What do they mean by telling stories in photography

[jsrockit]

I don't, clearly a photo is more likely to cross a language barrier than, em, language ... that's why it's called a language barrier ... but I expect you knew that

My point that if someone doesn't know of any of the items in the photo... i.e. they've never seen clothing like the ones in that photo and do not know of war, that photo is as just as useless as an unknown language.

 

[johannielscom]

My point that if someone doesn't know of any of the items in the photo... i.e. they've never seen clothing like the ones in that photo and do not know of war, that photo is as just as useless as an unknown language.

Yes, photography only shows what things are, not what they mean. But this debate has nothing to with the concept of storytelling. It's an academic debate that only rubs shoulders with storytelling, at best.


To all: I offered Burrough as an example for competent storytelling, anybody else got any examples of successfull storytellers in photography?

 

[bigeye]

I didn't take this one, either, nor did I come up with, "a picture is worth 1000 words."

Alone, written or verbal storytelling are as ambiguous as images. The more senses used, the more accurate the communication.

.

 

[emayoh]

To me, storytelling in photography emerges when the content of the photo [or series of photos] can suggest what may have happened before the shutter clicked and/or possibly suggest what might happen after the shutter clicked. Any effective story enlists the imagination as an accessory, and photography (even without captions or associated written journalism) is capable of this.

Note: This is not to say any such stories have any relationship at all to truth. It is a story after all.

 

[Sparrow]

I didn't take this one, either, nor did I come up with, "a picture is worth 1000 words."

Alone, written or verbal storytelling are as ambiguous as images. The more senses used, the more accurate the communication.

.

... ah, but if you didn't know what a Zeppelin was and had never experienced fire you could easily mistake that for a cucumber partly hidden in a thunderstorm ... assuming you knew what a thunderstorm and cucumber was, obviously

 

[Roger Hicks]

To me, storytelling in photography emerges when the content of the photo [or series of photos] can suggest what may have happened before the shutter clicked and/or possibly suggest what might happen after the shutter clicked. Any effective story enlists the imagination as an accessory, and photography (even without captions or associated written journalism) is capable of this.

Note: This is not to say any such stories have any relationship at all to truth. It is a story after all.

Dear Mick,

Exactly!

Perhaps, instead of saying "The camera cannot lie", we should say, "The camera seldom tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

Cheers,

R.

 

[jsrockit]

Yes, photography only shows what things are, not what they mean. But this debate has nothing to with the concept of storytelling. It's an academic debate that only rubs shoulders with storytelling, at best.


To all: I offered Burrough as an example for competent storytelling, anybody else got any examples of successfull storytellers in photography?

Ok, I'll settle for this... photography can tell a story at times, to some.

 

[Sparrow]

Ok, I'll settle for this... photography can tell a story at times, to some.