same thing happens with a visual story in a photo essay – you can do some wide-angle shots to establish the scenes and some close-ups to show the details. Make a shot list to ensure you cover all the different angles.

Some of your pictures should guide the viewer in, while others are more climatic and regard the experience they are taking out of your photos.

7. Follow a consistent look

Both in style and aesthetics, all the images in your series need to be coherent. You can achieve this in different ways, from the choice of lighting, the mood, the post-processing, etc.

8. Be self-critical

Once you have all the photos, make sure you edit them with a good dose of self-criticism. Not all the pictures that you took belong in the photo essay. Choose only the best ones and make sure they tell the full story.

9. Ask for constructive feedback

Often, when we’re working on a photo essay project for a long time, everything makes perfect sense in our heads. However, someone outside the project might not be getting the idea. It’s important that you get honest and constructive criticism to improve your photography.

How to Create a Photo Essay in 5 Steps

Credit: Quang Nguyen Vinh

1. Choose your topic

This is the first step that you need to take to decide if your photo essay is going to be narrative or thematic. Then, choose what is it going to be about?

Ideally, it should be something that you’re interested in, that you have something to say about it, and it can connect with other people.

2. Research your topic

To tell a good story about something, you need to be familiar with that something. This is especially true when you want to go deeper and make a compelling photo essay. Day in the life photo essays are a popular choice, since often, these can be performed with friends and family, whom you already should know well.

3. Plan your photoshoot

Depending on what you’re photographing, this step can be very different from one project to the next. For a fine art project, you might need to find a location, props, models, a shot list, etc., while a documentary photo essay is about planning the best time to do the photos, what gear to bring with you, finding a local guide, etc.

Every photo essay will need different planning, so before taking pictures, put in the required time to get things right.

4. Experiment

It’s one thing to plan your photo shoot and having a shot list that you have to get, or else the photo essay won’t be complete. It’s another thing to miss out on some amazing photo opportunities that you couldn’t foresee.

So, be prepared but also stay open-minded and experiment with different settings, different perspectives, etc.

5. Make a final selection

Editing your work can be one of the hardest parts of doing a photo essay. Sometimes we can be overly critical, and others, we get attached to bad photos because we put a lot of effort into them or we had a great time doing them.

Try to be as objective as possible, don’t be afraid to ask for opinions and make various revisions before settling down on a final cut.

7 Photo Essay Topics, Ideas & Examples

Credit: Michelle Leman

• Architectural photo essay

Using architecture as your main subject, there are tons of photo essay ideas that you can do. For some inspiration, you can check out the work of Francisco Marin – who was trained as an architect and then turned to photography to “explore a different way to perceive things”.

You can also lookup Luisa Lambri. Amongst her series, you’ll find many photo essay examples in which architecture is the subject she uses to explore the relationship between photography and space.

• Process and transformation photo essay

This is one of the best photo essay topics for beginners because the story tells itself. Pick something that has a beginning and an end, for example, pregnancy, the metamorphosis of a butterfly, the life-cycle of a plant, etc.

Keep in mind that these topics are linear and give you an easy way into the narrative flow – however, it might be difficult to find an interesting perspective and a unique point of view.

• A day in the life of ‘X’ photo essay

There are tons of interesting photo essay ideas in this category – you can follow around a celebrity, a worker, your child, etc. You don’t even have to do it about a human subject – think about doing a photo essay about a day in the life of a racing horse, for example – find something that’s interesting for you.

• Time passing by photo essay

It can be a natural site or a landmark photo essay – whatever is close to you will work best as you’ll need to come back multiple times to capture time passing by. For example, how this place changes throughout the seasons or maybe even over the years.

A fun option if you live with family is to document a birthday party each year, seeing how the subject changes over time. This can be combined with a transformation essay or sorts, documenting the changes in interpersonal relationships over time.

• Travel photo essay

Do you want to make the jump from tourist snapshots into a travel photo essay? Research the place you’re going to be travelling to. Then, choose a topic.

If you’re having trouble with how to do this, check out any travel magazine – National Geographic, for example. They won’t do a generic article about Texas – they do an article about the beach life on the Texas Gulf Coast and another one about the diverse flavors of Texas.

The more specific you get, the deeper you can go with the story.

• Socio-political issues photo essay

This is one of the most popular photo essay examples – it falls under the category of photojournalism or documental photography. They are usually thematic, although it’s also possible to do a narrative one.

Depending on your topic of interest, you can choose topics that involve nature – for example, document the effects of global warming. Another idea is to photograph protests or make an education photo essay.

It doesn’t have to be a big global issue; you can choose something specific to your community – are there too many stray dogs? Make a photo essay about a local animal shelter. The topics are endless.

• Behind the scenes photo essay

A behind-the-scenes always make for a good photo story – people are curious to know what happens and how everything comes together before a show.

Depending on your own interests, this can be a photo essay about a fashion show, a theatre play, a concert, and so on. You’ll probably need to get some permissions, though, not only to shoot but also to showcase or publish those images.

4 Best Photo Essays in Recent times

Now that you know all the techniques about it, it might be helpful to look at some photo essay examples to see how you can put the concept into practice. Here are some famous photo essays from recent times to give you some inspiration.

Habibi by Antonio Faccilongo

This photo essay wan the World Press Photo Story of the Year in 2021. Faccilongo explores a very big conflict from a very specific and intimate point of view – how the Israeli-Palestinian war affects the families.

He chose to use a square format because it allows him to give order to things and eliminate unnecessary elements in his pictures.

With this long-term photo essay, he wanted to highlight the sense of absence and melancholy women and families feel towards their husbands away at war.

The project then became a book edited by Sarah Leen and the graphics of Ramon Pez.

Picture This: New Orleans by Mary Ellen Mark

The last assignment before her passing, Mary Ellen Mark travelled to New Orleans to register the city after a decade after Hurricane Katrina.

The images of the project “bring to life the rebirth and resilience of the people at the heart of this tale”, – says CNNMoney, commissioner of the work.

Each survivor of the hurricane has a story, and Mary Ellen Mark was there to record it. Some of them have heartbreaking stories about everything they had to leave behind.

Others have a story of hope – like Sam and Ben, two eight-year-olds born from frozen embryos kept in a hospital that lost power supply during the hurricane, yet they managed to survive.

Selfie by Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman is an American photographer whose work is mainly done through self-portraits. With them, she explores the concept of identity, gender stereotypes, as well as visual and cultural codes.

One of her latest photo essays was a collaboration with W Magazine entitled Selfie. In it, the author explores the concept of planned candid photos (‘plandid’).

The work was made for Instagram, as the platform is well known for the conflict between the ‘real self’ and the one people present online. Sherman started using Facetune, Perfect365 and YouCam to alter her appearance on selfies – in Photoshop, you can modify everything, but these apps were designed specifically to “make things prettier”- she says, and that’s what she wants to explore in this photo essay.

Tokyo Compression by Michael Wolf

Michael Wolf has an interest in the broad-gauge topic Life in Cities. From there, many photo essays have been derived – amongst them – Tokyo Compression .

He was horrified by the way people in Tokyo are forced to move to the suburbs because of the high prices of the city. Therefore, they are required to make long commutes facing 1,5 hours of train to start their 8+ hour workday followed by another 1,5 hours to get back home.

To portray this way of life, he photographed the people inside the train pressed against the windows looking exhausted, angry or simply absent due to this way of life.

You can visit his website to see other photo essays that revolve around the topic of life in megacities.

Final Words

It’s not easy to make photo essays, so don’t expect to be great at it right from your first project.

Start off small by choosing a specific subject that’s interesting to you –  that will come from an honest place, and it will be a great practice for some bigger projects along the line.

Whether you like to shoot still life or you’re a travel photographer, I hope these photo essay tips and photo essay examples can help you get started and grow in your photography.

Let us know which topics you are working on right now – we’ll love to hear from you!

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Ana Mireles is a Mexican researcher that specializes in photography and communications for the arts and culture sector.

Penelope G. To Ana Mireles Such a well written and helpful article for an writer who wants to inclue photo essay in her memoir. Thank you. I will get to work on this new skill. Penelope G.

Herman Krieger Photo essays in black and white

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Pictures That Tell Stories: Photo Essay Examples

Like any other type of artist, a photographer’s job is to tell a story through their pictures. While some of the most creative among us can invoke emotion or convey a thought with one single photo, the rest of us will rely on a photo essay.

In the following article, we’ll go into detail about what a photo essay is and how to craft one while providing some detailed photo essay examples.

What is a Photo Essay? 

A photo essay is a series of photographs that, when assembled in a particular order, tell a unique and compelling story. While some photographers choose only to use pictures in their presentations, others will incorporate captions, comments, or even full paragraphs of text to provide more exposition for the scene they are unfolding.

A photo essay is a well-established part of photojournalism and have been used for decades to present a variety of information to the reader. Some of the most famous photo essayists include Ansel Adams , W. Eugene Smith, and James Nachtwey. Of course, there are thousands of photo essay examples out there from which you can draw inspiration.

Why Consider Creating a Photo Essay?

As the old saying goes, “a picture is worth 1000 words.” This adage is, for many photographers, reason enough to hold a photo essay in particularly high regard.

For others, a photo essay allow them to take pictures that are already interesting and construct intricate, emotionally-charged tales out of them. For all photographers, it is yet another skill they can master to become better at their craft.

As you might expect, the photo essay have had a long history of being associated with photojournalism. From the Great Depression to Civil Rights Marches and beyond, many compelling stories have been told through a combination of images and text, or photos alone. A photo essay often evokes an intense reaction, whether artistic in nature or designed to prove a socio-political point.

Below, we’ll list some famous photo essay samples to further illustrate the subject.

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Famous Photo Essays

“The Great Depression” by Dorothea Lange – Shot and arranged in the 1930s, this famous photo essay still serves as a stark reminder of The Great Depression and Dust Bowl America . Beautifully photographed, the black and white images offer a bleak insight to one of the country’s most difficult times.

“The Vietnam War” by Philip Jones Griffiths – Many artists consider the Griffiths’ photo essay works to be some of the most important records of the war in Vietnam. His photographs and great photo essays are particularly well-remembered for going against public opinion and showing the suffering of the “other side,” a novel concept when it came to war photography.

Various American Natural Sites by Ansel Adams – Adams bought the beauty of nature home to millions, photographing the American Southwest and places like Yosemite National Park in a way that made the photos seem huge, imposing, and beautiful.

“Everyday” by Noah Kalina – Is a series of photographs arranged into a video. This photo essay features daily photographs of the artist himself, who began taking capturing the images when he was 19 and continued to do so for six years.

“Signed, X” by Kate Ryan – This is a powerful photo essay put together to show the long-term effects of sexual violence and assault. This photo essay is special in that it remains ongoing, with more subjects being added every year.

Common Types of Photo Essays

While a photo essay do not have to conform to any specific format or design, there are two “umbrella terms” under which almost all genres of photo essays tend to fall. A photo essay is thematic and narrative. In the following section, we’ll give some details about the differences between the two types, and then cover some common genres used by many artists.

⬥ Thematic 

A thematic photo essay speak on a specific subject. For instance, numerous photo essays were put together in the 1930s to capture the ruin of The Great Depression. Though some of these presentations followed specific people or families, they mostly told the “story” of the entire event. There is much more freedom with a thematic photo essay, and you can utilize numerous locations and subjects. Text is less common with these types of presentations.

⬥ Narrative 

A narrative photo essay is much more specific than thematic essays, and they tend to tell a much more direct story. For instance, rather than show a number of scenes from a Great Depression Era town, the photographer might show the daily life of a person living in Dust Bowl America. There are few rules about how broad or narrow the scope needs to be, so photographers have endless creative freedom. These types of works frequently utilize text.

Common Photo Essay Genres

Walk a City – This photo essay is when you schedule a time to walk around a city, neighborhood, or natural site with the sole goal of taking photos. Usually thematic in nature, this type of photo essay allows you to capture a specific place, it’s energy, and its moods and then pass them along to others.

The Relationship Photo Essay – The interaction between families and loved ones if often a fascinating topic for a photo essay. This photo essay genre, in particular, gives photographers an excellent opportunity to capture complex emotions like love and abstract concepts like friendship. When paired with introspective text, the results can be quite stunning. 

The Timelapse Transformation Photo Essay – The goal of a transformation photo essay is to capture the way a subject changes over time. Some people take years or even decades putting together a transformation photo essay, with subjects ranging from people to buildings to trees to particular areas of a city.

Going Behind The Scenes Photo Essay – Many people are fascinated by what goes on behind the scenes of big events. Providing the photographer can get access; to an education photo essay can tell a very unique and compelling story to their viewers with this photo essay.

Photo Essay of a Special Event – There are always events and occasions going on that would make an interesting subject for a photo essay. Ideas for this photo essay include concerts, block parties, graduations, marches, and protests. Images from some of the latter were integral to the popularity of great photo essays.

The Daily Life Photo Essay – This type of photo essay often focus on a single subject and attempt to show “a day in the life” of that person or object through the photographs. This type of photo essay can be quite powerful depending on the subject matter and invoke many feelings in the people who view them.

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Photo Essay Ideas and Examples

One of the best ways to gain a better understanding of photo essays is to view some photo essay samples. If you take the time to study these executions in detail, you’ll see just how photo essays can make you a better photographer and offer you a better “voice” with which to speak to your audience.

Some of these photo essay ideas we’ve already touched on briefly, while others will be completely new to you. 

Cover a Protest or March  

Some of the best photo essay examples come from marches, protests, and other events associated with movements or socio-political statements. Such events allow you to take pictures of angry, happy, or otherwise empowered individuals in high-energy settings. The photo essay narrative can also be further enhanced by arriving early or staying long after the protest has ended to catch contrasting images. 

Photograph a Local Event  

Whether you know it or not, countless unique and interesting events are happening in and around your town this year. Such events provide photographers new opportunities to put together a compelling photo essay. From ethnic festivals to historical events to food and beverage celebrations, there are many different ways to capture and celebrate local life.

Visit an Abandoned Site or Building  

Old homes and historical sites are rich with detail and can sometimes appear dilapidated, overgrown by weeds, or broken down by time. These qualities make them a dynamic and exciting subject. Many great photo essay works of abandoned homes use a mix of far-away shots, close-ups, weird angles, and unique lighting. Such techniques help set a mood that the audience can feel through the photographic essay.

Chronicle a Pregnancy

Few photo essay topics could be more personal than telling the story of a pregnancy. Though this photo essay example can require some preparation and will take a lot of time, the results of a photographic essay like this are usually extremely emotionally-charged and touching. In some cases, photographers will continue the photo essay project as the child grows as well.

Photograph Unique Lifestyles  

People all over the world are embracing society’s changes in different ways. People live in vans or in “tiny houses,” living in the woods miles away from everyone else, and others are growing food on self-sustaining farms. Some of the best photo essay works have been born out of these new, inspiring movements.

Photograph Animals or Pets  

If you have a favorite animal (or one that you know very little about), you might want to arrange a way to see it up close and tell its story through images. You can take photos like this in a zoo or the animal’s natural habitat, depending on the type of animal you choose. Pets are another great topic for a photo essay and are among the most popular subjects for many photographers.

Show Body Positive Themes  

So much of modern photography is about showing the best looking, prettiest, or sexiest people at all times. Choosing a photo essay theme like body positivity, however, allows you to film a wide range of interesting-looking people from all walks of life.

Such a photo essay theme doesn’t just apply to women, as beauty can be found everywhere. As a photo essay photographer, it’s your job to find it!

Bring Social Issues to Life  

Some of the most impactful social photo essay examples are those where the photographer focuses on social issues. From discrimination to domestic violence to the injustices of the prison system, there are many ways that a creative photographer can highlight what’s wrong with the world. This type of photo essay can be incredibly powerful when paired with compelling subjects and some basic text.

Photograph Style and Fashion

If you live in or know of a particularly stylish locale or area, you can put together an excellent thematic photo essay by capturing impromptu shots of well-dressed people as they pass by. As with culture, style is easily identifiable and is as unifying as it is divisive. Great photo essay examples include people who’ve covered fashion sub-genres from all over the world, like urban hip hop or Japanese Visual Kei. 

Photograph Native Cultures and Traditions  

If you’ve ever opened up a copy of National Geographic, you’ve probably seen photo essay photos that fit this category. To many, the traditions, dress, religious ceremonies, and celebrations of native peoples and foreign cultures can be utterly captivating. For travel photographers, this photo essay is considered one of the best ways to tell a story with or without text.

Capture Seasonal Or Time Changes In A Landmark Photo Essay

Time-lapse photography is very compelling to most viewers. What they do in a few hours, however, others are doing over months, years, and even decades. If you know of an exciting landscape or scene, you can try to capture the same image in Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall, and put that all together into one landmark photo essay.

Alternatively, you can photograph something being lost or ravaged by time or weather. The subject of your landmark photo essay can be as simple as the wall of an old building or as complex as an old house in the woods being taken over by nature. As always, there are countless transformation-based landmark photo essay works from which you can draw inspiration.

Photograph Humanitarian Efforts or Charity  

Humanitarian efforts by groups like Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross, and Doctors Without Borders can invoke a powerful response through even the simplest of photos. While it can be hard to put yourself in a position to get the images, there are countless photo essay examples to serve as inspiration for your photo essay project.

How to Create a Photo Essay

There is no singular way to create a photo essay. As it is, ultimately, and artistic expression of the photographer, there is no right, wrong, good, or bad. However, like all stories, some tell them well and those who do not. Luckily, as with all things, practice does make perfect. Below, we’ve listed some basic steps outlining how to create a photo essay

Steps To Create A Photo Essay

Choose Your Topic – While some photo essayists will be able to “happen upon” a photo story and turn it into something compelling, most will want to choose their photo essay topics ahead of time. While the genres listed above should provide a great starting place, it’s essential to understand that photo essay topics can cover any event or occasion and any span of time

Do Some Research – The next step to creating a photo essay is to do some basic research. Examples could include learning the history of the area you’re shooting or the background of the person you photograph. If you’re photographing a new event, consider learning the story behind it. Doing so will give you ideas on what to look for when you’re shooting.  

Make a Storyboard – Storyboards are incredibly useful tools when you’re still in the process of deciding what photo story you want to tell. By laying out your ideas shot by shot, or even doing rough illustrations of what you’re trying to capture, you can prepare your photo story before you head out to take your photos.

This process is especially important if you have little to no control over your chosen subject. People who are participating in a march or protest, for instance, aren’t going to wait for you to get in position before offering up the perfect shot. You need to know what you’re looking for and be prepared to get it.

Get the Right Images – If you have a shot list or storyboard, you’ll be well-prepared to take on your photo essay. Make sure you give yourself enough time (where applicable) and take plenty of photos, so you have a lot from which to choose. It would also be a good idea to explore the area, show up early, and stay late. You never know when an idea might strike you.

Assemble Your Story – Once you develop or organize your photos on your computer, you need to choose the pictures that tell the most compelling photo story or stories. You might also find some great images that don’t fit your photo story These can still find a place in your portfolio, however, or perhaps a completely different photo essay you create later.

Depending on the type of photographer you are, you might choose to crop or digitally edit some of your photos to enhance the emotions they invoke. Doing so is completely at your discretion, but worth considering if you feel you can improve upon the naked image.

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Best Photo Essays Tips And Tricks

Before you approach the art of photo essaying for the first time, you might want to consider with these photo essay examples some techniques, tips, and tricks that can make your session more fun and your final results more interesting. Below, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best advice we could find on the subject of photo essays. 

⬥ Experiment All You Want 

You can, and should, plan your topic and your theme with as much attention to detail as possible. That said, some of the best photo essay examples come to us from photographers that got caught up in the moment and decided to experiment in different ways. Ideas for experimentation include the following: 

Angles – Citizen Kane is still revered today for the unique, dramatic angles used in the film. Though that was a motion picture and not photography, the same basic principles still apply. Don’t be afraid to photograph some different angles to see how they bring your subject to life in different ways.

Color – Some images have more gravitas in black in white or sepia tone. You can say the same for images that use color in an engaging, dynamic way. You always have room to experiment with color, both before and after the shoot.

Contrast – Dark and light, happy and sad, rich and poor – contrast is an instantly recognizable form of tension that you can easily include in your photo essay. In some cases, you can plan for dramatic contrasts. In other cases, you simply need to keep your eyes open.

Exposure Settings – You can play with light in terms of exposure as well, setting a number of different moods in the resulting photos. Some photographers even do random double exposures to create a photo essay that’s original.

Filters – There are endless post-production options available to photographers, particularly if they use digital cameras. Using different programs and apps, you can completely alter the look and feel of your image, changing it from warm to cool or altering dozens of different settings.

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If you’re using traditional film instead of a digital camera, you’re going to want to stock up. Getting the right shots for a photo essay usually involves taking hundreds of images that will end up in the rubbish bin. Taking extra pictures you won’t use is just the nature of the photography process. Luckily, there’s nothing better than coming home to realize that you managed to capture that one, perfect photograph. 

⬥ Set the Scene 

You’re not just telling a story to your audience – you’re writing it as well. If the scene you want to capture doesn’t have the look you want, don’t be afraid to move things around until it does. While this doesn’t often apply to photographing events that you have no control over, you shouldn’t be afraid to take a second to make an OK shot a great shot. 

⬥ Capture Now, Edit Later 

Editing, cropping, and digital effects can add a lot of drama and artistic flair to your photos. That said, you shouldn’t waste time on a shoot, thinking about how you can edit it later. Instead, make sure you’re capturing everything that you want and not missing out on any unique pictures. If you need to make changes later, you’ll have plenty of time! 

⬥ Make It Fun 

As photographers, we know that taking pictures is part art, part skill, and part performance. If you want to take the best photo essays, you need to loosen up and have fun. Again, you’ll want to plan for your topic as best as you can, but don’t be afraid to lose yourself in the experience. Once you let yourself relax, both the ideas and the opportunities will manifest.

⬥ It’s All in The Details 

When someone puts out a photographic essay for an audience, that work usually gets analyzed with great attention to detail. You need to apply this same level of scrutiny to the shots you choose to include in your photo essay. If something is out of place or (in the case of historical work) out of time, you can bet the audience will notice.

⬥ Consider Adding Text

While it isn’t necessary, a photographic essay can be more powerful by the addition of text. This is especially true of images with an interesting background story that can’t be conveyed through the image alone. If you don’t feel up to the task of writing content, consider partnering with another artist and allowing them tor bring your work to life.

Final Thoughts 

The world is waiting to tell us story after story. Through the best photo essays, we can capture the elements of those stories and create a photo essay that can invoke a variety of emotions in our audience.

No matter the type of cameras we choose, the techniques we embrace, or the topics we select, what really matters is that the photos say something about the people, objects, and events that make our world wonderful.

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Advice for an Unforgettable Photo Essay

Six steps for turning your images into a memorable photo essay, from curating your best work to crafting a title.

A man sits alone on a chair on the side of the road. We see him from above, surrounded by grey cobblestones neatly placed, a broken plastic chair, and some pylons scattered along the curb. A street cat wanders out of the frame and away from the man. He appears lonely, the only person inhabiting the place in which he seems so comfortably seated. As the eye wanders throughout the frame, however, the viewer discovers more: a vast city cast beyond the street and behind the man’s chair. This image closes Sarah Pannell’s photo essay Sehir , a quiet study of urban life.

Possibilities, discovery, and stories: these are some of the most effective elements of a photo essay. Collections of images can help produce a narrative, evoke emotion, and guide the viewer through one or more perspectives. A well-executed photo essay doesn’t rely on a title or any prior knowledge of its creator; it narrates on its own, moving viewers through sensations, lessons, and reactions.

Famous photo essays like Country Doctor by W. Eugene Smith or Gordon Parks’ The Harlem Family are acclaimed for showing a glimpse into the lives of the sick and impoverished. Other well-made photo essays offer a new way to look at the everyday, such as Peter Funch’s much-reposted photo series 42nd and Vanderbilt , for which Funch photographed the same street corner for nine years. As shown by these photographers’ experiences with the medium, a collection of photos can enliven spaces and attitudes. Strong photo essays can give voice to marginalized individuals and shine a spotlight on previously overlooked experiences.

You don’t necessarily need to be a documentary photographer to create a powerful photo essay. Photo essays can showcase any topic, from nature photography to portraiture to wedding shots. We spoke to a few photographers to get their perspectives on what makes a good photo essay, and their tips for how any photographer can get started in this medium. Here are six steps to follow to create a photo essay that tells a memorable story.

Choose a specific topic or theme for your photo essay.

There are two types of photo essays: the narrative and the thematic. Narrative photo essays focus on a story you’re telling the viewer, while thematic photo essays speak to a specific subject.

The most natural method for choosing a topic or theme for your photo essay is to go with what you know. Photograph what you experience. Whether that includes people, objects, or the things you think about throughout the day, accessibility is key here. Common topics or concepts to start with are emotions (depicting sadness or happiness) or experiences (everyday life, city living).

For photographer Sharon Pannen , planning a photo essay is as simple as “picking out a subject you find interesting or you want to make a statement about.”

From Paper & Stories , a photo series by Sharon Pannen for Schön! Magazine.

Consider your photo subjects.

The subjects of your photographs, whether human or not, will fill the space of your photos and influence the mood or idea you’re trying to depict. The subject can determine whether or not your photos are considered interesting. “I always try to find someone that catches my eye. I especially like to see how the light falls on their face and how a certain aesthetic might add to their persona,” says photographer Victoria Wojtan .

While subjects and their interest factor are, well, subjective, when considering your subjects, you should ask yourself about your audience. Do other people want to see this? Is my subject representative of the larger idea my photo essay is trying to convey? Your projects can involve people you know or people you’ve only just met.

“Most projects I work on involve shooting portraits of strangers, so there’s always a tension in approaching someone for a portrait,” says photographer Taylor Dorrell . For Wojtan, that tension can help build trust with a subject and actually leads to more natural images “If there’s tension it’s usually because the person’s new to being photographed by someone for something that’s outside of a candid moment or selfie, and they need guidance for posing. This gives me the opportunity to make them feel more comfortable and let them be themselves. I tend to have a certain idea in mind, but try to allow for organic moments to happen.”

Aim for a variety of images.

Depending on your theme, there are a few types of photos you’ll want to use to anchor your essay. One or two lead photos should slowly introduce the viewer to your topic. These initial photos will function in a similar way to the introductory paragraph in a written essay or news article.

From there, you should consider further developing your narrative by introducing elements like portraiture, close ups, detail shots, and a carefully selected final photo to leave the viewer with the feeling you set out to produce in your photos. Consider your opening and closing images to be the most important elements of your photo essay, and choose them accordingly. You want your first images to hook the viewer, and you also want your final images to leave a lasting impression and perhaps offer a conclusion to the narrative you’ve developed.

Including different types of photos, shot at different ranges, angles, and perspectives, can help engage your viewer and add more texture to your series.

Says photographer Taylor Dorrell: “After I have a group of images, I tend to think about color, composition, the order the images were taken, the subject material, and relevance to the concept.”

From Taylor Dorrell’s photo essay White Fences : “White Fences is an ongoing photo series that explores the theme of suburban youth in the United States, specifically in the midwest suburb New Albany, Ohio.”

Put your emotions aside.

Self-doubt can easily come into play when working with your own photography. The adage that we are our own worst critics is often true. It can be difficult to objectively select your strongest images when creating a photo essay. This is why putting together photo essays is such a useful practice for developing your curatorial skills.

“The most important part for me is getting outside opinions. I don’t do that enough, and have a bias in selecting images that might not be the most powerful images or the most effective sequence of images,” says Dorrell. Your own perception of a photograph can cloud your ability to judge whether or not it adds to your photo essay. This is especially true when your essay deals with personal subjects. For example, a photo essay about your family may be hard to evaluate, as your own feelings about family members will impact how you take and view the photos. This is where getting feedback from peers can be invaluable to producing a strong series.

Collecting feedback while putting your photo essay together can help you determine the strengths, weaknesses, and gaps within the collection of photos you’ve produced. Ask your friends to tell you their favorites, why they like them, and what they think you’re going for in the work you’ve created. Their opinions can be your guide, not just your own emotions.

Edit your photo selection.

Beyond post-production, the series of photos you select as your essay will determine whether you’ve executed your theme or narrative effectively. Can the photos stand alone, without written words, and tell the story you set out to? Do they make sense together, in a logical sequence? The perfect photo essay will give your audience a full picture of the narrative, theme, or essence you’re looking to capture.

A good method to use to cull your images down is to remove as many as half of your images straight away to see if your narrative is still as strong with fewer photos. Or, perhaps, deciding on a small number you’d like to aim for (maybe just five to ten images) and using this as a method to narrow down to the images that tell your story best.

From Taylor Dorrell’s photo essay Over the Rhine , featured in Vice.

Give your photo essay a title, and add a concise written statement.

Finally, you’ll want to create a title and written statement for your photo essay. This will help position your work and can enable the viewer to fully understand your intention, or at least guide their perspective.

A solid written statement and title will be relevant to your topic, detail your primary objective, and introduce your point of view. It’s an opportunity to clarify your intentions to the viewer and ensure they walk away with a clear interpretation of your work. Depending on your photo essay, you may want to include several paragraphs of text, but even just one or two sentences of background can be enough to expand the viewer’s understanding of your work.

Consider if you’d like to add the written statement at the beginning of your essay to introduce it, or at the end as a conclusion. Either one can be impactful, and it depends how you’d like people to experience your work.

For his photo essay White Fences, excerpted above, Taylor Dorrell wrote only one sentence of introduction. But for his series Over the Rhine, Dorell included a longer written statement to accompany the work, which is “an ongoing photo series that seeks to explore the Cincinnati neighborhood of the same name and its surroundings. The series was started in response to the shooting of Samuel DuBose, an unarmed black man, by officer Ray Tensing of the University of Cincinnati Police, which happened July 19th, 2015.” Dorell’s text goes on to offer more background on the project, setting up the viewer with all the information they need to understand the context of the photo essay.

Depending on the motivations behind your photo essay and what sort of subject it depicts, a longer text may be necessary—or just a few words might be enough.

Looking for a place to share your photo essays with the world? Take a look at our guide to creating a photography website for tips on showcasing your photos online.

Cover image by Taylor Dorrell, from his photo essay Hurricane Over Sugar .

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Powerful photo essays: Tips for visual impact

Photo essays are a great way to tell a visually impactful story about your work. If you’re not sure where to begin or what to consider when crafting a photo essay, check out this Q&A where Tara shares her expertise on how to plan for and execute an effective photo essay.

(Responses edited for length and clarity.) 

Q: What are some creative ways a social impact organization could utilize a photo essay? 

Photo essays are versatile storytelling tools. They’re typically associated with more journalistic mediums, but can easily be used for NGO communications. Include a photo essay in an annual report to give your reader a break from the text. Or spruce up your Instagram presence with a carousel of photos.

Q: Photo essays tend to be thematic or narrative. What is the first thing one should consider when choosing the right type of photo essay?  

Good question. A thematic approach is when you curate photos that relate to a similar topic. For example, if you’re telling a story related to agricultural solutions in Latin America, you could curate a photo essay that showcases farming techniques in that region.

A narrative approach follows more of a traditional story structure and typically is about one person or a group of people.

Q: What kind of research goes into crafting a photo essay?

Pre-work ideally includes site visits. If that’s not possible, then talk to people who have been to the area recently and set up meetings with local leaders or people in the community who are knowledgeable about the topic. Also, try to interview the subject beforehand and think about how you’d like to shape the story. 

Even if you only need one photo, some level of pre-work is a good idea. It takes a lot of energy and money to execute a shoot, so once you’re there maximize the opportunity!

Q: Let’s hone in on the narrative approach. To profile an individual, such as a local game-changer, what would you recommend?

When profiling an individual, it’s important to understand the work they do and the life they lead before showing up for the shoot. We want to shoot action, so ask about any significant events that might be happening or daily routines that could be interesting to document.

Q: What are some tips to capture a project where tons of pre-planning isn’t possible?

Write out a plan as much as possible, even if it’s just what you hope to see, and then embrace a spirit of flexibility.

Q: Let’s take a look at some case studies. Here is a Turkish All-Women’s Theater Group that was featured in The Guardian. It tells a vivid story about this group of women and their lives. Tell us about your approach here.

This story is significant because it’s about both an individual woman, Ummiye, and a community of female actors who are impacting their society in an unusual way. Ummiye was the founder of the troupe and I wanted to showcase her home life as well as what it was like traveling with the group. I was allowed backstage and in her home and it was an honor to document. It’s a story of resilience and change, the type I love capturing.

Q: And let’s also take a look at this photography featuring chhaupadi, a ritual in western Nepal in which menstruating women are isolated. This was featured in a New York Times article. Would you still consider this photo essay narrative or thematic?  

Good question. The photos captured for this story are both narrative and thematic. The part about the woman who changed her village’s perspective about chhaupadi has a narrative effect. In other parts of the story, it’s more about providing background knowledge about the practice and how it affects women, so the photos in this instance provide a thematic purpose. 

Both approaches were necessary to tell the story: to show how widespread the practice is, while also focusing on individuals like the teacher who changed her entire village’s approach. 

Q: What are things to consider when reviewing a photo essay before publishing it? 

Be brutal while reviewing your photo essay. One of the most common mistakes we see are nearly identical photos side-by-side. Each photo should contribute a significant and distinct part to the story.

Q: What are some tips on how to do a photo essay with a tight budget?  

• It’s best to avoid stock photography for a narrative photo essay. If you don’t have the photos, think about a thematic set of pictures which might be easier to find with stock.
• Note: Getting photos after a photo shoot is typically difficult; so if you’re depending on photos (or video) from the subject, make sure you have them in advance of the shoot, or get them during shooting if possible.  
• Nowadays, it’s possible to do a photo shoot over Zoom if you can’t shoot on location. 

PS – also remember, text can be visual too and can greatly enhance a photo essay!

Thanks, Tara, for this deep dive into photo essays! To learn more about how your organization can incorporate visual storytelling tools (like a photo essay) into your work, we invite you to book a free discovery call with Tara!

Tags: photography, visual storytelling tips, visualstorytelling

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Narrative Photo Essays with Models and Sets

A course by samuka marinho , photographer, illustrator, and editor.

Learn to use lighting, props, and characters in your photoshoots to tell inspiring stories with your camera

• Portuguese with subtitles in English
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It's been said time and again that an image is worth a thousand words. So can you imagine the visual impact of a project that compiles a series of them? Samuka Marinho is an illustrator, photographer, photo editor, and the creator of Corsários , a 192-page photographic narrative that tells the story of the so-called Golden Age of Piracy with more than 400 richly crafted scenes.

In this online course, learn to develop a visual narrative alongside Samuka, who walks you through the entire process involved in creating a photo essay that tells a powerful story, from the initial idea to the final editing in Adobe Photoshop. Combine images and words to depict original and captivating stories!

What will you learn in this online course?

14 lessons & 21 downloads

• 14 lessons (1h 25m)
• 21 additional resources (9 files)
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What is this course's project?

Create your own narrative photo essay or photo novel.

Who is this online course for?

Photographers, visual artists, and anyone interested in venturing out into the world of narrative photography.

Requirements and materials

Basic knowledge of photography is recommended for this course.

As for materials, you need a DSLR camera capable of shooting in RAW mode, two or more flash devices, light modifiers, a tripod, colored cellophane sheets, and a computer with Adobe Photoshop installed.

Excellent et très inspirant. Merci.

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Very knowledgeable and inspiring presenter. I have found many new artists to study and take inspiration from after watching this course. Enjoyable and well paced course. This is already helping me to improve my personal projects.

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Excelente curso

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muy buen curso, varios tips

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Samuka Marinho A course by Samuka Marinho

Samuka Marinho is an illustrator, photographer, and photo editor whose work has been featured on book and album covers, exhibited in galleries, and included in specialized publications. He has also collaborated on advertising campaigns awarded with the Cannes Gold Lion. But his most ambitious project to date is Corsários , a 192-page photographic narrative depicting the so-called Golden Age of Piracy in over 400 carefully crafted scenes.

Introduction

Pre-production.

• Project "Corsairs"
• From text to image
• Taking off paper
• Studio and equipment
• Studio and lighting map
• Shoot scene objects

Post production

• Layout assembly
• Image editing
• Finalization of the image

Final project

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How to Build a Photography Story with a Photo Essay

The Power of a Well Told Story

Why is storytelling important? Because telling stories is how humans make meaning. The tradition goes back to the beginning of language and it’s just as important in visual traditions as it is in oral or written ones.

We all know the value of a good story. If you’ve ever enjoyed a book or movie, if you’ve ever laughed around a campfire or sat spellbound at a grandparent’s feet, you’ve felt the power of storytelling. Stories open up our minds, increase our empathy, and touch our souls in life and world-changing ways.

The ability to tell stories is one of the most powerful tools an image maker has. There are many places for storytelling in photography, but no other project is quite so suited to storytelling as the photo essay.

What is a Photo Essay?

A photo essay is a series of images that explores one topic, thought, idea, or subject. This form of storytelling allows photographers to create a visual narrative through a series of photographs, which can be accompanied by text or other storytelling elements but does not require them. The heart of a photo essay is building a story with photographs , rather than words.

Photo essays have been a mainstay in journalism for decades, but traverse genres from landscape and documentary to portraiture and fine art. Most photographers are well acquainted with photo essays like “The Great Depression” by Dorothea Lange, and more contemporary essays where portraitists photographed themselves daily or weekly over a series of years.

While the photo essay umbrella encompasses many genres and approaches, the two main types of photo essays are Thematic and Narrative.

Thematic photo essays are created around a subject, idea, or theme. They can be very broad and cover everything from street photography in New York in the 1970’s, to Route 66 Motels . They tend to document a larger story and leave more room for interpretation.

Narrative photo essays follow a storyline and are generally much more specific. These essays can be documentary, fine art, conceptual, or anything in between, but they tend to stick with one story from beginning to end.

War Widow: a Narrative Photo Essay by Kate Woodman

How to Create a Photo Essay

All photo essays begin with a topic, theme, or idea the photographer wants to explore, convey, or understand. Then, the photographer decides how to approach the subject. They may build a shot list, or approach the subject from a documentary standpoint and shoot the subject as they find it. Photographing these subjects can cover a lot of time, such as the study of a people group or an environment, or be completed in the short term, such as a “day in the life,” style of essay.

Once the photographer knows how they want to approach the subject, they’ll make preparations and begin shooting. Every photographer will approach this process differently, but all should keep in mind that everything in the frame will help tell the story. Therefore, it’s in the photographer's best interest to be as exacting in their approach as they would be for any other project.

The ultimate goal is to compile a series of photographs for a visual story that allows the viewer to engage with the subject matter.

• Select a topic, subject, create a story, or select a photo essay idea. There are no right or wrong answers, as long as the photographer is interested in exploring the subject or telling a story. Any idea can be a good idea if it's approached the right way.
• Consider whether a shot list is necessary. Documentarians often choose to shoot subjects as they find them, while fine artists or conceptual photographers will often create a storyline and a series of photographs to illustrate it.
• Make plans to photograph the subject. This could be as simple as grabbing a camera and heading out to a location, or as complex as building a set and scheduling several shoots over the course of months or years.
• Curate the story. Look at all the images that have been captured and decide which are the strongest, and which contribute most to telling the story or exploring the theme or idea. Remember, an essay cannot be a single image, but a single image can make or break the story.
• Present the essay. This is, possibly, the most important part of the process because how an essay is presented, and where, will be very important in determining whether the story reaches the intended audience. Consider who needs to see this story, and what venues will be best to reach that audience. This could be a simple release to one's network on social media platforms, through a gallery, a self-funded art show, or in partnership with a company that supports a specific cause.

In this video, PRO EDU Instructor Kate Woodman talks about her conceptual photo essay, War Widow, and breaks down how each visual contributes to the narrative.

Photo Essay Topic Ideas

A day in the life

30 days of my desk

Shelter Dogs of Houston

The life of a garden

Derelict Buildings

The effect of violence in the home

Homage to the old west

Historic sites

Car Salesmen

Retired veterans

Local events

Unplanned still lives

There are no bad ideas for an essay photo series, as long as the photographer is interested in exploring the ideas, capturing the story elements, and creating a photo story.

The photo essay is a powerful tool photographers can use to bring light to topics they care about, explore ideas, and hone their storytelling skills so they're better able to evoke emotion.

Essays have often been the catalyst for growth and made more than one photographer famous when the essay sparks fire to the imagination of the public. Almost every photographer in any genre can benefit from the exercise of creating a photo essay, so what’s stopping you?

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What is a Good Narrative Photo Essay?

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Early photographers quickly realized that an image could be worth 1,000 words - and in some cases many more. Words evoke a largely intellectual response from those who read them, but images can produce intense emotional reactions. A good photojournalist harnesses this potential to confront viewers with the reality of pain, injustice or whatever his or her story incorporates. Indeed a successful and factual photo essay has the potential to bring about social change, provoke lawmakers in to changing laws, and even end wars.

An effective and successful essay produces an emotional reaction in the majority of viewers. It may cause them to laugh, feel sad, angry or even walk away in tears. Such reactions are evidence of an author's success. Viewers who walk away unmoved feed back a much less positive message about the success of the work. The best photo essays, like good books and music, tend to stand the test of time. They are still around after countless years, often because the message they convey continues to be relevant even though the events portrayed have long since passed in to history.

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How to create an outstanding Photo Essay

If you are working on your photo essay and would wish to know how to create a successful one, we have some tips, tricks, and techniques outlined in this article. With the sophistication of digital publishing, you need to be on your A-game when creating digital photos that tell a story.

As a custom essay writing service , our ultimate goal in this article is to guide you on creating a photo essay without straining. We like it when writing, and creativity is fun altogether. Therefore, we have outlined examples, classifications, and a framework that you can use when creating your photo essay.

This article also bears the definition of what a photo essay is. And although you could use this as a professional or a student, you can pay someone to do your essay on our website. When you do so, a polished essay writer will work with you in creating a good photo essay,

We have creatives with expertise, a knack for experimentation, critical thinking and creativity, and an insatiable urge to produce top content. If it sounds like you could use our help, let us know the best way we can assist you in creating a perfect photography essay.

If, however, all you need is insights to point you in the right direction, here is how to create a good photo essay without straining. Let’s explore!

What is a Photo Essay?

Visual storytelling appeals to everyone who has a sense of sight.

Unlike your typical essay in college, a photo essay is a project where you present a series of photographs or images to tell a story, share a narrative, or push a theme/agenda. Thus, a photo essay facilitates picture-led storytelling , which is a creative innovation in photojournalism.

It is also known as a photographic or picture essay. A great photo essay powerfully evokes emotions and appeals to the understanding of its intended audience without using words or with minimal words alongside the series of images.

A perfectly-created photo essay narrates a story using many photographs that take the viewer along your narrative journey. Indeed, it proves that a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, since there are many pictures/images, you could say a photo essay is rich in words, flavor, and content, yet it does not have words.

Talking of photo essays, Ansel Adams is one of the revered and famous photo essayists. Other photo essayists include James Nachtwey, Eugene Smith, and Nancy Borowick .

How to Create a Photo Essay in a step-by-step format

Here is a step-by-step approach to follow to successfully create a compelling and engaging photo essay:

Step 1 – Do your Research

If you are to create an attractive and relevant photo essay, begin by researching the best framework to adopt. Look at what people are doing out there and find out how creatively you can do it better. There are inexhaustible ideas and concepts that you can explore when writing a photo essay. If you’ve not chosen a topic, thorough research can help you decide on a topic and handle it well.

Step 2 - Choose a theme for your photo essay

With the research, you can already identify a specific theme or narrative for your picture essay. Therefore, highlight the theme or narrative, write some notes about the direction you will tackle and how you will reach and satisfy your audience.

Step 2 – Choose a topic that aligns with the theme

Following the findings from your research, choose a great topic. You are not that lucky photo essayist who opportunistically happens upon a story and turns it into a brilliant photo essay. Therefore, you should choose an attractive, reasonable, short, and memorable topic. You are free to select any topic that interests you and one that you find fun to work on. Your chosen theme or narrative can help define the topic for your photo essay.

Step 3 – Pick your subjects

With the theme/narrative and the topic, you can then choose your subjects. These are the people, things, sceneries, or places of central focus in your photography essay.  

The subjects are the ones that give your photo essay a voice, strengthen your narrative, and engage the audience.

Step 4 – Select your top images

Define the appropriate number of images that you intend to use when telling the story. For example, if you intend to leave the audience under suspense, choose which images to use and their order of appearance.  Your photo essay project does not have to use all your images but the best.

The best way to integrate your theme, narrative, and subjects is to create a storyboard that helps you decide how to tell the story. Then, when you lay your ideas out, a storyboard helps you focus on what is essential, especially when you have little control over a given subject.

Step 5 – ask for insights and input from others

After creating the storyboard, choosing the photos, and writing a narrative or theme statement, you can share it with someone knowledgeable for critique. You should also invite views and comments from another person. Ensure that you give the entire photo cache to the person so that they can choose, then compare with your best photos and tweak your choice accordingly.

Step 6 – Write the captions and text

With everything set, write the accompanying content for your photo essay. As well, make sure you caption each photo to enhance your visual narrative. Nothing is cast in stone here because you can also drop using image captions. You can experiment with lighting, tone, color, composition, angles, and location so that the narrative flows. Also, don’t forget to create introductory messages and closing messages. You need to have your signature introductory and closing images well-decided.

Step 7 – Edit your work

Now that you have created a photo essay, it is now time to edit everything. You can ask for help or rest and do it when you are energetic and objective. If you want a skilled essay writer to write you an excellent narrative to post alongside your photo essay, you can always trust our essay website.  We can also edit the narrative to maintain a good flow.

Step 8 – Publish/submit your work

If everything else is okay, convert the photo essay to the correct format and submit or publish it. Remember, photo essays can be a portion of a webpage, a webpage, a document, fashion publication, photo editorial, collage of images, or mixed media.

Helpful Tips when compiling your Photographic Essay

If you are on track to become a photo essayist, you need to grasp the most critical photo essaying tips, techniques, and tricks. Here is some best advice you could use to find a subject for your photo essay.

1. Try to tell a diverse and confident story

When you get out there to tell a story, make sure you do it most awesomely. Understand your target audience, do anything that will resonate with their needs, appeal to their emotions, logic, and thoughts, and leave them musing over your narrative. It is, therefore, vital that you consider what your key message will be and be confident when handling it in your photo essay.

2.Storyboard before building

Architects, surgeons, artists, engineers, you name the profession, all begin with either a sketch, blueprint or a plan to visualize the entire concept or creation before its actualization. In the real of photo essays, you have to be invested right from the beginning. Therefore, you need to create a storyboard that helps you to convert your vision, abstract thoughts, and ideas to a concrete plan that you can execute to succeed in your project. A storyboard also doubles as a shortlist for your photography project.

When storyboarding, you will notice that you take an outsider view, which helps you evaluate how every element fits into the larger picture – your narrative/theme. When doing it, you can discard otherwise burdensome but irrelevant content, which saves you time and leaves you to focus more.

Storyboarding is a critical, creative step when building a perfect photo essay as it ensures the flow to your viewers.

3. Have a visual structure

A contemporary photo essay follows a simple or basic framework that gives your theme direction and scope. Therefore, having a visual structure, marker, or framework helps you transform the photo series into a narrative. For instance, this Growing up young photo essay published in the BBC chooses to have quotes from the subjects running alongside the photos. Likewise, the picture essay done by photojournalist Stefanie Glinski titled  One Month in Kabul Under Taliban rule – a photo essay has narrative and captions to further illustrate the themes, content, and narratives.

4. Have a variety of images

To write an exceptional photo essay, ensure that you have as many photos or images as possible. Assemble as much as you think you will need for the project, then use your ruthless photo editing skills to pick the best photos.

Although shedding content hurts, it’s the only best way to achieve the best piece. It is also better to be in a dilemma of which photos to use than wish that you included a specific shot. Having multiple shots ensures that everything is captured. Then compiling your photo series becomes easier.

5. Edit your photos well

When editing, do it ruthlessly. While you cannot be Annie Leibovitz, Stefanie Glinski, or Ansel Adams, you certainly have to up your game to be at par with them. You can either use a professional editor. Alternatively, you can edit your photos using Photoshop, Illustrator, or other image-editing software. Whatever you choose your struggle to be, ensure that you end up with high-quality photos that make sense to your theme or narrative. If you have to refine an image to remove blemish or flaws, use it as long as it ends up fine. Make sure that the focus of each photo is visible and that unwanted areas are cropped out. If you are editing on your own, edit the photos a few days after the shoot to have an objective mind when doing it.

6. Choose the top 10 images

You are not just going to lazily throw images and words all over a structure and have it for the best photo essay out there. Instead, you need to select quality photos that will tell your narrative. Be keen enough to ensure that any photo that makes it to the top 10 list is compelling and poignant. If you notice that you don’t have good equipment to produce or capture quality photos, don’t be afraid to pull in a professional photographer.

7. Use outside input to perfect your choice

When working on a photo essay project, you are not necessarily an island. The photo essayists we’ve mentioned work with teams. You equally need to get a trusted, visually active, and sophisticated individual, professional, or friend to help you.

Have them look at the photos you took and ask them to choose the best. As well, provide them with a written description of your narrative and ask them to select their 10 best photos.

Compare their choice with yours and if they differ, make a point of asking the reason. Listen keenly and tweak your narrative and choice as they most likely reflect what an audience would perceive from the photo essay.

8. Select the best photos from the best

Based on the reasons from your external source (friend, editor, or photographer), select the 10 best photographs to use in telling your story. As well, change the narration if there is a need to tweak it.

9. Write reasonable captions

For your final choice of 10 images, write a befitting caption that will help to enhance your visual narrative. You need to be concise, brief, and clear. If the photos have a strong or exciting background story you wish to run, have the narrative written as content alongside the photos.

However, if you feel like the images can stand alone without captions, don’t beat yourself over it; leave them out. After all, using captions is not a must.

Look at this example of Black Lives Matter Photo Essay (Link to external site).

Apart from the caption, you can add text that contains data, complex metrics, or maps to support your narrative. Using maps can help drive the point home.

10. Focus on the details

Yes, the devil is always in the details. When you eventually display your photo essay to an audience, everybody analyzes it their way. However, when you capture the details, you will take care of each perspective, judgment, and reasoning from your audience. Ensure that you place everything in context and that everything is up to date.

11. Make it fun

Unlike college essays that come with challenges, creating a photo essay should be fun. Therefore, enjoy every bit of the project. Doing so helps you to step up your game, inspire creativity, and relaxes your mind. There is nothing creative and innovative you cannot do in a photo essay with a let loose sort of spirit.

12. Set the scene

When telling a story through photography, you are equally writing your story. Therefore, ensure that you set a scene to capture the moment that appeals to your audience.

For the events that you have no control over, try as much as possible to take photos that match your narrative or theme.

13. Experiment more when taking photos

There is no single bullet to creating an outstanding photo essay. To achieve perfection, let your photo essay express your story in the best way it can. Therefore, you need to test filter effects, use fonts, adjust the visuals, check the contrast, adjust color, hue, and feel, and crop your photos well. With experimentation comes creativity and innovativeness, which birth perfection.

Classification of Photo Essays

In terms of classification, there are two general classes of photo essays where all the genres of photo essays fall. These classes are narrative and thematic.

1. Narrative Photo Essays

A narrative photo essay, as the name suggests, tells a specific story. But, mainly, these types of photo essays tend to tell a peculiar and more direct story.

Unlike thematic photo essays, narrative photo essays give less freedom to the photo essayist. The use of text is to have some sense of completion to the story.

For instance, the 28 Days in Afghanistan by Andrew Quilty published in the SBS is a narrative photo essay that documents the photographer’s experience in the war-torn nation using both text and unadulterated photos.

The picture essay by photojournalist Stefanie Glinski titled  One Month in Kabul Under Taliban rule – a photo essay also falls under this category as it highlights her one-month encounter in Kabul.

2. Thematic photo Essays

Thematic photo essays are topic-specific. For example, they can be on politics, pollution, police brutality, global pandemic, poverty, crime, etc.

You have the freedom of choosing the subjects, location, and you do not necessarily have to incorporate text.

An example of a thematic photo essay is the “ They call us bewitched ” picture essay published in the Guardian. We also bumped into the Olympics Photos: Emotion runs high by the NBC News, which we find as an excellent thematic photo essay. Next, look at this Hurricane Katrina photo essay. It is thematic in the sense that it focuses on a natural disaster. Finally, if you want more examples, this photo essay titled “ From Trayvon Martin to Colin Kaepernick ” details the theme of Black Lives Matter/ police brutality.

Typical Photo Essay Examples/Genres to inspire your creativity

• The daily life photo essay – A Day-in-the-life photo essay tells a story about the day-to-day life of a given subject. It could be a lawyer, president, celebrity, farmer, industrialist, pope, student, etc. most of these photographic essays evoke emotions and help the audience enter into the subject's world.
• Transitioning through life photo essay – These are essays that detail photos of how people transform through life. It can be a photo of a celebrity, president, farmer, or famous person since they were young to date.
• Special events photo essays – As the name suggests, these are photo essays on special events, festivities, and occurrences. The events can be weddings, burials, art exhibitions, car shows, auction events, or celebrations. They have very elaborate and relatable background objects that connect to the main idea.
• Family photo essays – These can be photo essays on family members. You can include photos that show how the family has grown or detailing the family tree. They can also be family business photos that detail the leaders assigned roles to family businesses.
• Protest photo essays – These are thematic photo essays that detail how protests occurred and paint a clear picture of the theme of such protests as the Black Lives Matter protests. When creating a protest photo essay, you should have information about the particular protest. Focus on incidents and protests that occurred in history.
• Sports photo essays – Sports essays can be on sports events such as Olympics, Wimbledon, football leagues, or about sportsmen and women. For instance, the Skysports’ picture essay on Diego Maradona titled Diego Maradona: Images of a football Icon .
• Medical Photo Essays – Organizations such as WHO , Universities , or CDC have various examples of medical photo essays. These visual illustrations focus on medical research, medical practice, diseases, and medical breakthroughs.
• Scientific Photo Essays – Like medical essays, these photo essays detail scientific encounters, breakthroughs, inventions, etc.
• Celebrity photo essays – You can create a photo essay on a celebrity.
• Political photo essays are photo essays that capture and narrate political events, history, and news in a series of photographs and narratives. It could be about leftist and rightist politics or geopolitics as well as policy-making.
• War photo essays – Captures the critical and significant elements of conflict, war, and peace. There are many samples online.
• Timelapse photo essays – These are transformational photo essays that capture the changes of a subject through time. They might take longer to develop and can be on buildings, estates, cities, trees, or landscapes.
• Relationship photo essays – This photo essay genre captures the interaction between people, families, and loved ones. It is the most common assignment in journalism class. It offers an excellent chance to capture emotions like love, family, and friendship.
• Poverty photo essays – This genre of photo essays captures poverty from the standpoint of the subject. They can contain infrastructure, housing, amenities, food, water, etc. They are very emotional and can use narratives. They are the same as drought photo essays that capture how the drought has ravaged a geographic region of interest.
• City photo essays – These are photographic essays that capture a city's feel, life, and pleasures. They are thematic in nature and allow you to focus on specific areas, moods, and feeling that such places evoke.
• Education photo essays – Details issues in education. For instance, it can be a photo essay showing the disparity in access, challenges in education, or infrastructure in education. An example is The Many Faces of Learning, published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Another one is Embracing Education , published by the Lutheran World Federation.

As long as you can think of any topic, there is always a picture or photo essay genre where it can fall under. Remember, you can be asked to create a photo essay on a Word Document or PDF for class, which is where you get the chance to display your prowess and creativity.

Common Photo Essay Examples

Here are the famous photo essays that you can draw inspiration from:

• Various American Natural Sites by Ansel Adams
• “Everyday” by Noah Kalina
• “Signed, X” by Kate Ryan 
• “The Vietnam War” by Philip Jones Griffiths
• “The Great Depression” by Dorothea Lange

Structure/Anatomy of a Photo Essay

Here is a blueprint or skeleton of how a basic photo essay can look like

Introductory text/content

This is where you type the text that explains or introduces the photo essay to your audience.

Signature Image

This is the strongest image that has a visual impact on the story you are running. It should be an image that invites the viewers to your story to be interested in looking further. In simple terms, this is your window, attention grabber, or icon; make it count.

This is the picture of a key player or the main subject of your story. You must ensure that the foreground and background elements reinforce the theme or narrative.

Where the subject is caught in real moments, such as in environmental portraits, is reportedly more compelling. You can use a series of posed portraits as well.

Overall wider view

This is the photograph that gives the viewers a sense of the place or part of the place where the story happens. You use such images to create a scene. It can also be a series of detailed images bundled together to set the scene.

Here, you need to follow up with a photograph that explains the finer details. The photo can be abstract but eye-catching in the sense that it draws the attention of the audience. It should be an image that reveals to the audience some aspect that is otherwise missed in a wider shot. You are allowed to use series of small detail photos as a mosaic in one image .

When defining an action, look for a photograph that shows the main theme in your story. For instance, if it is a Black Lives Matter protest, focus on a photo that captures banners, police, and protesters.  Specifically, focus on the most poignant or dramatic images that capture people interacting with one another. You can as well capture gestures or moments that amplify the visual narrative you want to communicate.

Closing Photo and text

This is the powerful closing photograph that lets your audience ponder more about your visual narrative. You can follow it with a text highlighting the thoughts you want the audience to reason with as they come to the end of your photo essay.

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How to Create Personal Narrative Photo Stories That Viewers LOVE

by Jaymi Heimbuch

Your personal perspective and experiences can be a powerful storytelling strategy. But there are ways to do it right (and wrong). Here are my top 3 tips for what to keep in mind when photographing a story that's your own personal narrative so that your story is engaging and effective (rather than an eye-roller).

How (and why!) to turn the camera on yourself in a photo story

A personal narrative photo story is one that brings your first person voice into the story – whether that's in the text that accompanies the images, or you in the images themselves.

Either way, you're a leading character and your experiences are what drives the photo story forward. Personal narratives are a powerful vehicle for providing insights and information to audiences who otherwise might not connect with (or even remotely care about) the subject matter.

We humans most easily relate to the stories of other people because we can see ourselves and our experiences reflected in them. So, when it comes to big-picture conservation issues like climate change or controversial issues, a personal narrative can be the most useful tool to connect.

But, what could that look like and – more importantly – how do you ensure your photo story isn't just a self-indulgent pile of images that no one is all that interested in?

In this episode we talk about 3 tips that help you elevate your personal narrative into something that connects with audiences and inspires them – and thus can ultimately lead to important conservation impact.

Resources Mentioned

• Penguin Bloom photo essay
• Penguin the Magpie website
• Omnivores Dilemma
• 20 Years Photographing A Disappearing Bird With Noppadol Paothong
• Audubon's Bird From Home photo essays
• Life Is Hazardous for Urban Raptors. These Women Offer Hope

Episode 111: How to Create Personal Narrative Photo Stories That Viewers LOVE

Shownotes: ConservationVisuals.com/111

(Digitally transcribed, please forgive any typos)

Jaymi Heimbuch: [00:00:00] Jaymi: Welcome to this episode of Impact, the Conservation Photography podcast. And Joe will welcome back

[00:00:06] Jo: Thank you very much. Good to be here.

[00:00:09] Jaymi: We just decided that Joe's title, we were like, Well, what is your title? Are you co-hosted? Joe's like, No, no, I'm not co-host. I don't want, That's

[00:00:16] Jo: a word.

[00:00:17] Jaymi: Yeah. And so I was thinking, well how about sidekick? So you're sidekick Joe now.

[00:00:21] Jo: I like Sidekick Joe.

[00:00:22] Jaymi: Okay. It's kinda like side show Bob

[00:00:25] Jo: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:00:28] Jaymi: Did you know The Simpsons has been on for like 33 years

[00:00:32] Jo: isn't that crazy? That is nuts. Yeah. That's just, Yeah, but terrific as far as I'm concerned. Yeah.

[00:00:41] Jo: All right. So what are we talking about?

[00:00:44] Jaymi: So today I wanted to talk about personal narratives as photo stories as in you create a photo story, but it is a, a personal narrative. It's you as the main character inside of this story.[00:01:00]

[00:01:00] Jo: Okay, so it's not like a therapy session,

[00:01:03] Jaymi: It's not . I mean, it could be, it could be very therapeutic to actually, actually, I have an example of a personal narrative that I think is very cathartic for the person who created it. But, but no, it is not a therapy session.

[00:01:16] Jo: So I don't have to talk about my mom or my childhood or anything like that necessarily. Only if I want to.

[00:01:23] Jaymi: only if you want to, and I mean we are talking about it. The context of conservation photography. So it would be really interesting if you had a story where you had to talk about your mom or your childhood in order to get a conservation goal. But hey, it's up to you. But anyway, the personal narrative, the reason why I wanted to talk about this today and to run down various rabbit holes is because often I'm asked, by either my conservation photography 1 0 1 students or just like audience members who email me.

[00:01:55] Jaymi: Is it okay that I am the main character in the story or if [00:02:00] I do this story, it's really kind of like, I don't know how to tell this story if it's not from my own perspective, Is it okay to do that? And so I wanna talk about like what personal narratives are in a story and what they can look like, some examples of them, and then also three tips to be able to do this well.

[00:02:17] Jaymi: Because sometimes you can come across a story that is a personal narrative that, the person is actually in telling that narrative is forgetting to make it relatable to whoever's reading it. It reads more like a diary entry or, or it comes off as more of this like personal exploration or something that other people can't necessarily relate to.

[00:02:40] Jaymi: And so I wanna give some tips to be able to create personal narratives. Still relate back to or, or invite audience members in, because ultimately what my main topic is is conservation photography, and when you are trying to achieve conservation aims with something or to have a conversation [00:03:00] about conservation, it's really important to invite the audience in to have that conversation and make it relatable.

[00:03:05] Jaymi: Is this making sense?

[00:03:06] Jo: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So in other words, you don't want it to come off as somebody's already telling you how to think. Or also that it's not something that they're so into their head and their own world that you don't really care. So you need to be able to say, Yeah, it's okay to bring your own perspective into it, but you have to be thinking about who your readers are.

[00:03:30] Jo: This really is not a diary entry. This is truly for somebody else to read, so you have or to see. So you have to think about what that's gonna look like.

[00:03:39] Jaymi: Yeah, it's, you don't wanna get stuck as the viewer feeling like you're trapped on the couch watching someone slide reel of their last vacation

[00:03:49] Jo: But I, You always told me, mine are wonderful when I do that. I don't understand. Wait, what? And you haven't even my [00:04:00] last set of slides.

[00:04:02] Jaymi: I find them fun and wonderful, but the rest of the family, you know, their eyes are like, Oh my God, So I don't want listeners personal narrative stories to be like that, where they and maybe one or two other people really relate to it and have fun and think it's wonderful, and then everyone else's eyes are glazing over. I want you to be able to create personal narratives where anyone who looks at it is like, Wow, I feel like I completely understand what you're saying, where you're coming from, what you're showing me, and I understand how it relates to me.

[00:04:33] Jo: Hmm. So I might be able to take some of these, even though I'm not someone trying to become a conservation photographer per se. I could take this and turn it into my slideshow. So maybe somebody else in the family would wanna watch it.

[00:04:47] Jaymi: Exactly. So like you're a set of Yellowstone trip images could be far more entertaining in three weeks when you actually roll it out. I don't

[00:04:56] Jo: okay.

[00:04:57] Jaymi: It could be

[00:04:57] Jo: It could be, You mean you don't want [00:05:00] 50 shots of old faithful going off at different heights?

[00:05:05] Jaymi: But so inside of this, I think some of the three tips that I get to, I mean, joking aside, I think that if you were to say, Hey, I went on this adventure and I learned a lot, or I had this experience that changed me or taught me something, or I learned about this conservation message that I wanna be able to articulate.

[00:05:25] Jaymi: Like, I think that these tips will help you do that while anchoring it in your story. Because we all love hearing personal narratives. We love um, memoirs, we love biographies, we love like all these things that tell people's story. So personal narrative totally works. It's just how do you do that in a way that isn't just, pontificating about yourself,

[00:05:48] Jo: Right,

[00:05:49] Jaymi: makes sense.

[00:05:49] Jaymi: Or, or basically saying, Don't you see how deep and profound this is?

[00:05:54] Jo: Yes. and what a changing thing for me. Good for you.

[00:05:57] Jaymi: Yeah, so when I say [00:06:00] personal narrative, I have some examples of personal narratives that I think that are stories , of personal narratives that I think a lot of people might have already seen or, or relate to.

[00:06:10] Jaymi: But before I give those examples, when you think about like, Oh yeah, I read this article or saw this photo essay or something that's a personal narrative, what pops into your head?

[00:06:24] Jo: I don't know because I don't, I don't necessarily think about it like that. So basically it's a, it's I think of it as a, so an adventure that somebody went on and they're telling me about it and what they learned from it and what they got out of it.

[00:06:39] Jo: So honestly, I don't,

[00:06:41] Jo: I

[00:06:41] Jaymi: Did you ever see my octopus teacher?

[00:06:44] Jo: I love that.

[00:06:46] Jaymi: There you go.

[00:06:47] Jo: that. Yes.

[00:06:49] Jaymi: That's his narrative,

[00:06:50] Jaymi: right? It's coming from his perspective. We're seeing the world that he was in, but then it's also connected to a [00:07:00] bigger picture, topic or something. Be so that you could have that reaction of, Oh my God, I love that. Like that's a great example.

[00:07:08] Jaymi: I think

[00:07:08] Jo: Because that is true, because I still remember him talking about learning how to swim in cold water and his son going to, and so not only just about, yeah, so not about the octopus per se, but his whole experience. Yeah. Yes. Okay. I get it.

[00:07:25] Jaymi: Yeah.

[00:07:25] Jaymi: and we care about it too because we are understanding like even though it's his story of ] , The emotional state that he was in when he started to do the swimming and the transformation that he personally went through, it's something that we can all kind of relate to.

[00:07:38] Jaymi: Right. Another example is I don't know if you ever read the book The Omnivore's Dilemma, but I know that that's

[00:07:45] Jo: No, I haven't read, but I've, I've, I've definitely seen it and been curious about it. I honestly, I haven't read it because I didn't want him to tell me how I should be. So I, you know [00:08:00] so, so yeah, those kind, maybe that's part of why I'm curious about all of this, because so often I feel like whenever I'm reading something from that perspective, I'm feeling like I'm being guilted into feeling like however the person's feeling instead of being exposed to how they're feeling, you

[00:08:18] Jaymi: Yeah. That is really interesting.

[00:08:20] Jo: learning about what they learned as opposed to having someone telling me this is what I should think.

[00:08:25] Jo: And so I think I've just read bad ones.

[00:08:28] Jaymi: honestly, Omnivore's dilemma I don't think that Michael Paul, the, the author of that does that because he's what I love about that book that I think has that personal narrative structure is he's learning about this whole food system through going out and, and I mean, ultimately being a reporter and getting himself into these situations and experiences, but we're also hearing about what it was like to work on this farm or to go mushroom hunting or, you know, these, these experiences that [00:09:00] he's telling us his first person's story and then we're kind of coming to understand and we're coming to these revelations alongside of him as he's telling us about his, his journey.

[00:09:09] Jaymi: And so I think that that's a, a great example. Adding personal narrative into a storyline to be able to explain something or to be able to inform people instead of it being this really dry book about like, here's how food production systems work. It's like, well, so then I went and I learned this and I met this person and I visited this place.

[00:09:30] Jaymi: And, and in that we then learn about food systems. So, but it is really interesting that you do say like, I haven't read it because I don't wanna be told how to be, which I think is a big fear. that is a sticking point in conservation.

[00:09:46] Jo: Yes, yes. Because as long as I feel confident that they will talk about more than just their perspective as well, then I'm open to [00:10:00] listening to, or seeing it or viewing it or reading it or doing whatever, you know. like, uh, you were talking about another podcast about the project in Florida, working with the farmers and the conservationists to make sure the Panthers could

[00:10:16] Jaymi: Yeah. In the last episode we talked about path of the panther, that

[00:10:21] Jo: Yeah. And, and so the idea that, yeah, I mean, sure there are these farmers that have been there for a long time and maybe they weren't originally there and the panther was there long before them, but there's still people that have to then decide what to do to live together with this kind of new way of thinking or in, in a conservation way of thinking.

[00:10:46] Jo: so don't just discount that, you know? And I think that's what's important when I see a personal narrative. I don't want to be discounted for my own thinking.

[00:10:56] Jaymi: so that actually leads us in really well to the first tip [00:11:00] for how to really think about personal narratives to make sure that they're effective and relatable and that aren't just your diary entry, Right?

[00:11:09] Jaymi: But that, that people can relate to. And I do wanna address one thing before I get into the three tips there is one thing that I wanna bring up , because we've kind of talked about the storyline of personal narratives, but there's also the issue of, well, it's a photo story where, where our photographers creating photo stories that have a personal narrative in them.

[00:11:27] Jaymi: And one question that gets brought up is, do I have to be in the photos? That are within a personal narrative. And I think, no, you don't. It depends of course on what the personal narrative is. And no, of course you don't have to be in the images, but you can be if you want to be. And that's part of it.

[00:11:45] Jaymi: And there's a couple of examples of this o of one where the photographer actually created portraits that they are in for a personal narrative. And then one where the, images don't have the photographer in them, but his narrative kind of drives the [00:12:00] story. So one story, and I'm gonna link to these story examples in the show notes, but one example of a photographer who created a personal narrative photo story and texted alongside it and did put themselves in the images is Morgan Heim who created a essay that was part of a series of, of essays for ABA Magazine during Covid.

[00:12:24] Jaymi: And it was what are photographers doing who are stuck at home? And she created a really beautiful photo essay. Illustrating how she focused on the birds in her yard to kind of help carry her through this really difficult time. But she also created images that are self-portraits. So there's an image of we see out her window into her backyard on a chilly morning or a chilly evening, I'm not sure which.

[00:12:50] Jaymi: And we see her wool socks of on her feet propped up with the window. So it's like her kind of feet next to the window and then looking [00:13:00] out beyond that. And then she also created a self portrait where she set up the camera on a tripod and it's her and her dog in the yard kind of lounging and relaxing.

[00:13:09] Jaymi: And it's a, a really amazing look at her actually experiencing this so that we don't just hear from her in the text and then see the photos that she created. We actually see her living that experience that we read about in the text, along with other images that she created on the flip side of that. A recent article was published in the New York Times the World through a Lens series by one of my students in conservation photography 1 0 1, Jules.

[00:13:37] Jaymi: And so Jules created a story about a Raptor rehab center, and the text has a lot of personal narrative in it. His experience of, connecting with this organization, spending hours and hours with the Rehabers and what their work is like and the bigger picture of what their work means in its importance.

[00:13:58] Jaymi: And even though his [00:14:00] personal narrative is embedded in the text, he's not in any of the images. The images are very much a photo story about the Raptor Center. As a photographer. Adding personal narrative can look different ways. You can literally be in the photos and it's a visual narrative with you in it, or it's a photo story that you've created and the personal narrative kind of comes in on the text side of it.

[00:14:23] Jaymi: Does that make

[00:14:23] Jo: Cool. Yeah, Yeah,

[00:14:25] Jo: definitely. Yeah,

[00:14:26] Jo: I

[00:14:26] Jaymi: cool. cool. Awesome. So let's go back to that, that kind of segue that you gave me that I was gonna take and then totally ignored and went off on another tangent, and we'll go back to that, which is the idea that you want to, when you're looking at a photo essay, when you are watching if it's in documentary form or movie form, film form, if it's in photo form, whatever it may be, you as the viewer don't want to be discounted.

[00:14:53] Jaymi: And that is my first tip is to remember that when you're creating a photo story that has a personal [00:15:00] narrative, You are the anchor of that story, not the star of the story. So by that I mean you might be the main character or the voice of that story. Your narrative is your perspective. But your narrative serves as a way to connect people to something bigger.

[00:15:21] Jaymi: That there's a bigger topic, a bigger, So what factor, a bigger point that you're trying to make and your narrative is the way that we connect. So you're anchoring your viewers into the story that way. Not trying to be like, Hey, look at me, look at me, look at what I've experienced. Cuz that's the quickest way to make a viewer feel like they are being discount.

[00:15:41] Jaymi: So when you're thinking about a personal narrative, be clear on what is that bigger message, that bigger idea, the concept, the theme that you wanna bring viewers attention to by creating the personal narrative in the first place?

[00:15:56] Jo: So, so do you have an example of like [00:16:00] a bad, a bad example versus a good example or something of that?

[00:16:04] Jaymi: Oh man. I pulled up a, an example of one that I love that does this well. I didn't pull up an example of one that did it badly and I should do that.

[00:16:13] Jo: but maybe, maybe the, maybe the one that you love shows enough of how you would do it. Well, that the bad is obvious,

[00:16:22] Jaymi: Yeah, it does, because this photo essay, this personal narrative photo essay is so flipping good. So it's called Penguin Bloom, I'm gonna link to this in the show notes, Penguin Bloom is the story about an injured mag pie that is adopted by a family.

[00:16:42] Jaymi: And what is so incredible about this is it could be just a personal narrative of, Oh, we found this injured bird and we healed it and it lived with us, and look how cute, and here's what it looked like. Penguin Bloom. One of the reasons why it is so [00:17:00] profoundly amazing is not only because the photography is second to none, the photography is extraordinary, but also the entry point of like when Penguin comes into the family and they're rehabbing it, It's not just Penguin's story of getting better and healing and that, you know,

[00:17:19] Jaymi: he was

[00:17:19] Jo: that's the name of the bird is Penguin.

[00:17:21] Jaymi: penguin.

[00:17:22] Jaymi: Yeah. Cause he was a mag pie. So it's not just the, and the, the family name is Bloom. Their last name is Bloom. So Penguin, Bloom, sorry. I wasn't very clear on that. But, but, so, you know, Penguin comes into this family and is getting, you know, cared for and becoming part of the family and, oh, here's the quirks and silliness and what we did for Penguin.

[00:17:42] Jaymi: But also one of the family members had recently been in a accident and was paralyzed and really struggling with a new reality and how to be, And Penguin's role for her in her recovery and what it [00:18:00] was like for them kind of bonding and how the bird helped her. Go through this and kind of come through this by bonding was like that is that bigger picture what we relate to, why you're telling this story in the first place.

[00:18:16] Jaymi: How other people can have this deep, I don't, I cannot go through this story and look at the images and read the captions without tearing up every single time.

[00:18:26] Jaymi: It gets me every time. And that, I think is an example of a, of a really great personal narrative that says, Here's what happened to us and here's why it matters. And here's the bigger concept that anyone looking at this can relate to. Because now it's part of human experience,

[00:18:44] Jaymi: right? And.

[00:18:44] Jo: they accomplish that? How did, what was it that, I mean, you said the images are amazing, but was there something about how they put them together or was there something about what was happening in, in each image, [00:19:00] or what was the thing that made that so special?

[00:19:04] Jaymi: I gotta, I gotta pull this up. Penguin Bloom photo story. Penguin, the mag pie. I think that this is like a bigger thing than I thought because I think that it's now a Netflix story.

[00:19:18] Jo: it's a mo. It's a movie.

[00:19:20] Jaymi: Oh yeah. It's a movie. the true story behind the new Netflix film, Penguin Bloom. So, okay. It is, that is how powerful this is.

[00:19:29] Jaymi: I guess this is an example of when you pull off a personal narrative, right? What can become of it? So I think when I look at this story, like what gets me every time is first the images themselves are so, simple and yet powerfully emotive. And so that's something that is really powerful in a narrative when you can actually create both art and emotion and expression all in one and [00:20:00] really tell a story in a photo.

[00:20:01] Jaymi: Even if you're keeping that photo reasonably simple, that can have a lot of power to convey what it is you're trying to convey. But then it is the order in which the images and the story is created. So we. we're introduced to Penguin, the mag pie.

[00:20:20] Jaymi: And why did this bird come into their family in the first place? And so we kind of are, are introduced by sort of what seems like a, a fairly typical story. You find it an injured animal and bring it in to, to heal it. And then we learn about why Penguin's presence was such a big deal for another family member.

[00:20:40] Jaymi: Like, it's not right away that we learn that Sam, the, the person who was injured Is going through all of this struggle. So then we understand like it's almost like, you know, peel the onion . We, we enter at one kind of level of the onion and then we learn more and we learn more and we learn more.

[00:20:59] Jaymi: [00:21:00] And these like emotional layers are there that we can then relate to. And we understand that a quirky bird is like a lifeline for someone else in the family.

[00:21:11] Jaymi: And we see this transformation. So I think that for me, that's what is really, really powerful about this one. And obviously powerful for so many other people.

[00:21:19] Jaymi: If now it's Netflix movie, which now I really wanna watch, but I'm kind of scared to because it might make me cry

[00:21:24] Jo: I know. I don't know if I wanna watch it cuz it, Yeah.

[00:21:29] Jaymi: But, so that is, that's tip number one is you are the anchor Your narrative is the anchor, it's the difference between you are someone who is guiding people through the story. It is your own story that you're guiding people through, but you're guiding them through the story versus being the Instagram influencer who's like, And now I'm on vacation here and now I'm eating this, and now I'm standing on a mountain here and now I'm doing that.

[00:21:54] Jaymi: It's like, well, we don't really like, That's nice that you are experiencing that and showing us, but it doesn't [00:22:00] give us an entry point to be part of the narrative that you're creating. Does that make more sense?

[00:22:05] Jo: yeah. Well, it's like you wanna create the, So you may have, you may, It's like the person is, is creating the path that they went through and showing you the path they took, but isn't limiting you to just what they saw. And so if I'm walking down a trail, it's not just what I see in front of me, but also what's happening in my peripheral vision. And so then therefore I get to ex, you know, show people things that maybe weren't necessarily as specifically important to me. But because you can see the peripheral vision things as well, you get to decide how that influenced what I experienced.

[00:22:47] Jaymi: Interesting. Yeah, I like that way of putting it. Yeah. It's almost by, instead of focusing so much on what exactly happened to you and telling that story, you're [00:23:00] like, there's other things along the way that are here for all of us to understand or to take part in.

[00:23:07] Jaymi: So that's tip number one. Be the anchor, not the star.

[00:23:11] Jaymi: Be the reason why people are there taking part in your personal narrative, because there's something there for them,

[00:23:18] Jo: yeah, you're you're being the sign post, but you're not necessarily telling people how to experience the trail, the path. Right. So you're, you're saying, Okay, now I want you to turn left, but you're not saying that you can't look Right.

[00:23:35] Jo: Right. I just want you to turn left with me, you know?

[00:23:39] Jaymi: It kind of gets back to what we were talking about with my octopus teacher, where are being guided through this experience. He is giving us his personal narrative, but at the same time, we get to think about, Oh, what do we think about? Relating to an animal in the wild, what do we think about the [00:24:00] natural experience that happens with predator and prey in the wild and, you know, all these other things Or what do we think about our own grief process?

[00:24:07] Jaymi: It doesn't necessarily look exactly like another person's grief process, but we can relate. And then therefore our it, it's like it leaves enough open room when you're not trying to be the star. Then it leaves enough open room for other people to see themselves reflected in it and therefore care more.

[00:24:26] Jaymi: And so in conservation, it comes back to the idea of what we're talking about with Omnivore's dilemma, where you're just, this is your personal narrative and you're talking about how you're discovering something and learning about a food system or whatever. And you're not telling other people exactly how they have to think, but your experience is so compelling and people relate to you so much through what you're going through, that they might be inclined to come to the same conclusions as you.

[00:24:52] Jo: Right, right. yeah. So when you're doing a conservation piece, then it's important to make sure [00:25:00] that the experience that you're giving people isn't so restrictive, that they can't their own view and their own lens and their own experience into it. You have to make sure that you can enable that to happen,

[00:25:11] Jaymi: Yeah.

[00:25:12] Jo: and if you make it so restrictive that it's only your view. Not only your lens that they're seen through, it can't do that.

[00:25:21] Jaymi: Yeah. And also, if you make it so much that you feel like, Oh, it's my personal narrative, it's my story, I'm the star of it, then a viewer might be like, That's nice, but okay, and now I'm moving on. What, What role did that have in my life? None. It was someone else's story. I'm ready to move on now. You know?

[00:25:39] Jo: Yeah. Yeah,

[00:25:40] Jaymi: yeah.

[00:25:41] Jaymi: So that's tip number one. Tip number two is to build images that are for the audience as much as they are for you. And so this is sort of the idea of getting into not only editing your photos and selecting which photos would go into a story that has a [00:26:00] personal narrative, but also as you're thinking about crafting your images.

[00:26:04] Jaymi: It may be your personal story, but is it a quality image in that other people can appreciate it if they weren't in that moment with you or they weren't experiencing that thing with you? So I'm gonna kind of go back to the example I mentioned with Morgan Heim's Aban photo essay where she created a portrait of herself and her dog in her yard.

[00:26:25] Jaymi: But that portrait wasn't. Something where it's like, Okay, well now I need a picture of me in my yard, and so I'm gonna take a picture of me in my yard. It was, here's a portrait of what it looks like to be trapped during lockdown in my home. My yard's really the only place I can be outside. And she framed it in such a way, it's kind of a wider shot, and she and her dog are in the dappled sunlight .

[00:26:54] Jaymi: They're not very large in the frame, and there's enough emotive light [00:27:00] and perspective that you feel a sense of kind of loneliness and, well, we're, we're here experiencing this moment. So that image was made just as much for Morgan and her creating that image in order to show her experience, but also for the audience to be like, This is what it feels like

[00:27:19] Jo: Yeah, So she's not just documenting it, she's trying to create an emotion that goes with it of what she was experiencing, cuz she could have created a different emotion if she wanted to, but that wouldn't necessarily have been what she was experiencing. So she was trying to show this. Sense of, okay, I'm used to being out in the wild, so right now this is my wild

[00:27:45] Jo: and this is all I can do and this is what I'm living with.

[00:27:50] Jo: Where it could have been an emotion of beauty. It could have been an emotion of serenity, it could have been all kinds of things, but instead she created it as what her emotion [00:28:00] was in that space.

[00:28:01] Jo: Is that what you're saying?

[00:28:03] Jaymi: as a viewer, that's what I see in it. , we would have to ask each artist, but we talk about like, is that really what you meant? But yes, for me as the viewer, you nailed it. And I think it also goes back to like why the story of Penguin Bloom is so powerful is that the photos aren't just. and then we did this for his wing, and then he slept here and then he did this, and then there was that.

[00:28:27] Jaymi: Each image is a piece of gorgeous artwork. The photographer is so talented at conveying an emotional moment or conveying whatever kind of is, is happening in the scene in this beautiful, emotional way, but also making that very much a piece of art that you could hang on your wall or that you want to stare at.

[00:28:49] Jaymi: As you said, It's not documenting an experience. It is creating imagery that is like a gift to the viewer just as much as it [00:29:00] is. And also here's what happened.

[00:29:02] Jo: right, right. So when you're talking about creating a conservation photography story from a personal narrative and you're thinking about what images you wanna create, then you're saying that if. You're trying to create that, that feeling, that emotion, that thing that you're trying to get out of it, right.

[00:29:24] Jo: Then to deliver that message, but you also have to make sure that it's not done in such a way that people can't bring in their own emotions to it too.

[00:29:34] Jaymi: Yeah, totally. And I think that it's easy when you know that you're trying to tell a story that is a personal narrative. I think it's really easy to slip into documenting and taking pictures of like, Well, I need to make sure I get a shot of this because this is part of the story. Instead of creating a photograph about what that moment or portion of the narrative means or [00:30:00] is about.

[00:30:01] Jaymi: You know, stories rely on show, don't tell. Where when you're writing out a story, the famous quote goes, Show don't tell. And it's the exact same thing in an image where sometimes you have this desire to illustrate an experience or an event and you're like, I need to make sure and get a shot of that.

[00:30:18] Jaymi: But then it ends up being telling rather than showing and creating an image that is for the audience so that you're welcoming them into a new understanding or emotional state or something that brings them into the narrative with you because of how you shaped that image. You know, we talked about the Instagram or example where like it's the difference between being kind of a guide in a story through your narrative versus like, and then I stood on this mountain and then I took, you know, I drank this at Sunset, or you know, whatever it is.

[00:30:49] Jaymi: It's sort of like the difference between, I took a picture of my dinner. because I'm here at this nice restaurant and oh my gosh, it's such a great experience. And then, and I'm really excited to be here and it's [00:31:00] my 50th anniversary with my husband and there's all this reason why you're excited about being there and why you're there having this dinner.

[00:31:06] Jaymi: And so you take a picture of your dinner plate and post it, and everyone's like, I don't care about what was on your plate, versus if you created an image that showed the whole, like you and your partner in the restaurant and what that experience felt like based on expressions and lighting. And that way the viewers brought into the moment with you so that it's not, Oh, here's a photo.

[00:31:31] Jaymi: Now I have to explain to you why this photo matters. It's a photo of anyone can look at that and understand how it plays a role in the narrative.

[00:31:39] Jo: So it sounds like when you were talking about personal narratives are tricky, , it sounds like they're really tricky in the sense that when you start going down that path and trying to create that perspective as part of the story, you have to really think about what it is that you're trying. Convey at an emotional [00:32:00] level and not just at a, a documentary or physical level like you might be Okay, yeah, you still always wanna create some connection and emotion to a piece, but it's gonna have to be much deeper to have people connect you from a personal narrative level. Then it would be if you're not trying, if you're removing yourself from it

[00:32:21] Jo: specifically.

[00:32:23] Jaymi: To an extent that's true, but I'm also thinking about it's, that is true for a certain type of story, but not universally true. And I think also if you are documenting a story that has nothing to do with you, you are there too.

[00:32:37] Jaymi: Photograph some someone else's story or, or there to document something. you're still gonna try and put a ton of emotion and understanding and information storytelling into each shot, because that's your job no matter what. And I think also in personal narratives, especially if it is a story that you're not even in it, but you're gonna be telling your [00:33:00] experience, but your experience is part of introducing people to other, like some other event or organization or something happening, something unfolding.

[00:33:09] Jaymi: You. Yeah, you do still have to really think about like, I'm not just documenting, I'm trying to bring people in. It's kind of universally true no matter what it's about. Cuz like you might be a conservation photographer who wants to create a photo story that has the personal narrative element. Because you are maybe explaining what it was like to be at a protest where they were gonna cut down old growth forest.

[00:33:36] Jaymi: And so you are part of this protest or part of this experience and you're there, but you're really like showing the experiences of the other protesters who were there and what they're up against and why this matters. And you're creating all of that. Your personal narrative might be there in the text.

[00:33:51] Jaymi: But how are you also going to make sure that your images reflect not just. Here's a picture of a protestor holding a sign. Here's a [00:34:00] picture of a, you know, a a tree that they're trying to protect. How are you going to bring the reader into the experience that that is gonna be there in the text? How are you gonna also do that in your photos and bring like images that are there as much as for the audiences for yourself?

[00:34:16] Jaymi: And I think that this tip is specifically really for photographers, who know that they want to create a story that is a personal narrative, and they're gonna go out and shoot it when you go out and shoot it. Remember that it's not just documenting the narrative that you wanna have, it's also how are you going to craft images that, like you said, have that peripheral room to invite people in to be part of understanding.

[00:34:41] Jaymi: And it sounds kind of like big and lofty, but. All you have to do really is create solid storytelling images that you, that are there as much for the audience as they are for sharing your story, sharing your narrative, your personal

[00:34:58] Jo: yeah. I feel like [00:35:00] it's kind of at a one step harder level than what I go through, For instance, with landscape photography, because when you're doing landscape photography for me, Depending on what it is you're doing, there's a majesty to it or there's an intricacy to it, or there's a feeling that comes with it that you're experiencing in person that is so difficult to capture in a camera.

[00:35:24] Jo: And so unless you really know what you're doing, you just, you can't. So then it's just this snapshot of a bunch of mountains, but you don't get that, that feeling of what you were like, these things were gonna just come alive and march over you, or that these boulders that came down from it were just so huge and you had no idea that that.

[00:35:51] Jo: Nature could release something like that. And wow, what if you had been there, how, how loud that would be or what experience you would be experiencing [00:36:00] and trying to capture that in a photo is just so hard in, from my perspective. And so it would be similar like this to me, trying to capture that message, that feeling, that emotion, that thing that affected you by being there or that that conservation effort is trying to do.

[00:36:21] Jo: Just seems like it's that much more difficult than And this is where the fish live. You

[00:36:27] Jaymi: Yeah. . Yeah. I think though, even though it is more difficult, it's not as if it's a special type of difficulty. It is the difference between taking a picture of and your snapshots and creating photographs about which, if you're gonna move into photography in a serious way, is always your goal. It's always your goal to craft photographs about something that you're not just taking a picture of something happening or of here's this spot, but like exactly your example of landscapes is so [00:37:00] perfect because landscape photography is insanely difficult to be able to get a sh a photograph of a landscape that not just conveys the scene, but some sort of feeling of being there or like some emotional impact from it.

[00:37:14] Jaymi: And no matter what you're doing, whether you are creating. A photo story that is no part of you in it, other than the fact that you are there to craft the photos of the story happening, or it's your own thing. You're always pushing yourself to build a photograph that allows the viewer to understand something better or feel something more deeply or

[00:37:38] Jo: Okay, so I'm gonna ask you this really hard question. So how is this different than any conservation storytelling that you would be doing? So go back again to how the personal narrative is different than anything you'd be doing.

[00:37:54] Jaymi: This is, so, this is why I think this tip is important when you are [00:38:00] crafting , a personal narrative that has a conservation goal. Because yeah, no matter what you're doing as a photographer in general, but also particularly in conservation, because we have these big goals attached to our work that rely on audience participation, right?

[00:38:14] Jaymi: So no matter what we're doing, we have to craft these images that are powerful in storytelling. When it comes to a personal narrative, like I said earlier, it can be really easy to slip into taking pictures of, of just documenting your story or what you saw. I saw this thing and then I did this, then this happened.

[00:38:35] Jaymi: And the other thing is, when it's your personal narrative, it's easy to slip into that trap and also to make those photos because you are in the moment, you are experiencing that.

[00:38:48] Jaymi: And so you're going through all these emotions that you might forget to stop and really think about how you're conveying that in your image because you are emotionally [00:39:00] attached to that moment, or that image, or that something, you're in that landscape with those majestic mountains and those tumbling boulders or you know, all that majesty and you're, you're feeling that and you're experiencing it.

[00:39:12] Jaymi: And so you might end up creating an image that, to you is what you were feeling in that moment, but no one else can see that. So you have to really think like, how am I gonna make sure that other, , or I'm creating an image in a way. The other people when they see it are gonna have the emotional reaction that I'm hoping that they have for this scene.

[00:39:34] Jaymi: And going back to that Penguin Bloom example, I think that that is one of the magical aspects, like when you go and look at this photo essay, and it's gonna be linked in the show notes, the facial expressions, these in between moments, the body language, the, There's so much in there where these images were not just snapshots in a moment, but a skilled photographer who's thinking like, I'm watching for a moment, that [00:40:00] is going to convey what is.

[00:40:02] Jaymi: Happening here. Not only physically happening, but emotionally happening here. So I think that's, I think that's kind of the point that I'm trying to hammer home with this particular tip is build images that are as much for the audience as they are for you. Don't forget that even though you're experiencing something and you have an emotional connection to it, you still have to stay in that storyteller mode.

[00:40:22] Jaymi: You still have to stay in that photographer who is conveying a story through an image mode so that other people can be like, Oh, I get what you were feeling there. I get what you mean, or I understand what you're trying to say about this.

[00:40:35] Jo: Right. Yeah.

[00:40:37] Jo: Whew. Very hard. I'm

[00:40:40] Jaymi: Very hard

[00:40:41] Jo: trying to do this.

[00:40:43] Jaymi: It is, but that's the beauty. Like I know that it sounds really hard and I know that I'm being really kind of. Excited about this, but that's one of the most fun parts about trying to grow as a visual storyteller is always trying to achieve that. Always pushing yourself. You're like, I [00:41:00] know how to get pictures of flowers. I wanna be a conservation photographer, and I wanna tell my story of why this particular species of flour is so cool and what role it plays in this ecosystem.

[00:41:13] Jaymi: So we need to preserve this ecosystem, or what role this plays for poller species. And , my journey in understanding that, or what it's like to transform my garden, to have more of, of space for pollinators. I wanna do that. I know how to get pictures of flowers or pictures of be, how do I tell this story in images?

[00:41:32] Jaymi: How do I create images that , make other people feel the joy and the beauty and the, the fi like that? I feel like figuring out how to do that is. A challenge, but it's such a fun challenge, and when you achieve the photo that you're envisioning, Oh my gosh, it feels so good.

[00:41:50] Jo: yeah. yeah. I bet. And what, especially when you hear it from somebody else's lips, I would imagine too. You know when [00:42:00] when they're saying what you were thinking you'd be, whoa. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

[00:42:07] Jaymi: Yeah. Well, so that also kind of starts to lead us into the third tip. So my third tip for creating personal narrative stories that are still impactful and effective as photo stories is to get help with. because when it's your personal narrative, you're so much more attached to images or you might not be able to necessarily see which ones are more powerful than others, cuz some might be more powerful for you. You know, what went into getting the image or you know, like why it matters. But then is it really conveying that to someone else? There is an interview that I did with Al Pong who this was. Back in 2020, I think. I'll have to find the episode. I can't remember which episode number it is, but he talked about his wife is his best editor and so he talked about coming [00:43:00] home and he is going through these images and trying to make selects.

[00:43:03] Jaymi: And she's like, Yeah, that one's not a very good image. And he's like, But do you know how hard it was to get that? And I went through this and I did that, and it was, it was so much like this. She's like, Yeah, it's still not a, it's not a good image. Pull it. And so you might be emotionally attached to like how difficult it was or how unique that image might be or whatever it is.

[00:43:22] Jaymi: And still a viewer's gonna be like, I don't feel it.

[00:43:25] Jo: Oh man. I've been through that and it doesn't have anything to do with photography, but in the IT world where, you know, do you know how hard it was to make this thing do that, you know? Well, yeah, but I don't care about that. I just wanted to do this. Oh, okay.

[00:43:44] Jaymi: But don't you understand how cool it is that I

[00:43:47] Jo: yeah,

[00:43:47] Jaymi: it do

[00:43:48] Jaymi: this?

[00:43:48] Jo: yeah,

[00:43:49] Jo: yeah,

[00:43:49] Jo: yeah. No, don't need it.

[00:43:52] Jaymi: no scrub. You're like, Okay, well there went two and a half weeks of our team's work.

[00:43:59] Jo: yeah. [00:44:00] So that I could see how getting someone else to come in and say, It's not, you don't need that. Or even just taking something out altogether in terms of ] even choosing between things, The editor's job must be so hard because they have to go, Nope, don't need this one.

[00:44:19] Jo: Don't need that one. That doesn't progress the story, but, but no, don't need it,

[00:44:25] Jaymi: Yeah. Or I mean, on the flip side too, bringing in help with editing. Can help you know what to include because you might be inclined to say, Oh, well that that doesn't really get the point across that I was trying to get across, or that one, you know, I, I, I don't, I don't think it's that cool. Or I don't think that it's part of the story and then someone else might look and be like, that one is, that has to be part of the story.

[00:44:48] Jaymi: , I didn't understand where you were going with this until I saw that image and now I feel connected in this other way that you might overlook. Cuz it's your, you're so close to it if it's, if it's your personal narrative, you [00:45:00] are so close to it. So to have someone maybe come in and say, in fact this just happened inside of conservation photography 1 0 1, student submitted a portfolio of images and we were going through figuring out, okay, from wide edit to tight edit what should be included in here.

[00:45:16] Jaymi: And another student said, I'm not quite sure why you left out some of these other things in your tight edit because I didn't understand what was going on, or I'm not familiar enough with the story to really get like how we got to this situation without these other images over here.

[00:45:33] Jaymi: So you're basically saying, Oh, there's this whole other perspective that I'm forgetting to tell. Because to me, I'm so close to the story, I don't think we need that information. And then someone else is saying, Oh no, we need that information. And finally now the story's clicking for us.

[00:45:47] Jo: yeah, I could see that. So it's not, it's not editing just about the, the photo itself. It's about the, the group, the thing that's telling the story as well. [00:46:00] Yeah. Yeah. Ooh.

[00:46:01] Jaymi: I think there's also permission to break rules sometimes when you're, when you're getting help with editing from someone who's maybe. photography at all. There's someone who you would hope would view your photo story and connect with it. There's, I think, more permission to break rules and there is in my family a very famous story that Nick, my partner, will never let go of, which is , one of,

[00:46:27] Jo: Does he ever let go of

[00:46:28] Jo: anything to harass you about

[00:46:32] Jaymi: And so I was going through all these photos and there was one particular photo of an American Dipper that was a total rule breaker. And I was looking at that and I'm like, Man, I, I love that photo, but it is such a rule breaker. Can't be a keeper. Gonna toss it. And I showed it to him and he's like, No, that's really good, , I like that one a lot.

[00:46:51] Jaymi: You should just crop it like this and call it done and move on. And so I was like, Okay. So I crop it. It's one of my best photos ever, and it's been published [00:47:00] and, and so Nick will take every opportunity to be like, Oh, I just saw that photo, that, goodness for me that it is out there in the world.

[00:47:08] Jaymi: And yes, Nick, thank goodness for you that it is in the world, but it takes someone else coming in and saying, I don't care that it breaks rules. I have an emotional connection. Or , my emotional reaction to this photo outweighs any photography rules that it

[00:47:23] Jo: Well, and obviously the rules that you were applying to it don't matter,

[00:47:28] Jo: right? Yeah. What was the say? I heard somebody say rules are there, so you know when to break them.

[00:47:35] Jo: I like that. Yeah. Was that you who told me that? I don't

[00:47:38] Jaymi: No, that's a very famous like, or, or

[00:47:41] Jaymi: it's a, not a, famous, but it's like an yeah.

[00:47:44] Jo: yeah, yeah. Right. So when I heard that, I, I um, whenever

[00:47:48] Jo: whenever

[00:47:49] Jaymi: you gotta learn

[00:47:50] Jo: rules, I go, Well, but the rules are there. So you know when you break them,

[00:47:53] Jaymi: Yeah. You learn all the rules and you get really good at working within the rules and then yeah. You know, [00:48:00] like, eh, in this situation, this one doesn't matter so

[00:48:02] Jo: Right, right. Yeah, Cuz rules are there to, for a reason. They, they got created for a reason, so you need to think about them,

[00:48:11] Jaymi: Mm-hmm.

[00:48:12] Jo: yeah. Yeah.

[00:48:13] Jaymi: Yeah. So those are my three tips for creating personal narratives, stories or photo stories that have that personal narrative element to them, whether it's in text form or photo form. Just keeping these things in mind, which is tip number one in a personal narrative, whether it is the text or the images.

[00:48:35] Jaymi: Remember that you are there to act as kind of the anchor to the story for the audience. You're not the star of the story. And I say that and like, yeah, you're the main character. You're the, you know, kind of the star of the story, but you're not. The star of the story. I feel like I have to say it like that to, I have to come up with a better way to

[00:48:52] Jaymi: like do this tip. Yeah.

[00:48:55] Jo: Whoa,

[00:48:56] Jaymi: You're not the, you're not, you're the anchor to a story. You're not [00:49:00] the Instagram influencer, if that makes sense. And then tip number two is build images that are for the audience as much as they are for you. Yes. This is a personal narrative. You are trying to illustrate your story, your journey.

[00:49:14] Jaymi: You're trying to illustrate something bigger that you're connecting people to, but through your personal narrative. But still make sure that you're crafting photos that are bringing the audience in, that there's room for the audience in there. It's not just like, I'm only making images that are meaningful to me.

[00:49:31] Jaymi: Make them meaningful for anyone who's looking at it. So they get invited into the story. And then three, get help with. Make sure that somebody else is seeing this. And you can go through the editing process yourself, and then get input from one person and go through the editing process again.

[00:49:47] Jaymi: Get input from another person, see how different opinions ultimately shape , the narrative itself. But getting help with editing is always important, but when it comes to something that you're real [00:50:00] close to, like a personal story, it's a non-negotiable. You have to get help.

[00:50:05] Jo: Very good. That's, that's a good way to boil it down.

[00:50:08] Jaymi: Cool.

[00:50:08] Jo: like three steps. I can do three steps.

[00:50:13] Jaymi: I hope that I didn't turn anyone off from creating personal narratives because they are so powerful. Like we humans love hearing. Other people's experiences, other people's stories, we can connect to bigger issues that are hard to understand or connect with when we can hear it through someone else's experiences or perspectives.

[00:50:35] Jaymi: It's such a powerful way to do storytelling, and especially when it comes to conservation issues like climate change, sea level, right? Like All these weighty big things that a lot of times someone might not feel connected until they're like, But then I learned about this one person who had this one experience and then did this, and now I understand this issue.

[00:50:56] Jaymi: Or now I understand why this matters, or Now I understand why I need to pay attention [00:51:00] here to a certain thing

[00:51:02] Jo: Because that, that's the thing is, is that the minute it comes down to an individual that you can relate to in one way or another, so it's about making sure that you're doing it in a relatable way.

[00:51:13] Jaymi: now. Yeah, totally.

[00:51:15] Jo: Cool.

[00:51:16] Jaymi: So there's all my opinions about personal, Well, not all of 'em. There's a lot of my opinions about personal narratives.

[00:51:23] Jo: you have a lot of opinions.

[00:51:25] Jaymi: I do, I do

[00:51:26] Jo: Good. I know

[00:51:30] Jaymi: well, Joe, thank you so much for just chatting about this whole thing with me and being part of the conversation. It's so much fun to talk about this

[00:51:38] Jo: Yeah, it's a whole new way of me thinking about things, and maybe I won't be so afraid of now picking up something that I think will tell me about how to think, because maybe it won't, Maybe it'll just give me a, a weight of thinking

[00:51:52] Jaymi: Yeah.

[00:51:52] Jo: something to think about instead.

[00:51:54] Jaymi: Yeah. I still feel a little bit scared of watching Penguin Bloom.

[00:51:58] Jaymi: I'm, I, the [00:52:00] photo story is so good and I tear up every time that I am a little bit afraid of watching a movie that's gonna make me cry. But I, I think I will brave.

[00:52:10] Jo: Okay. All right. Well, we'll have to hear what you think.

[00:52:15] Jaymi: Awesome. All right everyone, thank you so much for listening in and we'll talk to you again next week.

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Narrative Analysis Vs Thematic Analysis

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• January 19, 2023

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Narrative Analysis Vs Thematic Analysis: Understanding the Difference

As researchers and data analysts, it’s important to understand the difference between narrative analysis and thematic analysis. Both are qualitative research methods used to analyze text-based data. While there are some similarities between the two, understanding the differences between them can help you decide which approach is best for your research project.

What Is Narrative Analysis?

Narrative analysis is a form of qualitative data analysis that focuses on the content of the text. It’s often used to study the stories, values, and beliefs of individuals or groups by analyzing the language they use. Narrative analysis can be used to uncover deeper meanings in stories, interactions, and conversations.

What Is Thematic Analysis?

Thematic analysis is a type of qualitative data analysis that involves coding and categorizing data to identify and analyze themes. It’s used to answer research questions by examining patterns, connections, and relationships between themes. Thematic analysis requires the researcher to systematically identify, analyze, and interpret patterns in the data.

Differences Between Narrative Analysis and Thematic Analysis

The main difference between narrative analysis and thematic analysis is the focus of the analysis. Narrative analysis focuses on the content of the text, while thematic analysis focuses on the patterns and themes in the data.

Narrative Analysis

Narrative analysis involves analyzing the content of the text to uncover meanings and stories. It involves looking at the language and structure of the text to identify themes, values, and beliefs. Narrative analysis is often used to gain a deeper understanding of a person’s life story or experience.

Thematic Analysis

Thematic analysis involves coding and categorizing data to identify patterns and relationships between themes. It’s often used to answer research questions by examining the themes in the data. Thematic analysis requires the researcher to systematically identify, analyze, and interpret patterns in the data.

Both narrative analysis and thematic analysis are valuable qualitative research methods used to analyze text-based data. While the two approaches have some similarities, understanding the differences between them can help you decide which approach is best for your research project. Narrative analysis involves analyzing the content of the text to uncover meanings and stories, while thematic analysis involves coding and categorizing data to identify patterns and relationships between themes.

For more information on narrative and thematic analysis, be sure to check out the USC Libraries Writing Center and the Qualitative Research Journal. You can also find more information on qualitative research methods from the SAGE Qualitative Research Methods book.

By understanding the differences between narrative and thematic analysis, you can choose the best approach for your research project.

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