Class 2/18: Introducing Photo Galleries

In class, we discussed the different types of photos that you might include in a photo essay for your upcoming assignment. The photo essay is a form made famous in TIME magazine, where photographers like Ansel Adams and W Eugene Smith made some of the most important contributions to the genre. Incidentally, many wedding photographers essentially use the tools of the photo essay.

Inspired by this post on Poynter (as well as some discussion of it here), let's take a look at a photo gallery produced for an NPR story on health care for some examples of the different sorts of photos (or illustrations!) in multimedia publications.

The different shots that the Poynter article identifies here are a scene-setter, a medium shot, a portrait, an action shot, a macro/detail. 

Poynter's description is in italics, mine in standard font.

Shot one: The scene setter

Where is your story taking place, and what does it look like? Is it a building, a town, an old southwestern graveyard? Place your audience in the action by taking a photo that shows it all.

The scene-setter is like an establishing shot in a movie scene. It introduces the space and gives you some sense of tone and atmosphere. It's most often shot in a wider angle, sometimes even a birds-eye view.

Shot two: The medium shot

Let's start to hone in on the spot of your action; the area of the building or town or graveyard where your subjects are. This shot narrows your story's field of view and should bring you closer in.

Think of the essay like a story--this is our "first glimpse" of the major figures in your story. Medium shots usually show the full body of the subjects filling the frame.

Shot three: The portrait

If things go south and you can only come back with one photo, this should be it. Who is your main subject and what does he or she look like? This can be a traditional head and shoulders shot or a wider shot that shows the person's surroundings.

It's always best to take a variety of portrait shots, as photos of your subject will probably be used more than once in a good audio/visual presentation. Also, if your subject is a thing and not a person, capture it. A great series of electron microscope portraits might be just what you need.

Portraits should reveal something about the character of the subjects. They're almost always in close-up (head and shoulders). They can be candids or posed, and are often shot in a series.

Shot four: Capturing detail

This is the shot that is often forgotten. Detail shots work especially well for transitions, but can have great storytelling potential all their own. What are the pictures on someone's desk? What books are they reading? What's that post card they have tacked to the wall? All of these things tell us a little bit about our subject and are great elements to have in a photo essay or multimedia presentation.

Macro/Detail shots focus in on one element, be it a building, a face, or a relevant object. These photos are your best opportunity to capture specific objects. Look for a photograph that examines details rather than the larger picture. This photograph can often be abstract and particularly eye-catching, a nuance. This detail also can reveal to the viewer something that would otherwise be missed in a wider shot.

Shot five: Capturing action

Action shots show your subject doing something -- ideally the thing you are reporting on. This is the shot some photographers spend an entire shoot trying to perfect, often amounting to the same shot being taken 30 times. Photos of your subject in action are essential in audio/visual pieces, but they are not the only pictures you need. If you get the other four shots and not this one, you'll still have a solid photo essay.

Look for dramatic and poignant images capturing people interacting with each other, moments and gestures that elevate and amplify the visual communication in some way. An action shot can be an interaction (the subject interacting with another person), a series of process shots (an activity from start to finish), or a chronology (ie, a "day in the life" series).

For all of these categories--look for the unique, whether that comes from unorthodox angles, for compelling textures, and unique moments.

If you're interested, there's a Lynda guide to making a Photo Essay (free through MyArcadia), as well as a not-terrible WikiHow article on it.

Want to see some other examples of photojournalism? Here's a bunch of links:

Time's Best Photojournalism of 2014

Time's Photo Essays

Fast Company's Best Photo Essays of 2014

PHOTO ESSAY EXAMPLES:

• Trouble Shared (Brenda Ann Kennelly/ New York Times/Lens)
• A Country Doctor (W. Eugene Smith/Magnum for Life)
• A Young Father’s Balancing Act (Benjamin Norman/The New York Times)
• New York City Coffeehouse (Dima Gavrysh/Lens)
• Where Beauty Softens Your Grief (Gianni Cipriano/ICP)
• Gun Nation (Zed Nelson)
• What the World Eats (Time)
• Last Supper (2004; Celia A. Shapiro/Mother Jones)
• The Bitter Sweet Pill – GMB Akash
• Happy Horsemeat (Alex Soth)

UNUSUAL PHOTO ESSAYS

• Febuary Assignment: Photographing Pictures in Reflection
• Magic in the Nearly Forgotten Mailbox
• Andrew Moore Detroit
• Superheroes – Dulce Pinzon
• A Photo Fright Most Viral
• Jump Book – Phillippe Halsman