The Narrative Photograph

Duane Michals : I Build A Pyramid

What is narrative? Narrative is defined as an account of an event or a moment in time, which makes photography a great medium for this particular exercise. In this project you are going to tell me a story. The story, just like your photographs, can be simple or more complex. You can tell a story all of us know very well (i.e. a fairytale or a song) or you can tell us your own story about something. Looking at your exemplar photographer, Duane Michals, you can begin to see how complex a very simple idea can get. You can also see how just a few images makes your viewer want to keep looking at the photographs to see all of the nuance. 

Assignment:
Photograph one story, thinking about nuance and how each image will lead into the next. You will be passing in 6-8 images that work together. You can choose a story that we know very well—one that has been told over and over again—or make up your own story. Narrative can be really fun and should make your audience think about what is happening in the series of images. 

Steps:
• Start by choosing a story, this is the basis of the entire project so the story is going to lead you into what you are photographing
• Think small, maybe it's just a conversation between two people, or making several scenes from a movie or book or song
• Remember that this is a series, and although each image should be strong enough on it own it is really in the combination of imagery that the story will come alive