The Fundamentals of a Photo Essay

Bob Carnie said:

How about APUGer Dr Mark, you can find ongoing info on his photo essay House Calls at www.cbc.ca/toronto/features/kda/

Click to expand...

wonderful work ... don't know if it fits the "essay" form,
but they are great pictures

thanks bob

df cardwell said:

A series of photo essays on particular aspects of life in, say, franche compte would demand a native of the area, an empathetic outsider... and a great deal of focussed activity, like cycling, eating, dancing.... one would have to suffer a great deal for this work but the long-term importance to humanity would justify it !

Click to expand...

very true.

and it would take a lot to time for an american to learn to relax, slow down, and enjoy life, see life, and eat the foodstuffs, cheese and wine in such a beautiful region of france.

might be a good thing for me to start doing every trip i make to visit my inlaws. thanks for the suggestion!

- john

df cardwell said:

. . . While there is no meaning-in-law for 'Photo Essay", . . .
.

Click to expand...

Meanie-in-law - that sounds like my ex-mother-in-law.

(please pardon the injection of humor into an otherwise serious thread)

I'd really like to resurrect this thread to see if we can get further input as to what you think makes a great photo essay. Feel free to add links to examples.

Nicole said:

I'd really like to resurrect this thread to see if we can get further input as to what you think makes a great photo essay. Feel free to add links to examples.

Click to expand...

Basic criteria for an essay (words or pictures), as found in "Creative Writing 101":
It needs to have a beginning, a middle and an end (in other words, a narrative flow).
Write about [photograph] what you know.
Use the simplest possible words [images] which are adequate for your subject.
Write [make images] using your own voice.

With particular reference to photos, a further factor is that you must unhesitatingly discard an individual image, no matter how brilliant you think it is, if it does not contribute to the essay as a whole. Conversely, you must be ready to re-shoot again and again if necessary to fill in holes in the narrative.

As others have remarked, current forms of image presentation are not very essay-friendly. If I try to think of examples, the name W. Eugene Smith comes to mind, with his "Life" essays, for example "A Spanish Village", and his book-length essay "Minamata".

Regards,

David