It’s all in the edit: Narrative and storytelling Tutor led 28.10.20
This is the last of a series of OCA tutor led talks which have been really useful.
The act of taking a picture is an act of editing, “I think photography is the art of editing” (Alec Sloth)
“in the end creativity isn’t just the things we chose to put in, it’s the things we chose to leave out” (Austin Kleon Show your work)
How to approach:
- Leave time between shooting and editing
- Don’t edit in camera – can make really bad choices
- Live with projects in process, small prints, dummy books (play with the order of things) use issuu.com, book wright, apple pages then print to pdf, lightroom book tsb is alongside develop and print
- You have to have a body of work to be able to edit
Plan:
- Think what is the primary nature of the project? Subject matter or how to present?
- Do you need to reshoot to fill a gap or change presentation to fit with images that you have?
- Write about your decisions in your learning log as you produce.
Go with the flow: A writer of crime dramas shared she doesn’t know who is the victim when she starts
Narrative: Can be personal, scripted/constructed, linear/geographical/chronological, visual, or other
Do the research: Look at how other photographers work- Make notes when you look at work: Is there more than one narrative going on? Was it a planned structure or did it evolve or come from the editing process?
Story telling – to use text or not? Look at how other projects use text: Does the text adjunct? Are the images and text separate entities sat alongside each other
Functions of storytelling can be :
- Within the work
- About the work
- About the production of the work
- Watch photography discussions online listen to the narrative they use to discuss
Examples:
- For most of it I have no words – Simon Norfolk.
- Survivor– Harry Bordon. Photographs of survivors of the holocaust. Their story in their own words and biographies of those photographed
- Gregory Crewdson article and video on An Eclipse of Moths
- Hart Island– Melinda Hunt and Joel Sternfield – Andrea wrote about this project here and the significance of the mass graves footage in 2020.
If you do nothing else: • Stay open to new ideas, Keep exploring, Disappear down the rabbit holes …
To do:
Watch wonderful storytelling, The Museum of Four in the Morning, i to see marvelous storytelling in action. (https://www.ted.com/talks/rives_the_museum_of_four_in_the_morning#t-28931 )
Andrew Jackson blog talking about photography “Not every story is ours to tell” Andrew Jackson.
This is very timely as I am on a final edit of my assignment 3 images and it gives me some useful reflections:
- I have left time between shooting and editing my images which is good
- When editing I need to keep in mind what is the primary nature of the project
- I need to move onto making the book with dummies
- My narrative might be linear, chronological, geographical constructed or scripted
- I should look at other’s books
- I still need to consider how I’m going to use text, adjunct or alongside?
References:
Borden, H (2017) Survivor: A Portrait of Survivors of the Holocaust, Cassell.
Hennemuth, B (2020) ‘The Photography of Gregory Crewdson—And Why Cate Blanchett Is Here for It’ In: Vanity Fair 08/10/2020. At: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/10/cate-blanchett-talks-withphotographer-gregory-crewdson (Accessed 28/10/20).
Lotto. B (2017) Deviate: The Creative Power of Transforming Your Perception, Weidenfeld & Nicholson: London
Norfolk, S (1998) For Most of It I Have No Words, Dewi Lewis.
Norrington, A (2020) Hart Island – Melinda Hunt and Joel Sternfeld, At: https://www.andreanorrington.com/journal/2020/4/10/hart-island-melinda-hunt-and-joel-sternfeld (Accessed 28/10/2020)
Photography 2: Documentary 