PhotoMalawi: The photo story 2: reportage

In a previous blog entry we have seen that the basic challenge with a photo story is the tension between coherence on one hand and variation on the other. We need coherence to give the reader the feeling that the photo story is one piece of art, not a random collection of photos. On the other hand we need enough variation to keep the interest of the viewer.

To create coherence, there are three basic forms used to construct the photo story. Many photo stories do not follow any of the three to the letter, but most successful photo stories do fall in one of the three categories, more or less. Once you understand these ways of thinking, variations will come to mind when you are creating a photo story.

The three basic forms are:

Reportage: the story follows the subject through time. Most wedding photography follows this form: the bride dresses up, goes to the church, the officiation, the posed photos in the garden, the reception from beginning to end. Also this form is used commonly in photojournalism
Photo series: in photo series time plays no role, but a number of similar photos are juxtaposed. Often the style of every photo is the same, but the subject different though related. For instance in a portrait series, we place a number of portraits of people who have something in common together. Then the viewer will see the similarities and differences between the subjects.
Photo essay: this form shows the subject in many different ways. Because there is not much formal coherence this form is not easy to hold together: if the style and subject of photos are not similar enough, the story may fall apart into separate photos that together do not feel as one work.

In this entry I will show a reportage. Later we will look into the other forms.

The reportage below is about night fishing in Senga Bay. The reportage is actually part of a larger photo essay about the fishing village there, that is under threat from a project developer trying to evict the fishermen. It is not uncommon for a large photo essay to have sub-stories in the form of reportage or photo series.

In the photo reportage and the photo essay, often variation is achieved by using four different types of photos:

1. Establishing photo: a photo that shows the place where the story takes place. Usually from a distance with a wide angle lens so you get an overview. This photo is often the first one shown, but that is not necessary. And of course there is no reason for it to be the first one made, even if it is the first one shown. More complex photo stories may have more than one establishing photo for different locations.

2. Action photos: in reportage these often form the core of the story, how the action develops. They show what is done, and how it is done.

3. Portraits: we as people are social animals, we like to socialize. This also happens in a photo story, we are interested in the people that are portrayed; a good portrait gives us the chance to see who we are dealing with

4. Close-up or detail photo shows us something small, depicted big in the photo so we can see the details. This gives visual variation in the story.

There are other ways to create variation, for instance with wide angle versus tele lens (and the perspective they create) or with camera angles, using vertical (portrait format) versus horizontal (landscape format) photos, or even square ones. Different lighting situations can be employed, and a whole lot more. The challenge is to use variation in such a way that the whole story still feels as one.
You can find another example of reportage photography here (by Bonex Julius)
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.108877715955044.15230.106561352853347&type=3

NIGHT FISHING IN SENGA BAY