Photo by W. Eugene Smith' MinamataWe wrapped up this week looking at picture stories and photo essays and how to make photographs that work better together as a group than individually. In the case of a picture story, it is a narrative group of photographs that has a distinctive beginning, middle and conclusion. On the other hand, a photo essay is one or more photos where the sum is greater than its individual parts.
The primary examples I used were my personal photographs: for a picture story, I showed the birth of my first child, and as an essay, I used a group of photographs that I made of my son at various locations around the United States. Although I showed a few of my photography projects that I did in my newspaper years, the point was that picture packages are something that can be done for personal photography whether a birth, birthday party, or vacation.
The final photographer we looked at was the storied W. Eugene Smith who is the godfather of the modern photo essay. We looked at some of his most famous stories including: Spanish Village; Country Doctor; Nurse Midwife, Pittsburgh and his powerful Minamata project.
In a parting note, I used the example of American historian David McCullough who, aside from being an author and television personality, is a talented watercolor painter. Speaking about his painting he said that painters like other artists, dancers and musicians improve by doing. You become a better pianist by playing. You become a better painter by painting. The key to becoming a better photographer is by taking many pictures.