Photography is a very powerful expression tool. With a single image, truly complex stories can be told. How is this achieved? Through photo-narration or photographic narrative. This technique consists of using photography solely and exclusively to tell a story. In this article, we will try to reveal the secrets of photographic storytelling using insights from Sam Yari.
Sam Yari is an Iranian-Turkish director and photographer who creates, photographs, and shows remarkable works that advocate for artists living under oppressive governments.
Yari had been interested in photography since infancy and spent five years honing his talents in Iran. However, following the arrest of models as part of Operation Spider, he relocated to Turkey in 2016 to explore his passion for photography, advertising, and fine arts more efficiently. He created the Yari Studio in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2020, and is currently based in Ukraine, working in photography and developing.
Throughout his professional career, Yari has attempted to convey his protests against restrictions on women’s clothing and the need for greater freedom of speech and expression in extreme fundamentalist countries, including those where people live below the poverty line, injustice, and are not treated according to their rights, and via his art.
The Photographic Narrative
As we have already seen, all photographs tell a story. Real, sometimes made up. Sometimes fictionalized, sometimes captured. Sometimes it is very obvious and other times, more suggestive. The point is that a photograph always has something behind it. When we want to promote this and use photography only as a tool to tell a story, we will be doing a photographic narrative.
A photographic narrative (or a narrative photograph) can be told in a single image or a series of images.
Everything You Can Do
Like everything, it can turn into something impressive with a little creativity. Here are some small ideas of things that can be done to make a photographic narrative come to life even more and become something great:
- Accompany photographs with other elements: You can give more dimension to the image if you accompany the photographs with some text that illustrates them. You can also relate them to songs, videos … If you can explain the story in more than one medium, the ensemble you make will have much more force.
- Make it personal: You can create a true photographic novel that will accompany you for a while in your photographic journey.
- Collaborate: Surely you have a friend who likes to write (or compose songs, record videos, or draw). You can propose starting a narrative halfway between photography and another artistic discipline. Surely between the two of you can create a more complex and complete story!
Do not lock yourself up. If you want to start making a photographic narrative, brainstorm ideas, see what comes to mind. Creativity to power!
The Process to Follow to Make a Good Photographic Narrative
As we have already discussed, a photographic narrative can consist of a single photograph that expresses a story. However, the real complication arises when you want to take photographs with a story that unites them. Where to start?
First of all, make a list of all the characters and define them well.
What is your character like physically? Do they have an obsession? What makes them special? Delve well into your characters, define well their problems, dreams, and life in general. Although all this information does not reach the viewer of your narrative later, it will help you elaborate the whole story without it having incongruities.
Create a story around them
Write it down somewhere. For your photographic narrative to have a complete meaning and there are no inconsistencies between the different photographs chapters, it is necessary to keep in mind what you will explain.
Plan images that will make up your story
How many images are we talking about? Actually, of all you want. You can explain a story in a couple of pictures or make a serial with twenty photos per season. Depending on the complexity of your story, one format or another will be better for you. Be that as it may, to control well even the smallest detail, you must have the images in your head before taking them. You should also start thinking about the setting where you will take your photos, the angle you will use, and the best lens.
Timing is important
In other words, you must organize the calendar very well. When will you take the photos? In what order will you do it? What light suits you best for each scenario? Ideally, before taking the photos, you visit your settings to know the light that there is at all times and, thus, be able to decide when you should go to take the images. In this way, you can also control that all the images have the same light and, thus, are more a series than a set of independent photos.
Search your models well
Models will be the face of your project, so you must choose them well. There you will be able to see previous works of the models that you like the most, and you will be able to choose the person that interests you the most for your project.
Don’t leave anything to chance
When you decide to start taking pictures, try not to leave any details to chance. Everything is under your control to tell your story well.
