Telling stories with photos
A single photograph can impress; a well-built series tells a story. Learning to combine shots, select rigorously and order the images is what turns a hobbyist into an author, and it's the craft of photojournalists and documentary photographers. Build a series with different shots in the simulator.
The grammar of shots
Film and photojournalism share a simple grammar. The wide shot sets the scene: it shows where the story happens. The medium shot introduces: who or what it's about. The close-up moves: some hands, an object, a glance.
Combined, these shots give the viewer context, a subject and emotion, something no single image achieves on its own. A good series alternates scales and rhythms, just like a film edit.
Two shots from the same story.
Selecting is half the work
Great photographers show a small part of what they shoot. Selecting, which in the trade is called editing, means keeping the images that bring something different and discarding the repeats, even if they're good. Faced with two almost identical photos, keep one.
Let the material rest for a few days before choosing: at first you get attached to the photos that were hard to get, not the best ones. The opinion of someone you trust also helps you see the series with some distance.
If a photo doesn't add to the story, it takes away from it.
Order and sequence
A series reads like a sentence. Start with a strong image that grabs and orients the viewer, alternate wide shots and close-ups to create rhythm, and end with an image that closes the story or leaves a question open. Print the photos small and move them around on a table until the sequence flows: it's the method many photo editors use.
Ideas for your first series
- A day in the life of someone in your family, from morning to night.
- Your neighborhood over a single day or across the four seasons.
- A trade: the bakery on the corner, a workshop, a market stall.
- An object that matters to you and the story behind it.
- Your daily commute to school or work for a week.
How to keep improving after the course
- Study other photographers' work. For every image you like, ask yourself why it works: the light, the composition, the moment.
- Ask more experienced photographers for constructive criticism, and learn to give it. A community or photography club speeds up learning a lot.
- Review your photos at 100% to spot focus errors, camera shake or noise that go unnoticed on a small screen.
- Carry your camera with you, or use your phone with intention: constant practice is worth more than any gear.
- Focus on the process, not just the result. Your photos improve almost without you noticing when you shoot regularly.
Your turn: your first series
The course's final project. Give it at least a week.
- Choose a topic from the list or one of your own that genuinely interests you.
- Take at least 40 photos at different moments, combining wide, medium and close-up shots.
- Select only 6 to 8 images and order them as a sequence.
- Share them with a title and a short text that gives the story context.