Welcome to Pho·tog Friday!
In a few of your photography classes, particularly in "PH133: Introduction to Photojournalism" you will be discussing what makes up a "photo story". This is also known as a "photo essay" or "documentary photo essay". In short, this is a series of photographs that tell a complete story from start to finish.
The most important question to ask is: how must a
photographer go about finding a photo story? Once the photographer has
found his or her story, how must one develop a story? What is
needed to tell a visual story? Similar to literature, the visual story
needs a beginning, middle and an end. In photographic terms, these
works translate to “The Lead”, “The Transition” and “The Close”. How
does one work with a subject?
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| W. Eugene Smith |
I'd like to introduce you to one of the best documentary photographers of the 20th century: W. Eugene Smith, an American photojournalist from Wichita, Kansas. He was born in 1918 and passed away in 1978. Smith worked for Newsweek magazine as well as for Life magazine. Smith is most known for his brutal images taken during World War II, which were shot during his time with Life magazine.
When I was a student photographer, I was very influenced by W. Eugene Smith’s photo essay titled Country Doctor
from 1948. Smith photographed Ernest Guy Ceriani, a doctor for 2,000
people within the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. These images were also
taken for Life magazine. The image below is what one would call the lead image in Smith’s photo story, which means it starts off the series of images taken for this photo story and "sets the scene":
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| Smith, W.Eugene, Country Doctor, 1948. |
If you would like to see all of the images included within Smith’s Country Doctor piece from 1948, please click here.
When you look at these images, I’d like you to think of the images as though they were a piece of literature. What are the visual clues
in Smith’s pictures that teach you about the life of Dr. Ceriani? Here
are a few examples of Smith’s photographs used within this series:
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| Smith, W.Eugene, Country Doctor, 1948. |
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| Smith, W.Eugene, Country Doctor, 1948. |
If you are currently working on a photo essay, ask yourself this question: what is my lead photograph? Am I including visual clues so that my viewer is able to understand what the story is about? What is my closing photograph?
I'll see you next for "Make it Monday"!