Creating Stories through Photography

Creating stories with photography:

It’s so easy to just look at a photo and think “yeah that’s nice” and then have it fall by the wayside. But not often do you see the work and really lock in to what you’re looking at. Especially since the world at the moment is so distracted. We are always looking down at screens where we quickly scroll past anything that doesn’t immediately tickle our fancy.

I would like to try to break that pattern.

At the risk of sounding preachy, during this “great unplugging” I am trying to really get into books about photography and photographers who get my motor running. I was fortunate to have a birthday last week and was gifted two really lovely books. One is The Photography Storytelling Workshop by Finn Beales, and the other is All About Saul Leiter which is a beautiful book showing the photographs of one of my favourite photographers.

Amazing guide for amateurs like me feat my digital disposable camera

In Finn’s book, he talks a lot about capturing memories and shows how you can tell a whole story with different techniques and shot choices. To be fair, some of the stuff doesn’t really pertain to what I do with docu/street photography. But I think the underlying sentiment is universal. We are capturing memories with our cameras so it’s only fitting that we give context and tell a good story with those memories.

                                          Beautiful timeless images 

My other read of the moment, All About Saul Leiter, is a collection of the photos Saul took during his photography career. A lot of the images are from the 50’s and 60’s and it’s really so impressive to see that they aren’t dated. The way Saul tells a story is so interesting. He breaks all the rules of “good photography” and I think that’s what is so attractive to me about his work. I’m quite the contrarian myself so seeing someone not adhere to any rules is my kinda dude! 

I would absolutely recommend both books if you love a bit of visual intrigue and a nice how-to on storytelling through a lens. It feels exciting to see other work that I admire and how these folks are willing to share and showcase their talent. Such a great boost to the creative process for me 🙂

Anywayyyy that’s enough from me now. Time to get back to the books!

‘Til next time… T<3