David Campbell- Narrative, Power and responsibility (2010)
He talked about the theory and concepts behind storytelling and narrative:
- The point of narrative is to relay information.
- Narrative is about making sense of something
- Events have their meanings formed by the process of narration – the event is not what happens but what is narrated.
- Narrative is about the relationship of story to an event, place or person which the photographer makes by providing a connection.
- Context is important to narrative as mediation and representation- The event is not what happens but what is narrated.
- There are limits to the narrative that can be given to certain events as narrative is based on a series of events where some things are included and somethings are not; the narrator will have a perspective and the narrative will never be complete.
- Be aware of these limits and reflect on these
- He commented that news happens in a day and is reported as a discrete event but is often not linked to context.
Traditional forms of narrative:
- Time: Linear, or non-linear that breaks up time in certain ways
- Characters/personification: who drive the story forwards
- Connected events & drama
- Space: Location
- Causality: Accounts about how things came about
- In narrative there will be moments of: Exposition – where things ae revealed or made clear
- Conflict – climax or resolution
- Campbell believes the most important thing in narrative is the relationship between characters and the context, how they reveal the story.
ASK YOURSELF, WHAT IS THE STORY YOU WANT TO TELL?
Why that place, location, time? What is the issue that motivates you? What are the characters? What is the context?
On power and responsibility and an image’s capacity for change and effect on the world:
- Campbell suggests the more you can attend to context the more chance there is of change.
- The amount of research that goes into a story will maximise the outcomes and prospect for change
My thoughts:
- Any ideas of objectivity in documentary are false.
- It was interesting that he mentions Marcus Bleasdale whose work I researched recently as a photographer whose work actually instigated change
- I should follow up by researching Tod PapaGeorge’s work that he uses as an example.
Reference:
David Campbell – Narrative, Power and Responsibility (2010) At: https://soundcloud.com/mattjohnston/david-campbell (Accessed 15/08/2020).
Photography 2: Documentary 