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.
- 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.
(from https://shotkit.com/photo-essay/)
5 Steps to Building More Powerful Images
• If you take pictures of people, always ask permission! Whenever possible, share photographs with them–send them to the folks, or at least let them see how it’s turned out. Communicate. It only takes a simple gesture and a smile for a subject to understand that you would like to photograph them. You should get a clear indication of whether they are a consenting subject.
• Ask your homestay family. Experiment with both candid and posed photos to capture the activities and personalities of members of your family. For instance, you may want some posed family photos along with some shots of your host mom cooking, your siblings playing outside, etc.
• Photograph your daily experience. This might include the transportation (or walk) you take to class, your neighborhood, a typical meal, etc. You already capture your life abroad for yourself!
• Take photos of places. Don’t miss taking photos of places that may be even more meaningful to you personally (and pictures you can’t find later on Wikipedia). For instance, you might take pictures of your favorite empanada shop or a building on the campus where you study.
• Download/screenshot images from news articles
• Download/screenshot memes or other images shared on social media accounts and platforms dedicated to the location where you are living.
And of course, share as often as possible with your group!
On Photography as an Ethnographic Method:
https://imagenaciones.com/2017/11/30/street-photography-as-an-ethnographic-method/
https://www.leidenanthropologyblog.nl/articles/street-photography-and-ethnographic-ethics
https://petapixel.com/how-to-create-a-photo-essay/
On Photo Taking and Collecting
https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/aman.12377
Co-Lab second check-in photo samples
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
https://sdgs.un.org/goals
The 17 goals are not disconnected, they are simply ways of approaching urgent global issues to make them more approachable and distribute resources accordingly.
For the last two posts of the blog, your themed posts must intersect with 1 or 2 UNDGS. This will be an important practice in preparing for your final photo essay projects, which will also have to speak to 1 or 2 SDGs, finding points of intersection across your different locations and showcasing them in your images and captions.
Below are two ways to summarize potential connections between the SDGs.
