This week I have been thinking about story telling in photography. I have been running some workshops where the task for participants has been to put together a series of images to represent or tell a story about a place.
Most of us are used to going out with the camera to shoot individual photographs rather than a ‘series of images’. Single images can be quick and fun to produce, but photographing a series of images that are all related to each other can be much more challenging.
‘We photograph so that others can see’.
I read a paragraph in a book recently that described how artists use their knowledge of the world around them to inspire their work. The author suggested that their creations were made so that others can see.
I understood this to mean that artists see and process the world in very unique ways, almost with a heightened sense of observation. This manifests itself in their art and encourages the audience to see the world through their eyes, in ways they may not normally see. I believe this is true for photography and the images we create with our cameras help our audience to see more fully and understand more deeply.
Photography is a photographers way of telling a personal story about a place or event. The images we make may be more subtle than the written word, and are often open to interpretation, but they can still tell an effective story.
One of my favourite places in Suffolk is Pin Mill. It is a tiny hamlet on the River Orwell, located right on the waters edge with an historic boatyard and a traditional connection to the river. Thames barges moor outside the local pub and red sailed dinghies scud up and down the river. Time seems to stand still and the modern world feels a long way from this quiet backwater.
This is a location that I initially discovered as a child through the pages of a book. Pin Mill is the setting for Arthur Ransomes 7th Swallows and Amazon’s story, adventurous tales I loved when I was younger (and still do!)
For Photographers this quiet location has become a bit of an iconic spot and the collection of old wooden wrecks that lie just along the river from the pub have become some of the most photographed boats in East Anglia.
It is here that I have been focusing my photography this week, running a workshop and trying to put together my own visual representation (story) of this place.
I have photographed the old boat wrecks many times taking wide views and even putting together a panel for a project workshop I ran here earlier in the year. This time I wanted my series of images to be more personal to me and to represent how I see this place.
I chose to focus my photography on connections between the views that I found as I walked around Pin Mill and the book that inspired me as a child. I photographed Arthur Ransome’s boat, the Selina King, outside Harry Kings boatyard where she was built. I photographed the buildings and the waterfront and then I looked for some sailing details that I could use to join all the images together.
Back home, thinking about presentation, I chose to apply a sepia conversion to all my images to represent the passing of time and I combined them all together with a line taken from the first page of Arthur Ransome’s book.
These images might not be as visually appealing as the shots of the old boat wrecks but they tell a story and more importantly they have a meaning to me that I wanted to try and convey.
Producing bodies of work can really help you grow as a photographer. Putting together a series of images like my Pin Mill panel is a great way to begin and as your ideas and confidence grow you can progress to bigger panels, zines and even books.
For as long as humans have walked the earth they have told stories and taking images with a theme or a concept in mind is just another way to do this.
When I think about my photography and why I take pictures I sometimes don’t see the message behind my images. I used to think that I took pretty pictures and that was as deep as it got, but now I have come to understand my motivation a bit better. I take images to communicate to others the beauty that I see in a fast changing world. I have grown up with nature as a big part of my life, I see the changes to the local landscape and wildlife that have happened in my lifetime and I want to share the environments that I cherish with others. My landscape images are my form of story telling, they depict the places that are important to me and I hope they convey the beauty of environments that I want to protect.
I read this quote a while ago by American author Richard Louv
“We cannot protect something we do not love, we cannot love what we do not know, and we cannot know what we do not see.”
This quote has the same sentiments as the quote at the beginning of this piece - ‘we photograph so others can see’ and I think that is my motivation - I want to share the beauty in the things that I see so that others may be inspired to discover it for themselves. It is my hope that from this discovery a connection will be made that can be transferred to the next generation - after all it was my parents that showed me the landscape and inspired my love of nature and for that I will be forever grateful.
Why start a photography project?
Personal photography projects are a great way to improve your photography.
They provide you with a focus and a reason to get out and shoot more often.
They provide a structure for your photography and encourage you to take images that you may not have considered before, and they help you expand your knowledge of a particular subject.
As well as all that undertaking a photography project will definitely make you a better photographer. The woodland panel below was produced for a portfolio competition for the RHS and this won me a silver - gilt medal in 2021.
Tips for starting your own photography Project.
Find a subject that interests you. We all have stories we can tell and subjects or things we are passionate about so look at the things that interest you. You will tell a better story if you are passionate and enthusiastic about your subject.
Pick something local, that is easy to access time and again.
Decide if your project is going to be a short term venture (images taken during a day out or on a weeks holiday) or a much longer term undertaking (images taken through the seasons or whilst travelling to multiple locations over a period of time).
Do some research
What interests you about your subject?
What story could you tell?
What type of images do you need to tell your story?
How will your images hang together as a cohesive body of work?
How will you display your images - as a panel of 9, or as a small photo zine, or a much larger photo book?
If you are interested in looking at any of the book projects I have undertaken you can find them all on my publishing page.
I am constantly inspired by other photographers and the stories they tell so I would like to share a few projects with you that I think are worth checking out.
From the Seahouse by Linda Lashford - I think the book has sold out but you can see some of Linda’s work here
Eremozoic by Jim Naughten - I love this book as I find it really thought provoking, but it is very different to the landscape photography I usually look at. The book is still available and you can read about the project here.
Shaped by the Sea by Theo Bosboom - full of seascapes and intimate details, you can see some of the work here and the book is available from Theo’s website.
Shoreline by David Southern - a book of intimate landscapes of the Northumbrian Coast. You can find Davids work and his book on his website.
If you would like to undertake a project yourself then I can recommend reading this book by Willian Neill.
I’d love to hear about your own projects if you want to share them in the comments. Thank you so much for reading and please feel free to share this if you found it interesting.
Until next week, enjoy your photography
Gill.
Hi Gill I stumbled upon your newsletter and I am glad I did!! Love the photographs you take. Very inspiring.
Now I am properly motivated, thank you!