What do they mean by telling stories in photography

Mmm ... lets think about that

2287370222_95645190d3_z.jpg
 
Generally, words are involved too, because a picture is usually open to far more interpretations than (carefully chosen) words.

Cheers,

R.
 
This image by Stieglitz tells a pretty full story:

http://legacy.earlham.edu/~vanbma/20th century/images/stieglitzsteerage1907.jpg

No photograph or series of photographs can tell a truly complete story, due to the limitations of the medium.
Highlight: Not really, unless you know what it is. For that matter, even when you do know, you need to know what 'steerage' was.

Last para: absolutely!

Also, a single shot cannot normally tell as much of a story as a photo essay.

Cheers,

R.
 
The Eddie Adams shot doesn't tell the whole story, though. Which Eddie regretted.

Yes, my own thoughts would be that the single image, no matter how powerful, communicates in a similar way to us as a news headline might. It relays a critical element of the story, but not the whole story. For the whole story, I think that is where the picture story comes in. With a series of images, the photographer (or editor) communicates key elements of the story to their audience, in the same way a journalist would with an article/ piece.
 
Photography is closer to poetry in spirit than story telling. For stories there is movies etc.

Writing poetry is far more difficult than telling a story.
 
I agree with Roger that a single photo, unsupported by words, does not really tell a story since it lacks context and instead "assumes facts not in evidence." Any iconic photo w/re to the Vietnam War era does not hold any meaning to the average twenty-something.

I do think that a series of photos, without words, may be good enough to establish context and tell a story. It would be a challenge, but good storytelling generally is.
 
Highlight: Not really, unless you know what it is. For that matter, even when you do know, you need to know what 'steerage' was.

Last para: absolutely!

Also, a single shot cannot normally tell as much of a story as a photo essay.

Cheers,

R.

A clever person can determine from the context of the image what is going on. All it takes is an eye and some thought. You don't have to know the title of the image. You just have to look and think.
 
A clever person can determine from the context of the image what is going on. All it takes is an eye and some thought. You don't have to know the title of the image. You just have to look and think.
Sorry, what do you mean by 'context'? A picture on its own has no context, no matter how clever you are. You may recognize content, but clearly, this is nothing to do with context, and indeed, less to do with cleverness than with learning.

Cheers,

R.
 
Sure it does, in the elements of the image.

Was the image taken during the day or at night?

Roughly when was the image taken?

What is the setting?

What are the people doing?

What do we know about the people?

What does all of this information 'say?'
 
No photograph or series of photographs can tell a truly complete story, due to the limitations of the medium.

True, but also true: no word or series of words can tell a truly complete story due to the limitations of the medium.
 
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